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Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

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Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#281

Post by krona »

I agree that many LED headlights are too bright (or, more commonly, poorly calibrated) however one thing which can significantly reduce glare is to clean your windshield properly at least once a year. Few people do this.

When I say properly, I mean with a special purpose abrasive glass polish. This could take an hour or more to do well by hand but it should remove the near invisible (in standard lighting conditions) film which forms on the glass surface.

This will also significantly improve visibility in heavy rain.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#282

Post by tybstar »

globular-toast wrote: post #225
lan321 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What bothers you about tints? I've never bothered to get one since it's illegal where I'm at but the new ones seem pretty cool for cave dwellers who fear the light. They tint well during the day but you can still see at night from what I've seen on friends cars.

I could talk about eye contact and how using the road only works if we cooperate but, more than anything, I just find a heavily tinted windscreen to be antisocial. It's like the ultimate form of bullying. Driving around in a killing machine without your victims even being able to see you.

I like to stare right into the windshield where I think the driver's face must be, make them think I can see through the tint. I doubt it works.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#283

Post by [deleted] »

mnw21cam wrote: post #221
sanex wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I'm seeing the opposite. Some new cars, I THINK Camry's, have taillights so bright it's blinding to wait behind one at a stoplight. They don't need to shine just glow so you can see them.

I have never understood why everyone seems to immediately forget everything in their driving lessons as soon as they pass their test. When you're waiting at a red light, you're meant to have the hand brake on (which does not illuminate the brake lights), not your foot on the brake, unless you know that the light is going to turn green very soon, or you're trying to catch the attention of someone coming up behind who…

[deleted]

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#284

Post by Y_Y »

whitehexagon wrote: post #267

The curse of modern super bright LEDs. Add to that list; super bright red brake lights, and a new trend for animated turning lights / indicators. Looks like something we'd have installed as teenagers after watching Knight Rider. Really distracting. Some of the towns here also started scattering flashing LEDs over every road sign they can find. Some areas feel like driving through Blackpool Illuminations. The worst of…

Add to that rental bikes that have always-on flashing lights. My neurospice is relatively mild, but flashing lights and animations in my field of view really fuck up my ability to focus on other things. I can't be the only one with this issue, but it doesn't seem to garner much sympathy.

I still drive when I have to, but I had to give up watching soccer on tv when they added animated ads to all the pitches. I'm honestly considering some kind of AR filtering at this point.

Also shoutouts to the places in South America (esp. Guayaquil) where people modify cars and buses to have constantly flashing lights, animated screens etc. It's like having a little Times Square in every traffic jam!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LOdfcJpvps

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#285

Post by egormakarov »

4ndrewl wrote: post #17
nanna wrote: post #5

Same for bicycle lights too, and street lights.

Nearly all UK drivers say bike lights are too bright? Do you have a citation or was that an edgy culture war comment?

I have a problem with many fellow cyclists here in Germany, because they seem to use something that shouldn't be street-legal as bicycle lighs (very annoying in the night on unlit road)

Not sure what UK drivers would say about that, though

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#286

Post by darrenf »

graemep wrote: post #168
crazygringo wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there won't be pedestrian foot traffic You think kids aren't running across the street at night out in the country? Chasing a soccer ball? There are all sorts of things you need to be able to see to avoid. People, deer, fallen branches, large roadkill, garbage cans blown into the road by the wind, the list goes on and on. Not to mention spotting dangerous icy patches at night in the winter. I take it you don't real…

> You think kids aren't running across the street at night out in the country? Chasing a soccer ball? Only in well light areas, usually with a low speed limit too. > People, deer, fallen branches, large roadkill, garbage cans blown into the road by the wind, the list goes on and on. Of those only people are at all common, and not on large roads. I have never even seen roadkill large enough to be unsafe to drive over.…

> Of those only people are at all common, and not on large roads. I have never even seen roadkill large enough to be unsafe to drive over.

I moved from London out to the sticks ~4.5 years ago and since then have seen deer, pigs, and cows multiple times each year on the larger roads around where I now live. Animals roam. People leave gates open or damage fences. It happens. Plus the named storms frequently bring trees down onto or even across roads.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#287

Post by EmptyCoffeeCup »

The lights aren't too bright, they're just poorly aligned.

Go for a walk of an evening along a footpath into traffic. I guarantee it'll be Teslas and Minis that are the routinely the culprits of dazzling.

I'd guess it's cheap, lazily aligned hardware in the Tesla, and the ridiculous design of the Mini that cause the problems.

Yes, sporadically you'll be blinded by another model- one that needs an alignment - but it'll consistently be Tesla's and Minis.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#288

Post by yesb »

Aurornis wrote: post #192
alistairSH wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a two things contributing to "headlights too bright" in the US... First, SUVs are really tall... If you're in a sedan (or worse, a Miata) and get close enough to an oncoming SUV, even well-aimed, legal lights are going to feel bright because they're pointed down at you. Second, there's a decent sized market for cheap, unapproved HID/LED kits for older cars. They're often not aimed correctly.

> Second, there's a decent sized market for cheap, unapproved HID/LED kits for older cars. They're often not aimed correctly. This is the biggest problem. Even talk SUV headlights from the factory must meet standards for masking off light and the angles at which they can illuminate. But when people buy LED retrofit kits and jam them into reflectors not designed for those bulbs, the reflectors don’t mask properly. Lig…

Those are some of the most offensive lights but I wouldn't say it's the biggest problem. SUVs and trucks often have their headlights at the absolute highest point allowed and it's not uncommon for drivers to install lift kits which raise the lights even higher. If you're in a standard sedan, headlights pointing into your eyes is pretty unavoidable. Even a small vehicle that's oncoming and on a steeper incline than you may shine their bright headlights into your eyes.

There are no government agents going around inspecting all the vehicles coming off the factory line. Anecdotally, my friends Tesla has completely horizontal headlights from new. I could see oncoming drivers faces illuminate and wince in pain. A quick adjustment in the settings fixed that, however the majority of drivers are ignorant of the fact that headlights are usually adjustable.

Not sure there is any real solution other than going back to halogen lights or requiring sophisticated anti-dazzle systems.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#289

Post by tomatocracy »

steve_gh wrote: post #258
tikkabhuna wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bear in mind that the UK has a “national speed limit” of 60mph for much of the countryside. This is very much a limit, a maximum, and you’re expected to drive to the conditions of the road. If it’s perfect weather conditions and twisting roads not wide enough for 2 cars, you shouldn’t be driving at the speed limit.

Absolutely. The legal speed limit is 60 in the country - on any road not marked with a lower speed limit. This means that legally, you can drive at 60mph down a twisty single track road with 1.5m earth and rock banks topped with hedges. You would be an irresponsible nutter with a death wish to try through! And if you crashed, "I was driving at / under the speed limit" wouldn't wash - you would be charged with Driving…

Driving too fast for the conditions (but within the limit) would usually be considered Driving without Due Care and Attention even if you don't crash (although the likelihood of anyone being around to enforce it on a deserted country road is pretty low).

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#290

Post by psunavy03 »

helterskelter wrote: post #266
_fat_santa wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the problem I've identified are SUV's and Trucks. Back home I drive a 4runner so I never noticed this but on vacation one week and we rented a Corolla. While the lights from other cars never bothered me in the 4runner, it was so apparent in the smaller Corolla. I would see light behind me and go "why do they have high beams on" but then looking ahead it didn't look like they had their high beams on, I was jus…

Honestly the worst offenders for shooting the lights right in your eyes are the Jeep Wranglers. I drive a work truck on occasion and the Jeeps are about the only vehicle that still get me looking for the fog line. High intensity lights are still really annoying though, and my eyes are probably 7-8ft off the ground.

Wranglers are often lifted via the aftermarket, and I bet a lot of people who do that don't ever stop to consider whether the headlights need to be realigned after.
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