Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright • Hacker News Board

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#291

Post by rootusrootus » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:17 PM UTC

mapt wrote: post #99

bayindirh wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe so, but I need more evidence in either direction to give it a definitive answer, but why companies recall cars to fix their brightness levels if they are not enforced? > It's not just about not wanting to be uncomfortably blinded by lasers shooting into your eyes at night. I mean, being uncomfortably blinded creates the risk of being dead already. I believe I made it clear that it's dangerous.

Looking further - From a previous post on the subject https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42449068 > They measure at a certain point. Jason Cammisa points it out pretty clearly in an episode of Carmudgeon, with the money quote either here[0] or in the link direct to YouTube here[1]: > On a recent episode of the Carmudgeon Show podcast, auto journalist Jason Cammisa described a phenomenon occurring with some LED head…

This highlights a problem in getting your information from a podcast or YouTube video, even when the presenter seems like someone you'd find credible.

No, the regulation does not measure lights at a single spot. The regulations are published and very easy to find.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#292

Post by mikestew » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:17 PM UTC

delichon wrote: post #278

mnw21cam wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't see how it would be country-specific. How else would you have any control of the forward motion of the vehicle otherwise, especially when starting on an uphill slope? You're meant to raise the clutch to the biting point and apply some accelerator and release the handbrake when you are confident that the engine will prevent the car from moving backwards. Taking the foot off the brake and hoping you can move it…

It does appear to be a UK thing. This is from the UK Highway Code. I'm not finding a US equivalent. 114 You MUST NOT use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users (see Rule 226).…

In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights.

I’m sure that might have been fine 30 years ago when cars had actual handbrakes. I doubt most folks these days can even find the little switch that activates it. Now it comes off as a bunch of monkey business.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#293

Post by psunavy03 » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:17 PM UTC

everdrive wrote: post #10

I understand that currently this is sort of a collective action problem, but I'm a bit baffled why people ever thought they needed brighter headlights in the first place. In the city, it's so bright that you don't even need headlights to see whatsoever. When cars started automatically dimming the dash via a light sensor, there was actually a period of time where I totally forgot to turn on my headlights because thing…

Ah, the old "I am a free-thinking rational being, but everyone else are a bunch of NPCs who can't be allowed to have what they want without enlightened supervision" argument.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#294

Post by mnw21cam » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:17 PM UTC

delichon wrote: post #278

mnw21cam wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't see how it would be country-specific. How else would you have any control of the forward motion of the vehicle otherwise, especially when starting on an uphill slope? You're meant to raise the clutch to the biting point and apply some accelerator and release the handbrake when you are confident that the engine will prevent the car from moving backwards. Taking the foot off the brake and hoping you can move it…

It does appear to be a UK thing. This is from the UK Highway Code. I'm not finding a US equivalent. 114 You MUST NOT use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users (see Rule 226).…

Well found, though I'll also point out that the highway code uses "MUST" and "should" in the same way as the RFCs do.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#295

Post by bArray » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:18 PM UTC

I think most vehicles are operating with their headlamps adjusted too high. I think the majority are now completely out of spec [1]. My normal lights are very respectably adjusted and are the older dimmer type, but my full beams are blinding - I rarely ever use them. A few times a driver comes towards me with full beams on, I flash mine and light up the entire night.

The quality of driver is also decreasing. One of our MPs computed the data and discovered "Since 2016, 1,367,942 foreign drivers have been issued a driving licence without taking a UK test". There are apparently 42.1 mn licenses [2], so ~1/30 never took a UK test. It's getting dangerous out there.

[1] https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/the-mot-headlamp-aim-te...

[2] https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/population-of-th...

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#296

Post by singron » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:18 PM UTC

tikkabhuna wrote: post #164

DannyBee wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but you should be able to safely drive the speed limit under normal (Ie not pouring rain, snow, etc) conditions. Night is a normal condition.

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.

Having driven in the US and UK, this is a significant difference between the two. In the UK, you might sometimes drive 30 under on a road that is nominally 60 mph. In the US, that road would have a specific posted speed limit that is safe to drive. US roads are also more consistently designed for constant speed or have additional advisory speed limits for curves. You can nearly always drive as fast as the number on the sign unless there is some additional hazard.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#297

Post by krona » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:18 PM UTC

danw1979 wrote: post #154

delaminator wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Out in the country, you still don't really need brighter headlights. I guess you don't actually drive at night in the countryside then. You need lights to see where the road is, not where pedestrians might be - on none existent footpaths

Not to be pedantic but you do need to be able to see pedestrians at night too, who can legally walk on country roads on either side, without reflectors or illumination. It’s the car drivers responsibility to not mow pedestrians down wherever or whenever they are walking.

Not least because hitting a person at 50mph on a country lane will cause serious amounts of damage to your car and ruin your day!

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#298

Post by macintux » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:18 PM UTC

mnw21cam wrote: post #261

delichon wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 I was definitely not taught this as a US driving student. Is this a UK thing?

I can't see how it would be country-specific. How else would you have any control of the forward motion of the vehicle otherwise, especially when starting on an uphill slope? You're meant to raise the clutch to the biting point and apply some accelerator and release the handbrake when you are confident that the engine will prevent the car from moving backwards. Taking the foot off the brake and hoping you can move it…

I would wager that most modern cars that have a clutch (which is Certainly when I've been stopped on a hill with someone directly on my bumper I've used the hand brake, but that's vanishingly rare for me (probably because I live in a very flat part of the country).

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#299

Post by haspok » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:19 PM UTC

njarboe wrote: post #147

One of the main reasons people want/need brighter headlights is that there is much more light inside the car from screens. These don't let your eyes adjust to the dark properly. Older cars had dim green lighting for the gauges and even had a knob to adjust the brightness up and down. You could create a very dim interior instead of the huge amount of white light you get with modern cars and the multiple screens. I'm h…

> huge amount of white light you get with modern cars

Maybe this is missing from your Tesla, but in my poor VW the "screen" has a dark mode which is automatically turned on when the lights are turned on - including Android Auto and Google Maps, which is pretty much the only thing I ever use it for.

Previously I had a rusty Toyota with a very pale orange display, it was always either too dim or too bright, terrible contrast, and changing brightness on it was a pain. I hated that with a passion.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#300

Post by rootusrootus » Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 4:19 PM UTC

nikanj wrote: post #19

Taek wrote: post #2

I feel the same way in America, I think there should be stricter regulations on how bright a car's headlights are allowed to be for it to be street legal. Wouldn't mind having a cap on blue-light levels in addition.

Usually in USA regulations apply to cars, but everyone drives a light truck that's exempt from regulations ranging from emission to pedestrian safety

This is false. Light trucks are definitely regulated. Emissions regs do soften a bit for 3/4 ton and up trucks (think F250 and up), but the ubiquitous F150 as well as other half-tons, as well as mid-size trucks, are all very much regulated.