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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

#641

Post by LoganDark »

xp84 wrote: post #637

I'd settle for the damn brake lights/taillights being toned down. Maybe with the exception of a car undergoing hard braking there is no point in them being so bright, but the 1,000,000 nit apparent brightness coming from the vehicle in front at every traffic light is painful. LEDs are a true technical wonder, but they've made so many things so stupid, from the status lights on every single piece of tech, to cars. (An…

I've seen some cars have variable brake lights depending on how much pressure is being applied. It's very rare though. Wish my vehicle had it.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#642

Post by cogman10 »

xp84 wrote: post #633
cogman10 wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue that compact trucks should be the only trucks that can be driven without special licensing. It's insane to me that I as a 16 year old was allowed to drive an F350 pulling a 40ft trailer on a standard license.

Another one of those quirks of law that appears to be there to help avoid burdening the legendary smallholding farmer whose teenagers are hardworking farmhands towing around 8 head of cattle in the work truck, but which mostly just enables a bunch of idiots driving around surburbs in gleaming-clean four-door pickups that have never carried anything in the bed but a couple bikes or a little camping gear. I'd be all fo…

I came from exactly that sort of community. The fact of the matter is that teen would have driven that truck regardless of the law permitting it.

IMO, this sort of thing should work more like the way fair use works. A cop could pull you over for a traffic violation, ticket you, and then when you go to court you push the defense of "I'm a farmer and I was doing farm work" to get the missing license charge dropped (but you'll still likely end up with a traffic ticket to pay).

Generally speaking, cops aren't patrolling farming roads anyways so you'd really not need almost any exemption in place.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#643

Post by WickyNilliams »

TheChaplain wrote: post #422
WickyNilliams wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or don't go above 50mph down country roads at night? If your eyes aren't as good as they used to be, all the more reason to drive slower

I am pretty sure that is what I wrote

Yes, I misread. Apologies!

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#644

Post by johnwalkr »

fusslo wrote: post #174
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.

My 2024 outback has no 'high beams'. My low beams are the same brightness as high beams. The only difference is the field of view. I switch on the high beams on and height of the beam increases, but intensity stays the same. I feel awful about essentially high-beaming everyone unless the road is flat.

High also refers to the lack of beam cut-off or masking[1], not only the intensity. In UK English, the terms are "full beam" and "dipped beam" to reflect this.

[1] For older US cars, it was more about intensity as the masking sucked. I don't think it's that relevant to this discussion but you can look up "DOT vs Euro headlights" if it interests you.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#645

Post by johnwalkr »

jjtheblunt wrote: post #335
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.

a third thing is some people drive with brights on all the time, particularly in snow-bird seasonal communities, I've noticed. when the seasonal people, many geriatric, are in town, the vehicles driving day and night with bright lights activated is noticable.

Might be some mistaken confirmation bias there. Canadian registered vehicles are required to have "daytime running lights" while American cars are not. You might be seeing low beams vs no beams, as opposed to high beams vs low beams.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#646

Post by graemep »

crazygringo wrote: post #342
graemep wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.…

>> 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. It would certainly be safer if that were true, but it's not. Kids play in front yards with zero street lighting all the time. And drivers speed. >> People, deer, fallen branches, large roadkill, garbage cans blown into the road by the wind, the list goe…

> Kids play in front yards with zero street lighting all the time

Street lighting is consistent enough to be used to define built up areas for speed limits in the UK.

> in parts of the US, deer are everywhere.

which is not relevant to a discussion about car headlights in the UK

> we drive defensively because of the uncommon things we encounter

but its not worth making a common situation riskier to make an uncommon one safer.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#647

Post by johnwalkr »

englishrookie wrote: post #41
jonasdegendt wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's much worse in America, in my experience. Much more deviation in cars/sedans/trucks on the road, with different road heights each, and MUCH more custom stuff on top. I'm in Belgium and headlights don't generally bother me too much, but a month in California recently had me going "no wonder everyone has tints here."

I'm in the Netherlands and I DO find it bad. Probably also has to do with my age (early fifties) - your eyes adjust with more difficulty the older you get, it seems.

I live close to you and I agree it's bad. But trust me, it's way worse in North America (where I also drive annually or so).

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#649

Post by johnwalkr »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #141
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…

> Out in the country, you still don't really need brighter headlights. Other cars' headlights will always be visible and they have reflectors, so it's not as if you'll struggle to spot other cars. The road lines are actually reflective, so it's not as if you'll struggle to see the road lines. And generally speaking out in the country, there won't be pedestrian foot traffic, so it's not as if you need the bright light…

It varies a lot in the US. Major highway in Florida? Very visible lines. Minor highway in Colorado with all the paint and reflectors scraped off by snowplows, even if the road is in good condition? Not as visible. Rural somewhere? Good luck.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#650

Post by [deleted] »

0xfeba wrote: post #380
Wistar wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lately, I see a lot of drivers who turn on their brights and just leave them on and this includes cars with the older halogen and even incandescents. This is a change in behavior. As for LEDs, to me, the Tesla Model 3 headlights are the worst offender, but not all of them, just the majority. I can look down a column of oncoming cars and pick out the Model 3s from a few blocks distance. I suspect that the Model 3 head…

> Lately, I see a lot of drivers who turn on their brights and just leave them on and this includes cars with the older halogen and even incandescents. This is a change in behavior. This is one of my pet peeves. I've categorized it into what I believe are the main causes: 1. People just don't know as well today that the blue indicator means you're blinding people 2. People with newer cars which will automatically tur…

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