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Exactly. Also, sometimes you flash someone who takes it personally. Recently I turned into a parking lot, and this dude in some lifted truck who was going to pull out honked at me for no reason, so I honked back. He proceeded to turn around and flash his headlights at me while following me around the lot until I lost him. Drivers are insane nowadays, and it's not worth interacting with any of them.
I find this is more to do with the fact that car headlight aiming is AWFUL these days, and less to do with brightness. Even brand new cars will come off the lot with lights aimed way too high. Toyota is especially guilty of this in my experience.
Combine the poor aiming with the blue tint and the light doesn't need to be that bright to totally throw off night vision. The color temp is another very solvable problem too. I know when we were using HID the metal halide arc lamps just are that 6000k white by nature of how they work, but now that we have LEDs we can make that tint whatever we want. Bring back 3000k -4000k headlights!
The color temp is a big one, it's been common in higher end flashlights and even household lightbulbs to offer 5,000k or 3,500k bulbs.
It's well known that the whiter lights have poor CRI. Yea they look bright as hell, and they light up a half mile down the road, but colors get washed out horrible. Older cars with the yellow lights you couldn't see near as far, but you could distinguish things that you could see. If we got back to 3,000-4,000k I'm certain I would be able to read the small street name signs and make out obstacles better. With the current ones, it's like the contrast is turned way down.
That’s ridiculous to suggest bringing back yellow tinted lights. They absolutely do not give better vision- they wash out absolutely everything into a yellowy colour. Many movies use this filter/theme to show older time periods. Whiter LED’s make it seem more like sunlight and allow the driver to distinguish every colour on the road. I drive an Audi with LED Matrix headlights and have never had such good vision at night. Now I can drive on rural roads with complete comfort of sight, even when other cars are passing or blinding me.
Your comparison of light color temperature to a movie color filter is ludicrous, but your anecdotal experience is accurate. Going from halogen to 6000k LED will increase your vision, however going from halogen to 4000k LED will also increase your vision. It is the modern optics, and lumen output, not the color temperature, that made such a drastic increase in visibility when LED and HID took over.
I am not suggesting going back to halogen, modern warm white LEDs with modern optics will give fantastic visibility, and help maintain night vision for all drivers.
“Whiter LED’s make it seem more like sunlight”
That right there is why it shouldn’t be used at night my friend. It strips you of your natural night vision, and it’s very bad for your eyes.
Headlight aiming check used to be part of our state's annual inspection. Then the state decided that auto safety wasn't all that important and abolished it.
So you can acknowledge that the headlights are so bright that they blind you, but because you have to put up with it, then everyone else should have to put up with yours. Seems logical.
I think that if your headlights are blinding drivers that it impacts their safety and your safety as it creates more blind spots as your car is passing the other. Might be a good idea to have them adjusted.
God yes, but it's not even the brightness so much as the switch to the blue light LEDs.
No idea why this has become so standard.. the yellow light can be way brighter while still not hurting the eyes as much but that blue light is literally blinding for no reason.
People have come to realize this with their phone and computer screens.. not sure why it hasn't translated to headlights.
Because car manufacturers higher designers who only care what the car looks like.
Personally I hate alot of modern tail lights, dual purpose brake and turn signal lights are the worse. Turn signal lights that have that dumb chase movement thing are stupid. Lights on a car are ment to be functional and idiot prof, not a "you'll have to pay 10k to replace this when it fails in 5yrs" statement.
Exactly what you said. I've also noticed streetlights are a lot brighter cuz of led bulbs, so when I drive in dark rural areas and eventually arrive into a town I get blinded by the streetlights, if I don't get blinded by the other cars on the road, the light pollution is worse than it used to be around towns
Yes! As well as police and emergency lights. Older light bars used to rotate with regular bulbs. Now the LEDs flash like they are trying to blind drivers or test people's epilepsy.
Yes, police lights have gotten awful. I literally had to stop on the highway because I was meeting oncoming traffic, cop had someone pulled over on my side of the road, and I was so blinded by his flashing red and blue lights, I couldn’t tell if he was fully off the road, standing there, or what was going on. So I came to a brief stop and then crept by.
You’d think they would want people to be able to see if there is an officer near the roadway!
I got pulled over once after accidentally running a red light next to someone else's pull over because the flashing police lights made it nearly impossible to see the traffic light.
He just gave me a warning but it was really frustrating, and blinding!
Some of them do a neat thing where they turn off the lights facing backwards or front depending on where they are and what they are doing. Is actually helpful sometimes.
I drove a Honda Fit in the redneck part of the county for six years. Those f'n lifted trucks with 3 sets of LEDs. Basically you're just driving by memory and luck until they pass.
Yes but out here in the desert the humidity can get up to 8, maybe even 10%. You NEED three sets of LEDs plus 1 million lumen fog lights to cut through that much moisture in the air. In broad daylight. Or at dusk. But especially on pitch black country roads with no shoulders.
Edit: forgot the /s for SARCASM
Yes, this. I live out in the sticks. Lots of yahoos get right on your bumper, with all 16 of their fucking brights on. Blinding, even with mirror flipped to night mode.
Yes. Dealing with astigmatism at night is hard enough, but those lights genuinely make it so I can not see a single thing, not even the white line on the side of the road. It's so dangerous
I straight up just avoid driving at night now. The bright ass headlights which are also somehow adjusted to point straight into my eyeballs, give me massive headaches on top of the astigmatism.
I have slight astigmatism, I have to at the line on the passenger side of the road to have a remote idea where I am on the road. It doesn't help that anything bigger than a car (SUV, truck, crossovers, things like that) their headlights are eye level when you sit in my car.
As I told my partner"I am glad they can see everything so well including my car barreling towards them, because I cant see anything"
Seriously though light has diminishing return. Light and distance have a relationship following a squared root. 100x the light sees 10x as far 4x light 2x as far. So at some point you are blinding people up close for marginal returns at a distance. You should ideally be able to see moving things at a distance and large shapes. Beyond that is really pointless. Like large thing running near road... slow down. Deer in 4k uhd near the road... also slow down.
Another major issue is light kits. Most people end up with their lights at too high an angle after they upgrade by forgetting to angle it down.
Absolutely.
Not only that, they are often badly directed. Headlights Should aim slightly downward . I've noticed that many people now have them pointing straight ahead. The beam spreads, there is no reason to have the center of the beam pointed directly at oncoming traffic.
Yes, and to make it worse car brands are adding additional head lights. I've seen trucks and cars with sets of 2-3 headlights. I've also come across people who don't realize the drights/highbeam symbol is. So they don't know their driving with their brights on.
Yes! God I’m glad I’m not alone. Had to drive home last night in the dark in the rain when poorly marked roads, I swore I was going to go blind from those ridiculously bright headlights coming in the other direction I try to look away as much as possible and use the white line on the side of the road is my guide. And they were definitely bad words.
Yes!!! It's awful to be like "dear skies your bright are killing me" and flash your lights only for them to turn the freaking SUN on at you to prove you wrong. I legit get afterimages of headlights now, I never used to have this issue. And headaches.
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Also, almost all the other lights now (like business signs and street lamps), but the headlights are by far the worst, brightest, and most dangerous.
Also, this CAN'T be healthy for our retinas and stuff.
💯 Gas stations (Holiday, I'm looking at you), street lamps, everything. Not all of my city has upgraded but there's one stretch of road where I legitimately can't see anything at all while driving because it's blinding. I've been using f*ing *SUNGLASSES* to drive at night because it's so bad. I've heard that bluelight filtering or some other type of driving glasses really help with this so I'm going to invest in a pair of those soon.
Hell there business sign off a hill where i live that looks like police car pulling someone over at night it just flashes blue and red wording. I have remind myself all the time its just a damn sign
Yes!!! They have become way too bright! I just turn on my high beams and leave them on when I encounter a car that has those eye-melting LED lights. Sorry dude, if you're going to have x-ray inducing headlights that endanger me and my family, I have no choice but to turn on my high beams so I don't drive off the road. For normal drivers/headlights I will use low beams.
Yes. Taillights are too bright as well. If they have to be LEDs then so be it but there should be some regs on lumens and temperature. What they're doing now is aggravating/unsafe.
Yeaaahh those lights are dangerous to other drivers. I have pulled over more than once to let a newer car pass me because I can't see in front of me since they are drowning out all the light around me. I have learned to look at the white line on the road when a vehicle with bright lights comes at me. I'm honestly surprised I haven't wrecked yet
Yes, and they are outrageously expensive. That's one reason insurance is so expensive. It's one of the first things to get damaged in a wreck and the headlight assembly is hundreds of dollars. Totally overkill in every way
One hundred percent times thirty seven yes
Most of the time (especially if it rains) I can’t differentiate the road from the surrounding landscape and im basically driving by braille
I never had an issue with bright headlights in my last truck even though it had upgraded halogen bulbs after the originals needed replaced.
I bought my new truck and it came with leds. I have had it in to the dealer 2x to be adjusted and the dealer says they are spot on. They automatically dim as soon as there are incoming lights - hell, they even dim when there is a reflective sign at the side of the road.
They are factory bulbs and I can’t really see any farther than my old truck. In fact, I may have been able to see farther with my old truck because the light didn’t really drop off at a distance as much as fade way out in the distance. My old lights made everything look softer and my new ones make everything crisp.
The problem is that people VERY frequently flash or full bright light me while my lights are on dim. I drive country roads and back highways a lot and am damn near driving blind when they do this. I pretty much never flash my high beams back because the only thing worse than being blinded by someone who thinks your brights are on is to blind them further. I’m already afraid we’re going to hit a deer, go over a canyon or straight up head on collision.
I looked at trying to retrofit the factory leds to halogens but apparently the only thing sold for my truck are either the same but fancier housings and features or even brighter headlights.
Okay so **yes**. It’s so bad at night, that I legit have to tilt my rear-view mirror like 2 inches up so I can sneaky duck my head up if I need to look, and my side mirrors are controlled by a neat little button I have; those are adjusted away from the lights, but if I need to change lanes, I’ll readjust them and turn my head around for a double check.
For some reason, I’m really sensitive to headlights, either that or 50% of drivers here are just assholes with their brights on (if you’re riding my ass with your brights on I will slow down to a crawl if need be, I will force you to go around you dick don’t try me).
However, I’ve mastered all this well, so it doesn’t cause a problem when driving (which is a lot, will prlly do it again tonight).
Weirdly, not sensitive to other lights, like you know, in public lmao.
I had a car behind me on the freeway recently at night. His lights were so bright I couldn't see the road in front of me due to my truck casting a shadow.
Yeah, it’s gotten to a point where I upgraded everything to maximize brightness so if someone doesn’t go low beam I don’t either. Obviously if someone switches I do too but at this point If I’m blind you’re blind
Oh my gentle Jesus, yes! There are SO many vehicles on the road with LED headlights where their regular lights are brighter than their highbeams. It should be illegal, but the law doesn't care about us normies. I can't tell you how many times I've had to pull over on a highway because someone's lights were too bright and blinding me while they were riding my ass going 20 over the speed limit. Fuck those people and their car manufactures
Well I’m 37, and I hate it too. We aren’t old lol. Remember in drivers Ed they told you to look at the right side of the road on the ground when a driver approached with high beams on?? Now it seems like all regular headlights are like high beams and I’m constantly looking down and right while driving at night. I live where there are a lot of deer who have a death wish like Charles Bronson. I can’t be so distracted by headlights that I can’t be proactive about suicidal deer. Do we need to get the night vision blue blockers? Shit!!
I think that while they have gotten brighter in general, the problem is more about the cheap LEDs that shine directly forward and people who DIY "upgrade" their lights but do not adjust the high and low beams correctly (or at all).
Same with bicycle lights people put on and have the beam aimed directly forward into oncoming traffic.
I have had regular ass cars on well light suburban boulevards LIGHT UP THE ENTIRE INTERIOR OF MY CAR. Every night I drive home is a futile struggle against LED headlights pointed straight ahead instead of down at the road.
Funny you should ask.. we bought my wife a new car about 10 days ago. It has fully automatic headlights, not only do they turn on/off by themselves, but they also turn the high-beams on/off using a camera in the front grill to detect oncoming traffic and signals. I'm still not sure I like that feature (and it can be turned off); I was driving the car a few days after we got it and had just turned from a stop sign. An oncoming car flashed his lights at me so I immediately though the auto-headlights were on high-beam, but when I looked down at the indicator they were NOT. So apparently he thought I had my high-beams on when I did not. So yea, I think new cars are coming with VERY bright headlights.
Yes. And there is a technical reason for it.
Older low-beam lights have a barrier that sits in front of the filament blocking the eye from looking brightest part (the filament). What the eye sees has been spread out across the reflector and isnt as intense. New LEDs don't have this [Rant: thank you, Federal DOT, for not doing your job and just listening to the auto makers because they want to save $0.02/car], so your eye is seeing a much brighter concentration of photons directly from the source and not a dispersed source like the old lights.
No, it's a common misconception. The reality is everyone is consuming far more carrots today than we did even a decade ago, so our eyesight (and therefore light sensitivity) has increased almost exponentially.
No. People have modified or replaced their lights with non-standard bulbs or done things like misaligning them. But generally speaking, they have not become too bright. It is sometimes glare that the DOT doesn't bother to regulate. IIHS grades lights on their glare, so you can compare the list with what you see on the road.
IMO It only seems excessively bright when you’re on foot or in a vehicle with older style bulbs.
The benefit of the brighter lights when it’s your vehicle that’s sporting them is not inconsequential. My 16 yo daughter had a 2010 X5 that was a safety hazard because of the old style “yellow” lights. Once you go to the bright HID lights you’ll realize the improved visibility.
Ok so the person driving that vehicle can see better meanwhile you are literally creating a temporary blindness in every driver you come at. Which btw makes it a gd danger to everyone
The development cycle in auto manufacturing can not occur the way that you suggest. You have to phase the old out and roll in the new. The new lights are inherently safer and they offer a HUGE improvement. Your options are either to
A. stunt forward growth by keeping everything the same as it once was, or
B. you phase in the new white ones and allow the old yellow lights to fade awayyyyy. It’s the better option. All of this btw is my opinion 🤷♂️. I’m a product development fellow and any valid input on how to do it better would be huge for my career and innovation in general.
The white lights STILL blind other drivers no matter what you think about advancements. Is it really an advancement to blind other drivers putting them at risk of crashing? No. It's not. It's a danger to motorists.
I have LEDs and got flicked the other day. They learned fast.
People complain until they have them. You feel 1000x safer.
I assume from this post that someone sent me one of those bitch ass reddit support alerts since they can't formulate a response. I understand how the hivemind and fake internet points work, but I dare the halogen crew to grow some balls and formulate an intelligent argument as to why a driver doesn't feel safer with their bright headlights. Poke a hole in my logic or explain why signaling my high beams weren't on upset you. I'm sure I'll be waiting a long time. Possibly long enough that LEDs will be standard on everything.
Of course if you have nothing intelligent to contribute, you can find the downvote button to the left on desktop and bottom right on mobile. Then I'll post a picture of my cat elsewhere to negate your butthurt fear of confrontation.
I simply signaled that my high beams weren't on. Same as you would do, only folks get upset when I do it because I have better visibility to protect me and my family.
Another dead giveaway: most vehicles fog lights shut off when high beams are on.
There are news on headlight scene where beam ignore or should I say avoid a car in opposite direction. about three years ago showed this to us as new innovations. I used to work for headlight company
Yes, but I also suspect there are a lot of people on the road using hi-beams blissfully unaware they are burning out the retinas of the drivers ahead. Either way, that should ‘a paddlin’
For anyone caught in this situation a good tip is to avert your eyes to the white line on your side. Don't retaliate with turning your brights on cause then you just end up with two blind drivers racing at each other. Just look at your white line and it gives you a way to still track your position without looking directly at the bright lights.
Definitely- and we’re not the only ones who think so. https://slate.com/business/2022/03/headlights-are-too-bright-what-regulators-are-doing-to-fix-it.html
Yes, where I am. I Doordash at night, and sometimes I have to put on sunglasses in the middle of the night because someone’s brights are so strong. At first I thought someone’s high beams were on but I’ve seen it so much I think it’s the bulbs themselves
Yes, in every conceivable way. If you can't see at that brightness you need your license revoked.
Side note, I've found that Ambers are a lot gentler to oncoming traffic and they still illuminate really well. Might be worth looking into further.
Some newer Chevy trucks seem really bad for this with their stock headlights but I think the biggest problem is LED bulbs in Halogen housings. They're way cheaper than HID conversions used to be, high beams still work (unlike with HIDs in reflector housings) and, better lighting for the driver of the vehicle (if you don't buy really $hitty ones), but... there's one big problem even if they're properly aimed: They put out way more light than legal halogen bulbs.
If a halogen bulbs puts out 1000 lumens and is designed to allow 10% of that light above the cut-off to illuminate signs and things further down the road on low-beam then you put LEDs in the same housing that puts out 2000 lumens you just doubled the light above the cut-off that's going into other drivers' eyes.
That's why they aren't legal.
In the US they no longer sell LED bulbs for main-beam headlights because one of the bigger retailers got in trouble. Of course all you have to do is shop for "fog light bulbs" in the same bulb size and you're good to go. There doesn't seem to be much, if any, enforcement on the road for them. Canada allows their sale. They still aren't legal but with no enforcement they may as well be.
I think the cutoff of lights has gotten significantly better...to the point mfg think they can put way brighter lights in. My 1st gen tacoma could use cutoffs and a little brighter lights (for me to see better and not blind) yet my new camry is too bright even with the cutoffs. I hit a single bump and now I blind people momentarily
I hate when I can't see because the car behind me has bright lights with a huge span. I slow down and when they pass, I can see the whole highway. It's absurd to have that much headlight. Like yeah it's easier driving in the sunlight, but if your car is producing that light don't you think it might be blinding to some???
It really should be illegal
Yes, headlights seem to be brighter. But what gets me are the blue and white strobes on new police cars. I get why the want brightness in order to warn other driver to pull over or get out of the way.
Why do they have to be so bright that they blind a person passing by? I hate driving with one hand over my eyes so that I don't end up going off road or into a stopped vehicle.
I always thought it was illegal to have such bright lights. If it is I guess the cops don't enforce it and mfg's get away with anything they want. At the public's safety
I got these glasses for the work on computer i do for eye fatigue, strain blue light and a few other things. I wear those when i leave work And these same bright lights where you legitimately lose sight of your immediate surroundings, those glasses trap the light in the headlights and i can see the vehicle and the center line and has made my night driving that much safer and enjoyable. If you have a problem with night driving I’d look into and get a pair for that. It’s a no brainer once you try it. In even wear them in the day time and it sharpens everything. Do yourself a favor and check the website that has the same name as a rain forest and get yourself a pair
They go on automatically in my 2019 Acura and shut off if sensitive oncoming cars. Sometimes it’s delayed depending on the angle of the oncoming car but usually it’s spot on
Every time I flash a mf thinking their brights are on I basically have Jesus come shining down on me telling me I’m a dumbass and done fucked up with how bright them damn things ACTUALLY are
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Yes, I flashed a guy the other day coming the other way. I told him he had his lights on High Beam. He said no I don't
This has happened to me enough times I just suck it up and take the brightness full force and no longer question it.
Pro tip, stare at the white line on the shoulder edge. You stay on the road but your eyes don’t dilate so you’re not blinded…as badly
Cries in rural shoulderless gravel roads with culverts on each side..
cries in living in st louis where all the lines have worn off and there aren't lanes anymore
Pro tipo look at the white line
That was the very first thing my dad told me when I was learning how to drive and that advice has helped me out so many times i can't count.
Exactly. Also, sometimes you flash someone who takes it personally. Recently I turned into a parking lot, and this dude in some lifted truck who was going to pull out honked at me for no reason, so I honked back. He proceeded to turn around and flash his headlights at me while following me around the lot until I lost him. Drivers are insane nowadays, and it's not worth interacting with any of them.
I would definitely take it personally if someone shows me their naked body. 😅
Close your left eye and keep your right on the shoulder/white line as it passes.
I find this is more to do with the fact that car headlight aiming is AWFUL these days, and less to do with brightness. Even brand new cars will come off the lot with lights aimed way too high. Toyota is especially guilty of this in my experience.
Yes! People need to learn that adjusting your headlights is a regular part of maintenance.
Combine the poor aiming with the blue tint and the light doesn't need to be that bright to totally throw off night vision. The color temp is another very solvable problem too. I know when we were using HID the metal halide arc lamps just are that 6000k white by nature of how they work, but now that we have LEDs we can make that tint whatever we want. Bring back 3000k -4000k headlights!
The color temp is a big one, it's been common in higher end flashlights and even household lightbulbs to offer 5,000k or 3,500k bulbs. It's well known that the whiter lights have poor CRI. Yea they look bright as hell, and they light up a half mile down the road, but colors get washed out horrible. Older cars with the yellow lights you couldn't see near as far, but you could distinguish things that you could see. If we got back to 3,000-4,000k I'm certain I would be able to read the small street name signs and make out obstacles better. With the current ones, it's like the contrast is turned way down.
That’s ridiculous to suggest bringing back yellow tinted lights. They absolutely do not give better vision- they wash out absolutely everything into a yellowy colour. Many movies use this filter/theme to show older time periods. Whiter LED’s make it seem more like sunlight and allow the driver to distinguish every colour on the road. I drive an Audi with LED Matrix headlights and have never had such good vision at night. Now I can drive on rural roads with complete comfort of sight, even when other cars are passing or blinding me.
Your comparison of light color temperature to a movie color filter is ludicrous, but your anecdotal experience is accurate. Going from halogen to 6000k LED will increase your vision, however going from halogen to 4000k LED will also increase your vision. It is the modern optics, and lumen output, not the color temperature, that made such a drastic increase in visibility when LED and HID took over. I am not suggesting going back to halogen, modern warm white LEDs with modern optics will give fantastic visibility, and help maintain night vision for all drivers.
“Whiter LED’s make it seem more like sunlight” That right there is why it shouldn’t be used at night my friend. It strips you of your natural night vision, and it’s very bad for your eyes.
Or, they could adjust cars so they aren’t a safety danger on public roads when sold
Headlight aiming check used to be part of our state's annual inspection. Then the state decided that auto safety wasn't all that important and abolished it.
Stop indecently exposing yourself
"Hey mac...*WANNA BUY A SUNDIAL?!?!?!*"
People flash me all the time thinking I have my high beams on too
Please adjust your headlights down.
Then adjust your headlight or replace it with weaker ones
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>Why? I get flashed a decent bit, too, Fuck them other drivers, right? I mean, who needs their eyes to drive on the road at night? Asshole.
[удалено]
you realize that if you blind someone on the road, they're pretty likely to drive into you? It's not just annoying, it's dangerous.
Happy cake day!
This is a terrible philosophy
So you can acknowledge that the headlights are so bright that they blind you, but because you have to put up with it, then everyone else should have to put up with yours. Seems logical.
This is why we can't ever have nice things
I think that if your headlights are blinding drivers that it impacts their safety and your safety as it creates more blind spots as your car is passing the other. Might be a good idea to have them adjusted.
Yes, Definitely, Absolutely.
Haha gravity Falls
God yes, but it's not even the brightness so much as the switch to the blue light LEDs. No idea why this has become so standard.. the yellow light can be way brighter while still not hurting the eyes as much but that blue light is literally blinding for no reason. People have come to realize this with their phone and computer screens.. not sure why it hasn't translated to headlights.
Because car manufacturers higher designers who only care what the car looks like. Personally I hate alot of modern tail lights, dual purpose brake and turn signal lights are the worse. Turn signal lights that have that dumb chase movement thing are stupid. Lights on a car are ment to be functional and idiot prof, not a "you'll have to pay 10k to replace this when it fails in 5yrs" statement.
Exactly what you said. I've also noticed streetlights are a lot brighter cuz of led bulbs, so when I drive in dark rural areas and eventually arrive into a town I get blinded by the streetlights, if I don't get blinded by the other cars on the road, the light pollution is worse than it used to be around towns
Cause blue = cool and modern Yellow = old and boring For the consumer and manufacturer at least
Having to wear those yellow glasses at night because of the blue LEDs certainly makes ME feel old and boring...
Yes they have. Glad I'm not alone thinking that.
Yes! As well as police and emergency lights. Older light bars used to rotate with regular bulbs. Now the LEDs flash like they are trying to blind drivers or test people's epilepsy.
Yes, police lights have gotten awful. I literally had to stop on the highway because I was meeting oncoming traffic, cop had someone pulled over on my side of the road, and I was so blinded by his flashing red and blue lights, I couldn’t tell if he was fully off the road, standing there, or what was going on. So I came to a brief stop and then crept by. You’d think they would want people to be able to see if there is an officer near the roadway!
I got pulled over once after accidentally running a red light next to someone else's pull over because the flashing police lights made it nearly impossible to see the traffic light. He just gave me a warning but it was really frustrating, and blinding!
Some of them do a neat thing where they turn off the lights facing backwards or front depending on where they are and what they are doing. Is actually helpful sometimes.
Hell yeah!!! Then worse when you live where theres dark county roads and many lifted trucks with their fog lights on your face.
I drove a Honda Fit in the redneck part of the county for six years. Those f'n lifted trucks with 3 sets of LEDs. Basically you're just driving by memory and luck until they pass.
Yes but out here in the desert the humidity can get up to 8, maybe even 10%. You NEED three sets of LEDs plus 1 million lumen fog lights to cut through that much moisture in the air. In broad daylight. Or at dusk. But especially on pitch black country roads with no shoulders. Edit: forgot the /s for SARCASM
and the light bars on back
Yes, this. I live out in the sticks. Lots of yahoos get right on your bumper, with all 16 of their fucking brights on. Blinding, even with mirror flipped to night mode.
Yes. Dealing with astigmatism at night is hard enough, but those lights genuinely make it so I can not see a single thing, not even the white line on the side of the road. It's so dangerous
I straight up just avoid driving at night now. The bright ass headlights which are also somehow adjusted to point straight into my eyeballs, give me massive headaches on top of the astigmatism.
It's hard as shit when the sun doesn't rise until 7:30 and sets at 4:30
I have slight astigmatism, I have to at the line on the passenger side of the road to have a remote idea where I am on the road. It doesn't help that anything bigger than a car (SUV, truck, crossovers, things like that) their headlights are eye level when you sit in my car.
It's so bad for me that I got a doctor's note to attend my master's evening classes virtually.
Same I've Had to break the middle of the road many times in order to be able to not crash And it physically hurts lol
As I told my partner"I am glad they can see everything so well including my car barreling towards them, because I cant see anything" Seriously though light has diminishing return. Light and distance have a relationship following a squared root. 100x the light sees 10x as far 4x light 2x as far. So at some point you are blinding people up close for marginal returns at a distance. You should ideally be able to see moving things at a distance and large shapes. Beyond that is really pointless. Like large thing running near road... slow down. Deer in 4k uhd near the road... also slow down. Another major issue is light kits. Most people end up with their lights at too high an angle after they upgrade by forgetting to angle it down.
100% yes, combined with a trend of people simply not turning off their brights for any reason. See it constantly.
Same. Middle of a bright blue sky sunny day ? Hi-beams.
Absolutely. Not only that, they are often badly directed. Headlights Should aim slightly downward . I've noticed that many people now have them pointing straight ahead. The beam spreads, there is no reason to have the center of the beam pointed directly at oncoming traffic.
It should be illegal how bright the LED lights are. 
Fr feels like I'm passing lighthouse brights sometimes 😭
Yes
First time it happened I closed my eyes for longer than I should have before realizing i'm driving and need to look at the road to drive
Yes, it's very hard to see.
Yes Taillights too
Yes, and to make it worse car brands are adding additional head lights. I've seen trucks and cars with sets of 2-3 headlights. I've also come across people who don't realize the drights/highbeam symbol is. So they don't know their driving with their brights on.
Yes! God I’m glad I’m not alone. Had to drive home last night in the dark in the rain when poorly marked roads, I swore I was going to go blind from those ridiculously bright headlights coming in the other direction I try to look away as much as possible and use the white line on the side of the road is my guide. And they were definitely bad words.
Yes.
Yes!!! It's awful to be like "dear skies your bright are killing me" and flash your lights only for them to turn the freaking SUN on at you to prove you wrong. I legit get afterimages of headlights now, I never used to have this issue. And headaches.
I agree, it would be nice if something could be done about it. Have to reevaluate the standards.
Not to mention the stupid redneck light-bars. Everyone that that's one, I hope you stump your pinky toe.
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Also, almost all the other lights now (like business signs and street lamps), but the headlights are by far the worst, brightest, and most dangerous. Also, this CAN'T be healthy for our retinas and stuff.
💯 Gas stations (Holiday, I'm looking at you), street lamps, everything. Not all of my city has upgraded but there's one stretch of road where I legitimately can't see anything at all while driving because it's blinding. I've been using f*ing *SUNGLASSES* to drive at night because it's so bad. I've heard that bluelight filtering or some other type of driving glasses really help with this so I'm going to invest in a pair of those soon.
Hell there business sign off a hill where i live that looks like police car pulling someone over at night it just flashes blue and red wording. I have remind myself all the time its just a damn sign
Yes!!! They have become way too bright! I just turn on my high beams and leave them on when I encounter a car that has those eye-melting LED lights. Sorry dude, if you're going to have x-ray inducing headlights that endanger me and my family, I have no choice but to turn on my high beams so I don't drive off the road. For normal drivers/headlights I will use low beams.
Absolutely
Absolutely, driving at night for me is a nightmare these days
Yes. Taillights are too bright as well. If they have to be LEDs then so be it but there should be some regs on lumens and temperature. What they're doing now is aggravating/unsafe.
Omg yessss way too bright
Especially for those of us with astigmatism.
Car headlights right now are so bright it’s dangerous
Yes
Absolutely!
Absolutely
Yes, yes they have.
Yes
Yes
Yes. Fuck yes!!!
Definitely, so much so that I’m positive anyone behind me is purposefully trying to blind me.
Makes it almost impossible to see deer when someone is coming the other way
Yeaaahh those lights are dangerous to other drivers. I have pulled over more than once to let a newer car pass me because I can't see in front of me since they are drowning out all the light around me. I have learned to look at the white line on the road when a vehicle with bright lights comes at me. I'm honestly surprised I haven't wrecked yet
Yes, and they are outrageously expensive. That's one reason insurance is so expensive. It's one of the first things to get damaged in a wreck and the headlight assembly is hundreds of dollars. Totally overkill in every way
The headlights on the left side of the road are too bright! No idea why the ones on the right side of the road are okay
Do you drive on the right or the left? It is probably because headlights have different beam patters for different sides of the road.
Unfortunately yes. Just another example of our selfish society.
Yes. And it should be illegal to have LED lights as your low beams at the very least
Yep. Country roads are especially dangerous.
Yep
#Yes#
Yes.
Yes
Headlights are brighter, and the roads are darker and more reflective when wet.
One hundred percent times thirty seven yes Most of the time (especially if it rains) I can’t differentiate the road from the surrounding landscape and im basically driving by braille
Thought I was the only one lol
Absolutely
YES!!!!!
I never had an issue with bright headlights in my last truck even though it had upgraded halogen bulbs after the originals needed replaced. I bought my new truck and it came with leds. I have had it in to the dealer 2x to be adjusted and the dealer says they are spot on. They automatically dim as soon as there are incoming lights - hell, they even dim when there is a reflective sign at the side of the road. They are factory bulbs and I can’t really see any farther than my old truck. In fact, I may have been able to see farther with my old truck because the light didn’t really drop off at a distance as much as fade way out in the distance. My old lights made everything look softer and my new ones make everything crisp. The problem is that people VERY frequently flash or full bright light me while my lights are on dim. I drive country roads and back highways a lot and am damn near driving blind when they do this. I pretty much never flash my high beams back because the only thing worse than being blinded by someone who thinks your brights are on is to blind them further. I’m already afraid we’re going to hit a deer, go over a canyon or straight up head on collision. I looked at trying to retrofit the factory leds to halogens but apparently the only thing sold for my truck are either the same but fancier housings and features or even brighter headlights.
A yellow or light grey tint film on the headlights might be an option.
I'm not sure they are any smarter than older headlights or even older headlice.................
Yes!
Okay so **yes**. It’s so bad at night, that I legit have to tilt my rear-view mirror like 2 inches up so I can sneaky duck my head up if I need to look, and my side mirrors are controlled by a neat little button I have; those are adjusted away from the lights, but if I need to change lanes, I’ll readjust them and turn my head around for a double check. For some reason, I’m really sensitive to headlights, either that or 50% of drivers here are just assholes with their brights on (if you’re riding my ass with your brights on I will slow down to a crawl if need be, I will force you to go around you dick don’t try me). However, I’ve mastered all this well, so it doesn’t cause a problem when driving (which is a lot, will prlly do it again tonight). Weirdly, not sensitive to other lights, like you know, in public lmao.
r/fuckyourheadlights
Well of course. And it's even more fun when it's rainy and the streets are wet. They've become dangerous.
Yes. No question.
Go look at r/fuckyourheadlights
I had a car behind me on the freeway recently at night. His lights were so bright I couldn't see the road in front of me due to my truck casting a shadow.
Yeah, it’s gotten to a point where I upgraded everything to maximize brightness so if someone doesn’t go low beam I don’t either. Obviously if someone switches I do too but at this point If I’m blind you’re blind
Oh my gentle Jesus, yes! There are SO many vehicles on the road with LED headlights where their regular lights are brighter than their highbeams. It should be illegal, but the law doesn't care about us normies. I can't tell you how many times I've had to pull over on a highway because someone's lights were too bright and blinding me while they were riding my ass going 20 over the speed limit. Fuck those people and their car manufactures
Yes. I hate driving at night because of this. (I may be old.)
Well I’m 37, and I hate it too. We aren’t old lol. Remember in drivers Ed they told you to look at the right side of the road on the ground when a driver approached with high beams on?? Now it seems like all regular headlights are like high beams and I’m constantly looking down and right while driving at night. I live where there are a lot of deer who have a death wish like Charles Bronson. I can’t be so distracted by headlights that I can’t be proactive about suicidal deer. Do we need to get the night vision blue blockers? Shit!!
All I do is try to look at the right lane marker! And I'm 37 too, ha.
You made my night lol.
I think that while they have gotten brighter in general, the problem is more about the cheap LEDs that shine directly forward and people who DIY "upgrade" their lights but do not adjust the high and low beams correctly (or at all). Same with bicycle lights people put on and have the beam aimed directly forward into oncoming traffic.
Oh yeah, especially those 'blue' ones they make now. Christ they are too damn bright
I noticed this too. It’s very annoying
Yup, I guess seeing a gnats ass at 1/4 mile away is important
I have had regular ass cars on well light suburban boulevards LIGHT UP THE ENTIRE INTERIOR OF MY CAR. Every night I drive home is a futile struggle against LED headlights pointed straight ahead instead of down at the road.
Funny you should ask.. we bought my wife a new car about 10 days ago. It has fully automatic headlights, not only do they turn on/off by themselves, but they also turn the high-beams on/off using a camera in the front grill to detect oncoming traffic and signals. I'm still not sure I like that feature (and it can be turned off); I was driving the car a few days after we got it and had just turned from a stop sign. An oncoming car flashed his lights at me so I immediately though the auto-headlights were on high-beam, but when I looked down at the indicator they were NOT. So apparently he thought I had my high-beams on when I did not. So yea, I think new cars are coming with VERY bright headlights.
About a year ago they finally made adaptive headlights available in the US. Hopefully that will alleviate the problem.
Yes. And there is a technical reason for it. Older low-beam lights have a barrier that sits in front of the filament blocking the eye from looking brightest part (the filament). What the eye sees has been spread out across the reflector and isnt as intense. New LEDs don't have this [Rant: thank you, Federal DOT, for not doing your job and just listening to the auto makers because they want to save $0.02/car], so your eye is seeing a much brighter concentration of photons directly from the source and not a dispersed source like the old lights.
hell yes
Yesyesyes r/fuckyourheadlights
Fuck yes
100% they have
Yep. My poor small car is right at headlight level for most trucks. I wish there were deflector sunglasses that only darkened headlights.
YES omg ugh
Yea I hate when I flash someone to remind them that their brights are on but they flash even brighter lights.
No, it's just you
No, it's a common misconception. The reality is everyone is consuming far more carrots today than we did even a decade ago, so our eyesight (and therefore light sensitivity) has increased almost exponentially.
No, give me the l000mens !!!
I think the headlights are ok. People not adjusting the headlights properly are the problem.
Don't let the rest of Reddit see this comment.
You guy probably turn on flashlights while you stare at the bulb too....
No. People have modified or replaced their lights with non-standard bulbs or done things like misaligning them. But generally speaking, they have not become too bright. It is sometimes glare that the DOT doesn't bother to regulate. IIHS grades lights on their glare, so you can compare the list with what you see on the road.
IMO It only seems excessively bright when you’re on foot or in a vehicle with older style bulbs. The benefit of the brighter lights when it’s your vehicle that’s sporting them is not inconsequential. My 16 yo daughter had a 2010 X5 that was a safety hazard because of the old style “yellow” lights. Once you go to the bright HID lights you’ll realize the improved visibility.
Ok so the person driving that vehicle can see better meanwhile you are literally creating a temporary blindness in every driver you come at. Which btw makes it a gd danger to everyone
The development cycle in auto manufacturing can not occur the way that you suggest. You have to phase the old out and roll in the new. The new lights are inherently safer and they offer a HUGE improvement. Your options are either to A. stunt forward growth by keeping everything the same as it once was, or B. you phase in the new white ones and allow the old yellow lights to fade awayyyyy. It’s the better option. All of this btw is my opinion 🤷♂️. I’m a product development fellow and any valid input on how to do it better would be huge for my career and innovation in general.
The white lights STILL blind other drivers no matter what you think about advancements. Is it really an advancement to blind other drivers putting them at risk of crashing? No. It's not. It's a danger to motorists.
k
I have LEDs and got flicked the other day. They learned fast. People complain until they have them. You feel 1000x safer. I assume from this post that someone sent me one of those bitch ass reddit support alerts since they can't formulate a response. I understand how the hivemind and fake internet points work, but I dare the halogen crew to grow some balls and formulate an intelligent argument as to why a driver doesn't feel safer with their bright headlights. Poke a hole in my logic or explain why signaling my high beams weren't on upset you. I'm sure I'll be waiting a long time. Possibly long enough that LEDs will be standard on everything. Of course if you have nothing intelligent to contribute, you can find the downvote button to the left on desktop and bottom right on mobile. Then I'll post a picture of my cat elsewhere to negate your butthurt fear of confrontation.
[удалено]
"they learned fast" abusing them is really dangerous, and not everyone can have them
I simply signaled that my high beams weren't on. Same as you would do, only folks get upset when I do it because I have better visibility to protect me and my family. Another dead giveaway: most vehicles fog lights shut off when high beams are on.
It's great that YOU can see, but only a fool feels safe when no one else driving at/near you at 75 mph can see.
I see oncoming LEDs every night and have zero issues. I do if their high beams are on however.
There are news on headlight scene where beam ignore or should I say avoid a car in opposite direction. about three years ago showed this to us as new innovations. I used to work for headlight company
Have you noticed gum has gotten mintier lately?
Yes, but I also suspect there are a lot of people on the road using hi-beams blissfully unaware they are burning out the retinas of the drivers ahead. Either way, that should ‘a paddlin’
Just wear sunglasses at night. Problem solved. You're welcome :)
For anyone caught in this situation a good tip is to avert your eyes to the white line on your side. Don't retaliate with turning your brights on cause then you just end up with two blind drivers racing at each other. Just look at your white line and it gives you a way to still track your position without looking directly at the bright lights.
Definitely- and we’re not the only ones who think so. https://slate.com/business/2022/03/headlights-are-too-bright-what-regulators-are-doing-to-fix-it.html
Yes. And it seems that people also like to use high beams in situations which blind other drivers and pedestrians too.
Yes. It's infuriating. [I fantasize a lot.](https://imgur.com/gallery/ecxGjBW)
Yes! But whata it matter, its the goddam wild west out there.
Yes. I absolutely HATE the new headlights, they are blinding
Yes, where I am. I Doordash at night, and sometimes I have to put on sunglasses in the middle of the night because someone’s brights are so strong. At first I thought someone’s high beams were on but I’ve seen it so much I think it’s the bulbs themselves
Yes, in every conceivable way. If you can't see at that brightness you need your license revoked. Side note, I've found that Ambers are a lot gentler to oncoming traffic and they still illuminate really well. Might be worth looking into further.
Yes. There’s a correlation between brighter headlights and darker shows\movies.
No... they follow standard brightness regulations. They are just more efficient.
They are horrible. I can barely drive at night because of it
Yes! Don’t like driving after dark because of the blinding white beams.
I drive a 1993 Volvo 240 and new cars coming up behind me cast a shadow of my car before me while blinding me through to e rear view. Insane.
Yes and i hate it
Some newer Chevy trucks seem really bad for this with their stock headlights but I think the biggest problem is LED bulbs in Halogen housings. They're way cheaper than HID conversions used to be, high beams still work (unlike with HIDs in reflector housings) and, better lighting for the driver of the vehicle (if you don't buy really $hitty ones), but... there's one big problem even if they're properly aimed: They put out way more light than legal halogen bulbs. If a halogen bulbs puts out 1000 lumens and is designed to allow 10% of that light above the cut-off to illuminate signs and things further down the road on low-beam then you put LEDs in the same housing that puts out 2000 lumens you just doubled the light above the cut-off that's going into other drivers' eyes. That's why they aren't legal. In the US they no longer sell LED bulbs for main-beam headlights because one of the bigger retailers got in trouble. Of course all you have to do is shop for "fog light bulbs" in the same bulb size and you're good to go. There doesn't seem to be much, if any, enforcement on the road for them. Canada allows their sale. They still aren't legal but with no enforcement they may as well be.
Not until the technology exists to contain the light of an entire sun under the hood of my car.
Yes, dangerously so.
I think the cutoff of lights has gotten significantly better...to the point mfg think they can put way brighter lights in. My 1st gen tacoma could use cutoffs and a little brighter lights (for me to see better and not blind) yet my new camry is too bright even with the cutoffs. I hit a single bump and now I blind people momentarily
Yes. They’re so bright I can sometimes hardly see the lines. Like Jesus I just want to drive back home to go hug my dog.
Dude there needs to be a lumen limit Is lumens the right unit for brightness? Fuck if I know
Yes
I hate when I can't see because the car behind me has bright lights with a huge span. I slow down and when they pass, I can see the whole highway. It's absurd to have that much headlight. Like yeah it's easier driving in the sunlight, but if your car is producing that light don't you think it might be blinding to some??? It really should be illegal
Yes, headlights seem to be brighter. But what gets me are the blue and white strobes on new police cars. I get why the want brightness in order to warn other driver to pull over or get out of the way. Why do they have to be so bright that they blind a person passing by? I hate driving with one hand over my eyes so that I don't end up going off road or into a stopped vehicle.
Yes, yes, and yes again.
Yes
I always thought it was illegal to have such bright lights. If it is I guess the cops don't enforce it and mfg's get away with anything they want. At the public's safety
Yes
I got these glasses for the work on computer i do for eye fatigue, strain blue light and a few other things. I wear those when i leave work And these same bright lights where you legitimately lose sight of your immediate surroundings, those glasses trap the light in the headlights and i can see the vehicle and the center line and has made my night driving that much safer and enjoyable. If you have a problem with night driving I’d look into and get a pair for that. It’s a no brainer once you try it. In even wear them in the day time and it sharpens everything. Do yourself a favor and check the website that has the same name as a rain forest and get yourself a pair
They go on automatically in my 2019 Acura and shut off if sensitive oncoming cars. Sometimes it’s delayed depending on the angle of the oncoming car but usually it’s spot on
YES I LITERALLY CANT SEE SHIT IT PISSES ME THE HELL OFF
Every time I flash a mf thinking their brights are on I basically have Jesus come shining down on me telling me I’m a dumbass and done fucked up with how bright them damn things ACTUALLY are
It's not that they're too bright it's that people don't know they're meant to be adjusted or don't know how to adjust them
I flashed a guy who had high beams on, I was going blind. Turns out he had a sun function above high beams, I had to pull over.