As a person who often drives cars that are low to the ground, and therefore at a prime height to be blinded by oncoming and rearward traffic, I believe headlights have gotten too bright. Though I have no data to prove this, my 15 years of experience on the road have given me enough anecdotal evidence to declare it.
I’m not alone. Almost everyone I talk to in this industry has strong opinions on headlights, and most of those opinions tend to focus on how modern headlights tend to blind oncoming traffic. Surely these headlights must be responsible for a big spike in nighttime crashes, right?
The answer is no, at least, not according to the data. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted a study earlier this month to find out whether the swell of complaints regarding headlight glare actually correlated to an increase in crashes. And it didn’t find the correlation people assumed it might. From the release:
IIHS Principal Research Engineer Matthew Brumbelow examined data from 11 states in which police can list glare as a contributing factor in crash reports. Because only two of those states distinguish between glare caused by the sun and glare caused by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, he looked specifically at crashes with glare that occurred at night.
Out of around 24 million total crashes, fewer than 150,000 had glare coded as a contributing factor, and a far smaller fraction were both coded for glare and occurred at night. With a few exceptions, these nighttime glare crashes accounted for only one or two out of a thousand crashes per year in all 11 states.
Moreover, while this glare rate ticked up and down a little, it remained relatively constant over the study period and certainly did not show a steady increase coinciding with the improvement in IIHS headlight ratings. In fact, the glare rate was highest in 2015 and lowest in 2020.
So, to those who think that headlights are so dangerously bright that manufacturers should be held accountable, consider getting into more crashes and blaming glare from oncoming motorists. This way you’ll drive the statistics in your favor (please don’t actually do this).
It’s worth noting that the federal standards for minimum and maximum headlight brightness haven’t changed since 1997. The reason you’re conceiving headlights as “brighter” is thanks to the IIHS itself, which started rating headlight effectiveness in 2016. The organization admits this move was a driving force for manufacturers to adopt LED headlights and take more care in how headlights are aimed.
These changes, as annoying as they may be for oncoming drivers, have led to considerable improvements in visibility, according to another study by the IIHS released back in 2021:
Nighttime crash rates per mile are nearly 20 percent lower for vehicles with headlights that earn a good rating in the IIHS evaluation, compared with those with poor-rated headlights, the study found. For vehicles with acceptable or marginal headlights, crash rates are 15 percent and 10 percent lower than for those with poor ratings.
“Driving at night is 3 times as risky as driving during the day,” says IIHS Senior Research Engineer Matthew Brumbelow, who conducted the study. “This is the first study to document how much headlights that provide better illumination can help.”
The IIHS says that 21% of the cars it tested produced excessive glare in 2017. That number dropped to just 3% for 2025 models. But as the complaining public—myself included—proves, there’s always room for improvement.
Glare can be disconcerting to some drivers, even at levels that don’t exceed the IIHS tolerances. Moreover, people with age-related macular degeneration and other health conditions can be especially sensitive to bright lights.
That correlates with another thing Brumbeow discovered in the study: Those who blamed crashes on glare were more likely to be older.
[D]rivers in crashes with reported glare tended to be older in age and driving older vehicles.
“Drivers older than 70 seem to be most affected by headlight glare, while those between 55 and 60 don’t appear to have an increased crash risk,” Brumbelow said.
The IIHS goes on to say that driver assistance tech, such as lane-departure warning and automatic high beams, can help to reduce issues caused by headlight glare. It also mentions an even better piece of tech as a solution to people’s headlight concerns: Adaptive drive beam headlights. These types of lights, already available on many luxury vehicles sold in Europe, were only recently made legal for use on cars sold in America. Here’s how it works, according to our own David Tracy:
These types of headlights, offered by other manufacturers like BMW and Jaguar but really popularized by Audi as the company’s “Matrix-design LED headlights,” work by cutting power to certain LED elements based on what lies ahead. As an oncoming driver approaches, instead of just shutting off the high beams, this Matrix technology just removes “pixels” of light so as not to blind the oncoming driver, thus allowing for excellent visibility ahead.
And here’s how they work, according to this nine-year-old Audi video:
So far, only Rivian has been able to implement the tech on its cars, though considering the awesome benefits these lights offer, I suspect many luxury brands will have them available next year.
Top graphic image: DepositPhotos.com
Anecdotal, but I have a long commute on a rural highway, and I have almost hit a deer more than once because of the glare from an oncoming vehicle masking the deer silhouette. The main saving grace in each scenario is that the rural highway had extra-wide shoulders that allowed me to swerve around the deer safely. Perhaps glare is not a contributing factor to other crashes, but it certainly isn’t unassociated either.
In NYC, on two way cross streets, I’ve almost hit a policeman a couple of times like that.
Once some cop was standing on east 23 street in the rain in the middle of the block at night with two way traffic, with no reflective gear talking to a detective in a double parked unmarked car. I caught his silhouette just in time to not hit him.
You would think that they would know better.
Speaking of police, when my local police work traffic at night they have various police vehicles parked around running their really bright retina-burning blue lights. Dude, I can barely see you standing in the intersection with all these bright blue lights dazzling me from multiple directions.
even if it causes an accident it is still a nuisance! Also it should be easier to adjust your headlights. we have power side mirror adjustments but NOT power headlight adjustments?? have you ever tried to actually aim/ allign your headlights? its less like a skill and more like a black magic art. and also you have to have special tools or contort your hands to unholy places into the bowels of the neterhs of the front of your car to reach the adjustment pegs. and then “ok wich direction is up or down or left or right. … oh crap i just made everything WAAAAYYY worse now lets turn it in the opposite direction … ok now its even worse than it was before we started !! “
Interesting you mention this: in Europe it has been mandatory for decades that headlights be adjustable from the driver’s seat, to compensate for more weight in the back. It’s a little dial with 3 or 4 preset positions, extremely easy to use. Except that most drivers don’t know their car has this feature lol…I’m surprised that US spec cars don’t have this feature.
It’s not required over here, so naturally manufacturers remove it to save a couple bucks per car. I go to Europe for work travel a few times a year, love the adjustable headlights.
I suspect it may be illegal in the US. Citroen was never able to have movable headlights in the US. Those post-mount spotlights that you can aim can get you stopped if you don’t look like a policeman.
They do, my 21 Toyota Tundra has this.
Only vehicle I’ve had in the US with a headlight adjuster control is a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3.
My ’11 Mercedes has ride height sensors and when a load is in the back automatically lowers the headlights. The manual version was a thing the USA never got back in the day but we apparently get the modern version.
Well this is poor investigation on the part of the government.
1. Cars with great headlights have less accidents. Dah how about the cars those headlights are aimed at.
2. OEM Headlights can’t blind you? How about jacked up vehicles raising where the beams hit?
3. OEM HEADLIGHTS can’t blind you? How about after market unapproved crap head lights that aren’t tested?
5. Regular headlights but how about some idiot on the back roads with no lines painted on them who decided driving in the middle of the road at night is fine I can get back over.
I think NITSA is not a very good organization to do anything car related
I agree that this study seems to be missing some critical pieces.
Primary one being: How many people after an accident would think to blame glare?
I don’t usually notice how blinded I am until AFTER I pass an offending vehicle.
FYI: I had a low speed rear-end, in-town accident in my 20’s that I determined after the fact was glare was a major factor. The angle and curve of the road was just right at that part of the road to obscure the brake lights of the car I was following.
Did you and I read the same article??? This report and conclusion are courtesy of the IIHS, you know, that entity that works for the insurance industry. It’s not the government, which would be the NHSTA
Guy is a troll.
This study was not done by the government.
is IIHS pro-roundabout too? do they take into account failure modes of their automatic brakes that they love?
they should have researched reddit for headlight data:
oh it might not be able to paste so just google “reddit headlights”
Unreasonably bright headlights are a scourge
one guy’s comment about “under reporting” sounds about right
where does IIHS get their researchers?
The IIHS is an extension of the insurance industry lobby. Extrapolate your question with that information.
Which means they are for anything that reducing crashes and the resulting repair bills.
You forgot the most important part. It’s keeps their payouts down and increases the profit of this profit-driven industry.
I though that was clear by my mention of reducing repair bills – which are overwhelmingly paid by insurance companies.
Yes, insurance is a profit driven industry – which means they are driven to push for technology that reduces crashes and reduces injuries in crashes that do happen.
The USA is a bit different here because the medical costs of car crashes are often paid by car insurance companies. Those can be much higher than the physical cost to repair a car. That causes them to push for things that can drive of costs in a fender bender like Auto Emergency Braking because the reduction in crashes and medical bills is greater than the cost of spending $10K on what used to be a very minor repair bill.
It is puzzling then that they would ignore people saying vocally that bright headlights aimed toward them cause them not to be able to see as well. You have to be able to see well to drive well. Am surprised that they havent come out against touch screen controls where you have to take your eyes off the road. Even the mayhem insurance guy made fun of this in an ad. But as another commenter pointed out, it was IIHS itself who were advocating for brighter headlights, so they might not want to undermine their prior recommendations. See also: Vehicles with higher mass are generally safer if their center of gravity is not too high (but not to the less massive vehicle that is hit, of course). Newton’s law. Perhaps it is because they don’t pay for the vehicle that is hit? That is somebody else’s problem.
I don’t have an issue with headlights so much as with the extra LED light bars that people put on aftermarket. There is absolutely no need for those in an urban environment and they really do cause problems.
I hate to be contrary but I don’t have a real problem with headlights. I’m old and have had cataract surgery so you think I would be the first to complain. Oncoming headlights bother me a lot less than when I was younger. Maybe they’re aimed better now.
Another oldster here. I’ve not had cataracts and have no problems with modern lights. OTOH lights from the 70’s and earlier were terrible.
I do have problems with lighting of any sort at night when it’s raining. The glare is terrible. I’ve experienced this since I began driving so modern lights are not a factor.
The cataracts are behaving as a filtering barrier. They’re limiting the amount of transmitted light. I’ve never considered this issue.
My cataracts and OEM lens are gone. I’m sporting plastic lens now. Maybe the plastic is a filter?
Do you drive a large truck or SUV? Maybe your eyes are higher than they used to be. Things suck down in car-land.
Acura TLX. Good theory though.
I mentioned this in a reply to someone else, but I think the biggest problem is not the brightness, it’s color temperature. It seems like many cars have 5000k+ lights nowadays and that is WAY too high. If IIHS wanted to help they could start by limiting color temperature to 3000k, I think it would help a lot, not only making it less blinding, but it also is better for actually seeing in the dark. I think this stems from LEDs naturally being very “cool” colored by default, it is harder and more expensive to create a “warm” colored one. Bonus points would be having LED headlights that are also 90+ CRI, that would be fantastic. Maybe I should just strap one of my high end LED flashlights to the front of my truck, that will tick all the boxes.
In addition you have vehicles with safety lighting. Plows, buses, cop cars, ambulance ls etc. you ever come up on a scene and there all all these emergency lights flashing, turning, etc and it is like knives in your eyes?
Oh I hate that, especially many of the newer ambulances I see with STUPID bright brake lights. Like I know they need to be visible but when you’ve blinded me, not only are you no longer visible but so is everything else!
I especially hate the blue, which glares more because the wavelength is on the edge of what we can perceive, making it fuzzy to begin with.
Not to mention nighttime roadwork! Why on earth – if these workers want to live – do they face their glaring overhead lights into oncoming traffic?
There was one point where I was driving on an unlit road through a forest at night and they were doing work so one lane was closed. Flag man standing right in front of the light and I could not see him well enough to try to make out what he was trying to communicate. Had to roll down the window and tell him I couldn’t see him!
This metric is a poor measure of the problem, though I understand why they’d use it even if I didn’t believe that the IIHS seems to prioritize driver harassment to discourage driving under the guise of safety over actual vehicle safety, where it makes sense that they would obfuscate the problem with this deflection. For me and, I assume, a lot of others, the problem is less about the outright danger and more about the annoyance. Yeah, I try not to look directly at them when I can and keep my car steady so there’s no serious danger of crashing, but it’s still unpleasant and frustrating. As far as danger goes, I’m less concerned about hitting another car—I’m not going to swerve into the offender and I can still see any brake lights in front of me—than I am about hitting other people or animals in areas with otherwise poor lighting before my eyes can recover from the reduction of night vision capability. Moreover, the colder temperature of modern lighting is more aggravating to the eye with greater effects on night vision than warmer temperatures of the same relative power. It’s like how advertisers use compressed sound that seems much louder to the human ear even if it technically remains below a regulated amplitude threshold.
I’ve always thought the brighter lights and better tech outweighed the potential glare issues. It seems the data proves this right.
We would all feel way more unsafe going back to 1990’s lighting. It was abysmal compared to what we have today.
Nope
Welcome to Donald Trump’s America
Really? This has been going on for decades, Trump has been president for less than 9 months and he caused it all? This is the same rationalization they used to drown and burn people as witches in the 1800s
Firstly, it’s a paraphrase of a line from the Simpsons – “Welcome to Dick Cheney’s America” – but perhaps some of you are a bit young for that.
But this is Donald Trump’s America – pure selfishness, no concern for community and the greater good, no compassion, no empathy: ‘fuck you, I got mine’. Don’t like being blinded by the light of a three-megaton nuclear detonation out on the two lane highway? Well maybe just hustle a little harder so you can afford the four-figure payments on a jacked-up SuperDuty like a real man who cares for his blonde family.
My coworker with his coal-rolling “fuck it” stickered Super Duty with a slight negative rake and bright ass LED bulbs is like a walking, talking embodiment of that attitude.
Interesting timing, just came across an article that Tesla is recalling cybertrucks for the headlights being too bright https://apnews.com/article/tesla-musk-recall-cybertruck-nhtsa-7c192a42541d0965e94043821c136515
Ford pickups had a recall for it too, the DRLs were not dimming at night when the headlights were on. https://www.asburyauto.com/ford-f-250-super-duty-headlight-recall
Not the headlights, the parking lights.
This is the same logic as “the field joints aren’t supposed to deflect like that, but the O-rings seem to be holding, so it isn’t a problem”
I was to the point I wouldn’t drive at night anymore. The warm hued head lights don’t bother me, but the pure white head lights? Retina searing. I broke down and bought a set of those night driving glasses. I can’t recommend them enough. I can see everything as clearly as before and the bright headlights from other cars don’t hurt my eyes anymore. Best $25 I’ve ever spent.
What brand did you choose?
I honestly don’t remember, I got them off a display rack at my CVS. I’ll check if there is a brand name on the case for them.
The case label is eagle night vision. I ‘ve had them a couple of years now and will give them kudos for durability, especially considering the price I paid.
Thank you
My lights suck on low beam. Hi beams are pretty good though.
I installed a set of the “off road only” LED spot lights into my lower grill area. About 10 inches off the ground. They run all the time, and will blind nobody. I spent a good long time measuring their cut off area to make certain no other drivers would be bothered by them. Worth the effort BTW.
They have already paid for themselves a couple of times in accident avoidance.
Well worth the $125 bucks of so.
Blinded by factory lights every time I drive at night these days.
And cataract surgery just makes it even more fun. /s
I’ve seen some intense light bars so bright they left afterimages in broad daylight. There’s a Civic around town that does exactly that, not to mention the piles of lights (factory and aftermarket) on brodozers :/
Same where I live. I looked long and hard at doing a light bar in the lower grill, but I was concerned about it being too much light for other drivers. The two singles I ended up using have 4 LEDs in each one, and lifetime guaranty from Sylvania. I am really happy with the result, hidden behind the grill looks close to a factory design.
The height of the worst offenders seems to overcome the ability to see, react well at night for me because with the extra set of lights blinding me from the rear, they also create a false visual experience. Because they variate in how close they stay from your vehicle which creates visual processing issues, and that leads to distraction.
I often wonder if the owners even attempted to adjust or aim any of the after market stuff at all.
But I do know the statistics on danger of night driving, so maybe It would be better to just stay off the roads after dark.
Both my parents (78) no longer drive at night. Both have had cataract surgery.
Just did them at age 65. 68 now. Unbelievable improvement, except for head light sensitivity as a result. But well worth the trade off.
Went out for groceries at dusk tonight, came home in the dark, not fun.
I think your parents have the right idea.
Lasik has similar issues as cataract surgery – at least it did 15 years ago when I had it done.
From talking to the surgeon the problem is when it is dark our pupil dilates and you are looking through the scar from the flap. Don’t know if that is better or worse now that the flaps are done with a laser instead of a scalpel.
After Lasik my night vision got worse with starburst around bright lights. My wife didn’t have this problem – the surgeon said it was because she has smaller pupils and the flap scar is outside of her vision. She also was corrected to 20/10 where I only managed 20/20 – now degraded to 20/25.
Still really happy with the results all in all.
Thanks. my bro had lasik about 25 years ago.
He sort of regrets it now at age 66.
I see the starburst patterns as well.
Good luck.
I regret not doing it sooner.
Sooner or later everyone’s vision declines and almost everyone ends up with reading glasses sometime in their 40’s and I’m getting close to that point. I had Lasik at 30 so I missed out on at least 10 years without glasses or contacts.
Aiming is good but also defogging the headlights is better than buying lasers
And so the Troll returns.
I so wish fogged headlights were enforced as a safety violation. They’re so ugly I hate having to look at them.
Did you try any upgrades? I’ve increased the halogen output on every car I’ve owned, either by +70 or +100 bulbs, or by substituting 9011/9012 (HIR) for 9005/9006, or H9 in place of H11. A couple of minutes of grinding/cutting can be well worth it.
Yes. Went with best bulbs offered at the time, and again a couple years ago. Usually upgrade each car as much as possible.
I installed HIDs in my Sportwagen, to replace the factory halogens. Supposedly these were designed to be fitted in standard halogen housings without blinding people. I’ve stood in front of the car at a distance at night, and they definitely aren’t as bright as many cars’ factory lights. But still a massive improvement from the halogens. My car is also lowered so I wouldn’t be blinding anyone, though I’m frequently blinded by truck and SUV lights that sit right at my eye level.
I have replaced the halogen bulbs in all my cars with LED. I do see further ahead even on low beams, on par with the old Xenon HID’s in my old Acura. Do I worry about blinding others? yes. I also live in a deer filled semi-rural area.
Did you aim the headlights properly after doing that? I tried that on my wife’s Countryman and I had to change the aim considerably to compensate, I think it was actually pointed all the way down on one side and still to high. Ended up just switching that car back to a good set of halogens, and will never install halogen replacement LED bulbs again. They were also WAY too cool of a color temperature, which is a problem even with many factory LEDs for some reason. I don’t know why so many cars have like 5000k+ headlights when they really all should be 3000k or below.
Wow this turned into a rant
I just included something similar in a comment. I don’t know why they can’t make the lights a warmer color. The cold colors they use are more harsh to the human eye for a given power.
There are two kinds of (technically illegal) halogen-compatible LEDs these days. Used to be that every single one was like the old HID-in-halogen-reflector move the bros pulled and just couldn’t be aimed properly. The cheapest ones are all like this and it sounds like that’s what you tried.
The better style has been gradually taking over for a few years, and they put the emitter chips in exactly the same location as the filament of a halogen bulb. Those CAN be aimed, but I’ve never seen it necessary to adjust them unless they were already misadjusted to begin with. They all have ludicrous lumen ratings on them, but some of them are really incredibly bright. The only way to find out is to buy them and send them back if they’re bullshit though.
I might try again for poop and laughter then, my truck now just has basic halogens so good to test it out with. I thought when I bought them they were decent, think I tried a couple different ones. But you’re probably right and I just didn’t find the good ones.
OSRAM and Philips have developed the LED bulbs specifically for the halogen headlamps with H4, H7, and H1 bulbs.
The caveat is that the vehicles must be on the approved list (by Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), the German federal motor transport authority) to be legal for the public roads.
I waited two years for KBA to add my mother’s 2009 VW Polo to the approved list. I had to print out the compliance document (Zulassungszertifikate) and affix the stickers to the headlamp housings. The difference is HUGE, especially for the rural driving.
You might want to try OSRAM Night Breaker Vintage LED bulbs. They’re same but illuminate at the warmer colour temperature, matching the halogen bulbs.
Very popular with the classic car owners who want better illumination from LED bulbs without “futuristic” cooler colour temperature.
Please follow these instructions to property aim your now blindingly bright lights
https://auxito.com/blogs/news/headlight-adjustment-aiming-wall-chart
As someone with light sensitive eyes, I’ve decided the only way for me to tolerate headlights these days is a prescription for tinted windows above the state limits.
Will they let you do windshield as part of the prescription?
Some states allow you to tint the upper strip of the windshield.
What I’d like to see compared is the daytime vs nighttime crash rate over a 10-20 year period. It’s one thing to say that whoever wrote the accident report didn’t attribute the accident to glare (subjective), but another to outright say that the crash rate is proportionally the same regardless of lighting conditions.
Also, cars with bright headlights are less likely to be in accidents? Fantastic, I’ll let the person who blinded me know at least they’re safe.
I mean, that latter point is hardly different from the fact that the vehicle with more mass tends to “win” in a collision, too.
One note to share is that Teslas built since the middle of 2022 (or so) also have adaptive matrix lights (if updated)
Those are pretty good. It’s kind of spooky watching them, though.
Huh. I thought gaslighting was about making the lights dimmer, not brighter.
The amount of people that now drive around with high beams all the time and seem to not understand the difference is also astounding and part of the problem. One of my daughters friends was upset because the “octopus” had disappeared from her car. She had tuned off the high beams for the first time ever I guess.
I think this is an undersold part of the problem. I see a lot of people driving with their high beams on because one or both of their low beams have failed.
Those are definitely annoying especially on a two lane country road where you think it’s a motorcycle for a bit. Most of the time when I see them they aren’t so blinding though maybe I’m just used to be blinded by new led projector high beams.
I see this every day. Driving to work at dawn or dusk and people have their high beams on with no care for oncoming traffic or the people in front of them. I’ve decided it’s the continual decline of people understanding anything about their vehicle. The set the headlights to auto and never touch them again. I suspect they literally have no clue how to turn them on and off or even think about it.
I think that’s definitely part of it but also there is some narcissism involved sometimes. They can see they don’t care you can’t see or even think about how it might effect others. It’s typically the same group that will come flying past you on the interstate to slow down in front of you then try to race you when you go pass them and continue with the pattern. I also suspect they complain about how bright headlights are while being part of the problem.
I actually think that “auto” is basically the right answer for everyone.
Pushing your stalk forward to lock the high-beams on is a diffferent matter and maybe there should be a 5 or 10 minute high-beam timer or something, but I really prefer life when people’s cars say ‘Oh- it’s dark. Lights on!” rather than people just driving around with their DRLs on thinking things are just ducky until somebody comes along and rear-ends their invisible a**.
I’ve yet to encounter an automatic high beam that was willing to turn the beams on if there was a road sign anywhere within 1000 yards.
Interestingly, it’s not possible to turn on the highbeam in my Polestar 3. The only two modes are “off” and “auto.”
“Auto” as in it’d be on, but will turn itself off when there are other vehicles ahead.
Honestly this is preferable.
This. Having digital instrument clusters instead of analog probably contributes to this. That blue light is a lot less conspicuous in a cluster that looks like Ginza by night.
This is something ppl don’t consider or understand, either. You’ve got a bright led screen in every car and the lights on the instrument cluster ( also led in most cars nowadays) dialed all the way up. So your retinas are reacting to that and you need brighter headlights to compensate.
I can’t drive my Saab at night (too low) but night panel is obvs designed with this in mind.
On my GC I either shut off the screen, dial down the instrument lights, or do both.
There’s jerk offs who do this on purpose in the name of better being seen and claim it doesn’t bother anyone presumably based only on the measure that nobody’s chased them down and confronted them for it. If people aren’t seeing the low beams, they aren’t looking at all and high beams aren’t going to help, they’re just blinding everyone else and the glare prevents them from seeing all the middle fingers.
Maybe some of them seem so erratic they are either on something or need to be. Chasing them down is probably a good way to end up with metal flying past you or a rabies vaccine. I’ve ended up at the same gas station or parking lot and seen some truly bizarre behavior outside the vehicle after the bizzare driving.
I’m not thinking of them driving erratically, they drive normally (whatever that is), just with their high beams on at all times. Now that you mention it, since this is a state where weed is legal and people drive high all the damn time, I don’t recall seeing any of the smelly cars with their high beams on unnecessarily, so that’s something, I guess.
Seriously what happened to cause this cultural shift? I pass 3-5 A-holes doing this every. Single. Drive. Usually in late model cars with supernova-class light output.
Ya wanna see something hilarious. I turn my mirror straight back when high beam asshats pass me. They will start flashing their headlights at themselves.
I lived out of the county for a few years but would come back for a week or so a few times year during the mid to late 10s. I noticed it on one of those trips back in Tennessee maybe 2017or 18. The driving was that insane style but people that drove that route often didn’t really notice until after I mentioned it. I had noticed around that time driving in California they drove with high beams on all the time and doing that pass fast slow down race repeat before and people there said it’s just how people drive. So I suspect it started there. There was a huge migration to Tennessee during that time so it also fits. I’ve seen people doing TikToks while driving insane all over the road on interstates in Tennessee, California, Texas and Colorado. I suspect that’s part of it the movement of those people to other parts of the county, more narcissistic people, and other forms of mentally ill people that decided they live in a video game.
Don’t forget the trucks with aftermarket LED lightbars in addition to the highbeams.
Okay, maybe it’s not causing crashes, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be addressed.
That said, the first legislation I would pass to fix this would be at the state levels to ensure that EVERY state has a bi-annual screening for cars to help identify things like misaligned headlights.
I’m convinced that at least half the cars blinding me at night are because the headlights are not angled correctly. Also, we could find some of the crap boxes that simply should not be on the road due to poor states of repair.
Some cars are factory misaligned. I think I specifically remember Nissan that had that issue a while ago with their upgraded headlights or something.
If that is the case they need to be recalled. Headlight aim and cutoff is regulated. It is something that we check in the factory on every vehicle before it goes to transport. (We do it in the alignment bays at the same time that the radars and camera’s are calibrated)
They were recalled, IIRC.
’20-’21 Outbacks were awful with this. After we bought ours (new) I kept thinking they were a little high, which was confirmed by oncoming traffic flashing us. Some research confirmed it was a thing and I had to lower them quite a bit.
Can confirm my 2023 Legacy was delivered to me with misaligned headlights. I had people flashing their high beams at me on day one and it took me a week to realize why it was happening.
Anyone want to bet that the increased glare is offset by the increased ride height of absolutely everything?
Also crash data isn’t the correct way to measure how annoying something is. I bet I could jab you in the leg with a fork every single mile and not make you crash at all.
How else can they measure it, though? It’s hard enough to get data this objective based on the limited data sources, so asking how many people were annoyed by it is even more subjective.
The data is objective but useless, as it measures the wrong thing and then the people writing the study use it to make the wrong conclusion.
Gathering actual glare data would require instrumented cars of various heights to be driven in a variety of conditions facing a variety of other cars. Science is expensive, but without doing the experiments their entire study is pointless (unless of course the point of the study was to find any data at all and spin it to say everything is fine, which…)
Brightness is the wrong thing to be concerned with. Federal regs limit how many lumens headlights can put out, and most aren’t even to the allowed limit. The problems are aim, beam pattern, and especially height. So many vehicles are jacked up today that anybody driving a low vehicle is just getting blasted constantly. Which leads to the vicious cycle of sitting up ever higher and higher. But for SURE matrix headlights will help now that the Feds finally allow that tech in the US. Assuming they automakers get the software right anyway, LOL.
My wife just got a 2022 Lexus with auto dipping lights (in the UK, dunno if they are a thing in the US).
The auto dip is just delayed enough that if I were the on-coming driver I’d be swearing about the inconsiderate jerk driving the other way. They’re embarrassing to use, and it’s not like moving my finger to dip the lights was exhausting or anything.
This. And the fact that the car with self dipping lights has to see the oncoming car means that there will always be a moment when the oncoming car sees full beams. The art of dipping before the oncoming car has rounded the bend / crested the hill has gone.
The art of dipping before the oncoming car has rounded the bend / crested the hill has gone.
Agreed ..
Also very annoying is the person who insists on using high beams 100 yards behind you so it’s bright enough to read a book in your car.
This is when having a rear fog light is handy: you can flash the car behind you.
The sad thing is auto-dip is still faster on the trigger than most of the dipshits around here are.
As we get into fall and it’s darker as I leave the house, I find myself dimming my rear view mirror increasingly. Trucks are especially egregious, but not the only ones
Thankfully 4/5ths of my cars have autodimming mirrors. 2/5ths have auto dimming outside mirrors too, which are really, really nice to have.
Beam pattern is the biggie imho. Even *bicycle* lamp beam pattern is regulated in germany.
Beam pattern is regulated by DOT in the USA as well. Hasn’t changed for decades.
Actually it has changed considerably as to what is allowed in relatively recent years. Most Euro cars now have a “converged” beam pattern that is legal (barely) on both sides of the pond. But the old “spray light everywhere” DOT spec without a truly sharp cutoff pattern is still perfectly legal in the US too. The excuse made for it is that it illuminates overhead signs better – but that means it blinds people better too.
The true old-school Euro pattern is NOT legal in the US, and it’s much, much better. Sharp cutoff, upsweep on the right to illuminate the side of the road and pedestrians better. The converged pattern has just a straight line cutoff.
I was talking about the old school non-adaptive lights. The cut-off option was created in 2007 and hasn’t changed. Yes, the old rounder profile without a cut-off is still legal but still has limits on the aiming and brightness. Those are a problem if the stock halogen bulbs are replaced with an LED bulb.
Of course, if you illegally modify your headlights you are going to cause issues. Especially when they suck to start with. <shrug>
I spent a lot of money back in the day putting proper e-code headlights on every car of mine that had them available. Which was almost all of them given what I typically drive.
.. which is an enforcement issue not a regulatory issue.
I can’t think of any modern car I’ve driven that has that old profile and I drive a lot of rentals.
Mostly seems to be American cars, unsurprisingly. I drive tons of rentals too. European cars universally have better headlights than American or Asian cars, IMHO.
Beam pattern is regulated in the US as well. Just what is allowed mostly sucks.
Beam pattern is regulated in the USA and it has a set distance off the ground for that cut-off line. Doesn’t matter the height of the vehicle the cut-off is the same.
Primary problem as you stated are vehicles that have been lifted and not had the headlight aim adjusted down. Then there are the people that drive around with their brights on all the time. And then the people that put aftermarket LED bulbs in their headlights that are a different shape than the original bulb, which then reflects off the stock headlight reflector at the wrong angle and completely throws off the beam.
This article – ironically from the aftermarket bulb company Auxito – has some good pictures of the DOT headlight profile – and link to another article about how to adjust headlight aim.
It’s a lot easier to say everyone’s wrong than to legislate change and solve the problem.
[broadly gestures towards everything]
That is assuming that legislation would solve the problem.
Plenty of studies have been done on this. They all come back to aftermarket bulbs and improper aiming.
The only thing that we could really do with legislation is change the regulation around headlight height – which varies from 24 inches to 54 inches. Those higher mounted lights can be a problem for people in lower vehicles. Similar issue to mismatched bumper heights.
Or we could allow EU style adaptive headlights.