Blinded by the Light, Headlights that is !

[74-911]

Is this just my advancing age and declining eye-sight or does anyone else notice this ??

Nearly all my driving at night is on semi-rural unlit 2 lane roads with no shoulder, bar ditches on each side (with fairly heavy traffic) and it is getting to the point I just about avoid going out at night. The reason: it appears nearly every vehicle I meet has their lights on bright. What with halogen, Xenon, HID, and LED headlights, half the vehicles you meet blind you but if I flash them they flash back with high beams. And to make matters worse this is the land of pickup trucks and big SUVs and the headlights on many of them are 4-5 feet off the ground.

There was a time when most cars had 4 round headlights and it was fairly obvious when brights were on but no more...

and maybe it is just me ?

[1990C4S]

It's not you.

I see several things, high vehicles with extra bright (probably aftermarket) lights, people who do drive with their high beams on 24/7, bright LED fog lights that point up, and junkers with poorly aimed lights.

[blucille]

the public transport busses around here drive around with brights on all the time...ugh.

my other pet peeve along these lines are the new road signs that are incredibly/highly reflective. So, driving along at night you get blinded by roadsigns reflecting your own headlights.

And then, in our insanity around here, we put roadsigns mounted to a rubber base so you could (in theory) drive over them) to warn drivers of crosswalks.....narrow streets, all you have to do is add a delivery driver into the mix, or one of those busses dropping off passengers, or worst is a bicycle that you need to swing a little wide to get around, and then you realize there's a SIGN in the middle of the road.

I keep hoping things will get better, but it seems it is unlikely.

[SiberianDVM]

Yes, it's bad.

I bought some yellow tinted prescription driving glasses and they help a lot.

[masraum]

You guys are just old.

[mgatepi]

My wife and I both have new SUV's with the LED Jewel eye headlights.....constantly getting flashed by oncoming drivers. These lights are bright and even brighter once we hit our "high beams" I know it pisses people off....but what do we do?
A classic case of new tech creating a new problem.

[herr_oberst]

All of us old guys here who have been reading the trade journals all our lives can remember the lamentations of the writers at R&T and C and D complaining that we in America had to make do with the (easily overdriven) DOT headlamps while Europeans had H4's that were illegal here.

Fast-forward to today, I think the OP has a legitimate beef, but it's my opinion that it has less to do with the brightness of the new lamps and more to do with the fact that safety equipment checks aren't as prevalent, so the lamps aren't always aimed properly.

Because I'm getting old and my eyes aren't what they once were, I welcome the new regulations, it helps me to see at night, but like the OP, I make sure I really need to drive in the pitch dark and I definitely concentrate harder on my driving at night.

(Plus, from an aesthetic POV, I'm really glad that DOT got rid of the archaic sealed beam regulations. Cars CAN look so much better now that the car designers don't have to work within the regulations dictated by round or square headlamps.)

[Porsche-O-Phile]

So true... another manifestation of the "it's all about me and fk everyone else" phenomenon. As if 6,000-pound SUVs and pickups intentionally designed to kill other drivers in accidents didn't do that enough already.

[rick-l]

I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that LED lights have three narrow (more intense?) band colors yo make white whereas tungsten filaments are a broad even spectrum?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by mgatepi

My wife and I both have new SUV's with the LED Jewel eye headlights.....constantly getting flashed by oncoming drivers. These lights are bright and even brighter once we hit our "high beams" I know it pisses people off....but what do we do?
A classic case of new tech creating a new problem.

It happened to me a lot with my 2008 BMW 535. I had the dealer adjust the headlights lower than recommended.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

As if 6,000-pound SUVs and pickups intentionally designed to kill other drivers in accidents didn't do that enough already.

That's a bit strong, don't you think.

[look 171]

its both. yes, the LEDs kick my ass at night even the tail lights.

[plain fan]

I asked my optometrist about this at my last yearly checkup. He said that all of his patients, regardless of eyesight, have problems with the new headlights. Typically they create light halos that blur the details.

It also does not help that lifted trucks and light bars are popular. Most places have laws on the books regarding the use of additional lights that are not standard to the vehicle. Unfortunately those laws are rarely enforced.

[flipper35]

I see a lot of the ebay headlight "upgrades" and most are just popped in as they came out of the box. I did recently upgrade our old SUV after hitting a deer and needing a new bucket anyway. I chose the ones from the Retrofit Source in the correct color temp and they are much better than the old lights from 2000 but I did make sure to mark out the old ones and adjust the new ones so they are aimed properly.

[T77911S]

yea, hi beams piss me off and does seem like a lot of people have them on but don't.

I think they should just stop putting HB's on cars. really no need.
to make matters worse they are now making pick ups that have 4 lights on as low beams, go figure.
what really gets me is when you pass someone and they have their HBs on and they don't dim them.
for those that do have HB's on, my 100w HB lets them know.

around here the idiots "squat" the rear of their trucks and SUV's, not sure if the headlights will angle down far enough so the lights don't look the HB's are on

[flipper35]

In CA they always put the lift on the front first and then couldn't afford to lift the rear and the lights were always pointed way up in the air.

[JackDidley]

I have a slight gray tint on my glasses. It helps some. And I also hate the Jacked up trucks that light up the whole interior of my car when they get behind me.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by mgatepi

My wife and I both have new SUV's with the LED Jewel eye headlights.....constantly getting flashed by oncoming drivers. These lights are bright and even brighter once we hit our "high beams" I know it pisses people off....but what do we do?
A classic case of new tech creating a new problem.

Maybe, maybe not. It may not be the new tech lights but the number of lights that are on. You know, the low beams with the additional 4 or 5 string of lights below to look cool.

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

So true... another manifestation of the "it's all about me and fk everyone else" phenomenon. As if 6,000-pound SUVs and pickups intentionally designed to kill other drivers in accidents didn't do that enough already.

Yep, just like the cool people that drive around with fog or driving lights on ALL THE TIME. When I lived in Germany we were told in driving license class that if you pull that crap you will get a ticket unless it is foggy or raining. No joke and no slack by Germany police.

.

[pwd72s]

Just another factor that annoys. Life today is full of such things.

On the headlights, many of the aftermarket improvements aren't improvements. At least those blue tint bulbs seem to be leaving the scene.

[Borders Reivers]

"Carolina Squat" is what the rear-lower trucks are called.

Read several places some states are suggesting vehicles run brights during the day for safety. Dunno which states.

Where I live the most egregious bright lights are LED running lights. Usually on pony cars but some Cadillacs are overly bright. Imagine most pony cars are aftermarket.

Funniest thing about over-bright LED front running lights are the ones that turn OFF on the side the driver uses turn signals. I remember when "turning lamps" were an extra-cost option that lit the area you were turning into. The new LED versions turn OFF the direction you are turning making the area you are turning into darker. Funny how progress works.