Over-powerful LED lights

[Bmblbzzz]

IMO the problem is not so much with adaptive dipping or even the angle of dip, but simply the brightness at the lens of dipped lights. It occurs in situations such as a car coming towards you over the brow of a hill or even just a slight rise in the road, when you are below or near to the level of the headlights.

[mattheus]

IMO the problem is not so much with adaptive dipping or even the angle of dip, but simply the brightness at the lens of dipped lights. It occurs in situations such as a car coming towards you over the brow of a hill or even just a slight rise in the road, when you are below or near to the level of the headlights.

... and my absolute favourite; when parked on the right (wrong side, arguably?) on a slight brow, unlit road.
Cycling towards them you see nothing except LED light!

Turn your engine off, switch to parking lights / side lights / whatever your car-maker calls them.

[Diatom]

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed this discussion about over-powerful headlights and my near-death experience.

To sum up:

I hope I have made the case for believing that headlights are becoming more and more powerful, and that they may be increasing the risk of collision between motor vehicles, cyclists, runners and pedestrians.

There is a petition at the UK Government and Parliament Petitions website, with access via the link:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petition ... o%20bright

The petition asks for:

"Review the brightness of car headlights for safety

The Government should launch a review into the problem of some headlights causing oncoming traffic drivers to be unable to see clearly and safely. The review should be conducted with car manufacturers to find solutions."

Please consider signing this petition and even writing to your MP.

Thank you!

[Bmblbzzz]

IMO the problem is not so much with adaptive dipping or even the angle of dip, but simply the brightness at the lens of dipped lights. It occurs in situations such as a car coming towards you over the brow of a hill or even just a slight rise in the road, when you are below or near to the level of the headlights.

... and my absolute favourite; when parked on the right (wrong side, arguably?) on a slight brow, unlit road.
Cycling towards them you see nothing except LED light!

Turn your engine off, switch to parking lights / side lights / whatever your car-maker calls them.

Gosh, yes. Turn your engine off! It's for moving the vehicle. And turn your headlights off; they're for seeing where you're going at night. By all means leave on your position lights (I believe this is the term used in legislation, but your car maker probably has other words).

[al_yrpal]

My Amazon purchased yellow tinted glasses have liberated me enabling me to drive confidently at night. My problem was twofold - being dazzled by the most modern cars with very powerful headlights and not being able to see the edge of a road.

Last week wearing my glasses (which fit over my normal glasses) we drove to the Jazz club which was all on non motorway roads, some of them very narrow a return journey of 30 miles and last night to a gig in the centre of Cardiff a return distance of 160 miles, motorways, main roads and a maze of side streets.

For me at least these glasses work very well and at just £8.99 a great investment.

Boolavard Night Sight Night Driving Over Glasses UV Wind Protection
https://amzn.eu/d/ggp7gGG

I am sure someone can come up with some report or other saying they do not work, but they do!

Al

[roubaixtuesday]

My Amazon purchased yellow tinted glasses have liberated me enabling me to drive confidently at night. My problem was twofold - being dazzled by the most modern cars with very powerful headlights and not being able to see the edge of a road.

Last week wearing my glasses (which fit over my normal glasses) we drove to the Jazz club which was all on non motorway roads, some of them very narrow a return journey of 30 miles and last night to a gig in the centre of Cardiff a return distance of 160 miles, motorways, main roads and a maze of side streets.

For me at least these glasses work very well and at just £8.99 a great investment.

Boolavard Night Sight Night Driving Over Glasses UV Wind Protection
https://amzn.eu/d/ggp7gGG

I am sure someone can come up with some report or other saying they do not work, but they do!

Al

Should have gone to specsavers.

In years gone by people would use yellow-tinted glasses to reduce glare and help them drive at night. While yellow tints might have helped reduce glare, they also made darker areas of the road even less visible. The important thing to remember is to not use tinted glasses at night as this can actually make your vision worse



My bold.

https://www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/driving-glasses

[al_yrpal]

As far as I am concerned thats rubbish, like I found Specsavers

Al

[mattheus]

As far as I am concerned thats rubbish, like I found Specsavers

Al

I do know at least one (highly experienced rider, ejucated engineer type) who swears by amber tints for night.

Not sure which optician he goes to! ;-)

[al_yrpal]

I went to Specsavers - its a franchise. Got some glasses, they were awful. Went to another independent Optician who said the Specsavers eye test was badly wrong. Went back to Specsavers they wouldnt do a retest or give me my money back so I have no confidence in them.
It will cost you £8.99 to try some of these night driving glasses. They work for me and they may work for you. With Amazon you can send things back for a refund if they dont suit.

Al

[roubaixtuesday]

As correctly predicted by Al, what studies there are seem to show no benefit from these, and from very brief Google, it seems are generally advised against, eg https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/ar ... 0Q17g8xnyD

Given the likelihood of confirmation bias, recommending people try for themselves something tested, shown not to be beneficial and recommended against by experts is probably not to be recommended.

If you're later in life and struggling with glare, better to seek professional advice, I suggest.

[pjclinch]

As correctly predicted by Al, what studies there are seem to show no benefit from these, and from very brief Google, it seems are generally advised against, eg https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/ar ... 0Q17g8xnyD

Given the likelihood of confirmation bias, recommending people try for themselves something tested, shown not to be beneficial and recommended against by experts is probably not to be recommended.

If you're later in life and struggling with glare, better to seek professional advice, I suggest.

remember back when French cars all had yellow headlights to "fix" this sort of thing?
noticed how they don't have them any more?

Maybe there's a connection there...

Pete.

[al_yrpal]

Well, for me the glasses work, and there is no degredation whatsoever in my night sight. In fact it is improved. For £8.99 its worth a try. Decide for yourself!

Al

[SA_SA_SA]

As correctly predicted by Al, what studies there are seem to show no benefit from these, and from very brief Google, it seems are generally advised against, eg https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/ar ... 0Q17g8xnyD

Given the likelihood of confirmation bias, recommending people try for themselves something tested, shown not to be beneficial and recommended against by experts is probably not to be recommended.

If you're later in life and struggling with glare, better to seek professional advice, I suggest.

remember back when French cars all had yellow headlights to "fix" this sort of thing?
noticed how they don't have them any more?

Maybe there's a connection there...

Pete.

The French unhelpfully didnt collect much data on their experiment, so I think the best that can be said is that it didnt have much effect on safety but old style halogen headlamps didnt produce much blue light so the selective yellow filter didnt reduce brightness of drivers own headlamps significantly: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tec ... color.html(search for phrase '50  are blue' ). So if excess blue light is simply unwanted...?

[Biospace]

As correctly predicted by Al, what studies there are seem to show no benefit from these, and from very brief Google, it seems are generally advised against, eg https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/ar ... 0Q17g8xnyD

Given the likelihood of confirmation bias, recommending people try for themselves something tested, shown not to be beneficial and recommended against by experts is probably not to be recommended.

If you're later in life and struggling with glare, better to seek professional advice, I suggest.

remember back when French cars all had yellow headlights to "fix" this sort of thing?
noticed how they don't have them any more?

Maybe there's a connection there...

Pete.

I think the French losing their Selective Yellow headlamps was in large part due to EU harmonization, not because they didn't work well - they did, superbly so.

To suggest yellow tinted glasses and yellow headlamp beams create a similar result is misleading.

[Bmblbzzz]

AIUI the selective yellow headlights were originally introduced for military vehicles, and EU Single Market rules mean the French authorities can no longer insist on them, but French drivers can still choose them if they prefer.