Over-powerful LED lights
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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.
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
... and my absolute favourite; when parked on the right (wrong side, arguably?) on a slight brow, unlit road.Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑13 Feb 2024, 9:56am 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.
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.
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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!
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!
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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).mattheus wrote: ↑13 Feb 2024, 10:07am... and my absolute favourite; when parked on the right (wrong side, arguably?) on a slight brow, unlit road.Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑13 Feb 2024, 9:56am 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.
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.
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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
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
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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Re: Over-powerful LED lights
Should have gone to specsavers.al_yrpal wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 1:00pm 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
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
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
As far as I am concerned thats rubbish, like I found Specsavers
Al
Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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
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
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
-
- Posts: 5818
- Joined: 18 Aug 2015, 7:05pm
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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.
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.
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
remember back when French cars all had yellow headlights to "fix" this sort of thing?roubaixtuesday wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 3:26pm 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.
noticed how they don't have them any more?
Maybe there's a connection there...
Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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
Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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...?pjclinch wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 5:15pmremember back when French cars all had yellow headlights to "fix" this sort of thing?roubaixtuesday wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 3:26pm 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.
noticed how they don't have them any more?
Maybe there's a connection there...
Pete.
------------You may not use this post in Cycle or other magazine ------
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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.pjclinch wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 5:15pmremember back when French cars all had yellow headlights to "fix" this sort of thing?roubaixtuesday wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 3:26pm 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.
noticed how they don't have them any more?
Maybe there's a connection there...
Pete.
To suggest yellow tinted glasses and yellow headlamp beams create a similar result is misleading.
Re: Over-powerful LED lights
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.