Dazzled by new-style vehicle headlights

[LollyKat]

I find yellow tinted glasses help to reduce the glare a little. They also increase contrast so that overall my night vision is improved.

e.g. https://www.yourspares.co.uk/parts/ys74 ... 20Products

[Stradageek]

You should try approaching a 4x4 with mega lights on a narrow unlit country lane in the dark whilst riding a recumbent trike!

I found only one solution, cheap Chinese Cree lights mounted low down on the forks.

The wide and bright beam meant that there was enough light to see the kerb whilst still dazzling the oncoming vehicle enough to make him slow down.

My eyes are firmly fixed on the kerb, with the occasional check on the cars progress.

This system also solved the parallel problem of approaching bicycles with mega-lights on unlit cycle paths

[AlaninWales]

http://www.lightmare.org/

[tykeboy2003]

Surely I can't be the only one this bothers?

You're not.

[Debs]

Surely I can't be the only one this bothers?

You're not.

You're not +2

Interesting to hear about eyes becoming more sensitive to light with age, although i think my eyes have always been sensitive to light.
A recent eye test this year [free of charge now i'm 61] revealed i need reading glasses +1.5 strength for general jobbing around the house or working on the bike etc, and up to +3 strength for close up stuff like threading a needle or reading a book. However my long range vision is still excellent.

It does seem to me that the motor industry is escalating a kind of arms race with whiter and brighter bulbs to outshine the opposition, and then there is the aftermarket trade, even halogen bulbs can be made to output more light than legally intended, lots of dubious super bright blue painted bulbs for sale on eBay.

[pwa]

And when so many vehicles have super bright lights it helps no-one. Even if your vehicle has them, you are still going to be dazzled by oncoming traffic with the same lights. It makes no sense.

Vehicles are one area in which EU regulations are woefully inadequate.

[Mick F]

Surely I can't be the only one this bothers?

You're not.

You're not +6 and I would think +10,000,000

[mercalia]

yes even if "dipped", is that they use leds that even without a mirror dazzle? SO these days my lidl battery light I return the compliment and focus it straight on to dazzle the cars also

[Biospace]

I think it's misleading to even begin to suggest dazzling headlamps are significantly more of a problem for older eyes. Yes, eye disease and degeneration is more prevalent the further you are from 25 but my two children prove that modern headlights are just as dangerous for perfect eyes as those which have a bit more experience.

The lack of interest of UK legislators in this sort of problem is sad especially when so much effort is invested in chasing people who are a couple of days late renewing 'road tax', even if it's zero-rated.

Living and riding where roads are quiet and fast (for England), it's drivers of vehicles with these ludicrously expensive lights who tend to drive more recklessly, mostly Range Rovers and other overpriced Land Rover brands. I don't believe they intend to be a danger to society, more likely a complete blissful ignorance of reality which surplus cash sometimes creates (apparently!). Either that or the crippling monthly rental charges numb the brain.

In my world all road vehicles would use Selective Yellow filament bulbs (how do cold lights prevent snow build-up?) but that would be almost as selfish (though miles safer) as the current state of affairs.

[Debs]

Vehicles are one area in which EU regulations are woefully inadequate.

The EU can't prevent people buying brighter aftermarket bulbs via Amazon or Ebay [which tend to originate from China] and then fitting super-bright LEDs to older cars with light units designed specifically for ordinary Halogen.

I believer there are MOT regs and UK laws which require an appropriate bulb to be used, but this gets commonly unnoticed or flouted.

[pwa]

Vehicles are one area in which EU regulations are woefully inadequate.

The EU can't prevent people buying brighter aftermarket bulbs via Amazon or Ebay [which tend to originate from China] and then fitting super-bright LEDs to older cars with light units designed specifically for ordinary Halogen.

I believer there are MOT regs and UK laws which require an appropriate bulb to be used, but this gets commonly unnoticed or flouted.

Very often, when I experience severe dazzle from an oncoming car the car turns out to be a newish Merc or a BMW, and I doubt most of them have anything fitted other than the stuff they came out of the factory with.

[peetee]

Vehicles are one area in which EU regulations are woefully inadequate.

The EU can't prevent people buying brighter aftermarket bulbs via Amazon or Ebay [which tend to originate from China] and then fitting super-bright LEDs to older cars with light units designed specifically for ordinary Halogen.

I believer there are MOT regs and UK laws which require an appropriate bulb to be used, but this gets commonly unnoticed or flouted.

I'm not convinced there is. Many vehicles have ridiculously bright LED daytime running lights in lines running down or across the facets of the car that are part of the conceptual design of the vehicle and not after-market add-ons. The actual output of each single light may well be below that of a 55w filament bulb (that used to be the standard main beam IIRC) but it's size makes the intensity too great, in my perception.
It's an interesting parallel when I think of the mess that is domestic lightbulb replacement. The variety available is bewildering and finding a suitable alternative is not easy. I seem to have some bulbs that do a pretty poor job of illuminating a book, for example, but are quite intense and distracting from the other side of the room. Is that common or do I have a vision problem that should be diagnosed?

[Bonefishblues]

Vehicles are one area in which EU regulations are woefully inadequate.

The EU can't prevent people buying brighter aftermarket bulbs via Amazon or Ebay [which tend to originate from China] and then fitting super-bright LEDs to older cars with light units designed specifically for ordinary Halogen.

I believer there are MOT regs and UK laws which require an appropriate bulb to be used, but this gets commonly unnoticed or flouted.

Very often, when I experience severe dazzle from an oncoming car the car turns out to be a newish Merc or a BMW, and I doubt most of them have anything fitted other than the stuff they came out of the factory with.

How do you know?

...in semi jest, but along the same lines as drivers who berate invisible riders

[Bonefishblues]

Vehicles are one area in which EU regulations are woefully inadequate.

The EU can't prevent people buying brighter aftermarket bulbs via Amazon or Ebay [which tend to originate from China] and then fitting super-bright LEDs to older cars with light units designed specifically for ordinary Halogen.

I believer there are MOT regs and UK laws which require an appropriate bulb to be used, but this gets commonly unnoticed or flouted.

There are. We discussed these earlier thread, including a link to the MOT testing criteria

[Debs]

It's an interesting parallel when I think of the mess that is domestic lightbulb replacement. The variety available is bewildering and finding a suitable alternative is not easy. I seem to have some bulbs that do a pretty poor job of illuminating a book, for example, but are quite intense and distracting from the other side of the room. Is that common or do I have a vision problem that should be diagnosed?

Buying new LED domestic lights is very puzzling these days, whereas we used to go by watts for brightness, 20w 40w 60w etc it's now Lumens that are measured in thousands, and then there is a colour temperature measured in Kelvins - the higher the whiter, this comes in handy in work areas such as a kitchen, bathroom or bike-work area. The lower Kelvins are better for relaxation, the bedroom, the lounge, the dinning room.

I have changed a couple of lights in the home which are new LEDs, they use far less power than the older type lights. For instance two kitchen fluorescent lights of 40w each have been replaced with LED type which work out at around 2 x 18w, a reduction in power usage from 80w down to 36w, should help add up to an electric bill saving over the year. However the new LED lights tend not to have replaceable bulbs so when they expire [in an unknown number of years] the whole light unit needs to be scraped [ to recycle? ] and a new light needs to be bought. Blimey eh?

I've noticed a few of my neighbours have got it awfully wrong with their new bling porch lights that are beaming out to the universe, the simply job of walking down the quite country village cul-de-sac is now one of constance dazzlement from bright white porch light glare. It's only a matter of time before astronauts complain