In Canada, the federal government just put out a nationwide poll for input on this exact subject, as it’s coming near to the time to review the related legislation. It’s very possible that some of the headlight implementations currently on the road will soon be illegal nationwide.
Thank god, I've been sick of this shit for over a decade. I don't know who would vote against dimmer lights. Do you have a link for this poll?
The poll closed 20 April: https://tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-services/consultations/canadian-experience-vehicle-headlights-glare-night
I seem to recall it opened in February. There were lots of news articles on Lemmy about it at the time.
I'm passionate about this issue, between this and the size of the vehicles it has made night driving miserable, I used to love a nice relaxing night drive.
We haven't. Many states have new laws on the books about this issue, and others on the horizon. The issue is that they approved at one point, so there will most likely be a grandfather clause for existing ones on the road because you can't force car manufacturers to go back and recall all these things to be retroactively compliant with a new law at cost to them. Not how laws work.
You can ban the sale of super high power bulbs, though. all of the bright headlamps fail (even LEDs, eventually…) and they simply get replaced with compliant bulbs.
It is less about the output in lumens of the lamp, but more about the angle and color temperature.
In most cars, the difference between regular headlight operation and "brights" has nothing to do with the output, it's about the angle of the beams. Of course, when you angle the headlights up so you can see farther down the road, now you also point them at oncoming drivers eyes.
The scourge of "blue" headlights amplifies the problem. They're no brighter, but they are more uncomfortable to stare down.
In most cars, there are a variety of ways to fine-tune the angle of the beams with often little more than a screwdriver. The problem is that most people have no idea that they need to be adjusted. This is why regular inspections are important as well as some sort of standards that can be applied across a wide variety of cars.
The reality is that correcting poor angle on headlights is a trivial task, should only take a few moments. Additionally, most modern headlight systems are active and can adjust the angle by pointing the lamp down or using shutters or individual LEDs to change the angle or beam pattern. Eventually, this will just be an irritating thing of the past, but it will take a number of years before every GM truck and SUV is off the road as well as a lot of current Hyundai/Kia products (anecdotally observed by me to be the worst offenders).
LED's generally outlast the car
Not the PCB flea-bay ones. Not ten minutes ago I discovered yet another 194 bulb fritzingTF out on my car that the previous owner had installed. This is the fifth one that has crapped out. I only notice because I rarely drive at night and my car looks like it’s spazzing out.
The last part: it can work like that, with a transition period
Because consumer protection and regulation seems to have stopped being a real thing after Reagan. Since then everything good has been legacy agencies patching at the edges where they had authority (all gone now thanks to the Supreme Court - see Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo).
Buckle up. It's only going to get worse.
(This is extra ironic because buckling up is only even a thing because of consumer protections. So I guess get ready to be thrown through a windshield.)
Over here, ADRs (Australian design rules) stopped this problem before it began
There's been a ton of coverage on this, not sure that it matters. The physics of car fired harpoons to attack other cars is eluding me, while I develop many patents on the matter
I'm sorry you can't see, but I can see great.
What if another lifted F750 with bright white Xenon headlights is coming in the other direction?
Highlander rules. The winner takes the losers headlights and adds them onto their monster truck.
This is the plot of Mortal Engines.
We stop, get out, and kiss.
Here's my take:
There used to be a time when headlights really did not penetrate the night as much as they should, esp. with increasing speeds.
Making them brighter was reasonable. So they invented Halogen lights. But at some point the whole thing ran away I suppose, making them ever brighter became a selling point.
Add to that the SUV effect: "most importantly, me and my loved ones are safe in this rolling fortress", you can see how we got here.
I used to drive a very, very old car. Now there's a law in Germany that allows older cars to keep on running the way they used to even if the same aspects would be illegal in a newer car. This car did not even have Halogen lights. I had trouble seeing, every time another car passed me on the road. The difference in brightness was - well, blinding. It was legit dangerous.
I believe the brightness of Halogen lights is totally sufficient.
Add to that the tone. Most LEDs are blueish which feels worse for human eyes. Regular lightbulbs are yellowish.
For me it's not the brightness, but the color temperature of the light that gets me. Why do we strictly regulate the color of turn signals and brake lights, but not headlights? Warm white should be mandated.
walking at night is kinda hard now because your eyes will adjust to the dark and then suddenly the brightest car ever drives by and then you just cant see
Calibrated headlights shouldn't impair vision too much. Laser (and matrix) headlights are becoming more mainstream too, those gets even brighter but directed. Do you have an astigmatism by chance? Is it aftermarket and modified headlights causing the issue? My pet peeve is lifted trucks running brights behind me. Could be 6 car length back and still light up my interior like a stadium
Poorly aimed headlights are the real killer. They might not even be brights, they're just aimed to the heavens because people don't know how to maintain their car.
Well obviously if its a big enough problem to be regulated its not imaginary, and only due to something like alignement
Here in vietnam, probably half of cars and bikes have yellow headlights that don't mess with your night vision, then white brights.
Because (particularly in the US) people have the attitude of "I know that it's going to be shit for other people, but it makes me feel a little better about things, so I'm going to do it anyway"
That's a very complex thought process. Let me unveil the real reason:
"whoah that's cool"
That's it. If someone made a pan-nuclear LED with the same brightness as the surface of an entire white dwarf, people would buy it. That's where the thinking ends. Where the light ends up, other people, etc.. Who cares?
Conservative governments have spent 3 generations, the world over, convincing everyone that deregulation is always a good thing.
The adaptive headlights are perfectly capable of blocking out the blinding cold white light modern headlights have, they just don't use it in the US, and it's only partially in use in the EU.
It's absurd that they don't mandate it in LED and Laser headlights for both high and low beams
There’s another way. Adaptive headlights can fix this: https://youtube.com/shorts/AgxVuXC0T44
You’re not wrong though. Even crappy headlights on taller vehicles seem much brighter to observers. My buddy’s 2005 RAM is proof. When we’re in it, I’d have better luck seeing with a flashlight, but when he’s driving behind my car, it’s like someone’s shining the bat signal into my rear window.
Also, don’t get me started on people who replace their bulbs with HID or LED bulbs but don’t spend the money on projector headlights. It’s infuriating.
It's fucking horrible even here in EU, where I would expect it to be better regulated. Can't imagine how bad it's in the US.
I've even seen multiple posts on local subreddits about people buying SUV/crossovers and one of the main reason was being blinded by other SUVs.
Fucking horrible it should be checked at every MOT, and it sometimes is, but the newer vehicles are exempt from yearly MOTs for some stupid reason.
EXACTYLLYY makes me so pissed. I'd like to smash every cadillac escalade headlight.
I bought glasses for this very reason. "Night vision" glasses. While the lights are still bright your eyes recover quickly.
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