Bring back standardised headlight, and a maximum height allowance on vehicle’s headlights so that they’re not right in a sedan’s driver’s rearview mirror when a pickup is tailgating.
Or better, reduce the number of cars, especially SUVs. Improve public transport infrastructure.
I saw a graphic of how big the “blind spot” is in front of modern trucks and it was bigger than most giant construction equipment.
And that’s for an average height driver.
Most of the huge truck guys also happen to be well under the average height, so entire reasonable size cars disappear in front of them when they tailgate. They might see the roof, but they won’t see brake lights or taillights.
It’s flat out not safe for other people. Which is why we have people driving giant SUVs instead of minivans now. Which just makes it worse for everyone else.
maximum height allowance on vehicle’s headlights so that they’re not right in a sedan’s driver’s rearview mirror when a pickup is tailgating
That’s actually already legally mandated at least in states that require state inspections. Headlight angle is supposed to be one of the things you have to check in order to pass inspection.
In practice, mostly nobody checks it and it doesn’t matter. But it should.
Can’t you just install couple of headlights facing backwards (asslights?) for such occasions?
In places where you need to have emissions checked they should simultaneously check headlight alignment and brightness and enforce standards for these.
I prefer the much more fun “break LED headlights with a hammer” but your solution is less likely to land me in jail I guess.
LED headlights are not the problem. LEDs in reflector housings and/or idiots driving with their brights on is the problem.
Either way the problem is idiot car owners, not technology.
For the most part, I agree. LEDs are not the problem. The problem is either moronic drivers, or poor implementation of LED lights. As a driver of a very low car, the vast majority of my complaints about bright lights boils down to lifted trucks with ridiculous light bars, LEDs bulbs in halogen housings, or dufoids driving with their highbeams on. It doesn’t matter if the highbeams are halogen or LED, they’re both blinding.
That being said, there are cars with LED headlights that are blinding from the factory:
- 2023+ Subaru Outback.
- Jeep Wrangler/Gladiator (compounded by having a factory or aftermarket lift)
- Hyundai Palisade
Then there are the cars that are designed by morons that have all instruments in the center console. That makes it harder for drivers to see when their LED highbeams are on:
- Toyota Prius
- Tesla Model 3/Y
But there are plenty of cars with LED headlights that I don’t have any issues with. In my experience, Mercedes and Audi seem to do a particularly good job of having bright lights for the driver without blinding anyone else.
And there are plenty of other cars with halogen headlights that are blinding from the factory too:
- Ford F-Series trucks with quad halogen headlamps
- Dodge trucks
- Chevy Cruze (or some other small to midsize American sedan, I can’t tell)
The luddites who want to strap jam jars with glowworms in them to the front of new cars are being ridiculous. Properly aimed LEDs are so much safer.
When I got my new car with LED headlights, I couldn’t believe how much more I could see. I could see fae down the road. Retroreflectors on lane markings far beyond the reach of my beams are visible. Pedestrians running across the street against the light wearing all black (true story) are visible! Despite clear lenses, new bulbs, and being correctly aimed, the halogen lights in my old Civic barely reached 100 feet down the road. My other halogen bulbed vehicle is better, but it’s still a far cry from what I’m used to now.
We do in Germany, every two years. It’s not helping and I don’t know why. Maybe people are aligning their headlights correctly just for the test. Or the test is garbage. Next time my car is due, I’ll ask the guy.
I always wondered if it’s really the technique of the light or just lazy Standards
I hate it when someone with these lights is in the passing lane behind you, and their lights reflect off your side mirror directly into your eyes. The worst is when they’re only going like 102% your speed, so they linger there unless you adjust your own speed to change their placement relative to you.
Or when you are both at a stop light facing each other in your respective left turn lanes. Not only are their insanely bright LEDs directly facing you but you are also both at a slight incline, exacerbating the angle of brightness. And you have no choice but to look ahead because you need to watch for oncoming cars/pedestrians crossing, to know when it’s safe for you to make your left turn.
I went from a small car to a small crossover and it made a huge difference. It’s like America’s roads are designed for SUVs.
Quite a few years ago I had a Citroen DS 23, whose headlights moved with the steering with a simple mechanism, so it illuminated the curves much better and also dazzled drivers coming in front much less. I don’t know why this has not become standard, very easy to implement by manufacturers, it is simply a bar that connects the headlights and another connected to the steering, it is nothing more than this.
