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I want to know how many are related to drivers blinded by LED headlights. I've seen (and been a part of) dozens of near hits in the past few years because of this.
edit: Let me just be very clear about this — if you think that the issue is only aftermarket headlights or modified vehicles, you are mistaken. you can look at pretty much any modern Toyota or Subaru or Mazda or pickup with LED headlights and see that the low beams are just as bright as the high beams, just aimed lower. and that aim lower does not matter when the low beams are shining in somebody's face, which happens often because roads are not level and flat. and you know where this is often the case? intersections. intersections often are raised in the middle, which means the car on the other side is angled slightly upwards, which means their low beam LED headlights are blasting the person on the other side in the face, even with their "but much cutoff is correct excuse".
the simple inexcusable unavoidable fact is that headlights that blind people like this with this frequency are simply bad design and dangerous, and yes they also make the driver an asshole for having that vehicle and treating other people like this. like how would people feel if I just went around blasting them in the face with a flashlight that bright while walking around. they'd be livid. this is literally not any different, you're not special just because you bought a 4,000 lb vehicle that has dangerous features.
Bigger vehicles with high hoods too.
Whoever invented LED bulbs for cars needs to be blacklisted from the auto industry
There are plenty of cars with stock LED headlights and proper cutoffs, so they’re less blinding than traditional headlights
It’s aftermarket “illegal” LEDs, LEDs that are misaligned or started at a bad height, and way too many drivers who never turn off their high beams. Yet another safety rule we only pay lip service to, resulting in unnecessary deaths
I swear some people really must not know you can toggle between normal headlights and high beams.
I thought the same and then got a recent-ish car that had an "automatic" setting to dim or engage the high beams. It's terrible. Taking tight corners on a dark rural road, they dim because the sensor detects the car's own headlight reflection off of the trees, defeating the purpose.
So, I think a bunch of dipshit city folk leave the high beams on (in the city where they aren't fucking necessary) and let the "automatic" setting handle it, poorly.
I learned how to drive in a rural area where using the brights is normal when you get out of town, with the caveat that you have to pay attention and switch back when cresting a hill or coming around a corner.
Edit: "creating" -> "cresting"
doesn't matter when lowbeams are just as bright as high beams and aimed at somebody's face, though
Some people also don't know you can set your headlights to "auto" so you aren't driving at twilight with your headlights off.
This may be another case of needing technology to rescue people who are just that dumb.
In ten years we’ll all forget how to toggle off high beams, as it will just work most of the time. But at the same time we’ll be blinded less as the machine never forgets
auto high beams do not work every time.
I am routinely blinded by them when people drive through my neighborhood at night and I'm walking my dog, or when I'm biking to the store. and this is in a neighborhood with street lights where high beams are completely and utterly not required in the first place at 40 km/h.
Every attempt to make something idiot creates a bigger idiot
While I totally see the point this is already “solved” in that they shouldn’t have high beams on in the first place.
Pedestrians and cyclists are tough because drivers don’t think to toggle their high beams, even If they see pedestrians and auto-high beams aren’t any better. We’re out of luck
In my neighborhood we have very narrow streets and where there are sidewalks not pavement right next to the street. I never thought I’d appreciate the small amount of separation a standard sidewalk give but it actually does make a difference in how blinded your u are by traffic. But the bottom Line is similar to yours: this is a high density neighborhood with streetlights where no one should use high beams to begin with. Realistically there are several Poorly placed houses whose owners are probably even more frustrated
Yah, I drove a rental with these for the first time and didn't like it. It left the high beams on far longer than I would've manually and when I tried to manually switch them off it would turn them back on without me knowing.
I just bought a 2012 as my 'new' vehicle because I don't want to deal with any stupid tech issues like that
hell, I don't even like standard traction control - if I press the accelerator, I want the wheels to get power. I've been stuck slowly crossing in the middle of an intersection too many times because ESC 'helped out' and cut power to the wheels. no mf just spin them until they get to the hard surface below the snowslush
This was worse. It had lane detection so every once in a while I could feel it jerk the wheel even though I was solidly in my lane. The only advanced feature I didn't mind was the proximity warning when I wanted to change lanes. It was pretty clear there was a car there but I didn't mind the heads up.
incorrect. cutoff just means it isn't blinding on flat level ground. which roads and streets are very much not
I’ll take being briefly blinded as a car hits a pothole over ten terrifying seconds of zero visibility as a monstrous vehicle careens toward me and I have no idea where the street is or what’s in it
see the thing is we don't need to put up with either of those situations, neither is acceptable
They need to make them frosted so they disperse the light and they need to design headlights that are focused downwards so they can't hit your eyes directly.
Those are aftermarket lights, or people with lifted pickups. Lights are designed to work at a set distance off the road, when people lift the truck, everything is now hi beams.
The problem is not the industry, it's a lack of safety laws and enforcement. North America does not safety inspect vehicles.
lol it's not just aftermarket or modified stuff dude, look at any new stock Subaru/Toyota/Mazda. blinding
the regulations on intensity never presumed we'd use such small arrays to produce that intesity. in the cabin, the lights projected onto the road don't seem that different from 20 years ago. but from the other way it's dazzling
The law is a max of 2400/3600 lumens.
Aftermarket LEDs are all illegal, but police do not enforce. Again, no safety inspections.
It is insane how bright they are now and due to LEDs appear as point sources. Even if they are adjusted correctly for flat roads as soon as you get to any ripples in the road now they are aimed right into your eyes. For some reason insurers and the gov don't recognize this problem.
If you have powered mirrors, reflect the light back into their eyes...works great
doesn't work well in my experience. now I typically just leave my mirrors all the way out and up when driving at night, so the headlights never hit my eyes from them
I can see everything I need to from the rearview and turning my head. it's not like you can see anything using the side mirrors at night when somebody with LED headlights is behind you anyways, all you see is a giant flare and you can't even tell if it's in your lane or the next lane or how close it is
LED headlights are literally making the roads less safe by decreasing visibility and awareness
I think this is the biggest issue here..
