Asleep at the Wheel in the Headlight Brightness Wars
The crusade against bright headlights has picked up speed in recent years, in large part due to a couple of Reddit nerds. Could they know what’s best for the auto industry better than the auto industry itself?
archive link: https://archive.is/MFa7R
I've wondered before if my perception of headlights being so much brighter was them really getting brighter, cars getting taller, my eyes getting older, or a combination of all those (and other) factors. It seems like there might be a few things going on, but it does definitely look like lights are getting a lot brighter, and I'm obviously not the only one to be frustrated by it...
There definitely seems to be a lack of regulation and/or enforcement. If your headlights are so out of whack that they endanger other drivers, then we've completely lost the plot.
The LED headlights being put in are blinding. It didn't used to be like this. A friend recently got a new vehicle that had them straight from the factory. I don't understand it. Whenever I'm driving at night, I'm constantly getting blinded. It's weird
hell yeah, it's very comforting to know that someone actually gives a crap and is advocating for us. when i first started driving, driving at night was one of my favorite things, bar the occassional asshole with permahighbeams. now driving at night is a truly horrifying prospect. between that and car size, i feel like 90% of the cars being built today shouldn't be street legal
of course the best possibility is replacing cars entirely with bikes and robust public transit- and that's coming from someone who loves (or loved) to drive- but in the mean time i'd really just love to be able to drive to rite aid or the laundromat after work and not be blinded six or seven times on the way there!
I love that my car’s insanely bright headlights have an angle adjustment… I obviously keep them pointed down because I’m not a monster, but that’s a cool feature.
These adjustments are mandatory in the EU. Keep in mind however that the intended use for this angle adjustment is for when the rear axle of your car is under full load and the headlight pointing upwards. You should not adjust the headlights otherwise. Especially at higher speeds, you need to be able to see far enough ahead in the dark.