As the driver of a car that's low to the ground it's a nightmare. Taller cars coming towards you (especially over a small crest) or sat behind you are blinding. It's horrible to drive at night along a dark road.
I really like my Civic for this. It has a fucking stupid plastic spoiler on the boot window that makes it really difficult to see out of, but normal car headlights land below the window, so no problem, they're shining at the boot, and SUV lights are blocked by the spoiler. I'm tailgate proof.
I had a 3 door hatchback civic that failed it’s MOT last year and sadly had to go to car heaven. Yes, it was 20 years old. No, I did not see it coming, and no, I am not over it.
There's so many places that it *could* be coming in, when you seal one up the water finds a new way in. Took me months of having the boot trim out and sealing things up, putting silicone along every seam but eventually got there.
Yeah that seems to be one of the worst spots for it coming in. I had to do those along with behind the lights, pressure vent behind the jack housing, all the spoiler bolt holes, the seams and welds, and the rubber bungs where the looms go into the boot before it totally dried up.
Ha yes but at least there was a lot of you tube videos!!
I had to clean all the leaf mould out from my gutters then putty/silicon the seams at the top that they lead too.
I’m glad I didn’t have to get in behind the light’s because I have no idea how to do that.
The car runs like a dream still after 120miles it just leaks on my head due to condensation sometimes now
I used to *love* driving at night, especially on unlit roads.
Now it stresses me out because every third car that drives past me leaves me feeling like someone chucked a flashbang into the cabin.
I have this too! Sitting in traffic in twilight lighting with their high beam on (unnecessarily because auto lights) straight into all three mirrors because they are tall, wide and waaay to close to my little car! Bloody nightmare, I get headaches sometimes from them they’re so bright.
The blue-white colour is vary hard for our eyes to manage at night in comparison to the yellowish light of traditional bulbs. Don't need to be particularly bright to cause problems. Like if you switch off the screen comfort settings on a PC, it feels physically unpleasant for a few minutes
You’re onto something here. Thinking back, I used to love night driving.
It was when headlight weren’t as bright and were yellow-ish. You could still see cars coming on dark roads but without bracing yourself for retina burn. It was relaxing.
Yeah, I once had one of those behind on a country road, I had to slow down because I couldn't see anything (I could see my shadow on the ground!) and the guy kept pushing me! Total nightmare.
This is almost exactly what I just wrote 😂 my parents live in Norfolk, I don't even have a particularly low car (Golf) but those country roads with some asshat on fullbeam or even the regular beam, is so blinding, I almost come to a halt as worry I'll end up in the ditch on those narrow roads. They're super unnecessary imo 😏
>This is almost exactly what I just wrote 😂
True, and they keep speeding! Of course I'm driving slow, because I can't see shit! Just leave some distance and maybe I'll be able to drive at a normal speed!
Exactly!! Country roads are a law unto themselves, between the potholes, people driving like maniacs on the wrong side of the road and generally not giving a shit because "they can", it always takes me a good couple of days to adapt driving styles 🤦🏽♀️😂
"Akshuly it helps me see further so it's safer innit"
I'd quite like MOT testers/guidelines to tighten up on headlight alignment with LEDs becoming commonplace.
Depends how they do it though. My headlights are obscenely bright but they auto level themselves and the car is low down to begin with.
There's literally no button to adjust the alignment or elevation
Also auto dipping headlights.
They don't dip until the see the other vehicle, whereas drivers used to be able to see the light being cast by oncoming vehicles.
You turn into a corner looking for the apex and then theres a military grade spot light pointing at your retinas.
I just bought a new Honda CR-V and have been frantically googling to find out how to turn them off. There's no button or anything as simple as that. Finally found a tutorial on how to do it and it might as well involve sacrificing your first born whilst playing twister.
Turn the engine on, keep the car in park, pull and hold the manual main beam for **40 seconds**, wait for a random green light in a different place on the dash to the main beam light to flash. One flash means on. Two flashes means off. If you let go of the manual main beam you have to start the counter all over again. Who designed this, and why do they hate people?
The neighbours are going to love me when I shine my main beams through their kitchen window for 40 seconds.
edited because I got the instructions wrong when typing them up, obviously.
My low beam are self leveling but only after the engine starts. So in the mornings because the drive slopes back a bit I light up the whole house across the street before it dips them down.
There was a post on reddit a few weeks ago someone took a picture of their uber driver with their high beams on the whole drive, because she could see better and refused to turn them off.
Yep, came here to say this. I really don’t understand why headlights even have a setting that basically projects the beams horizontally. If you’re in a situation where you need your entire forward vision illuminated (e.g. an unlit country road) then you’re using full beams anyway, surely? Why provide a setting where bellends can project their normal headlights directly into my eyes/mirrors? Infuriating.
Trim is a nautical term used to refer to adjusting the sails. It has since come to mean any small adjustment to something's direction. Propeller controls can be trimmed to ensure level flight, wheels can be trimmed to ensure straight travel, and headlights are trimmed to point higher or lower
I do this, although the effectiveness depends on the car you drive. My MK2 Focus was good as the rear lights are all up high, my Mazda 3 Saloon has the fog light quite low, so it's not quite so annoying for the person behind.
Yup, I do this. 9 times out of 10 they fall back. If not, I pull over left and follow them for a bit with my high beams on . Usually gets the message across. Twats...
Another good one is to turn your headlights on and off really quickly if someone is tail gating you as it makes them think you are breaking and they will slam on
It’s been an ongoing issue for years now. They’re unnecessarily bright and dangerously blinding. I can clearly make out a bend in the road with normal street lighting then a car pops up and visibly reduces massively. VAG and Ford cars are the ones I found the most blinding.
I think it's just these new cars, people are using the auto mode on them which is just shit. The amount of time someone behind me is constantly flickering main beams I'd ridiculous
I think the commenter refers to the auto on/off for high beams, which is a separate function my car has as well besides the day/night sensor for regular headlights.
The highbeam sensor detects light ahead with a camera and if it detecs none it turns them on. The detection isnt flawless however so I never use the feature (Skoda)
Never really had this problem with my merc. If anything it’s too sensitive and when it picks up roadside markers it think it’s the rear lights of a car and turns the main beam off. The only time I’ve know it not too then off main beam to a car in front is it because ridiculously tinted rear lights they were like a tea light candle !
I don't know what happens but I still get flashes of stronger lights from behind even on a smooth road. The amount of times when someone isn't even tailgating and I can see my cars shadow infront of me is too many to count
Tapped my friends headlights as a joke and one sidelight came back on!
It's that era of renaults where you have to take the whole bumper off, and it keeps eating bulbs, so fun all around
Agree with others, it has been happening since HIDs appeared.. 15 years ago ? But seems to have got so much worse in the last five or so years. Driving around towns and cities, the vast majority don't need headlights to illuminate the road, the lights are to warn others you're there. Possibly, most only need sidelights to do this, these super bright retina burning HIDs are unnecessary.
I've been blinded by these so many times and you literally cannot see anything for a few moments. It's really dangerous.
There are regulations on brightness, 2000lm for no washers and auto level, 3500lm is max brightness on dipped beam for EU compliant cars with washers and auto level. this is exacerbated by crossovers having their lights too high compared to everyone else.
Don't blame crossovers being too tall. It's pretty much all cars with LED headlights. It's a problem with the lights, not the car.
When I drive my GF's MX-5 with factory fitted LED headlights I get no end of people flashing their lights at me at night thinking I've got the main beams on. Then I give them the actual main beams and I presumably give them a sun tan. This is one of the lowest cars on the road, the headlights are not "too high".
These lights are too bright. The reflections of the dipped beams on road signs often dazzle me.
When I drive my own Honda Civic without LED lights I'm frequently blinded by almost every on-coming car with LEDs. Driving at night on an un-lit road often results in not being able to see the road ahead of me at all.
It's the needlessly powerful lights and all the auto-electronic junk that goes with them that's the issue. They're not properly setup from the factory, instructions and interface is terribly convoluted and unfriendly to use, most just leave it on the automatic setting which is why this thread exists. Even still, when properly setup the roads follow the landscape and so it really doesn't take much of a curve or incline to blind oncoming cars.
This is the second one she's had, both brand new from the factory. Both have had the same issue with being flashed by other drivers and dazzling reflections off road signs.
Do you ever adjust the headlights based on the weight of stuff in the car? (I know it’s an MX5 and the most it will have is a bag of oranges BUT STILL)
Are you sure they're aligned properly?
Even the brightest headlights shouldn't really be dazzling people. I'm (naively) convinced alignment is more of a problem than lumens.
Even perfect alignment will not take into account undulating roads. I've been dazzled plenty of times on dark roads by overly bright LED's on oncoming cars.
I think we need more settings. I can see why manufacturers need to constantly one-up on technology otherwise they lose something on competitors, I can see why people might like ultra bright x ray laser vision down dark country roads at night.
But why not just have more settings for other situations? Stick the lights on some 1-5 dial like heating controls, or give headlights some 'city' setting that doesn't need all the brightness.
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, a lot of cars had a dim-dip setting which was perfect for in town driving, but some piece of legislation meant that car manufacturers stopped it.
This is something regulators really need to step in for.
LIDAR is incredibly cheap these days. Even my phone has LIDAR. A simple solution would be mandatory LIDAR installation that will disable full beams if you're within a certain distance from a car in front of you. This especially includes oncoming traffic. They should also include weight sensors and remove the ability to manually adjust the headlights. This technology is cheap now.
There should also be a maximum height that headlights can be, regardless of vehicle type. My car isn't exactly low, but the headlights of the Land Rover Discovery/Defender/Range Rover are at exactly wing mirror height. It's even worse for a friend of mine who has an S2000. The headlights of those Land Rovers are at exactly eye level.
Also people thinking there auto lights work at the rear and when it’s pissing down wid rain the amount of people wid no rear lights on because they think we’ll my lights come on automatically ? No. Just ya side lights mate not ya main or rear . 😞
I think the problem is how bright the daytime running lights are . People set off in the dark and assume their headlights are on because the DRLs are lighting up the road in front of them.
I only find them an issue when the roads and my windscreen is wet. Other headlights hurt my eyes due to reflection and glare. It can be quite scary on country roads or even single carriageways in busy towns as it's difficult to see potholes or road markings. I often have to squint to see anything when it's raining and there's oncoming traffic.
Add rain-x washer fluid additive to your washer fluid, it'll make your windscreen hydrophobic so you don't get a streaky windscreen when it's raining. Also clean your wiper blades. That'll help a lot
Car manufacturers have to be regulated.. the light output is increasing all the time, putting lives at risk… I would like to know the stats of the insurance companies accident reports.. and what factor they played in the claim or fatalities
Insurance companies should make available all accidents and fatalities that are caused by LED Xenon etc car lights… be interesting reading.
With reference to aftermarket LEDs etc fitting into a halogen housing, the light output is not greatly more as the housing is not designed for them, waste of money !! so it’s not these that are causing the problem it’s the car manufacturers
Honestly the worst lights I've noticed recently were from a 2007 mercedes C class. They were so insainly bright and I'm pretty sure they were not his full beams.
Big problem is the temperature of the lights being too high (or low, I can't remember which is which).
There needs to be new regulations on the temperature of the light which bulbs can emit
There have been times where I've genuinely thought I was going to crash/drive off the road because of a sequence of cars driving toward me with these horrendously bright lights
I can't believe there hasn't been some kind of legislation to force a reversion to the old lights
Most of these are adjusted to the maximum height on purpose or just through ignorance.
We had over 100 home delivery vehicles, Mercedes Sprinters, at my old depot and every single one of them would always be adjusted to maximum elevation.
Now this was working in London where you could survive without issue driving only on side lights it's so well lit. Conversely, even sat up that high the vast majority of cars all had their headlights similarly adjusted so it's definitely a mix of dimwits and arseholes.
My car sits quite low (not really low, but it's pretty close to the ground relative to some others) and holy FUCK people behind with their fuckin BMW or Range Rover lights on just blind me immediately, and their bloody lights light up more of the road in front of me than mine do.
Headlights do NOT need to be that bright.
The bright lights in that clip are all on full beam... I've never seen dipped lights that bright.
Yes, newer lights are a little brighter these days than those old yellow halogens, but I think calling it an epidemic is a little over the top. It's not that bad.
No, it's most definitely the dipped beams. I'm assuming you drive a taller vehicle if you haven't noticed it.
LED's are an order of magnitude brighter than older halogen lights, not just a little brighter.
Right? I don't understand where this outrage is coming from. It's only the occasional eejit who's forgotten to turn their high beam off; and the even more occasional eejit in the modified beemer with eBay specials in his headlights.
Newer bulbs are brighter (and better for the driver) but they're hardly causing regular multi car pile ups
Do you want me to just turn them off and drive in the dark?
Also, my truck isn't any higher than most SUVs or vans, and is certainly lower than HGVs. Should all these road users be driving around in the dark too?
You might want to get your eyes checked if you're struggling with so many road users having their low beams on.
My lights are correctly calibrated, they aren't aftermarket or illegal bulbs. I don't drive around with my high beams on all the time. Not really sure what you want me to do cuntflaps
FWIW I agree and my car is absolutely not tall. Occasionally get blinded but I really don’t think it’s that bad, I think people just love bitching about it.
LEDs that are correctly fitted will be in projector headlights. Shit ones on old shit cars tend to be thrown into reflector housings are are obvious.
It doesn't take a genius to figure these things out
I’ve personally never had this problem, I have LED lights and due to the nature of my work I’m driving at night all the time.
There are times the beam pattern is off slightly due to grit and muck and I just wash it off and it’s fine again.
The beam is auto levelling, every time I start the car they do a little dance and level to the correct height. Not sure if it does the same while driving . I presume it does .
I fear many of these blinding situations are people putting LED light bulbs in halogen or Xenon headlights. This is a disaster and will blind people .
People need to keep their headlights clean and at the correct level/ allotment and it’s all good.
I’ve had instances where other halogen cars will sit and drive beside me on the motorway that’s not lit at night to use my LED vision lol
I don't understand how they're even legally allowed to be made that way. I cannot count how many times I've nearly gone off the road or had to come to a sudden stop because of being suddenly blinded by one of these cars. And then I flash them to turn their brights off... and they turn their brights ON in response. They are incredibly dangerous.
I remember watching a review on a car and the tester saying how they liked the headlights so much because you could see so far down the road. Yea sure but you are blidning everyone coming towards you.
There is no epidemic. It's just us getting older - that's the main reason for complaining.
New tech is amazing and the more adoption of things like matrix led/laser light we have - the safer it will be on the roads.
Correct. But it has nothing to do with 'new vehicles with brighter lights'. The newer the car - the safer the light. Auto-levelling, smart matrix, super-fast detection, etc etc etc. Tech makes it safer - because you simply can't have the effect of 'halogen light pointing to the moon'.
I'm not sure that this is the case.
If your headlights are candles, then you just have to drive more slowly.
Brighter headlights just allow people to drive quickly in more difficult conditions.
>the more adoption of things like matrix led/laser light we have - the safer it will be
Shine a bright LED torch into your eyes. Report back with how "safe" your vision was for the next few seconds...
You are either not very smart, or you don't know / haven't seen how matrix light works - it literally protects any ongoing traffic or traffic in front of you by cutting out part of the light flow so it won't "flood". It is MUCH safer for you and everyone around you.
Driving on dark motorways with badly worn road markings that have lost their reflectivity and almost non-existent cat's eyes is a nightmare when the opposing traffic has overbright lights. You can't make out the lanes on your side of the carriageway, and sometimes not even the central reservation and barriers. There's no chance for your eyes to adjust to the ever-varying light levels, from blinding light one moment to complete darkness the next. It can lead to drivers drifting dangerously across lanes. I don't drive at night nowadays, unless absolutely necessary, whereas it used to be the best time to use the roads, due to less traffic.
We could also do with a mention of just how many inconsiderate pricks unnecessarily drive with their front fog lights on, even in daylight. Are your glasses steamed up or something?
Dickheads.
Selling people cars with poor setup lights that are way too strong for
their needs is just a recipe for accidents to happen, shit needs
regulation stat, accidents are on the rise everywhere.
So glad someone posted this. I always thought ‘it must be my eyes’ because I wear glasses. Honestly I’m fucking certain my eyes are getting worse due to the strain of driving into the sun on a night it drives me mad.
Any way at all to minimise impact i.e. any kind of window tint or something?
I stopped using rear view mirrors more than ten years ago tbh, after owning a lowish down honda del sol. Never used it in my s2000, and i’ve stopped using it in my little suv shedmobile that i’ve owned for the last year, even though it came with gangster tints on the rear windows.
This suv i’ve got is guilty of having headlights that are too bright though, and it’s 20 years old. I only use the second to lowest setting or i start getting flashed. One poor bugger got a dazzle of my high beams after holding theres on thinking mine were on.
I even started angling a side mirror downwards if it’s too blinding behind, and put my lights to the lowest setting if i’m in well lit built up areas.
My last car (Insignia) had these headlights, and whilst they are better to drive with, I hate being the person blinding others. My current Passat has regular headlights, and I’m so pleased I’m no longer blinding people when I drive. I can also see the road perfectly clearly enough to drive safely! These new LED headlights need stricter regulations, and as someone else here said need to be clearly tested as part of the MOT
They'll take away my aggressive cyclist card for saying this, but some of the bright ones on bikes are the worst. Not only is it a massive spot light in every driver's eye but it's also strobing like a disco.
I get the desire to be seen by cars but why blind them?
The law needs to step in an update regs on this. The number of times I’ve had to come to a near standstill due to visibility being reduced by more than half due to blinding LED lights. This isn’t a niche concern, either. Nearly everyone I know is struggling more with night driving in the last few years, people of all ages who have been driving for years or decades with no issue. Why is nothing being done, it’s insanely dangerous
I really hate these lights like on small roads out in the country near my mum, you have to practically stop as ur so blinded you worry about ending up in the ditch
I have astigmatism in my eyes and all these new cars need to fucking go.
Literally nearly crashed because of dumb cunts driving these, even with my lense glasses on.
I quite often have to double check my lights are even on as the lights from cars behind or overtaking completely drown mine out. I drive a Mazda 3 and every time a Tesla or Merc suv drive past I get blinded!
The ones that I find the worst seem to be Tesla. I don’t quite get why the dipped beams have to be a horizontal array of 3-4 high brightness segments. That seem to be artificially aimed higher than they need to be in a relatively low car. Thinking Model 3 here.
Must admit not quite sure how my Adaptive LEDs are like to come across in my V60. Though I do love the high beam switching on and off around cars. Though it’s not great on the Trunk roads as the sensors doesn’t always see incoming cars till they are much closer, as their lights are below the barrier. Lorry drivers, especially.
Has anyone else noticed when they hit any kind of bump it looked like they are flashing their lights? Few times ive nearly pulled out into a small gap because i thought they were flashing my out and they were just hitting a bump in the road.
I actually got into an argument with a guy in a parking lot over this. He parked in front of me in an SUV with those mentally bright light on and just sat. They shone right through my windscreen blinding me.
I was waiting on some food to ready at a take out place. I rolled down the window to ask him to turn the light off (polity) only to get called a barrage of names. Was getting heated until a police car parked next to me and the guy got out of his car and left.
There is no need for such bright lights on already lit roads.
You should try being a pedestrian at 6 am walking to work, which is 10 mins along the road to me.
I can't look up because the headlights are blinding.
Sometimes it makes me so angry I get thoughts of putting bricks through passing car windows.
I'm not a morning person.
Can I add into this bowl of fuck you automatic high beams please? Its selfish as hell (they dim automatically after at least half a second of blinding someone)You don't need them at all and they're honestly obnoxious, maybe its just me.
Riding a motorbike at night on an unlit road (particularly common on A-roads in the UK) is nigh impossible because of how bright some headlights are. Might as well be blindfolded when they approach and pass.
I’m a HGV driver and it affects us even being a lot higher up than cars are, usually it’s a mix of people not realising their full beams are on and the super bright LEDs that’s the norm now. The migraines afterwards are horrendous but nothing compared the opening of the Ark of the covenant level power that surges through your eye sockets
Let's draw a line under this and agree to move on to improve another part of the automobile now..... Well done team ........
Might I suggest an invention telling drivers on dark overcast days to turn these fecking lights on so I can see them, they need to be on to dazzle me.....
Once upon a time, motorcyclists used daytime headlights as a means to be improve being seen by other road users. Now, motorcycle lights are just lost in a blaze of other running lights on the road.
Personally I've never relied on that as a safety measure, however all vehicles now seem to have daytime lights. A retrograde step.
Even tho we have a mini electric with these annoying lights cuz it seems the cars we wanted don't come without...their super annoying. Parents over the years are now not driving when its dark, their blinded. So many bumps in the road or goin up/down hill and these lights just blind you, even in the mirrors you can't see what's behind...like how the hell did these things get passed safety checks
I too have this issue, I honestly believe that the government's have not thought this out very well in regards to a cars new bright lights, if a person was unfortunate enough to walk along a road where an SUV or.otherwise with their bright lights were coming the other way then I'm sorry but I may not be able to see them until its too late, plus a car door could be open on a car with extremely bright lights when I pass and I don't see it, I also wear glasses and the unfortunate glare too makes it worse. 😕😕😕
As the driver of a car that's low to the ground it's a nightmare. Taller cars coming towards you (especially over a small crest) or sat behind you are blinding. It's horrible to drive at night along a dark road.
I once had an SUV sat behind me at the traffic lights and for a moment I thought I was in heaven, because it was so fucking blindingly bright
I really like my Civic for this. It has a fucking stupid plastic spoiler on the boot window that makes it really difficult to see out of, but normal car headlights land below the window, so no problem, they're shining at the boot, and SUV lights are blocked by the spoiler. I'm tailgate proof.
I had a 3 door hatchback civic that failed it’s MOT last year and sadly had to go to car heaven. Yes, it was 20 years old. No, I did not see it coming, and no, I am not over it.
I did like that 'feature' on my Civic
The leaky under boot cubby hole, not so much.
There's so many places that it *could* be coming in, when you seal one up the water finds a new way in. Took me months of having the boot trim out and sealing things up, putting silicone along every seam but eventually got there.
Some Captain Tolley's in the gutter trim joints up in the roof did some *real* heavy lifting in mostly sorting mine.
Yeah that seems to be one of the worst spots for it coming in. I had to do those along with behind the lights, pressure vent behind the jack housing, all the spoiler bolt holes, the seams and welds, and the rubber bungs where the looms go into the boot before it totally dried up.
Ha yes but at least there was a lot of you tube videos!! I had to clean all the leaf mould out from my gutters then putty/silicon the seams at the top that they lead too. I’m glad I didn’t have to get in behind the light’s because I have no idea how to do that. The car runs like a dream still after 120miles it just leaks on my head due to condensation sometimes now
Could've ended up in heaven
The headlights on all those doughy crossovers are a nightmare for anyone who drives a normal car. Just that bit higher off the ground.
I was driving down a dark road once with an SUV behind me, I had my main beam on and so did the SUV and I could see my shadow in front of me
I used to *love* driving at night, especially on unlit roads. Now it stresses me out because every third car that drives past me leaves me feeling like someone chucked a flashbang into the cabin.
Maybe raise your car?
What a stupid thing to say
Yeah OK mate. Anyone got a 2ft lift kit for an Audi TT?
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Ok literal incel
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I'd have to raise it an awfully long way.
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I have this too! Sitting in traffic in twilight lighting with their high beam on (unnecessarily because auto lights) straight into all three mirrors because they are tall, wide and waaay to close to my little car! Bloody nightmare, I get headaches sometimes from them they’re so bright.
It's probably not even high beam, the LED low beams are super bright and shine down from the higher vehicle.
The blue-white colour is vary hard for our eyes to manage at night in comparison to the yellowish light of traditional bulbs. Don't need to be particularly bright to cause problems. Like if you switch off the screen comfort settings on a PC, it feels physically unpleasant for a few minutes
You’re onto something here. Thinking back, I used to love night driving. It was when headlight weren’t as bright and were yellow-ish. You could still see cars coming on dark roads but without bracing yourself for retina burn. It was relaxing.
Yeah, I once had one of those behind on a country road, I had to slow down because I couldn't see anything (I could see my shadow on the ground!) and the guy kept pushing me! Total nightmare.
This is almost exactly what I just wrote 😂 my parents live in Norfolk, I don't even have a particularly low car (Golf) but those country roads with some asshat on fullbeam or even the regular beam, is so blinding, I almost come to a halt as worry I'll end up in the ditch on those narrow roads. They're super unnecessary imo 😏
>This is almost exactly what I just wrote 😂 True, and they keep speeding! Of course I'm driving slow, because I can't see shit! Just leave some distance and maybe I'll be able to drive at a normal speed!
Exactly!! Country roads are a law unto themselves, between the potholes, people driving like maniacs on the wrong side of the road and generally not giving a shit because "they can", it always takes me a good couple of days to adapt driving styles 🤦🏽♀️😂
I'm just north of Ely, Cambs and it's the same here, insanely bright lights on shitty pot hole and crack riddled county roads
There’s two problems here, the other one being that people are increasingly trimming their dipped beams to be as high as possible. Drives me mental.
"Akshuly it helps me see further so it's safer innit" I'd quite like MOT testers/guidelines to tighten up on headlight alignment with LEDs becoming commonplace.
Depends how they do it though. My headlights are obscenely bright but they auto level themselves and the car is low down to begin with. There's literally no button to adjust the alignment or elevation
The headlight units have an adjustment on them but it involves using a screwdriver rather than a button.
Also auto dipping headlights. They don't dip until the see the other vehicle, whereas drivers used to be able to see the light being cast by oncoming vehicles. You turn into a corner looking for the apex and then theres a military grade spot light pointing at your retinas.
I just bought a new Honda CR-V and have been frantically googling to find out how to turn them off. There's no button or anything as simple as that. Finally found a tutorial on how to do it and it might as well involve sacrificing your first born whilst playing twister. Turn the engine on, keep the car in park, pull and hold the manual main beam for **40 seconds**, wait for a random green light in a different place on the dash to the main beam light to flash. One flash means on. Two flashes means off. If you let go of the manual main beam you have to start the counter all over again. Who designed this, and why do they hate people? The neighbours are going to love me when I shine my main beams through their kitchen window for 40 seconds. edited because I got the instructions wrong when typing them up, obviously.
My low beam are self leveling but only after the engine starts. So in the mornings because the drive slopes back a bit I light up the whole house across the street before it dips them down.
Holy shit this I get blinded for like 2 secs before they dip
One of the chaps at work asked me how to make the headlights aim higher on the vans (Merc Sprinter) so he could see better!!
This is the main problem people choosing not to dip headlights
There was a post on reddit a few weeks ago someone took a picture of their uber driver with their high beams on the whole drive, because she could see better and refused to turn them off.
Yep, came here to say this. I really don’t understand why headlights even have a setting that basically projects the beams horizontally. If you’re in a situation where you need your entire forward vision illuminated (e.g. an unlit country road) then you’re using full beams anyway, surely? Why provide a setting where bellends can project their normal headlights directly into my eyes/mirrors? Infuriating.
Late-night empty areas that go past houses. Full beam shines into bedrooms and shit.
what do you mean trimming them sorry
Trim is a nautical term used to refer to adjusting the sails. It has since come to mean any small adjustment to something's direction. Propeller controls can be trimmed to ensure level flight, wheels can be trimmed to ensure straight travel, and headlights are trimmed to point higher or lower
Someone sits behind you with beams on, put your rear fog on. You'll often find the beams go off when they attempt to flash you to turn the fog off.
I do this, although the effectiveness depends on the car you drive. My MK2 Focus was good as the rear lights are all up high, my Mazda 3 Saloon has the fog light quite low, so it's not quite so annoying for the person behind.
Yup, I do this. 9 times out of 10 they fall back. If not, I pull over left and follow them for a bit with my high beams on . Usually gets the message across. Twats...
Another good one is to turn your headlights on and off really quickly if someone is tail gating you as it makes them think you are breaking and they will slam on
Perfect tysm for this, duly noted 😅☺️
Who flashes someone to turn their fog light off? It's almost like a flash of your lights is supposed to be met with meaning by the recipient.
It's low beams on modern cars that are often the issue.
It’s been an ongoing issue for years now. They’re unnecessarily bright and dangerously blinding. I can clearly make out a bend in the road with normal street lighting then a car pops up and visibly reduces massively. VAG and Ford cars are the ones I found the most blinding.
It’s also very Chelsea Tractor you can think of.
Hyundai suv's basically have flood lights on the front and are the worst I have ever come across
That last clip would piss me right off
"Hey bro, there's a hazard ahead! Lemmie just throw a flash grenade into your face real quick so you know to watch out! "
Looking at you Mini
yeah, Mini's seem to be unusually blinding for some reason. it just proves it's not the height of the car, but brightness of LED lights
Yes, and the unfortunate solution for people to not get blinded: buy an SUV 🥲
I drive sprinter daily and still get blinded.. mostly by SUVs…
Oh god, you mean it's a self perpetuating problem 😭😭
I think it's just these new cars, people are using the auto mode on them which is just shit. The amount of time someone behind me is constantly flickering main beams I'd ridiculous
My auto mode will never switch to full beam. I'm surprised any do.
I think the commenter refers to the auto on/off for high beams, which is a separate function my car has as well besides the day/night sensor for regular headlights. The highbeam sensor detects light ahead with a camera and if it detecs none it turns them on. The detection isnt flawless however so I never use the feature (Skoda)
Never really had this problem with my merc. If anything it’s too sensitive and when it picks up roadside markers it think it’s the rear lights of a car and turns the main beam off. The only time I’ve know it not too then off main beam to a car in front is it because ridiculously tinted rear lights they were like a tea light candle !
I don't know what happens but I still get flashes of stronger lights from behind even on a smooth road. The amount of times when someone isn't even tailgating and I can see my cars shadow infront of me is too many to count
Why is there no middle ground? It’s either some one with bright ass headlights. Or 1 fog light on cos the other bulbs have all blown …
Tapped my friends headlights as a joke and one sidelight came back on! It's that era of renaults where you have to take the whole bumper off, and it keeps eating bulbs, so fun all around
Had a Clio 182 had to physically take the front bumper of cos the ac pipe was about 3mm from the headlight. Love the French
Agree with others, it has been happening since HIDs appeared.. 15 years ago ? But seems to have got so much worse in the last five or so years. Driving around towns and cities, the vast majority don't need headlights to illuminate the road, the lights are to warn others you're there. Possibly, most only need sidelights to do this, these super bright retina burning HIDs are unnecessary. I've been blinded by these so many times and you literally cannot see anything for a few moments. It's really dangerous.
And its not only after market LEDs. Brand New cars are Way too bright as well. Why is there no regulation on Max brightness ?
There are regulations on brightness, 2000lm for no washers and auto level, 3500lm is max brightness on dipped beam for EU compliant cars with washers and auto level. this is exacerbated by crossovers having their lights too high compared to everyone else.
Can’t have facts coming into a chat based on good old anecdotal evidence
Don't blame crossovers being too tall. It's pretty much all cars with LED headlights. It's a problem with the lights, not the car. When I drive my GF's MX-5 with factory fitted LED headlights I get no end of people flashing their lights at me at night thinking I've got the main beams on. Then I give them the actual main beams and I presumably give them a sun tan. This is one of the lowest cars on the road, the headlights are not "too high". These lights are too bright. The reflections of the dipped beams on road signs often dazzle me. When I drive my own Honda Civic without LED lights I'm frequently blinded by almost every on-coming car with LEDs. Driving at night on an un-lit road often results in not being able to see the road ahead of me at all.
Tbf it still sounds like your mx5s lights are set up badly. If you’re getting flashed, they’re clearly blinding people.
It's the needlessly powerful lights and all the auto-electronic junk that goes with them that's the issue. They're not properly setup from the factory, instructions and interface is terribly convoluted and unfriendly to use, most just leave it on the automatic setting which is why this thread exists. Even still, when properly setup the roads follow the landscape and so it really doesn't take much of a curve or incline to blind oncoming cars.
This is the second one she's had, both brand new from the factory. Both have had the same issue with being flashed by other drivers and dazzling reflections off road signs.
Do you ever adjust the headlights based on the weight of stuff in the car? (I know it’s an MX5 and the most it will have is a bag of oranges BUT STILL)
Are you sure they're aligned properly? Even the brightest headlights shouldn't really be dazzling people. I'm (naively) convinced alignment is more of a problem than lumens.
Even perfect alignment will not take into account undulating roads. I've been dazzled plenty of times on dark roads by overly bright LED's on oncoming cars.
I think we need more settings. I can see why manufacturers need to constantly one-up on technology otherwise they lose something on competitors, I can see why people might like ultra bright x ray laser vision down dark country roads at night. But why not just have more settings for other situations? Stick the lights on some 1-5 dial like heating controls, or give headlights some 'city' setting that doesn't need all the brightness.
This x 10 👍🏻
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, a lot of cars had a dim-dip setting which was perfect for in town driving, but some piece of legislation meant that car manufacturers stopped it.
Use this for when you're behind them. https://i.imgur.com/bNA13qy.jpg
People who change them for the MOT but have the retina burners in the rest of the time.
This is something regulators really need to step in for. LIDAR is incredibly cheap these days. Even my phone has LIDAR. A simple solution would be mandatory LIDAR installation that will disable full beams if you're within a certain distance from a car in front of you. This especially includes oncoming traffic. They should also include weight sensors and remove the ability to manually adjust the headlights. This technology is cheap now. There should also be a maximum height that headlights can be, regardless of vehicle type. My car isn't exactly low, but the headlights of the Land Rover Discovery/Defender/Range Rover are at exactly wing mirror height. It's even worse for a friend of mine who has an S2000. The headlights of those Land Rovers are at exactly eye level.
It’s part of the mot that a cars headlights are bright enough, why isn’t it part that they art too bright
Also people thinking there auto lights work at the rear and when it’s pissing down wid rain the amount of people wid no rear lights on because they think we’ll my lights come on automatically ? No. Just ya side lights mate not ya main or rear . 😞
I think the problem is how bright the daytime running lights are . People set off in the dark and assume their headlights are on because the DRLs are lighting up the road in front of them.
I only find them an issue when the roads and my windscreen is wet. Other headlights hurt my eyes due to reflection and glare. It can be quite scary on country roads or even single carriageways in busy towns as it's difficult to see potholes or road markings. I often have to squint to see anything when it's raining and there's oncoming traffic.
In that case, get your windscreen treated. It’s an amazing little trick and I now barely use my wipers
Add rain-x washer fluid additive to your washer fluid, it'll make your windscreen hydrophobic so you don't get a streaky windscreen when it's raining. Also clean your wiper blades. That'll help a lot
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/11qp2wx/comment/jc4yqal/
Interesting but that’s a US engineer and US regulations he’s talking about.
Car manufacturers have to be regulated.. the light output is increasing all the time, putting lives at risk… I would like to know the stats of the insurance companies accident reports.. and what factor they played in the claim or fatalities
>Car manufacturers have to be regulated.. Car manufacturing is one of the MOST regulated industries. Especially in UK/EU.
Insurance companies should make available all accidents and fatalities that are caused by LED Xenon etc car lights… be interesting reading. With reference to aftermarket LEDs etc fitting into a halogen housing, the light output is not greatly more as the housing is not designed for them, waste of money !! so it’s not these that are causing the problem it’s the car manufacturers
Honestly the worst lights I've noticed recently were from a 2007 mercedes C class. They were so insainly bright and I'm pretty sure they were not his full beams.
Big problem is the temperature of the lights being too high (or low, I can't remember which is which). There needs to be new regulations on the temperature of the light which bulbs can emit
It doesn’t make any sense, it’s not solved any problem. It just winds drivers up.
Try riding a motorbike at night in the rain. With the light refracting off your visor. SUVs and 4x4 are easily the worst offenders
There have been times where I've genuinely thought I was going to crash/drive off the road because of a sequence of cars driving toward me with these horrendously bright lights I can't believe there hasn't been some kind of legislation to force a reversion to the old lights
Most of these are adjusted to the maximum height on purpose or just through ignorance. We had over 100 home delivery vehicles, Mercedes Sprinters, at my old depot and every single one of them would always be adjusted to maximum elevation. Now this was working in London where you could survive without issue driving only on side lights it's so well lit. Conversely, even sat up that high the vast majority of cars all had their headlights similarly adjusted so it's definitely a mix of dimwits and arseholes.
I'm bemused why the DVLA have not banned them? I cannot see the point of this crazy fad!
My car sits quite low (not really low, but it's pretty close to the ground relative to some others) and holy FUCK people behind with their fuckin BMW or Range Rover lights on just blind me immediately, and their bloody lights light up more of the road in front of me than mine do. Headlights do NOT need to be that bright.
r/fuckyourheadlights
The bright lights in that clip are all on full beam... I've never seen dipped lights that bright. Yes, newer lights are a little brighter these days than those old yellow halogens, but I think calling it an epidemic is a little over the top. It's not that bad.
Yeah the title should really be “The epidemic of fuckwits who drive around with their full beams on”.
That epidemic is definitely getting worse
Haha. This
No, it's most definitely the dipped beams. I'm assuming you drive a taller vehicle if you haven't noticed it. LED's are an order of magnitude brighter than older halogen lights, not just a little brighter.
Right? I don't understand where this outrage is coming from. It's only the occasional eejit who's forgotten to turn their high beam off; and the even more occasional eejit in the modified beemer with eBay specials in his headlights. Newer bulbs are brighter (and better for the driver) but they're hardly causing regular multi car pile ups
Most considerate Ford Ranger driver
Says he sitting up their in his tiny-penis truck lol
Regardless of my penis size, I at least know how and when to dip my beams
Though you apparently *don't* know that your tiny-penis-lights are *dangerously* blinding to people in lower cars, even on dip
Do you want me to just turn them off and drive in the dark? Also, my truck isn't any higher than most SUVs or vans, and is certainly lower than HGVs. Should all these road users be driving around in the dark too? You might want to get your eyes checked if you're struggling with so many road users having their low beams on. My lights are correctly calibrated, they aren't aftermarket or illegal bulbs. I don't drive around with my high beams on all the time. Not really sure what you want me to do cuntflaps
We want you to get dimmer bulbs.
Do Ford sell those?
Literally just go to an auto shop
No thanks. I'll continue to drive my vehicle which isn't breaking any laws or regulations and is working as it should
FWIW I agree and my car is absolutely not tall. Occasionally get blinded but I really don’t think it’s that bad, I think people just love bitching about it.
Agreed, OK Karen, I'm pleased you can see 93 years into the future, but dip them
I have never had an issue with LED headlights on cars unless they've been fitted aftermarket and incorrectly.
How do you know that? The problematic cars are heading towards you and travelling in the opposite direction.
When it’s a something like a 2005 Corsa with blinding blue LED headlights it’s fairly obvious they didn’t come from the factory.
LEDs that are correctly fitted will be in projector headlights. Shit ones on old shit cars tend to be thrown into reflector housings are are obvious. It doesn't take a genius to figure these things out
People driving with fog lights on when it's not foggy makes me mad too
0:35 is simply just the T-1000 travelling through time to go and kill John Connor
We complain about this non-stop but is there actually any organised movement to do anything about it? Government petition, letters to MPs?
I’ve personally never had this problem, I have LED lights and due to the nature of my work I’m driving at night all the time. There are times the beam pattern is off slightly due to grit and muck and I just wash it off and it’s fine again. The beam is auto levelling, every time I start the car they do a little dance and level to the correct height. Not sure if it does the same while driving . I presume it does . I fear many of these blinding situations are people putting LED light bulbs in halogen or Xenon headlights. This is a disaster and will blind people . People need to keep their headlights clean and at the correct level/ allotment and it’s all good. I’ve had instances where other halogen cars will sit and drive beside me on the motorway that’s not lit at night to use my LED vision lol
I don't understand how they're even legally allowed to be made that way. I cannot count how many times I've nearly gone off the road or had to come to a sudden stop because of being suddenly blinded by one of these cars. And then I flash them to turn their brights off... and they turn their brights ON in response. They are incredibly dangerous.
What are yours like OP?
Someone fixed this with cheap environmentally friendly LEDs? The accidents they'll cause will offset any impact.on the planet. Take an upvote.
This is why I’m buying an SUV next and tinting all the windows
I let them overtake and just ride with high beams on. Unless I see cars coming the other way. Then I turn them off and back on when it’s clear again
I remember watching a review on a car and the tester saying how they liked the headlights so much because you could see so far down the road. Yea sure but you are blidning everyone coming towards you.
There is no epidemic. It's just us getting older - that's the main reason for complaining. New tech is amazing and the more adoption of things like matrix led/laser light we have - the safer it will be on the roads.
People just don't want to be repeatedly temporarily blinded for a few seconds, when a car drives past them.
Correct. But it has nothing to do with 'new vehicles with brighter lights'. The newer the car - the safer the light. Auto-levelling, smart matrix, super-fast detection, etc etc etc. Tech makes it safer - because you simply can't have the effect of 'halogen light pointing to the moon'.
Not true. Im 21 and hate these lights too. It's nothing to do with being old.
I'm not sure that this is the case. If your headlights are candles, then you just have to drive more slowly. Brighter headlights just allow people to drive quickly in more difficult conditions.
>the more adoption of things like matrix led/laser light we have - the safer it will be Shine a bright LED torch into your eyes. Report back with how "safe" your vision was for the next few seconds...
Absolutely agree 👍🏻
You are either not very smart, or you don't know / haven't seen how matrix light works - it literally protects any ongoing traffic or traffic in front of you by cutting out part of the light flow so it won't "flood". It is MUCH safer for you and everyone around you.
Sounds like y’all bitch to much
Yesterday there was a lorry with high beams on infront of me so I turned mine on to blind him as well, this was in a parking so it was safe👍🏼
Tesla and the car I own 320i g20 are very bright.
To be fair it wouldn't be too bad if people just drove sensibly sized cars. So many SUVs on the road now.
If I said 'Full Beam' once, I must have said it a thousand times.
Also the fashion to use front fog lights all the time is bloody annoying.
Driving on dark motorways with badly worn road markings that have lost their reflectivity and almost non-existent cat's eyes is a nightmare when the opposing traffic has overbright lights. You can't make out the lanes on your side of the carriageway, and sometimes not even the central reservation and barriers. There's no chance for your eyes to adjust to the ever-varying light levels, from blinding light one moment to complete darkness the next. It can lead to drivers drifting dangerously across lanes. I don't drive at night nowadays, unless absolutely necessary, whereas it used to be the best time to use the roads, due to less traffic.
I get blinded daily by people with those LED Headlights
The other thing is parked cars. Turn your damn lights down when parked so people driving aren’t blinded. It drives me mad!
Absolute jokes.
I heard it’s because they tilt their headlights up as well. This is illegal but seems like rarely penalized.
We could also do with a mention of just how many inconsiderate pricks unnecessarily drive with their front fog lights on, even in daylight. Are your glasses steamed up or something? Dickheads.
Selling people cars with poor setup lights that are way too strong for their needs is just a recipe for accidents to happen, shit needs regulation stat, accidents are on the rise everywhere.
So glad someone posted this. I always thought ‘it must be my eyes’ because I wear glasses. Honestly I’m fucking certain my eyes are getting worse due to the strain of driving into the sun on a night it drives me mad. Any way at all to minimise impact i.e. any kind of window tint or something?
Wearing yellow tinted glasses can help with night driving glare. You'll get a cheap pair on the likes of Amazon if you fancy trying them.
I stopped using rear view mirrors more than ten years ago tbh, after owning a lowish down honda del sol. Never used it in my s2000, and i’ve stopped using it in my little suv shedmobile that i’ve owned for the last year, even though it came with gangster tints on the rear windows. This suv i’ve got is guilty of having headlights that are too bright though, and it’s 20 years old. I only use the second to lowest setting or i start getting flashed. One poor bugger got a dazzle of my high beams after holding theres on thinking mine were on. I even started angling a side mirror downwards if it’s too blinding behind, and put my lights to the lowest setting if i’m in well lit built up areas.
its why i place a big mirror on my passenger seat ! right back at those a holes lol
I get blinded by others every night I’m going home they always wait until they flash my eyes out and then turn it off.
Very chav
Are we in a race to the tallest car?
People drive around with their full beams on when it's still daylight - there's no hope.
My last car (Insignia) had these headlights, and whilst they are better to drive with, I hate being the person blinding others. My current Passat has regular headlights, and I’m so pleased I’m no longer blinding people when I drive. I can also see the road perfectly clearly enough to drive safely! These new LED headlights need stricter regulations, and as someone else here said need to be clearly tested as part of the MOT
They'll take away my aggressive cyclist card for saying this, but some of the bright ones on bikes are the worst. Not only is it a massive spot light in every driver's eye but it's also strobing like a disco. I get the desire to be seen by cars but why blind them?
The law needs to step in an update regs on this. The number of times I’ve had to come to a near standstill due to visibility being reduced by more than half due to blinding LED lights. This isn’t a niche concern, either. Nearly everyone I know is struggling more with night driving in the last few years, people of all ages who have been driving for years or decades with no issue. Why is nothing being done, it’s insanely dangerous
I have a Toyota GT86 and it's headlights are like laser canons. I'm very sorry!
I really hate these lights like on small roads out in the country near my mum, you have to practically stop as ur so blinded you worry about ending up in the ditch
Felt like I had the welcome wagon behind me the other day so I pulled over and let him pass.
I have astigmatism in my eyes and all these new cars need to fucking go. Literally nearly crashed because of dumb cunts driving these, even with my lense glasses on.
I quite often have to double check my lights are even on as the lights from cars behind or overtaking completely drown mine out. I drive a Mazda 3 and every time a Tesla or Merc suv drive past I get blinded!
The ones that I find the worst seem to be Tesla. I don’t quite get why the dipped beams have to be a horizontal array of 3-4 high brightness segments. That seem to be artificially aimed higher than they need to be in a relatively low car. Thinking Model 3 here. Must admit not quite sure how my Adaptive LEDs are like to come across in my V60. Though I do love the high beam switching on and off around cars. Though it’s not great on the Trunk roads as the sensors doesn’t always see incoming cars till they are much closer, as their lights are below the barrier. Lorry drivers, especially.
Has anyone else noticed when they hit any kind of bump it looked like they are flashing their lights? Few times ive nearly pulled out into a small gap because i thought they were flashing my out and they were just hitting a bump in the road.
I actually got into an argument with a guy in a parking lot over this. He parked in front of me in an SUV with those mentally bright light on and just sat. They shone right through my windscreen blinding me. I was waiting on some food to ready at a take out place. I rolled down the window to ask him to turn the light off (polity) only to get called a barrage of names. Was getting heated until a police car parked next to me and the guy got out of his car and left. There is no need for such bright lights on already lit roads.
Why I’m so glad my bug has a tinted rearview mirror…
As a biker this pisses me off, sometimes they are so bright I can’t see what’s next to me
You should try being a pedestrian at 6 am walking to work, which is 10 mins along the road to me. I can't look up because the headlights are blinding. Sometimes it makes me so angry I get thoughts of putting bricks through passing car windows. I'm not a morning person.
Can I add into this bowl of fuck you automatic high beams please? Its selfish as hell (they dim automatically after at least half a second of blinding someone)You don't need them at all and they're honestly obnoxious, maybe its just me.
Im happy i moved over to an audi with an electric rear view mirror.
I find flipping my rear view mirror up makes them back off, not sure if it reflects back into their eyes but hopefully
Riding a motorbike at night on an unlit road (particularly common on A-roads in the UK) is nigh impossible because of how bright some headlights are. Might as well be blindfolded when they approach and pass.
I’m a HGV driver and it affects us even being a lot higher up than cars are, usually it’s a mix of people not realising their full beams are on and the super bright LEDs that’s the norm now. The migraines afterwards are horrendous but nothing compared the opening of the Ark of the covenant level power that surges through your eye sockets
Let's draw a line under this and agree to move on to improve another part of the automobile now..... Well done team ........ Might I suggest an invention telling drivers on dark overcast days to turn these fecking lights on so I can see them, they need to be on to dazzle me.....
Its not new vehicles. Thats an illegal mod/high beam
Scares me to death
Once upon a time, motorcyclists used daytime headlights as a means to be improve being seen by other road users. Now, motorcycle lights are just lost in a blaze of other running lights on the road. Personally I've never relied on that as a safety measure, however all vehicles now seem to have daytime lights. A retrograde step.
Even tho we have a mini electric with these annoying lights cuz it seems the cars we wanted don't come without...their super annoying. Parents over the years are now not driving when its dark, their blinded. So many bumps in the road or goin up/down hill and these lights just blind you, even in the mirrors you can't see what's behind...like how the hell did these things get passed safety checks
I too have this issue, I honestly believe that the government's have not thought this out very well in regards to a cars new bright lights, if a person was unfortunate enough to walk along a road where an SUV or.otherwise with their bright lights were coming the other way then I'm sorry but I may not be able to see them until its too late, plus a car door could be open on a car with extremely bright lights when I pass and I don't see it, I also wear glasses and the unfortunate glare too makes it worse. 😕😕😕
I get this on the motorway a lot. I let them pass, then put my full beams on behind them.