Current Events > Those in the U.S., have you noticed car headlights getting brighter?

(+) Yeah! (+)

itachi15243 posted...

Yes, and damn is it annoying.

It's usually the worst with trucks who'll tailgate you no matter how mast over you go. They're never fucking happy and always drive the worst too.

With trucks its more an issue that they sit so high that the light is basically shining in your face.

But yeah, car manufacturers are prioritizing the visibility of the driver at the expense of the visibility of everyone else. Its incredibly dangerous.

CaudalVeracity posted...

But aren't LEDs saving the environment?

True, in terms of power consumption.

But that's different than having over powered headlights.

Just_a_loser posted...

With trucks its more an issue that they sit so high that the light is basically shining in your face.

But yeah, car manufacturers are prioritizing the visibility of the driver at the expense of the visibility of everyone else. Its incredibly dangerous.

But that's also a problem of having too many large SUV's / Trucks on the road as well.

Especially large / heavy trucks that aren't necessary when the rest of the world is using lighter / smaller trucks / vans to solve the same problems.

DarkDoc posted...

One issue is the car bloat.

The headlights on an SUV are mounted so much higher than they used to be when people had normal cars.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-13132003/amp/Drivers-blinded-headlights-dazzled-TRAFFIC-LIGHTS.html

Guys - just - enough with the stupid SUVs and trucks already.

Yep. Confuses me because my car is 2006-2007. Newest car I've ever had.

Feel like people are warning me cops are around all of the time.

If someones lights are too bright Ill just blink my high beams a couple of times and they turn it down. Only seen a small handful of people that havent recently so maybe I was the asshole in those cases if that was their lowest brightness, they are definitely very bright though

I actually really wish high beams auto shut off after 10secs or so. Theres literally no reasons to have them active for prolonged periods of time on most roads.

The assholes that tailgate you with them Especially are the most annoying PoS on the road.

Kamen_Rider_Blade posted...

But that's also a problem of having too many large SUV's / Trucks on the road as well.

Especially large / heavy trucks that aren't necessary when the rest of the world is using lighter / smaller trucks / vans to solve the same problems.

Blame stupid regulations and import taxes. Small trucks fall under different regulations than big trucks so they can get away with worse safety and mileage standards if your pickup has four+ seats rather than two.

willythemailboy posted...

Blame stupid regulations and import taxes. Small trucks fall under different regulations than big trucks so they can get away with worse safety and mileage standards if your pickup has four+ seats rather than two.

I concur, they should be regulated to the same standard as normal automobiles, but the powers that be made that stupid exception.

I used to drive regularly at night around 10 years ago and never had any issues, but I was out late recently and it was crazy. I thought my eyes had just gotten worse (they probably have to some extent), but every other car was practically blinding. Either truck headlights aimed directly at my eyes or super bright LEDs.

willythemailboy posted...

Not just brighter but bluer. Even at the same brightness, blue lights hurts other people's night vision more than redder light.

Facts.

Crazyman93 posted...

The hue is the biggest reason they feel brighter, I think. Red at 500 lumens feels dimmer than blue at 500 lumens. It's something to do with how each wavelength interacts with the rods and cones in your eyes. LED headlights are by and large "cool" white, versus the warmer white you got with halogens. So I suppose the real solution would be to use warmer LEDs for headlights.

willythemailboy posted...

It's more to do with human perception than actual photon energy, but yes the same number of lumens in blue light is perceived to be about 40% brighter than redder light.

There's a reason why we use red lights to preserve night vision.

Interesting

yes but it happens a lot less where I drive now. back when I drove around small towns a lot people left their high beams on all the time.

thronedfire2 posted...

yes but it happens a lot less where I drive now. back when I drove around small towns a lot people left their high beams on all the time.

It's not even the high beams but just the normal lights