Headlight Glare

Maybe we should be requiring mandatory eyesight tests every few years first? I’m not any more dazzled today than I was 15 years ago.

Uh huh. So what do you drive?

If it is down to eyes could you explain why I am fine when a car of a similar age/type to mine is coming towards me vs a modern suv?

Some (but not all) issues could be alleviated by adjusting the regulations so that the dipped beam angle must also take into account how far from the road the headlight is.

I tried the auto dip beam on my octavia and while it was capable, it got it wrong too many times for me to consider it reliable. For example, on motorways where opposing traffic was behind a concrete barrier it could not detect the headlights of oncoming traffic, so on the mini suns went. Lorry drivers are sitting much higher than their headlights so got dazzled. I realise pretty quick and turn them off, but in that time the other drivers has flashed, the auto system has turned them off, and my turning them off turns them back on. AAAAAARGH

Well, hopefully the TRL study will throw some light on the issue.

I’ve had some nights, particularly if roads are damp, where i’ve actually found it better to be wearing a pair of polarised sunglasses, albeit very lightly tinted ones that I can ride with on dull days/under trees/etc.  Cutting out the glare and reflected light makes so much difference.

Agree on Teslas being the worst for this. If I see a car with dazzling lights, not just bright, but set too high so they seem to flicker between dipped and main beam whenever they go over a pebble, there’s an 80% chance it’s a Tesla. And Teslas must be about 2% of the cars on the road around here.

There’s a bloke on my commute on a big adventure tourer motorcycle who has main headlight, and maybe 4 other spots positioned about the front.

Dazzles the shit out of me every day. Even when it’s daylight. I’m in a van too…

It’s horrible.

As a motorcyclist too, I understand the desire to be seen, but bloody nora!

It wouldn’t be quite so bad if roads were actually flat, but unsurprisingly they are not, so every time there is a slight crest I get extra blinded by these LED searchlights pointing up even more.

I have a relatively low slung old car with just halogens, whilst also waiting for cataract surgery. It is absolutely horrid for me at the moment.

@lowey then get them adjusted.

You cannot in some cars! Our Leon was like this – full LED and you cannot turn them down, they are on a sensor for the cars attitude, they are electronically powered and you see them go ‘up, down, settle in place’ when you start the car. There was nothing to adjust them lower, or to adjust for the continent. I too found the level of them too high and we were flashed a couple of times.

Teslas have bad beam patterns, way too much dispersed light. Skoda Octavias before latest model were bad too.

Automatically switching dips and highs are hopeless in my car (2018 model year, had to switch them for manual mode) but on wifes car (2022) the adaptive headlights are excellent – curiously they are basically same car of different vintage.

If it is down to eyes could you explain why I am fine when a car of a similar age/type to mine is coming towards me vs a modern suv?

It’s a combination of both for me. Newer cars and badly adjusted lights are certainly a factor but my eyesight is definitely not what it was at night even though my prescription remains unchanged. My problem is with contrast, oncoming lights seem to wash out everything around them. My car on pretty average H3 headlights on a dark road and there’s no bother, throw in some oncoming headlights and it’s a lot more fatiguing.

It wouldn’t be quite so bad if roads were actually flat, but unsurprisingly they are not, so every time there is a slight crest I get extra blinded by these LED searchlights pointing up even more.

exactly, the effect is worse with undulating roads–and worse still if they have defective line markings and no cat’s eyes, I was driving from Brough to Kirkby Stephen at the weekend at night, an undulating A-road, but no continuous white line on the margin, plus virtually worn out and invisible white centre line markings on the road and no cat’s eyes, coupled with the blindingly bright lights of the majority of oncoming vehicles I was pleased it was only a short distance I had to drive…

virtually worn out and invisible white centre line markings

I read something ages ago that claimed that painting centre lines on roads was one of the most cost effective public health interventions you could make in developing countries. It’s a shame we can’t manage to maintain them in the UK!

My Toyota has matrix led headlights, which seems to have stopped people flashing me compared to my old VW golf which had basic led lights that seemed to blind everyone even on dipped beam.

The system is smart enough that it switches off the beam if there’s pedestrians and cyclists on the road to prevent blinding them. Same with road signs.

Thought it was going to be another useless gimmick when I first bought the car, but it’s the best feature on it. Wouldn’t buy another car without it. It appears to solve the problem that everyones going on about in this thread.

As a motorcyclist too, I understand the desire to be seen, but bloody nora!

Yes, my mate had (it got nicked last week) a BMW GS with all the added extra lights & yes the main lights are good enough on their own – the extras are really for off-road night riding, but GS riders… My own bike he referred to as having a candle in a chrome bowl.

I have matrix LEDs too, and they are brilliant except on dual carriageways where, as noted above, they fail to spot lorries, so on motorways and dual carriageways I turn them off.

The bit I really like is when they turn off the beam that is lighting up the offside verge about 2m before the oncoming car gets there.