LED headlights out of control
 

Pisses me off when i have to drive at night. i think some people have no idea how to turn off the brights!

My eye surgeon said it bothers him too! Let along me at 77.

Really has gotten ridiculous.
Great post.

I bitch about this all the time. Somebody pass a law already.

And I really can't tell if an oncoming vehicle has its lights on dim or bright. The only hint is if the fog lights are on (if not then I can "alert" them with my high beams lol). At least my vehicle when my fogs are on, the brights are off. I can switch to high beams but that turns off the fogs. I know this is no remedy for the problem, just an observation.
My 2007 KIA Optima has the absolute worst low beams I've ever seen. But it has GREAT high beams. So if I meet someone running their brights, they better be prepared for the "alert" lol!

LED headlights Brown eyes with good night vision makes for a real bother. Hi-beam LEDs geez

I was out driving last night and was taken aback by the number of people driving with high beams on continuously....very dangerous for those on the receiving end.

It's even worse if there are undulations in the roadway or hills to crest. It's even worse if there are worn lane markings or the pavement is asphalt. I don't even go out at night anymore because of these bright lights, especially if it's raining.

I have a 2020 outback. I have the stock head lights. I am constantly having people in on coming traffic flashing their high beams at me. It happens so much that I drive at night with my fingers on the high beam flasher.
The cars you think have their high beams on, do not. Just like the woman said in that video the head lights on cars today are Waaaay to brite.
DOT needs to rethink the headlight standards.
I also hate driving at night anymore.

Maybe they need to be adjusted. Most people never check.

Just ordered these for my E36 BMW;
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5HG8NGK...sin_title&th=1

Last summer I had to talk with one of the young guys at work about driving down frontage road into work with his high beams on. His response was he didn't know they were on. I said look at your dash and if the blue indicator was on, the high beams were on.

He argued that the blue headlight indicator was there to indicate whether his headlights were on or off. It wasn't until I explained, while actually showing him how the lights worked that he comprehended how headlights work.

I'm pretty sure he isn't the only one out there doing it wrong. Hence alot of those folks who don't respond when someone flashes their brights at them.

I have Hella H4 sealed beam conversion lights in my daily driver. With 100/55w bulbs my correctly adjusted low beams are legal but my high beams are extremely bright. So I'm not part of the problem but folks who are get notice that they are a problem.

Headlights
 

My 2011 Accord has those projector beam headlights and compared to my older vehicles they are very bright and people flash me too and I have them adjusted correctly.

Does the FMVSS limit headlight wattage, assuming incandescent bulbs? And now LEDs are about 75% more efficient, resulting in a TON more light per the same standard?

Then throw in some generic LEDs into some old housings that they are not designed to fit, and GLARE is what you get.

Worst offenders: Jeep Wrangler owners.

I am younger than most of you, and even I have problems with the newer headlights. My wife does as well. Seems pretty unanimous.

2 data points:

My 2022 GMC Canyon has really bright factory headlights that are terrific for driving. Nobody flashes me. If I shine them against the garage door, they have a really crisp horizontal line at the top of the focus area.

I upgraded the 4-headlights on my C5500 motorhome after watching a YouTube video that compared a bunch of aftermarket lights. The Phillips lights had the same crisp top focus boundary. Nobody flashes me. Most of the cheap stuff had lousy focus with light going everywhere.

Eric

Eric,

I noticed the same thing with my XLR-V, it was the 1st vehicle I had ever owned that had a sharp "Line" at the top, I thought it was kin d of weird to start, but after thinking about it....It makes a lot of sense!

As someone who is on the road a LOT (almost 5 million accident-free transport miles) I have to say that cell phones took a lot of the fun out of driving. In the old days I would get flashed probably once a month, nowadays every car full of young girls all have their heads down looking at their phones instead of flashing me!:D:D:D

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...closed.614419/

Nice flip of the topic!

Eric

Lol! What kind of flashing are we talking about here?

The brighter headlights have been touted to the marketplace as all about safety. This is true to a certain extent but the unforseen reality of brighter lighting is the majority of people drive to the limit of their lights at night. Having driven in rally events at night with multiple 100 watt lights I know this is true. When driving at speed and you switch the extra lights off and rely only on factory low beams the change in one's visual area is quite disconcerting and feels dangerous.

This well intended "SAFETY" feature has in fact lead to far more dangerous roads as folks are driving faster and the vehicles around them have their visibility inhibited.

Unfortunately until law enforcement returns to our highways this problem will not go away.

Quite frankly I firmly believe every Tesla needs to be recalled and have their headlights replaced. They are way too bright. It's part of their marketing and identity as the arrogant upscale luxury crowd.

This is one of those things that people complain about that has almost never bothered me. Every once in a while Ill get somebody's lights at an odd angle and notice it, but its a non-factor for me 99% of the time.

I dont wear glasses, so maybe it affects people with corrective lenses more.

Personally, I like the bright headlights. I would rather have my lights in front of me be nice and bright so I can see the stupid deer around here from a longer way off, but clearly not everyone agrees with that.

Luckily my Ram has the auto dim headlights that actually work pretty good, so mine just go bright when it doesnt detect any other cars in front of me. Most of the time I just dont think about it.

LED install update
Installed the LED 'SEALIGHT' branded bulbs for low beams on my 1997 BMW 328I went without a hitch took less than 5min. no cam bus adapter needed no errors on dash and all other lights work as normal.Really quality set all aluminum with a built in cooling fan.
Very bright and a focused beam so not annoying to oncoming traffic.
I'm going to order the high beams now.

Likely blasphemy but I have dapper LED's in my t/a but it is more life and death where I live...the deer capital of the world

Took me a lifetime to find this car and hitting a deert is my worst fear so I need to see and ol' halogens were terrible.

I see you point tho, I don't think people understand the concept of lo-beams for on-coming traffic at all these days - or they are just rude. There are so many rednecks if you flash them to turn off the hi's they flash you back with a fricken lite-bar - I need to move...

Aren't the European cars much brighter than the US cars, the standards? I thought their lights were brighter and the US is catching up. I have LEDs in my 21 Suburban and they are great. Everyone I know who owns a newer car all complain that their headlights are not bright enough. Around here, most people drive with their brights on because one of their low beams is out. I am sure the cheap LED manufacturers are not as precise about their light output and aiming as some higher priced lights. I had Diode Dynamics, St Louis Missouri area, lights in my 2018 Colorado and they were great, a definite improvement over Halogens. On their website they explain why their bulbs are designed to work in specific housings. They were a quality light and great customer support.