Please add something about polarised spex. I added a comment in the main comments. Most of the issues you answered could be simply solved by using polarised spex.
I am a retired Michigan State Trooper, and over the years I've developed a knack for driving at night. Lights never bothered me much. since the advent of the "blue" led headlights, I have found it much more difficult. Those things should be outlawed, of course, the reality is that they never will be. Much harder now to see at night. If it's raining, the LeD lights make the glare much worse.
BLUE should definitely be illegal...actually, keep it like below 4000K. I started wearing YELLOW shooter's glasses. They will NOT help witih bright lights, which are still very bright. But they filter out the BLUE from the most offending lights. You can wear yellow at night because they do not reduce what you are otherwise seeing, only killing the blue. (Then I tell the cops that their BLUE lights got filtered out, too....hahahaha)
It used to be enjoyable driving at night with less traffic. I guess the max bright lights has more people on the roads after dark. Plus the eye damage from those lights is cumulative. I'm sure eye docs don't mind the extra business
I'm SO glad someone is finally talking about this! I HATE these lights. I thought I was the only one. I feel like they're a hazard at night and shouldn't be legal.
My mother was driving me to the airport during a very dark morning in Florida and someone from her neighborhood got in traffic behind us for the entire 15-mile trip. It was 2003, she was 70, and she cussed all the way to the airport because of her neighbor’s headlights. When we arrived at the airport was when we knew the problem headlights were the same as who drove the 15 miles behind us. My mother jumped out to confront the owner of the vehicle! I was so stressed out from how much those lights bothered my mother, I was actually glad to believe I would soon be on the plane.
@@kalimahasarra6837 its not jist leds but also super bright halogens as well. I just flash my highbeams at anyone who has them. Hopefully they will just get annoyed and put the oems back in
It is not about the LED lights. The LEDs are just a light source. It is the stupid decision of manufacturers and others to double or triple the brightness and select a bluish white.
Same! It was so relaxing and comforting for me to drive at night. Now, it's an absolute nightmare! I don't even like driving to the grocery store a few blocks away because there's always some idiot right on my tail blasting me with death beams. I hate it, and wish they would outlaw those stupid lights.
That's me recently. I used to like driving at night. But it feels like recently, the headlights are worse and brighter. Maybe it is cause there are a lot of people traveling during holidays but I am starting to get scared at driving at night.
For everyone saying to look at the white line - I rely on this when driving at night. The next problem is that oftentimes they're faded, or sometimes absent altogether. Rain especially obscures them.
In and around Raleigh NC the lines on the highway are so light that when it rains the only way to find the line is to fine reflectors but that’s barely easy.
I was an over the road trucker, with over a million miles of experience. For long trips, bright dash lights or interior lights will wear you out. For oncoming high beams, I close one eye, that blocks the high beam, my right eye watches the road. It might sound crazy but try it absolutely works. The other thing that wears you out over extremely long trips is rain and using your windshield wipers. I used to always use Rain-X. Just some tricks I used to use driving from coast to coast.
I had a job for 15 years where I drove on the Dalton Highway many times in the dark and I not only kept the in dash lights dim, but I put some opaque tape over the high beam indicator light.
We used to use our high beams when unusually dark and then bounce back to regulars when an oncoming vehicle is at 500 feet. Somehow that whole thing got thrown out of the window and now apparently you can use brights all the time. Part of the me first generation - screw the other guy.
GLAD TO HEAR SOMEONE ELSE HAS NOTICED THIS. LIGHTS AT NIGHT KILL ME BLIND ME I HAVE PULLED OVER AND STOPPED AT TIMES TO RECOVER. HIGH TRUCKS ARE THE WORST.
EVEN WORST ARE THOSE IDIOTS ON PICK UP TRUCKS THAT TURN THEIR HIGH BEAMS ON. WHY SOME DRIVERS HAVE TO BE SO IGNORANT TOWARDS OTHER DRIVERS.I DRIVE ALL NIGHT AND I GO TROUGH HELL WITH THOSE LIGHTS. I WONDER WHAT HARM THESE LIGHTS WILL CAUSE TO OUR EYES. AFTER LOOKING AT THEM NIGHT AFTER NIGHT FOR YEARS.
Optics specialist here: Anti-reflective coatings are wavelength dependent and have a broad range of effects on light of varying colours. A coating that dampens the reflections of blue light, say, may actually amplify the reflections of green light. This has a lot to do with how AR coatings work, which I won't bore you with, but suffice it to say that the standard tech for AR coatings is incompatible with a broad spectrum AR coating. Because some people can show specific sensitivity to certain colours, putting an AR coating on glasses for those wavelengths makes sense. However, making an AR coating on car windshields doesn't make sense because there is not one specific set of wavelengths that we want to block, and it would likely result in another range of wavelengths being amplified. If headlights were still mostly yellow (say they were sodium lamps), that would be easy to block with an AR coating. However, as they are generally white, there isn't enough of a primary frequency for us to select one wavelength for targeted anti-reflection.
I agree. Those LED headlights are blinding and shouldn't be legal. Several people I know have complained about them to me and I know my eyes don't recover from them as fast as the older headlights. Glad to hear you addressing this!
I know they were illegal a few years back. The only cars allowed to have them on the road in the US is certain German cars that ha a target level system that could change as the road changes. Anyhow, I think they are still illegal but there are so many now that the cops can't pull over every kid with a connected dad or worse, mom. I think the cops gave up mostly because of the last part. They could spend 40 hours on making a case after he or she pleads innocent the first case. Then countless hours with lawyers to fight it. Only at the end, the kid's dad knows the chief, or a mayor or higher that will force the cops that put all the time in. It's pretty rare to see cops pull people over anymore. Hell, it's hard to even see one these days. I saw a potential hazard and threat to a 6 or so year old kid. I happen to see a cop between two buildings a block away doing paperwork. I do the right thing and tell him what's going on. He said he had better things to do. I think he saw my disgust and he added, I'm investigation a stollen car. Stolen car trumps the life of a child in Manchester NH>
The real problem is the installation and design. The LEDs themselves should not be visible. They're designed to work by being aimed backwards at a reflective focal surface. A lot of idiots out there replacing their older globes with new LEDs just blatantly facing forward without any proper redesign or modification. The new car manufacturers who also break this design rule should be sued.
The fact that RUclips audiences skew young, and I haven’t seen a comment yet that thought that the new types of lights are fine is REALLY TELLING. Same experience that I’ve had. I’m still young, but even I have trouble with them. Another problem is infrastructural: a lot of roads don’t have fresh, reflective paint, so the lines on the road are really dim when looking into these headlights, especially when it’s raining. It also probably doesn’t help that sedans are right in the line of fire with all these huge SUVs shining right in sedan owners’ eyes.
The last thing you mentioned is probably the biggest problem. Big trucks and SUVs make the roads unsafe for anyone who isn’t in such a big vehicle. The NTSB tried to outlaw them they taxes and regulations but automakers pushed back and won. Most of us can instinctively figure their out just by looking at the difference in vehicle height and having seen a few accidents involving a small car and a big truck. Personally my favorite part is that the majority of these big vehicles will never get dirty one time and are only used to move a few people back and forth. It’s not just dangerous for everyone, it’s also incredibly wasteful of resources to build them as well as the amount of gas they waste/pollution they create when they could easily be replaced with a far more efficient vehicle.
There have always been tall / big vehicles that sit higher. This isnt the problem. The problem is the leds not the vehicles. Lets not get all stupid about it.
@@ruledbysaturn yea… no… their bumpers don’t align with the bumpers of sedans. This is a fatal flaw, literally. When a truck or suv hits a sedan from the side, a T bone, then their bumper is actually aligned with the window. That defeats the purpose of even having a bumper and when it’s a head bouncing off a bumper then people die. I have first hand knowledge of this and it’s a well documented problem. Auto makers want to sell more cars, make more profit, which is exactly what they do, nothing more. If you can’t understand how having 2 different bumper heights on vehicle’s that share the same road then I don’t know how to help you, maybe you could practice fitting a square peg into a round hole then we can discuss how important things like edge alignment can be, then you can imagine adding a good 50 mph to that equation… maybe you’ll get it then? Doubtful. Do you drive a princess truck yourself? Sorry if I hurt your feelings but a big truck can’t make up for a tiny d…
One of the things that bothers me about the bluer lights is that people want them because they make the road brighter; but conversely, they make it harder to see anything OUTSIDE of the range of the headlights. They just destroy your nightvision SO MUCH that it seems really counterproductive when the primary use is for improving visibility in low lighting conditions.
100% true. Outdoor lighting should never be really bright. People think brighter is better but I read on a lighting store website that it is counterproductive.
(UK). Thanks for this video, you have accurately described my experience of night driving in recent years. LED headlights are becoming more commonplace but at the time of writing are often the preserve of the more expensive models. Many of these have ‘self dimming’ (‘adaptive’) headlights. As I understand it, these headlights are permanently on main beam, but the headlights adjust their optics to dim the area that would shine in the eyes and otherwise dazzle an oncoming driver. This means: A. As that oncoming driver, the lights are not shining DIRECTLY into your eyes, but nevertheless there is still a very bright light coming toward you, which causes the situations described in this video. B. In order for that car’s systems to adjust the optics of the headlights to prevent dazzling of the oncoming driver it must first detect the presence of the oncoming car. By the time it has done that and the optics of the headlights have changed, it is already too late and the approaching driver has already had the full beams in his/her eyes. This is why, when you encounter such a vehicle at night its headlights are momentarily blinding, before settling back to being just uncomfortably bright.
@jeffbradley876 vehicle headlight don't only blind other drivers, they blind everyone including bicyclists & pedestrians. Since they blind eveyone - it should be considered assaulting everyone.
Yasss! For the longest time, thought it was just me but the doc keeps saying, “oh it’s your developing cataracts!” 🙄 Suspected a long time that it Had to do w/ these new lights & maybe even some actual irritation to ppl’s eyes bc of computer use in this day & age!!
@@oohyllab there is another consideration as well. You might want to run this by you eye specialist. Recently I was talking to someone driving me (I have no driver's license), talk got around to bright headlight on city streets. The driver inform me that when her car starts up the high beams come on. This can be changed in vehicle setting, but a driver has to look for it to change that setting. Just think how many other drivers you've seen without headlight or daytime running lights at night. Makes me wonder how manufacturers get away with such bad tech.
While I agree about banning those headlights, I also know that it would be near impossible to enforce. In fact, I’ve been told that they are illegal where I live (not sure if it’s true) and I see them all the time.
As a truck driver, some more hints and tips for night driving. Clean the inside of the windscreen as well as the outside. And when someone has those bright head lights, look to the side of the road away from the lights, just keep them in your peripheral vision. Then when they pass back to center of the road, That blur is now on the side of the road not in center of your vision. Great video.
since these "bright bulb lovers" want to see so well, then watch out for me, whom you have blinded, and AVOID me as I drive toward you, like a moth to a flame...
I will also look to the side of the road away from the oncoming lights by slightly turning my head to the right and closing my left eye until the bright light passes . Temporarily closing the left and the re-opening it allows for faster recovery of night vision .
@@paulcoalson7073That works fine when it's just a few, but on a busy road I just wind up driving with one eye closed. That is its own problem, especially on a longer drive.
Doesn't work well when it's winter night driving. The glare is everywhere and often one can't even tell where the edge of the road is because it's covered in snow.
Why aren’t anyone doing anything about these bright lights?? Are there any lawmakers doing anything?? Years ago, it was a courtesy to dim your lights, even taught in Driver’s Education in High Schools. Great article.
Thank you for great video info. I cannot drive at night. I guess I am ancient, I was taught to dim headlights when approaching a car. These new terrible lights need some lawmakers to get involved. I tried the yellow glasses. Worked some. I have had cataract surgery with implants. Thanks again for being brave to speak for the common people.
They do not teach drivers ed in school anymore. All the programs were cancelled to save money. Instead "We will turn untrained drivers loose on our roads, What is the worst that could happen? Lets see." My next door neighbor got both her kids trained in driving.
The best part of this video is finding out that I'm not the only one having problems with the LED and blue lights. While I'm not a fan of more government regulations, that may be the only way to get this fixed. Thank you!
Many among us are not even decent people, so they don't always comply or even do the bare minimum to make the world a better place. This is why we need rules and laws in the first place!
@@Rawkfist1501 Where is the Logic in your response? It does not even address the fact they are calling out individual agreement with/perceptions of a given law(s); not your 'real world' cause and effect, painted with very broad strokes, I might add. And, with absolutely no sarcasm (look that word up).
I agree %100. I've been complaining about these new fangled lights since the year 2000. It's an outrage. I heard an official, on NPR, claim the new light's intensity is the same as the old lights, according to their instruments. I was yelling at the radio "Listen to the drivers, not your measuring stick!!!" There is no excuse for these new dangerous headlights. They are extremely dangerous. I'm 66 years old, and I avoid driving at night, now, because of these dangerous on-coming headlights.
You are correct. A red light vs a blue white light at the same 'brightness' are two different things. Why we use red lights at night, to preserve night vision.
I wonder if there is an actual ulterior motive to these bright lights... what if the ultimate purpose is to diminish the number of drivers... farfetched?
I agree with everything you said Doc. One thing I would like to add. Vehicle manufacturers should be made to lower the location of headlights, especially on pickup trucks, large trucks and SUV's and most commercial vehicles, so as not to shine through the rear windows of vehicles directly in front of them. Ever stop at a traffic light and have a large vehicle stop behind you, usually too close, and be blinded by the light not only coming in the rear window, but hitting both outside mirrors. Also, I think if the position of the lights on the larger vehicles were to be lowered, their alignment would not be at the same level as the driver of an oncoming passenger vehicle. Makes sense to me. They had an issue with this before, I think back in the 80's, and some of the vehicle man.'s lowered the position of the headlights. But now they are back to high mounted lights and blinding people driving smaller vehicles. Where is the consideration? And now with the introduction of LED headlights and the pure white light, it's even worse. One other thing, have you noticed on some of the new vehicles, they have lowered the signal lights on the body to the point that if you are in traffic behind a vehicle, the front of you car could obscure the turn lights, leaving you to wonder if they are turning or not. They should be visible at all times to everyone. Just my opinion.
I'm short, so ALL THE FREAKING TIME!!!! It's so bad! There's been once or twice that I felt really petty so I tilted my mirrors to reflect their lights at them (and away from me)
I was just discussing this topic with a coworker of mine. I drive a 2000 Impreza, a tiny Japanese car. Most vehicles shine their lights directly into my face. I used to really enjoy night driving, but now it's just annoying. At least my big spoiler is in a convenient spot to block headlights from behind, haha!
Some manufacturers are starting to lower the headlights on pickup trucks and SUV's, but not all. But even the ones they've lowered a bit are still higher than a car's.
I totally get your concern. I drive a standard size F150, and sometimes I'm the guy blinding whoever is in front of me. Sometimes a semi or trailer truck blinds me from behind. Unfortunately, there's just too many factors that go into this problem and adjusting all vehicles to cater to the shortest vehicle's driver's comfort also doesn't make the most sense. My grandpa used to drive around a Mazda Miata, and let me tell you that everything else on the road will blind you in that thing. But that doesn't mean everything else should be regulated to cater to drivers of a Mazda Miata. It's always going to suck for someone, but luckily the trends in vehicles is leaning towards more people buying small to mid-size SUVs and sedans are becoming less popular. SUVs give you a little extra height, plus they typically have larger windows and less blind spots.
for most people this was really thought provoking, but my uncle was a pioneer in cataract surgery and i actually did a stint in optics grad school ; so i would say the `problem` as you say may lie with xenon lamps, but not really with color.. In fact i wear uv400 polarized sunglasses (goggles ) even at night, but then again i am blind in the right eye which brings up multiple other issues ... some "scattering" may in fact be a function of aging epithileals (corneal ) and retinal anomalies (blood flow ).
This is a two part problem, IMO, the new headlights are too bright, and lots of drivers use their high-beams all the time, which compounds the problem! We definitely need legislation to regulate the kinds of headlights used in this country to foster safety. Thanks for your terrific videos.
Thank you! Thankfully I rarely see people over-use their high-beams at night but it does seem the newer vehicles' low-beams are just as bright as older high beams.
@@DoctorEyeHealthHello, doctor. Can you help me with my severe dry eye, if I am from Russia. I need tyrvaya or xiidra which are not sold in Russia, can you help me with these medicines, please?
you can buy replacement bulbs labeled for 'off road 'use only, more lumens, at any store. they should make the bulb holder different so they don't fit regular cars!
I'm so glad you're addressing this problem! As I was driving home last night, I was repeatedly bombarded by those LED headlights, making it almost impossible to see anything, let alone, the road! The worst are pickup trucks with them, since those lights are at eye level (I drive a sedan). Even worse, are those cars with the double set of lights (they're not fog lamps, those are amber and smaller). Having those coming at you under normal conditions is bad enough, but in the rain, there are eight blinding lights approaching, as well as all of the other lights being reflected in the wet surfaces. 😵Even those headlights that supposedly dim as they approach you don't always do that. I've seen several with out of alignment lights recently as well. I work nights, so I've had a lot of encounters with all of the above. It would be nice if the car manufacturers could treat the windshields with something that would lessen the glare (it would also be nice if they could do that for the bright sunlight during the day, too!). Otherwise, outlawing them until the carmakers develop some sort of way to lessen their impact may be the only thing for the time being. Thank you again for talking about this. 😊
really good info, thank you for that worked nites for alot of years now dread shorter days coming up and last week a newer motorcycle had the brightest light around i actually had to slow down and stop, worst is intersections when they are across from you all headlights shoud be 1970's bright period. I would never ever help anyone with blue headlights, my 2 cents
A hundred years ago, that's right in the 1920s, they installed polarized glass for windshields, and the same was on the surface of headlights. When adjusted 90 degrees to each other the light coming at you from the bulbs would be cut by 3/4s. I don't know why they dropped that.
They ARE too bright for other drivers, especially in the rain in heavy traffic in areas with lots of other lights. For myself, I cannot drive for at least two hours after getting the eye drops. I never go to the ophthalmologist at night or if it’s raining. There’s no useable public transportation where I live and the distance is 68 miles to the university medical center that takes my insurance. An Uber or cab is too expensive and I don’t know anyone able or available to donate that much time in the working day to drive me. The only time I use the lights myself is if driving at night in rural areas without streetlights. The second another I see another vehicle, the brights go off. Those glare reducing glasses do absolutely nothing for me. I’ve tried them. They don’t speed up my pupils adjusting to different light! I will ask my doctor about the off-label use of eye drops, however, as I’m anticipating a long road trip of 2,000 miles round trip. I’ll have no choice but to do some night driving. I try to restrict night driving to dry weather in rural areas. I don’t mind interstates with sparse traffic, even if it’s tractor trailers. Most are professionals who know when to dim their high beams. It also helps tremendously if I’m familiar with the roads. Although I live on the line between suburbia and rural, and there’s a lot of traffic being a suburb of NYC, I’m very familiar with the roads, having grown up here and driving here since the age of 15. I’m now 73.
@@darinslonden7672 I hear ya, I feel your pain- but if you buy a new car now... (a nasty habit of older people who can't handle vehicle failures as well)... We DON'T GET TO CHOOSE! If you mean the after market blue lights...ok but a lot of the obnoxious headlights are factory originals now. So please keep being a good Samaritan- bright headlights are not necessarily a personal choice. I help a lot of people out, regardless of hair, skin, or headlight color. Keep being a good person- set an example😇
When I was learning to drive (50 years ago!), my father told me when passing cars at night to never look at the headlights. He said instead to focus on the white line to the right (away from the center of the road) while looking ahead and as long as cars were oncoming. Just averting your eyes that small amount, makes quite a difference. You still see the road, entirely, but avoid the oncoming headlights.
I use the "flip down" dark polarized glasses for night driving with oncoming traffic. I flip them back up after the cars have passed by. Works well. I use the yellow glasses for rain and associated mist kicked up by vehicles, especially on highways. Works well. I'm 63 and have tried everything reasonable for these newer headlights; which are only good when you are on empty rural roads, but terrible for urban settings.
I was driving coast to coast at one point years ago, and the lights got so bad that I broke out the only polarized lenses I had on hand... ski goggles. They worked amazingly well, but I must have looked like an absolute lunatic
I'm 67 and have used a pair of the yellow tinted flip downs found on sale at a Walgreens for the last 4 years. It was one of the best purchases I have ever made! As I get older I try to avoid going out on the road at night, but in an odd twist, I work night shift 2 nights a week and have a 30 minute drive to work. It's fine half of the year, but from Fall to Spring, with the time change going back an hour, it is horrible driving to work! The flip downs help a lot, but I still have to suffer through pick up trucks, SUVs and larger trucks sitting on my bumper (Why on Earth people choose to tailgate is beyond me!) and the reflection from my side mirrors blinds me no matter what I do! I plan to do some research and see if I can find some more night driving glasses and some sort of tinted film to put on the side mirrors. Not sure if that's legal, but then these horrible headlights are! 🤷🏼♀️
Same goes for the new white led street lights. We use to have sodium lights that had a deep orange colour allowing your night vission to kick in. The new white ones make it harder to see, massive shadow area you cant see into.
Exactly! Between the LED headlights and the LED street lights, it creates more dark/black spots where you can't see anything. I can see better without those lights at all, than with them. When I drive down the street at night and there are no cars on the road, I can see perfectly! As soon as a car comes with those bright lights, it's like a flashlight shining right in my eyes and the rest of the road is pitch black and I can't see anything for a few seconds. Very scary and dangerous.
Also -- the white LED street lights cause "light pollution". It's hard to see the stars, and the behavior of sensitive creatures is affected. Thailand had tourists coming to see their millions of lightning bugs, but the bugs were becoming fewer; Thai researchers found that the increasing light pollution was making it hard for the fireflies to find mates. So the govt required changes in the outdoor lighting (I forget exactly what, sorry) & the firefly population recovered. Outdoor lighting affects birds, too; and it was recently found that the songs of birds before sun rise is at a frequency that stimulates plants to grow. So a lot of beautiful and necessary things are affected by having excess outdoor lights at night.
I do think those intense bright headlights need to be regulated, everyone I spoken to about them agrees they are dangerous for other drivers. The old school headlights were great. Thanks for the video and gratitude for sharing your insights.
But think of the loss of revenue that, tow trucks, doctors, hospitals,funeral homes will experience and the slowing of population reduction if The GOOBERMENT actually took driver safety at night seriously!
I live in Oz, and more than 50 years ago, my driving instructor taught me to look towards the left when there was oncoming cars (would be right in the US). Served me well all these years. Don't spend any money for night driving🇬🇸
60 years on the road, and I agree with your conclusion💯%. Modern headlights are simply too damned bright! Additionally, too many drivers nowadays are less courteous, when refusing to dim their lights for oncoming traffic. IMO, it was a huge mistake to eliminate "Drivers Education" as an option from the HS curriculum. Pro-tip: Deer are transfixed by headlights @ night, so a driver can rapidly alternate repeatedly between dim and bright lights, the deer is able to regain lucidity and avoid walking into the oncoming headlights.🚘🦌
OMG, I was just saying today that one of the biggest mistakes public education has made is to get rid of Driver Ed courses in high schools. There are so many bad young drivers today and I believe it’s because they’re not taught properly and also maybe because they just don’t care.
Me too. Also the street lighting in towns where they have moved to white lights doesn't help. If you look at these lights they dazzle but are poor at actually lighting the road around them. Finally, councils allow road lines to fade, making it harder especially in the rain. I love the use of cats eyes.
Last winter I drove at night in the UK on a road with intermittent new LED and old orange/yellow street lights. The light circle from the LEDs didn’t reach to the next light, leaving an area of darkness where I couldn’t see if anyone was on the pavement. The light circle from the orange lights reached the next light so there were no areas of darkness. It was so obvious as the same road had the different lights. Anyone would think “they” want us to have accidents by installing these new lights 🤔
The new headlights are far too bright as you can't see past them,coupled with the white street lights they kill all other colours except black and white.
i am so glad you are addressing the flourescent headlight problem. i wish someone would get rid of these lights. they are probably increasing accidents on the road blinding everyone.
We used to use our high beams when unusually dark and then bounce back to regulars when an oncoming vehicle is at 500 feet. Somehow that whole thing got thrown out of the window and now apparently you can use brights all the time. Part of the me first generation - screw the other guy.
I hate the bright blue headlights - and now I have them. They're wonderful to be BEHIND. I've always thought the stars were because of my astigmatism; it's always been a problem. And now you've made me look forward to cataracts making it worse. The best work-around I've ever been told about is to look at the right edge of the road, rather than the center. It works pretty well for me.
I am a Commercial driver with four million miles in safety awards and counting. As a driver my experience is similar to the MI State Trooper further in the comments. I'm glad you mentioned alignment early on HOWEVER, the most problematic issue I have had are people using their High Beams when it simply isn't necessary. May I add, I appreciate this video. I would like to see this added to driver training by the National Safety Council and the Smith System (Both of which I had at one time or another been certified to teach through the years).
Yes I’ve noticed the overuse of high beams also. It seems people are thinking to themselves….”hey my lights are already bright as hell anyways, so no one will even know if I have my highs or lows on”. This also brings up another point. These new lights are obviously on new vehicles. Most of these new vehicles aren’t really part of the issue with the constant use of high beams even directly in the face of oncoming traffic. The reason for this is new vehicles have the auto dimming feature where the vehicle will control the lights itself and kick them down to low beam when it senses oncoming traffic or even slower moving traffic that you’re catching up to. The main issue is people are installing these new headlights on older vehicles which lack all of the sensors and CPU to take automatic control of the high/low beam operation and I’ve noticed 9 out of 10 times I get blinded by oncoming traffic with their high beams it’s because it’s an older vehicle that has these new headlight systems installed. That’s not to say the damn things aren’t too bright even on low beam, they are. Also just a personal observation I’ve had, the worst offenders by far that I’ve noticed that refuse to switch to their low beams are Jeep drivers. It seems every single wrangler I pass that’s older has these new lights installed and they don’t feel like adjusting their high/lows. 2nd most common offenders are simply older model pickups. This really seems like a situation where eventually no one’s going to “win” if it continues on its current trajectory. Those clowns that refuse to switch to their lows are just going to more frequently get high beamed by other clowns that refuse to switch to their lows, the more people install them. Just want to make this clear also, I’m not excusing them on newer vehicles with the auto dimming features. I hate the damn things altogether. I’m 40, not 80. They’re just too bright.
Yes I’ve noticed the overuse of high beams also. It seems people are thinking to themselves….”hey my lights are already bright as hell anyways, so no one will even know if I have my highs or lows on”. This also brings up another point. These new lights are obviously on new vehicles. Most of these new vehicles aren’t really part of the issue with the constant use of high beams even directly in the face of oncoming traffic. The reason for this is new vehicles have the auto dimming feature where the vehicle will control the lights itself and kick them down to low beam when it senses oncoming traffic or even slower moving traffic that you’re catching up to. The main issue is people are installing these new headlights on older vehicles which lack all of the sensors and CPU to take automatic control of the high/low beam operation and I’ve noticed 9 out of 10 times I get blinded by oncoming traffic with their high beams it’s because it’s an older vehicle that has these new headlight systems installed. That’s not to say the damn things aren’t too bright even on low beam, they are. Also just a personal observation I’ve had, the worst offenders by far that I’ve noticed that refuse to switch to their low beams are Jeep drivers. It seems every single wrangler I pass that’s older has these new lights installed and they don’t feel like adjusting their high/lows. 2nd most common offenders are simply older model pickups. This really seems like a situation where eventually no one’s going to “win” if it continues on its current trajectory. Those clowns that refuse to switch to their lows are just going to more frequently get high beamed by other clowns that refuse to switch to their lows, the more people install them. Just want to make this clear also, I’m not excusing them on newer vehicles with the auto dimming features. I hate the damn things altogether. I’m 40, not 80. They’re just too bright.
Yes, I agree with the high beam issue. I think there's two causes. The first one is obvious - bad manners. The other is misalignment of the headlights. I'm old enough to remember when altering the alignment involved going under the bonnet (hood) with a spanner. This meant that we mostly left it where the mechanics put it. Now we can change the alignment from the dash so OF COURSE we dial up so that we have the clearest view of the road, never thinking about dazzling oncoming drivers. In it's turn, this makes every driver more irritable and therefore road rage more intense
I recently changed my car and now drive a Honda CRV the lights are full LED which automatically dimmed and are less of an issue to what you describe. I find the issue you describe of main beam over use is worse with older drivers who’s night vision is poor due to age (I live in a rural where there are many elderly drivers) I agree when the rain and poor lighting the LED lights are definitely more problematic though.
I definitely feel that the new, bright LED lights are hazardous for night time driving. I have made decisions about my life around whether I will be required to drive home after dark. It's not safe. Great video.
The new LED blue and white light LED's are dangerous. It's not up to us to purchase special eyeglasses with blue filter in order to be safe on the roadways. It's up to the manufacturers, the NHTS, DOT and other agencies as well as auto manufacturers to engineer the equipment to operate and behave appropriately and safely. Believe it or not there are inded warmer LED emmiters. They use the White ones because the APPEAR brighter. Unfortunately they are using the wrong reflectors and lenses. Which requires them to use LEDs that are too intense at typical distances encountered on roadways. No wonder there are so many cars on the road with completely blacked out windows. It'll probably take another ten years before any agency does anything about it. SMH
@@Barrythebiscuitmany say they are straight from the factory. When it lights up everything in the car in front of you, they should not be on the roads. I'm not sure who thought these were a great idea...my guess is a blind man
Without a doubt, those headlights should be outlawed. Also, I remember when I lived in the NYC vicinity, certain areas were starting to change the street lights to a sort of more orange tint to help with light pollution. I found it so much easier on the eyes.
sedans and low cars should keep them since the sharp "cutoff" is below oncoming drivers eyes and wont negatively effect others, and with them being lower its very important to be able to see the road surface in more detail. BUT. Trucks and SUV's should NOT have new insanely bright lights cause they will always blind others. They naturally have a much better view of the road ahead and are not as effected by road debris, so they do not need the same amount of light. Nothing more infuriating that being blinded at a stoplight by all 3 of your mirrors because the new trucks headlights are just wide enough to hit your mirrors lol.
@@DoctorEyeHealthstars are barely visible even with lights off except for headlights: I was in a blackout and it was dark but sky wasn't lit up with stars.
@@DoctorEyeHealthThe stars have nearly disappeared. The night sky is no longer the deep purple/ black it once was even I remote areas the sky just isn't really dark anymore 😢😢
Dr. Allen, thank you so much for posting this -- I'm glad I found it. I have been saying that LED headlights should be outlawed since they first came out. I recently bought a new car and opted for the lower end trim largely because it uses halogen headlights instead of LED. But apparently LED headlights seem to be popular. I guess some people are stupid enough to think that they are better off because they can see the road better -- as though blinding oncoming drivers doesn't put yourself at risk as well. (When you referred to cleaning your headlights, adjusting the angle, lowering your brights as a "courtesy" to other drivers, I was thinking, it's also self preservation!)
The big problem is two-fold: 1: The concentration of new lights is way too sharp - they need to spread the source out much larger. They don't because a large headlight isn't very fashionable so these tiny, ultra bright, ultra focused lights are the norm 2: The color of these lights is way too blue - shifting this towards yellow would help a lot all on its own. I wish windshields were polarized and headlights were polarized in the opposite polarity so you pretty much wouldn't see the direct beam.
You described my night blindness so well. You kind of feel like you’re the only person that has it and nobody else understands, but I hate driving at night because it’s so blurry.
Add in rain and I refuse point-blank to drive at night - the oncoming lights reflect off of the wet pavement, and, unless freshly painted, the lines on the road may as well not exist. Nope!
It is a BIG FG PROBLEM!! I hate driving at night or whenever it’s dark out now. I get so pissed off and just want to blow up! Also, Tesla lights are the work of the devil. And of course it’s annoying when assholes have their high beams on, on purpose. Not a great way to start every morning in the darker months.
@@mariannechmelar4385 because there's no law in most US states that forces them to. I see on Amazon that sellers advertise brighter lights as if it's normal to sell some low beam headlights that are as bright as the high beam headlights. However it is different in Europe where there are laws that are enforced to control the misuse of these lights.
I'm only 34 and I wish something would change with those too. I didn't talk about it in this video but the new LEDs tend to create color fringes and if a car behind you hits bumps or something the headlights can create a colorful glisten that sometimes confuses me - like maybe a police officer is behind me.
Can we create a petition? It seems it could save lives and property if we can reduce accidents! I appreciate your videos so much as I have four ocular conditions including glaucoma, a cataract (one repaired) and retinal issues. Oddly I have a white cane and can still drive in daytime! 😮😂
I've noticed that I can see _better_ when I drive in snow/rain with the old headlights. I've considered putting yellow film over my LED headlights (I don't how well that would work).
This made me feel better knowing it’s not just me! Im in my early 60’s but have been having trouble driving at night for many years, and especially when its not only dark, but rainy with the bright lights coming at me. It’s scary, because if it’s so dark, I can’t even pull over to stop because I don’t know if there’s a ditch off the shoulder (rural areas). Thank you so much for the tip on supplements, I never thought of that. Also, when there’s a truck behind me with bright headlights, I have to temporarily push my rear view mirror up so as not to be blinded.
Oh wow. Thank you, I have been describing that blue light problem to people and they have just reacted like I was crazy. Finally I have come across someone else who thinks of all things they should be illegal. I absolutely hope some day they are. These new lightbulb colors have ruined being out at night for me!
The blue headlights bother me a lot! Even the blue LED business signs or clocks on stoves cause physical pain and look like giant blue smears to me (astigmatism and cataracts. 😥) Here's a bonus question for you: have you seen the much more annoying green or purple headlights? Those hurt and they're extremely distracting! I see them once in a while but I'm fairly certain those actually are illegal.
They also can ruin being in at night if you use LED bulbs. I use NOTHING but incandescent at home because LED will destroy your eyesight!!!!! Blue light has also been proven to be the root of many illnesses as well.
Totally agree with you about the blue lights!! I've noticed that it's harder for me to see anything clearly for a few minutes after they've passed by. They really ought to be made illegal, their effect on other drivers on the road are debilitating.
I have a pair of yellow tinted, anti-glare goggles that are worn on top of my prescription glasses while driving at night. They do reduce the unpleasant effects of the bright white LED headlights and make it easier to see the lines on the road during heavy rain. They look a little goofy but are only worn for the short drive home at night. Got them on Amazon and have been using them for a couple of years; good solution for my problem.
They don't care. What I've done is installed multiple customized super bright lights on my pickup truck on the front and rear bumpers that I use for a-holes who refuse to turn off their high beam lights.
I appreciate this video so much. I was worried that it was something wrong with me. The bright LED lights are way too bright. Even more troubling is that I’ve recently noticed some cars in my area now have brighter blue, and even purple headlights. I really think these should be against the law.
I’m 64 with 7 eye surgeries in the past 4 years. I worn Scleral contact lenses for a year now. Thankfully the Scleral lenses have corrected the night vision scenarios that you’ve shown in your video. Allowing me to drive with confidence at night.
One thing I was taught many many moons ago was to focus on the white line on the edge of the road - this lets you still see the road and not focus on the cars oncoming bright lights, putting that more into your periphery part of your vison. It does work to help keep from getting blinded by oncoming lights (at the time people with their brights on) Also many rearview mirrors will have a lever or automatic adjustment for when the lights behind you are blinding you. It moves the focal point higher, but still allows you to see behind you.
Yes! Agreed! I have taught my children to look at the white lines to the right side of the lane, as they were learning to drive, and 30+ years later, they tell me they remember that all the time.
I am totally onboard with the bright white headlights being outlawed (the really blue, purple-leaning ones don't bother me quite as much). Especially now that LEDs are a thing and I know darn good and well there are softer colors of LED that can be used. (Also, I'll be honest and say if the traffic is heavy enough, I will pop on my sunglasses or else I can't see.) The flip side of them is that people think you have your brights on ALL THE TIME. When we went out to visit my husband's grandmother some years ago, we rented a newer SUV to have space for luggage and SO MANY people did the retaliatory brights flash at us for something we had no control over, even semi-truck drivers. It was awful, and it really makes me hesitant to buy a newer model car since manufacturers seem hell-bent on using these lights.
This is a concern for me as well, to the point where for my next car I plan to research replacement headlight lamps before buying, then immediately replacing them with ones of a warmer color and saner brightness.
I agree. These new super bright lights make driving at night much more challenging. They create a distortion and difficulty seeing for precious moments or more after they pass. And it doesn’t seem like they are “focused” towards the pavement instead of directly into the eyes of oncoming drivers
And how many people have had accidents and said, " I only took my eyes off the road for a couple seconds..." With all the laws we Have to live by? Really makes me wonder Why these subjects aren't addressed?
And here I was thinking that ever since I moved a few years ago that everyone where I live now just uses their high beams all the time. Especially since my bf and I have older cars and use dimmer-looking lights. Its crazy that the lights are THAT bright! Thank you for the tips on how reduce eye strain when driving at night and how to maintain my car to help others!!!
Thank you so much for making this video!! I’m a mature woman with photophobia & I can’t stand driving at night! It hurts my eyes so badly I’m scared I’ll have an accident. There have been occasions where I’m certain they have their brights on, so I give a quick flash to ask them to turn the brights off. Many times, that’s a mistake! They flash back, but not until they are right on top of me and they nearly blow me off the road!! I have worn sunglasses (which I know I shouldn’t) because otherwise the blasted lights give me a headache after awhile. THEY DO INDEED NEED TO BE MADE ILLEGAL. They’re dangerous, at least for others driving in the opposite direction.
Try Amber lens safety glasses, not sunglasses 😎 the yellow tint blocks blue light, I too have light sensitivity & episodic bilateral monocular vertical diplopia/cerebral polyopia. Yesterday was bad, 6 images in offset pairs vertically stacked, gives me a headache & my brain shuts down, sensory overload
Back in the day, flicking your headlights was just a polite way to remind the person to dim and they always did. I don't think the new lights even have a dim.
Yes, I also am one who gets blinded by the intense light from some cars and trucks. In addition, many folks drive with their high beams on and don’t dim them. This causes intense pain in my eyes and blinds me. Something needs to be done for sure.
I agree with pretty much everyone who dislikes the newer headlights. My problem is less with oncoming traffic and more with being blinded by blue lights behind me reflected in the rearview mirror. Even flipping the rearview mirror doesn't do enough. So I'm basically blinded in the right half of my right eye. I'll do pretty much anything to let that driver pass or get into a lane farther away from them. It's FAR worse than folks driving with the older style lights with their brights on. Great video. It's gratifying to know it's not just me being crabby : )
I actually have my rearview side mirrors pointed slightly more outward so I have to lean around to see from them, so headlights behind me don't directly flash in my eyes because of these FFFFFFFFKN LED lights.
I really have a problem at night, everything you described is what happens to me. I have been 'blinded' when driving due to those LED lights. And if it's rainy or wet out I just choose to stay home because the glare and depth perception that is altered make it unsafe for me and others. I do wear glasses that have the anti-glare in my prescription. I think they should reinstate the car functions check that includes checking the light angles. Thank you for all the research and information you present
Thank you so much! This is a problem I deal with (night driving vision) and I’m relieved to hear it’s not my imagination that newer cars have more focused headlights. I appreciate you!
as a former over the road trucker, I did exactly opposite of brightening my dashboard lights. I would dim them to the max, it would allow my eyes to relax and be less stressful
I've noticed the harsh new headlights and wondered why they were so bothersome. Glad to hear someone talk about this situation. And with the super-sized so-called pickup trucks everywhere, the headlights are up high and often shine directly into the front and rear windshields. Even brake lights and turn signal lights seem very unforgiving nowadays. Of course, this means automobile drivers need to rush out and buy glare reduction glasses---a windfall for the manufacturers of such eye ware.
If I drive at night I wear my sunglasses which are blue blockers, I can see fine with them on, however cities do not want to spend Our money on road reflectors and street lighting!!
I noticed the exact same issues. They need to start manufacturing a better bulb. I suspect these lights contribute to accidents and it just hasn't been deemed a serious enough problem yet.
I'm 56 and had stopped driving at night for the last year or so but when I recently saw the eye doctor...she told me my eyes were just massively dry and that's why I'm having so much trouble with it. She said I only had small cataracts but I was certain that they were ready for surgery with all the problems I was having with driving at night. Now, some of it was the same thing all of you are experiencing but it seemed so much worse than before so I knew I had to do something. I'm just lucky I have an aide that can drive me if I have to be out at night. It still keeps me from doing many things but I prioritize my safety and that of others on the road much more because I was in a car accident in the past (caused by a driver under the influence of drugs) so I don't risk it.
I'm pretty sure most(if not all) of those extremely bright bluish/white headlights are marked on their packages "For off road use only" or "Not for highway use"! And I have found that the yellow glasses work fairly well for me!
@@RustyShackleford-gl1vi For trucks, it's almost always because they have a lift kit and didn't adjust the lights. Those super bright LEDs are supposed to face a bit downward. When you raise the truck, it throws off that alignment.
Great video ! I do have another tip my Dad taught me when I was learning to drive. Instead of looking dead straight ahead ( where those bright oncoming lights can blind you ) focus ahead but slightly to the right and at the road where the white line is. That way those bright oncoming lights are hitting your retina a little off center. Helps immensely. and those yellow glasses work for me as well.
My dad taught me that as well, however with the level of oncoming light these days I’m practically just looking over my fender to see the edge of the road. Sometimes I just slow almost to a stop if no one is following me . The yellow lens glasses do help me just to stop the pain. But it reduces my night vision. Now I just hold my hand up to block the light, if they are going to collide with me I wouldn’t know beforehand anyway I’m so blinded. At least I won’t run over anybody walking into my path.
Same problem in the UK. Rain also worsens the problem. Nothing will ever be regulated until accidents are starting to be reported and related to the headlights.
Even then probably not. In Vermont they spent a couple years and tax $$ studying why there were so many lethal accidents in Waterbury VT. Driving there, I found the white lines hadn't been painted for God knows how long... with 4-5 lines of traffic intersecting, of course it was a kill zone.
I’m 50 years old and have had a harder time driving at night for a couple of years. I was diagnosed with early stage cataracts last year. I personally find the combination of anti glare coated lenses on my glasses and the yellow clip on lenses to be extremely helpful.
Not only are the new lights super bright, somewhat painful but the height of them say on trucks effect where the lights hit our eyes! I feel blinded by on coming led lights and I feel I’m at an increased risk of an accident for the time it takes to re-adjust to the dark.
As a person who had a lens replacement due to a cataract, I can say this is a huge pet peeve for me! I live in a rural part of the country and have stopped driving at night because of this and frequent deer sightings. It’s especially bad with Semis and the large trucks from quite a distance . With the lens I received I now see more of the starburst effect and glare in general because of it, but it’s better than the alternative.
As someone who has astigmatism, I have had the glare/starburst affect my whole life and I actually only found out recently (thanks to social media) that it isn't how everyone sees lol. I thought it was normal but actually it's due to my bad astigmatism 😅
I just saw this video and I have been waiting for an eye doctor to say something about prohiting the bright white headlights. You make my day. Thamk you!
With being a night shift trucker, I've learned how to cope with the newer headlights and I avoid blinking or straining my eyes when there's oncoming headlights pointing at me. Also there's times when oncoming headlights will unavoidably bother you especially in mountains where an oncoming vehicle is topping an uphill grade with you positioned centered in the projection of the low beams
Yes there really needs to be a law against these headlights because this is a consistent and frankly ludicrous problem. This really should have been regulated by now. If we wanted to get this regulated, how would we go about it? It's dangerous for the animals around us too. Recent studies have talked about our blue lights at night affecting animals' sleep schedules! I didn't know about headlight alignment! That's important info too.
Indeed, 70% of US cars has misaligned head lights. Law blocks the use of lights like in the EU where the headlights sense on comers and then remove/lower the lights in either just the oncomer area or if the lights are not multi-lamps, lower the full head lights. LED are not an issue in the EU due to good regulation.
I agree on main roads we don’t need these headlights where there’s a lot of traffic Back country roads use these LED is fine but switch off with oncoming traffic traffic
Agree 100%. The only time I ever hit an animal was recently, due to the face my peripheral vision was completely washed out by the headlights. Also they just make me angry, not good for road rage.
Totally agree about those horrible bright headlights. You would think car manufacturers would have done some real world testing before they unleashed that beast on the general population. It's an incredible problem when you've got oncoming traffic with glaring headlights, and a big pickup truck behind you with glaring headlights that are so high up they shine right into your rear view mirror. Thanks for the extra info, I'll check it out. FWIW, I just recently got new glasses with an anti-glare coating, and honestly it's not much of a difference to protect from the glare, but every little bit helps.
The new headlights would have been illegal in the past. Tickets would have been issued for illegal headlights and for misadjusted headlights. I guess it's just like looting and rioting now, nothing gets done about it!
Agreed. I often end up turning my side mirrors at the ground when driving because there's some dipshit with LED lights reflecting straight off them and I can't see anything anyway. These things should be illegal
Cleaning the windshield, the headlights and my glasses- so simple! I had no idea that would help! Also my daughter and I were just talking about car headlights and how whenever I blink my lights at someone to remind them to take off their “brights” they just blink back at me showing me that they don’t even have the brights on! So this video made me feel better to know that there really is a difference now with headlights and it’s not just me! Thank you!
there are a lot of people driving with wrong light bulbs, wrong alignment, dirty glass or setting of their headlights. Anyway, cleaning the windshield occasionally from inside also helps a lot
Another thing is if you live in a heavy Snow Belt state or in an area with sandy, salty soil (think South Jersey), your windshield will most likely get thousands of micro-scratches in it over the years, so by the time it is 10 or more years old in one of those areas, it may be worth getting it replaced if you're going to keep the car.
Auto on/off highbeams (Or the system thereof) should be illegal Had to rent a car recently (Deer and my car was in repair shop), and the rental model came with automatic highbeams. Initially I thought it might be sorta neat, but I learned that: 1: It's default mode is active, meaning that the automatic headlights are active as soon as the vehicle senses it is dark 2: Oncoming has to often times get really very close (6 or 7 car-lengths) before the vehicle notices them and switches to standard headlight from highbeam 3: The typical manual light controls (for highbeam/standard beam) did not seem to do anything while the automatic system was active 4: The button to switch the automatic mode is both located in a weird spot, and only switches it off for the engine run-time of that particular instance While I do hope it was just that particular rental - it was also an eyeopening experience as to why it seems so many vehicles and drivers now don't seem to know how to switch to standard beam until last moment
Another big problem is cars with their high beams on. I’ve blinked my highs at them to lower theirs but most people here in rural areas just don’t care. They drive around with their high beams on all the time. You can tell it’s their high beams on because after they pass you can look back and see the wide swath of light they’re creating.
Newer cars, at least mine does, have where the auto setting for headlights will turn highbeams on and off. So if I have them on in a dark area and a car is coming from the opposite direction, my lights will switch to the normal beam. After they pass, my highbeams come back on. I have a Honda.
@@BunE22 Now that sounds perfect. I wonder if other mfrs are putting this in their cars. Leave it to Honda to do this. Years ago I had a Honda and loved it - solid and comfortable. Now looking for an older Honda Element.
@@BunE22 They rely on the other cars headlamps being visible to the sensor .. guess what? If the other cars lamps are older .. your car won't see them until you're much closer than if you had operated them manually... thus you are often bliding other users unwittingly
I had a 50% tint applied to my windshield because of the bright glare of oncoming headlights at night. It has made a remarkable difference in reducing the amount of headlight glare at night. I also live in an area where it snows, and the windshield tint makes a noticeable difference of reducing the amount of sun glare off the snow and the wet road.
Thank You! Yes! The blue light headlights are BLINDING! It seems like the vehicle has their bright lights on, but it really is just the kind of light. I wish someone would pass a bill to outlaw these, or put some kind of mandatory shield on the car windshields to reduce the glare. Everyone I know is talking about this.
I have been curious if there have been changes made. I have had to drive a couple times now in the dark since time changed and have noticed a huge decrease in the retina burners this year. Most of the cars have a nice orange like light that are much nicer to my eyes!
We used to use our high beams when unusually dark and then bounce back to regulars when an oncoming vehicle is at 500 feet. Somehow that whole thing got thrown out of the window and now apparently you can use brights all the time. Part of the me first generation - screw the other guy.
I've worn contact lenses for years and during the day they are definitely an improvement so I always assumed they would be better for night driving too. Not so. I was suffering from problems with glare to the point where I wouldn't go out unless I had to. Then I got some new glasses and asked for an anti-reflective (anti-glare in the UK) coating and the difference is amazing. I can now drive at night with far less issues and not struggle with the starry effect that I had with contact lenses. Also definitely keep your glasses AND your windscreen clean and don't forget the inside, it will make a big difference. I also use a rain repellant on the screen which seems to help.
Enjoyed this video. Many of us have known this, but good to get confirmation. We were taught to look to the right when the light approaches. That's great if there's a white line on the edge of the road. When there isn't, I worry because I can't see the edge of the road. Wish every road had a white line painted at the edge.
Newer LED headlights bother me as well, but what really causes me difficulty are the new LEDs on emergency vehicles / police cars. They seem to be brighter than most headlights and are eye level or in an elevated position in most cases.
When it comes to headlights the lightbulb can overtime bumb slightly out of place. And if they'd just adjust it every so often it would reduce the blinding.
Yes I have trouble with these newer lights as well but also feel that many newer drivers are not aware of the proper etiquette of the use of high and low beams of the headlights. I have met many people that had no idea that you can switch between high beams (meant for dark roads with no oncoming traffic) and low beams (aimed lower and toward the right for driving with oncoming traffic). I will flash my high beams at cars I believe are driving with high beams and only occasionally get a response. Thanks for the data!
My husband and I definitely agree that blue (and green) headlights should be outlawed. We encountered three vehicles in a row with them, and we had to pull over to recover our vision enough to drive. Fortunately, we were on a highway vs. an interstate where that would not have been an option. We both have better than 20/20 vision, and we literally could not see enough to drive. We had to wait around five minutes, and even after we were able to resume travel, we each had stabbing pain in our eyes. I also think the insanely bright light lights of emergency vehicles create a road hazard. The lights that were used up until the 1990's were certainly bright enough to attract attention, but not so bright that they created vision impairment. I sincerely wonder if their overly bright lights are one of the biggest contributing factors to how many of them are rear-ended every year.
I'm glad you mentioned the blue headlights. I've had a problem with those things for years. Not only do they make it hard to see but because they're a different color than most headlights they grab my attention for a second. I turn to look at them as a natural reaction. Don't know if anybody else has that problem but something that takes your eyes off the road even for a second adds a second safety issue on top of it being too bright.
Yes, I have extreme problems with the new style headlights when driving at night. I live in a rural area where we do not have street lights. When newer cars with the bright white or blue headlights are approaching, I feel like I am blinded. Triple that when they don't dip their bright lights. I feel a stabbing pain in my eyes. I have had cataract surgery in both eyes. The bright white/blue lights just blind me. There should be legislation regulating how bright those lights can be. Thank you for talking about this subject.
What makes the problem worse: people try to install LED replacements for halogen bulbs that causes *MORE* glare because the LED elements don't match the position of the original halogen bulbs. Many cars use the 9012 (HiR2) halogen bulb for their headlights; they need to make sure the LED replacement has the lighting element that match exactly the position of the 9012 bulb so you don't cause undue glare due to light pattern changes.
Just a thought but usually the ones with the blinding blue and white lights are the same obnoxious people who have the lifted trucks, radio blasting, boom box rattling the widows and very loud exhaust..............." THE LOOK AT ME SYNDROME "
YES!!!! It’s so much worse on these dark rural roads!! Not nearly as unbearable when I get into town and there are bright street lights and store sign lights! But we have more dark roads than lit ones and I find that the vast majority of these people just refuse to dim their lights!!
I did an experiment with some lightly yellow glasses that I use when motorcycling. Kinda like yellow driving glasses but not as yellow or amber. Seems it reduces/mitigates the bright blue of the new LED lights from oncoming cars or what is in the rear view mirrors. You might disagree, but as for me it helps. I usually use 3+ readers as my go-to glasses and these don't have any correction, but the result is much better. As you know, on ships during emergencies or in battle, the lights go red as that does not affect night vision (as much). I think this might be the same or that it makes those bright blue lights more like Halogen/Xenon headlamps. Just a thought.
I think opinions will vary here. I had cataract surgery about 8 years ago and while it improved daytime vision in general, I feel my night vision is not what it once was. I have more glare issues, and since we did a bit of mono-vision to gain practical use most of the time, I can no longer use binoculars in dim light for star gazing. Between the glare (pinpoint light problem) and the eyes being too far apart in focus to deal with the extra fine details, I can't get both eyes clear. There's' just not enough adjustment on typical binoculars to get the other eye right. Going into a night club, all of the LED lighting used these days is just a blur. Reading those LED road signs is almost impossible at night, since each light has it's own star-burst. The major reason I did the surgery was to get rid of glasses in general, which only seems to work during the day.
@@lynnebattaglia-triggs1042 pre surgery I had great night vision because I didn't have any of those distractions but I did need glasses for proper focus. I had been wearing 1.25 "readers" to see the road signs and watch tv but working outside was a royal pain because of snow / rain constantly fogging the glasses. I often wonder if I made a bad trade.
That's the same thing they say about halogen. What needs to be banned is aftermarket LED in reflector housing. Aftermarket LED was never engineered for that housing. It works better in projector housing
I like how you showed a Subaru. Yeah, the newer Subarus have this problem from the factory. (Headlight assembly is set for heavier, older model) We have a 2022 Crosstrek, and from the dealership, (using low beams) I was getting flashed constantly by other drivers. After some research, I discovered that Subaru sets their headlights pointing too high. I learned what socket size for headlight adjustment, and I dropped the light beams down a half turn. Now I don't get flashed by other drivers.
I live in rural area with 10 miles of single lane highway to come and I use to go nuts with the high beams Finally installed LED lights on my sedan too and it surprisingly helps.
Agree with others -it is surprising that these headlights aren’t regulated. I am one of those people who are sensitive to light in general - commented on one of your previous videos that b2 has helped a lot with that. However lately I have been noticing that this “retinal bleaching” you are discussing is bugging me more and more during the day. Didn’t know it was called that but now I know what terminology to use when I go to my eye doctor next week.
@@DoctorEyeHealth hello doctor . Can u please tell me which is better between J&J Technis Eyehance monofocal AND Alcon Clareon monofocal. My Dr said both are equally good and I can choose any for my surgery. Is my doctor missing something ? Which one should i go for ?
They were regulated. But the auto and lighting industries lobbied governments to change the laws. And of course with a bit of cash, governments will do anything.
It seems my eyes are attracted to looking at car headlamps coming towards me, and on the narrow roads here in the UK I always physically force my gaze to the edge of the road where I can see without glare thanks to my own headlamps.
The angle of the headlights is incredibly important, and should be regulated more effectively. For me this issue is even worse when it rains or snows, which happens a lot here in Alaska.
But you can't fix "too bright" with angle or beam pattern-because roads are not flat. You go over railroad tracks, you blind everyone in front of you for a couple seconds, etc. Brightness, angle, and beam pattern all need to be addressed. (... and regulated.)
@@aspidoscelisAgree 💯. A round of applause for the motor industry for neglecting the obvious...that ultra bright lights (daylight white/blue colour temperatures) blind other drivers at night 🙄. Nothing wrong with traditional warm tungsten lights; LED lights should have modelled those (warm colour temperature, sensible light levels/distribution). Unfortunately, the motor industry (and some drivers) seem to adopt the 'its all about them' attitude 🤨.
Even if roads were completely flat, vehicle headlights are not all at the same height. Leveling should be a given, but it also shouldn't be pushed as a solution the way the industry is trying to do.
I've noticed a huge difference recently. I'm from a larger city and used to night time driving with street lights even on the highway. But now that we've moved rurally I've noticed it's much harder when I'm relying just on my headlights and can't use high beams because cars ahead of me/oncoming. Very few street lights outside of town at all here. Will def try the trick to turn up the dash lights to counter.
Headlight issues are one of the reasons why I bought a truck instead of a sedan for my latest vehicle purchase. Sitting higher above the road has helped me a lot with night time driving.
That's a two-edged sword, of course. Now you're the one shining your headlamps into the sedans around you. I don't fault you for your choice--it's reasonable--but it does have an external cost.
@@0num4Yes, it's a two-edged sword. That said, I feel much better being able to see what others around me are doing. Additionally, the most offensive headlight issues I ever encountered were from these ricers that buy sporty cars and install those awful blue LED (or sometimes Xenon) headlamps in them just to "look cool." Now I don't have to deal with them anymore. Plus, the headlights on my truck are very well aimed and have a limiter on the top end for the low beams so it doesn't blind regular sedan drivers.
@@dblissmn Not necessarily. My truck's low beams have a hard cut-off that is very visible at night above a certain height. It's hard to explain, but going over certain bumps or hills, you can see a very distinctive black line above the beams where there isn't any light being emitted. Either way, I'm in my 40's now and my eyes don't react as quickly as they did when I was younger. I know having a higher vehicle might not be super helpful to drivers of sedans, but at least now I can see THEM, whereas before I couldn't.
I’m so glad that you posted this video. I have so much difficulty seeing at night that I avoid driving at night. I do feel pain in my eyes when there are bright lights when driving, but also when I go to a restaurant and there are bare bulb light fixtures that seem to be the trend now. They’re terrible. I had cataract surgery in both eyes about 10-11 years ago and see my ophthalmologist every year. I had hoped that my night vision would improve when driving, but it didn’t help very much.
I agree with the "bare bulb" lights - I see them everywhere and I even had to change out the lightbulbs when I moved into my apartment. Did you notice that things appeared brighter after the cataract surgery?
So do I! They physically hurt! I was always told never look at arc welding, it will damage your eyes! It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen!!! And sue I will!
I had my cataracts removed about 3 years ago and I had assumed the halo effect from the on coming bright lights would help me see better for night driving but it didn’t make any difference, so I basically no longer drive at night unless it is just around my neighbourhood.
Very thorough video! Vitamin A also helps w/night vision; if yours is bad, it's often due to a deficiency.Just take for a month or 2 and then lay off for a month, as it builds up.The blue piercing ones are the worst! I just try like hell not to drive at night anymore!
I found the bright high temperature white/blue 5000K headlights to be quite irritating, even since back in the 90's. Even with regular lights, LEDs, 2000-3000K, much easier on the eyes. I used to work at a lighting company so I'm familiar with these color temperature differences. I usually put my hand up to block some of the offending glare which helps. Thanks for the info & advice!
Yep, when picking headlight bulbs I always go for the warmest white I can. You actually see better as a driver because everything is not washed out white.
Thank you for addressing this. I complain about every night, since I work third shift. Those new lights are overkill. Sure, the driver who has these on their car can see great, but not someone coming towards you. I don’t understand how these are legal.
@@reynaldoflores4522 Are HID and LED lights better for rallies? I keep thinking there's an explosion of toxic Dealer or Lighting Kit mechanics just setting stuff to blow up suburbs with that toxic amount and uplighting.
@@davenordquist4663 If you've ever been in a car rally, you would really appreciate the advantage of these high-intensity headlights. They light up the road for a greater distance, allowing you to drive much faster. But unlike driving on public streets, rallies are restricted to cars running only in one direction, so that you won't have a problem of getting blinded by the glare of oncoming headlights. That's why I believe these lights should be for competitive use only.
I still prefer the older sealed beam lights, but I also know that the USDOT doesn't care what I think. I also prefer a wider beam that illuminates more of an area without hot spots, and newer headlights do the opposite. The newer lights are definitely aggravating, but my biggest complaint is people driving around with their hi-beams on. It is illegal, but it is not enforced. I am pretty sure that some of the blue and purple headlights are also illegal, but that is no longer enforced either.
they created a massive sight problem when they went to these yellowing plastic headlights, they literally created a problem they didn't have before. I agree with the sealed beam, glass headlights being superior.
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For more info on Lutein and supplements that may help with glare and sensitivity ruclips.net/video/FDnUuK8GxXk/видео.html
thank you so much!
Toyota dealership claims headlights on Sienna cannot be adjusted…I get numerous “complaints” with my low beams…..?
I hate LED lights enough is enough let's get a petition made Let's have people sign it to do away with LEDs what do you think
The old headlights are so much better
Please add something about polarised spex. I added a comment in the main comments. Most of the issues you answered could be simply solved by using polarised spex.
I am a retired Michigan State Trooper, and over the years I've developed a knack for driving at night. Lights never bothered me much. since the advent of the "blue" led headlights, I have found it much more difficult. Those things should be outlawed, of course, the reality is that they never will be. Much harder now to see at night. If it's raining, the LeD lights make the glare much worse.
BLUE should definitely be illegal...actually, keep it like below 4000K. I started wearing YELLOW shooter's glasses. They will NOT help witih bright lights, which are still very bright. But they filter out the BLUE from the most offending lights. You can wear yellow at night because they do not reduce what you are otherwise seeing, only killing the blue. (Then I tell the cops that their BLUE lights got filtered out, too....hahahaha)
It used to be enjoyable driving at night with less traffic. I guess the max bright lights has more people on the roads after dark. Plus the eye damage from those lights is cumulative. I'm sure eye docs don't mind the extra business
Nice be to know it's not just me thinking the lights are bright
I would like to see neon road lines in rural community that have no street lights
Regulated to not be over bright
Sometimes I just switch to my brights and blind them back 😂
I'm SO glad someone is finally talking about this! I HATE these lights. I thought I was the only one. I feel like they're a hazard at night and shouldn't be legal.
My mother was driving me to the airport during a very dark morning in Florida and someone from her neighborhood got in traffic behind us for the entire 15-mile trip. It was 2003, she was 70, and she cussed all the way to the airport because of her neighbor’s headlights. When we arrived at the airport was when we knew the problem headlights were the same as who drove the 15 miles behind us. My mother jumped out to confront the owner of the vehicle! I was so stressed out from how much those lights bothered my mother, I was actually glad to believe I would soon be on the plane.
I can't see when cars driving towards me at night. Rely on knowing the rest.
They definitely are a hazard!!
@@paulacraig8252 Yes they are a very big hazard and i guess they will just keeping getting worse!
@@kalimahasarra6837 its not jist leds but also super bright halogens as well. I just flash my highbeams at anyone who has them. Hopefully they will just get annoyed and put the oems back in
Clicked on this just to see other people agreeing with me that LED lights are super annoying. Felt great, thanks!
Me too. 🐂💨💨💨
It is not about the LED lights. The LEDs are just a light source. It is the stupid decision of manufacturers and others to double or triple the brightness and select a bluish white.
@@krab999 THEY ARE DEADLY.
@@krab999 they are horrible
@pstasman629 leds come in all.colors true. Its also the aim.
I used to LOVE driving at night! It was my favorite time to travel. I absolutely dread it now.
Same! It was so relaxing and comforting for me to drive at night. Now, it's an absolute nightmare! I don't even like driving to the grocery store a few blocks away because there's always some idiot right on my tail blasting me with death beams. I hate it, and wish they would outlaw those stupid lights.
@@rubenalvarado4463 Well put.
Me toooooo!!!
That's me recently. I used to like driving at night. But it feels like recently, the headlights are worse and brighter. Maybe it is cause there are a lot of people traveling during holidays but I am starting to get scared at driving at night.
For everyone saying to look at the white line - I rely on this when driving at night. The next problem is that oftentimes they're faded, or sometimes absent altogether. Rain especially obscures them.
True, my grandfather used to do this too.
I drive semi and some of these lights from low cars are blinding me. And I sit 7-9 feet off the ground.
In and around Raleigh NC the lines on the highway are so light that when it rains the only way to find the line is to fine reflectors but that’s barely easy.
If you live where it snows all winter the lines on pavement are practically nonexistent.
How about we go back to headlights that aren't 30 times brighter than they need to be
I was an over the road trucker, with over a million miles of experience. For long trips, bright dash lights or interior lights will wear you out. For oncoming high beams, I close one eye, that blocks the high beam, my right eye watches the road. It might sound crazy but try it absolutely works.
The other thing that wears you out over extremely long trips is rain and using your windshield wipers. I used to always use Rain-X. Just some tricks I used to use driving from coast to coast.
Im not a trucker but closing my left eye always helps. I think I found my weak link
I had a job for 15 years where I drove on the Dalton Highway many times in the dark and I not only kept the in dash lights dim, but I put some opaque tape over the high beam indicator light.
We used to use our high beams when unusually dark and then bounce back to regulars when an oncoming vehicle is at 500 feet. Somehow that whole thing got thrown out of the window and now apparently you can use brights all the time. Part of the me first generation - screw the other guy.
I’ve used Rain-X for decades and almost never turn my wipers on. At speeds > 30mph, no need to turn them on.
H@marblox9300 how amuriKKKan of you, just like a corporate
GLAD TO HEAR SOMEONE ELSE HAS NOTICED THIS. LIGHTS AT NIGHT KILL ME BLIND ME I HAVE PULLED OVER AND STOPPED AT TIMES TO RECOVER. HIGH TRUCKS ARE THE WORST.
ok calm down
EVEN WORST ARE THOSE IDIOTS ON PICK UP TRUCKS THAT TURN THEIR HIGH BEAMS ON. WHY SOME DRIVERS HAVE TO BE SO IGNORANT TOWARDS OTHER DRIVERS.I DRIVE ALL NIGHT AND I GO TROUGH HELL WITH THOSE LIGHTS. I WONDER WHAT HARM THESE LIGHTS WILL CAUSE TO OUR EYES. AFTER LOOKING AT THEM NIGHT AFTER NIGHT FOR YEARS.
Been there,done that too. I understand EU and Japan use some sort of adaptation to reduce the excessive headlight glare we have in N America.
They should be outlawed. Go back to lights we used to have before these blue bright lights came out on newer cars. Where's our politicians with this ?
@@tommywatterson5276 When I'm blinded by these lights I turn my brights on to blind them back, they are so rude!!!!
Optics specialist here: Anti-reflective coatings are wavelength dependent and have a broad range of effects on light of varying colours. A coating that dampens the reflections of blue light, say, may actually amplify the reflections of green light. This has a lot to do with how AR coatings work, which I won't bore you with, but suffice it to say that the standard tech for AR coatings is incompatible with a broad spectrum AR coating.
Because some people can show specific sensitivity to certain colours, putting an AR coating on glasses for those wavelengths makes sense. However, making an AR coating on car windshields doesn't make sense because there is not one specific set of wavelengths that we want to block, and it would likely result in another range of wavelengths being amplified. If headlights were still mostly yellow (say they were sodium lamps), that would be easy to block with an AR coating. However, as they are generally white, there isn't enough of a primary frequency for us to select one wavelength for targeted anti-reflection.
I agree. Those LED headlights are blinding and shouldn't be legal. Several people I know have complained about them to me and I know my eyes don't recover from them as fast as the older headlights. Glad to hear you addressing this!
I know they were illegal a few years back. The only cars allowed to have them on the road in the US is certain German cars that ha a target level system that could change as the road changes. Anyhow, I think they are still illegal but there are so many now that the cops can't pull over every kid with a connected dad or worse, mom. I think the cops gave up mostly because of the last part. They could spend 40 hours on making a case after he or she pleads innocent the first case. Then countless hours with lawyers to fight it. Only at the end, the kid's dad knows the chief, or a mayor or higher that will force the cops that put all the time in. It's pretty rare to see cops pull people over anymore. Hell, it's hard to even see one these days. I saw a potential hazard and threat to a 6 or so year old kid. I happen to see a cop between two buildings a block away doing paperwork. I do the right thing and tell him what's going on. He said he had better things to do. I think he saw my disgust and he added, I'm investigation a stollen car. Stolen car trumps the life of a child in Manchester NH>
Folks shouldn't be complaining to you but their reps in Congress
@@peggycole7162The people in congress don't have a lick of common sense.
The real problem is the installation and design. The LEDs themselves should not be visible. They're designed to work by being aimed backwards at a reflective focal surface. A lot of idiots out there replacing their older globes with new LEDs just blatantly facing forward without any proper redesign or modification. The new car manufacturers who also break this design rule should be sued.
I agree, LED headlights are blinding and shouldn't be legal.
The fact that RUclips audiences skew young, and I haven’t seen a comment yet that thought that the new types of lights are fine is REALLY TELLING. Same experience that I’ve had. I’m still young, but even I have trouble with them.
Another problem is infrastructural: a lot of roads don’t have fresh, reflective paint, so the lines on the road are really dim when looking into these headlights, especially when it’s raining. It also probably doesn’t help that sedans are right in the line of fire with all these huge SUVs shining right in sedan owners’ eyes.
There are glasses for night driving that cuts the blue out, and reduce the glare, like the goggles used for skiing in white outs
I'm 32 and these days when it's raining I literally cannot see the road at all due to all these new headlights. It's really scary and dangerous.
The last thing you mentioned is probably the biggest problem.
Big trucks and SUVs make the roads unsafe for anyone who isn’t in such a big vehicle. The NTSB tried to outlaw them they taxes and regulations but automakers pushed back and won.
Most of us can instinctively figure their out just by looking at the difference in vehicle height and having seen a few accidents involving a small car and a big truck.
Personally my favorite part is that the majority of these big vehicles will never get dirty one time and are only used to move a few people back and forth.
It’s not just dangerous for everyone, it’s also incredibly wasteful of resources to build them as well as the amount of gas they waste/pollution they create when they could easily be replaced with a far more efficient vehicle.
There have always been tall / big vehicles that sit higher. This isnt the problem. The problem is the leds not the vehicles. Lets not get all stupid about it.
@@ruledbysaturn yea… no… their bumpers don’t align with the bumpers of sedans. This is a fatal flaw, literally.
When a truck or suv hits a sedan from the side, a T bone, then their bumper is actually aligned with the window. That defeats the purpose of even having a bumper and when it’s a head bouncing off a bumper then people die. I have first hand knowledge of this and it’s a well documented problem.
Auto makers want to sell more cars, make more profit, which is exactly what they do, nothing more.
If you can’t understand how having 2 different bumper heights on vehicle’s that share the same road then I don’t know how to help you, maybe you could practice fitting a square peg into a round hole then we can discuss how important things like edge alignment can be, then you can imagine adding a good 50 mph to that equation… maybe you’ll get it then?
Doubtful.
Do you drive a princess truck yourself?
Sorry if I hurt your feelings but a big truck can’t make up for a tiny d…
One of the things that bothers me about the bluer lights is that people want them because they make the road brighter; but conversely, they make it harder to see anything OUTSIDE of the range of the headlights. They just destroy your nightvision SO MUCH that it seems really counterproductive when the primary use is for improving visibility in low lighting conditions.
100% true. Outdoor lighting should never be really bright. People think brighter is better but I read on a lighting store website that it is counterproductive.
Right? Arg, I can’t see because its too bright, better turn on my Hi-Beams
Yes well said, it's amazing how many people don't this!
Another unforeseen effect, when it rains, black asphalt roads reflect LED lights so you get twice as much blinding light.
Exactly! It is counter-intuitive.
(UK). Thanks for this video, you have accurately described my experience of night driving in recent years.
LED headlights are becoming more commonplace but at the time of writing are often the preserve of the more expensive models. Many of these have ‘self dimming’ (‘adaptive’) headlights.
As I understand it, these headlights are permanently on main beam, but the headlights adjust their optics to dim the area that would shine in the eyes and otherwise dazzle an oncoming driver.
This means:
A. As that oncoming driver, the lights are not shining DIRECTLY into your eyes, but nevertheless there is still a very bright light coming toward you, which causes the situations described in this video.
B. In order for that car’s systems to adjust the optics of the headlights to prevent dazzling of the oncoming driver it must first detect the presence of the oncoming car. By the time it has done that and the optics of the headlights have changed, it is already too late and the approaching driver has already had the full beams in his/her eyes.
This is why, when you encounter such a vehicle at night its headlights are momentarily blinding, before settling back to being just uncomfortably bright.
I've been saying this for years now ! The lights are so bright now they blind people at night! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS VEDIO!
You ARE blind to spell video backwards!
@@valleygirl2530 There is no need to be catty, Jeff is probably dyslexic.
@jeffbradley876 vehicle headlight don't only blind other drivers, they blind everyone including bicyclists & pedestrians.
Since they blind eveyone - it should be considered assaulting everyone.
Yasss! For the longest time, thought it was just me but the doc keeps saying, “oh it’s your developing cataracts!” 🙄 Suspected a long time that it Had to do w/ these new lights & maybe even some actual irritation to ppl’s eyes bc of computer use in this day & age!!
@@oohyllab there is another consideration as well. You might want to run this by you eye specialist.
Recently I was talking to someone driving me (I have no driver's license), talk got around to bright headlight on city streets. The driver inform me that when her car starts up the high beams come on. This can be changed in vehicle setting, but a driver has to look for it to change that setting. Just think how many other drivers you've seen without headlight or daytime running lights at night.
Makes me wonder how manufacturers get away with such bad tech.
First eye professional to legitimately explain the issues and understanding of the problems. Yes, ban those headlights. Got my follow!
No.. theres quite a few videos.. 1st one you found, maybe..
While I agree about banning those headlights, I also know that it would be near impossible to enforce. In fact, I’ve been told that they are illegal where I live (not sure if it’s true) and I see them all the time.
@ cops need to give tickets
@@MichaelGolpenot enough police at night to give tickets the manufacturers should have a call back !
@ that would be great, but they’d have to be forced to do so
As a truck driver, some more hints and tips for night driving. Clean the inside of the windscreen as well as the outside. And when someone has those bright head lights, look to the side of the road away from the lights, just keep them in your peripheral vision. Then when they pass back to center of the road, That blur is now on the side of the road not in center of your vision. Great video.
This is a good tip. I do the same thing: I look at the fog line until they pass.
since these "bright bulb lovers" want to see so well, then watch out for me, whom you have blinded, and AVOID me as I drive toward you, like a moth to a flame...
I will also look to the side of the road away from the oncoming lights by slightly turning my head to the right and closing my left eye until the bright light passes . Temporarily closing the left and the re-opening it allows for faster recovery of night vision .
@@paulcoalson7073That works fine when it's just a few, but on a busy road I just wind up driving with one eye closed. That is its own problem, especially on a longer drive.
Doesn't work well when it's winter night driving. The glare is everywhere and often one can't even tell where the edge of the road is because it's covered in snow.
Why aren’t anyone doing anything about these bright lights?? Are there any lawmakers doing anything?? Years ago, it was a courtesy to dim your lights, even taught in Driver’s Education in High Schools. Great article.
Thank you for great video info. I cannot drive at night. I guess I am ancient, I was taught to dim headlights when approaching a car. These new terrible lights need some lawmakers to get involved. I tried the yellow glasses. Worked some. I have had cataract surgery with implants. Thanks again for being brave to speak for the common people.
They do not teach drivers ed in school anymore. All the programs were cancelled to save money. Instead "We will turn untrained drivers loose on our roads, What is the worst that could happen? Lets see." My next door neighbor got both her kids trained in driving.
The best part of this video is finding out that I'm not the only one having problems with the LED and blue lights. While I'm not a fan of more government regulations, that may be the only way to get this fixed. Thank you!
Ah yes. The regulations I agree with are "good" regulations. The rest are bad regulations and restricting my freedumbs!!
Many among us are not even decent people, so they don't always comply or even do the bare minimum to make the world a better place. This is why we need rules and laws in the first place!
Some headlights today are no longer adjustable with regard to aim. This is a problem.
I've written to every agency I can think of and you know where that got filed.
@@Rawkfist1501 Where is the Logic in your response? It does not even address the fact they are calling out individual agreement with/perceptions of a given law(s); not your 'real world' cause and effect, painted with very broad strokes, I might add. And, with absolutely no sarcasm (look that word up).
I agree %100. I've been complaining about these new fangled lights since the year 2000. It's an outrage. I heard an official, on NPR, claim the new light's intensity is the same as the old lights, according to their instruments. I was yelling at the radio "Listen to the drivers, not your measuring stick!!!" There is no excuse for these new dangerous headlights. They are extremely dangerous. I'm 66 years old, and I avoid driving at night, now, because of these dangerous on-coming headlights.
You are correct. A red light vs a blue white light at the same 'brightness' are two different things. Why we use red lights at night, to preserve night vision.
Same here
Unless the measuring stick is driving, it doesn't mean anything!
I wonder if there is an actual ulterior motive to these bright lights... what if the ultimate purpose is to diminish the number of drivers... farfetched?
I agree with everything you said Doc. One thing I would like to add. Vehicle manufacturers should be made to lower the location of headlights, especially on pickup trucks, large trucks and SUV's and most commercial vehicles, so as not to shine through the rear windows of vehicles directly in front of them. Ever stop at a traffic light and have a large vehicle stop behind you, usually too close, and be blinded by the light not only coming in the rear window, but hitting both outside mirrors. Also, I think if the position of the lights on the larger vehicles were to be lowered, their alignment would not be at the same level as the driver of an oncoming passenger vehicle. Makes sense to me. They had an issue with this before, I think back in the 80's, and some of the vehicle man.'s lowered the position of the headlights. But now they are back to high mounted lights and blinding people driving smaller vehicles. Where is the consideration? And now with the introduction of LED headlights and the pure white light, it's even worse. One other thing, have you noticed on some of the new vehicles, they have lowered the signal lights on the body to the point that if you are in traffic behind a vehicle, the front of you car could obscure the turn lights, leaving you to wonder if they are turning or not. They should be visible at all times to everyone. Just my opinion.
I'm short, so ALL THE FREAKING TIME!!!! It's so bad! There's been once or twice that I felt really petty so I tilted my mirrors to reflect their lights at them (and away from me)
I was just discussing this topic with a coworker of mine. I drive a 2000 Impreza, a tiny Japanese car. Most vehicles shine their lights directly into my face. I used to really enjoy night driving, but now it's just annoying. At least my big spoiler is in a convenient spot to block headlights from behind, haha!
Some manufacturers are starting to lower the headlights on pickup trucks and SUV's, but not all. But even the ones they've lowered a bit are still higher than a car's.
Don't get me started on guys who lift up their pickups so that they can be up high like they're in a semi.
I totally get your concern. I drive a standard size F150, and sometimes I'm the guy blinding whoever is in front of me. Sometimes a semi or trailer truck blinds me from behind. Unfortunately, there's just too many factors that go into this problem and adjusting all vehicles to cater to the shortest vehicle's driver's comfort also doesn't make the most sense. My grandpa used to drive around a Mazda Miata, and let me tell you that everything else on the road will blind you in that thing. But that doesn't mean everything else should be regulated to cater to drivers of a Mazda Miata. It's always going to suck for someone, but luckily the trends in vehicles is leaning towards more people buying small to mid-size SUVs and sedans are becoming less popular. SUVs give you a little extra height, plus they typically have larger windows and less blind spots.
for most people this was really thought provoking, but my uncle was a pioneer in cataract surgery and i actually did a stint in optics grad school ; so i would say the `problem` as you say may lie with xenon lamps, but not really with color.. In fact i wear uv400 polarized sunglasses (goggles ) even at night, but then again i am blind in the right eye which brings up multiple other issues ... some "scattering"
may in fact be a function of aging epithileals (corneal ) and retinal anomalies (blood flow ).
This is a two part problem, IMO, the new headlights are too bright, and lots of drivers use their high-beams all the time, which compounds the problem! We definitely need legislation to regulate the kinds of headlights used in this country to foster safety. Thanks for your terrific videos.
Thank you! Thankfully I rarely see people over-use their high-beams at night but it does seem the newer vehicles' low-beams are just as bright as older high beams.
@@DoctorEyeHealthThat's exactly what I've experienced for many years. Brighter and maldirected light beams!
The monster truck problem as well since those headlights are high off the ground compared to a normal car.
@@DoctorEyeHealthHello, doctor. Can you help me with my severe dry eye, if I am from Russia. I need tyrvaya or xiidra which are not sold in Russia, can you help me with these medicines, please?
you can buy replacement bulbs labeled for 'off road 'use only, more lumens, at any store. they should make the bulb holder different so they don't fit regular cars!
Yes! These bright lights need to be regulated! I almost had an accident the other night on a curvy country road after an on coming car blinded me.
Stop whining about regulating stuff! What a snowflake. Do you need a nanny government to do everything for you?! Be self-reliant.
I'm so glad you're addressing this problem! As I was driving home last night, I was repeatedly bombarded by those LED headlights, making it almost impossible to see anything, let alone, the road! The worst are pickup trucks with them, since those lights are at eye level (I drive a sedan). Even worse, are those cars with the double set of lights (they're not fog lamps, those are amber and smaller). Having those coming at you under normal conditions is bad enough, but in the rain, there are eight blinding lights approaching, as well as all of the other lights being reflected in the wet surfaces. 😵Even those headlights that supposedly dim as they approach you don't always do that. I've seen several with out of alignment lights recently as well. I work nights, so I've had a lot of encounters with all of the above.
It would be nice if the car manufacturers could treat the windshields with something that would lessen the glare (it would also be nice if they could do that for the bright sunlight during the day, too!). Otherwise, outlawing them until the carmakers develop some sort of way to lessen their impact may be the only thing for the time being. Thank you again for talking about this. 😊
really good info, thank you for that worked nites for alot of years now dread shorter days coming up and last week a newer motorcycle had the brightest light around i actually had to slow down and stop, worst is intersections when they are across from you all headlights shoud be 1970's bright period. I would never ever help anyone with blue headlights, my 2 cents
A hundred years ago, that's right in the 1920s, they installed polarized glass for windshields, and the same was on the surface of headlights. When adjusted 90 degrees to each other the light coming at you from the bulbs would be cut by 3/4s. I don't know why they dropped that.
They ARE too bright for other drivers, especially in the rain in heavy traffic in areas with lots of other lights. For myself, I cannot drive for at least two hours after getting the eye drops. I never go to the ophthalmologist at night or if it’s raining. There’s no useable public transportation where I live and the distance is 68 miles to the university medical center that takes my insurance. An Uber or cab is too expensive and I don’t know anyone able or available to donate that much time in the working day to drive me. The only time I use the lights myself is if driving at night in rural areas without streetlights. The second another I see another vehicle, the brights go off. Those glare reducing glasses do absolutely nothing for me. I’ve tried them. They don’t speed up my pupils adjusting to different light! I will ask my doctor about the off-label use of eye drops, however, as I’m anticipating a long road trip of 2,000 miles round trip. I’ll have no choice but to do some night driving. I try to restrict night driving to dry weather in rural areas. I don’t mind interstates with sparse traffic, even if it’s tractor trailers. Most are professionals who know when to dim their high beams. It also helps tremendously if I’m familiar with the roads. Although I live on the line between suburbia and rural, and there’s a lot of traffic being a suburb of NYC, I’m very familiar with the roads, having grown up here and driving here since the age of 15. I’m now 73.
@@darinslonden7672
I hear ya, I feel your pain- but if you buy a new car now... (a nasty habit of older people who can't handle vehicle failures as well)...
We DON'T GET TO CHOOSE! If you mean the after market blue lights...ok but a lot of the obnoxious headlights are factory originals now. So please keep being a good Samaritan- bright headlights are not necessarily a personal choice. I help a lot of people out, regardless of hair, skin, or headlight color. Keep being a good person- set an example😇
Also you can't even see a turn signal if you tried.
When I was learning to drive (50 years ago!), my father told me when passing cars at night to never look at the headlights. He said instead to focus on the white line to the right (away from the center of the road) while looking ahead and as long as cars were oncoming. Just averting your eyes that small amount, makes quite a difference. You still see the road, entirely, but avoid the oncoming headlights.
I use the "flip down" dark polarized glasses for night driving with oncoming traffic. I flip them back up after the cars have passed by. Works well. I use the yellow glasses for rain and associated mist kicked up by vehicles, especially on highways. Works well. I'm 63 and have tried everything reasonable for these newer headlights; which are only good when you are on empty rural roads, but terrible for urban settings.
I was driving coast to coast at one point years ago, and the lights got so bad that I broke out the only polarized lenses I had on hand... ski goggles.
They worked amazingly well, but I must have looked like an absolute lunatic
I'm 67 and have used a pair of the yellow tinted flip downs found on sale at a Walgreens for the last 4 years. It was one of the best purchases I have ever made! As I get older I try to avoid going out on the road at night, but in an odd twist, I work night shift 2 nights a week and have a 30 minute drive to work. It's fine half of the year, but from Fall to Spring, with the time change going back an hour, it is horrible driving to work! The flip downs help a lot, but I still have to suffer through pick up trucks, SUVs and larger trucks sitting on my bumper (Why on Earth people choose to tailgate is beyond me!) and the reflection from my side mirrors blinds me no matter what I do! I plan to do some research and see if I can find some more night driving glasses and some sort of tinted film to put on the side mirrors. Not sure if that's legal, but then these horrible headlights are! 🤷🏼♀️
That's a good idea. We shouldn't have to go to these lengths though.
Same goes for the new white led street lights. We use to have sodium lights that had a deep orange colour allowing your night vission to kick in. The new white ones make it harder to see, massive shadow area you cant see into.
Yep! I despise the white LED street lamps!
Exactly! Between the LED headlights and the LED street lights, it creates more dark/black spots where you can't see anything. I can see better without those lights at all, than with them. When I drive down the street at night and there are no cars on the road, I can see perfectly! As soon as a car comes with those bright lights, it's like a flashlight shining right in my eyes and the rest of the road is pitch black and I can't see anything for a few seconds. Very scary and dangerous.
I always celebrate when I see another LED streetlight has gone purple from a bad diode
@@Timetravel1819 Well said!
Also -- the white LED street lights cause "light pollution". It's hard to see the stars, and the behavior of sensitive creatures is affected. Thailand had tourists coming to see their millions of lightning bugs, but the bugs were becoming fewer; Thai researchers found that the increasing light pollution was making it hard for the fireflies to find mates. So the govt required changes in the outdoor lighting (I forget exactly what, sorry) & the firefly population recovered.
Outdoor lighting affects birds, too; and it was recently found that the songs of birds before sun rise is at a frequency that stimulates plants to grow. So a lot of beautiful and necessary things are affected by having excess outdoor lights at night.
I do think those intense bright headlights need to be regulated, everyone I spoken to about them agrees they are dangerous for other drivers. The old school headlights were great. Thanks for the video and gratitude for sharing your insights.
I agree! I thought I was the one who was weird.
But think of the loss of revenue that, tow trucks, doctors, hospitals,funeral homes will experience and the slowing of population reduction if The GOOBERMENT actually took driver safety at night seriously!
Get rid of fog lamps they’re useless! I have never needed to turn mine on ! Led lights should have an automatic dimmer in city well lite situations!
Its the regulators that HAVE ALLOWED these lights... There is no regulation anymore
And don’t forget the headlights aren’t aligned properly either, in many cases 😡
I live in Oz, and more than 50 years ago, my driving instructor taught me to look towards the left when there was oncoming cars (would be right in the US). Served me well all these years. Don't spend any money for night driving🇬🇸
60 years on the road, and I agree with your conclusion💯%.
Modern headlights are simply too damned bright! Additionally, too many drivers nowadays are less courteous, when refusing to dim their lights for oncoming traffic. IMO, it was a huge mistake to eliminate "Drivers Education" as an option from the HS curriculum.
Pro-tip: Deer are transfixed by headlights @ night, so a driver can rapidly alternate repeatedly between dim and bright lights, the deer is able to regain lucidity and avoid walking into the oncoming headlights.🚘🦌
Nice info
@@peggyellenday3096 Thank you. 🙏🏻 Hope it saves lives, and spares damages.
@@ron_google5742 Bullseye! 🏹🎯
OMG, I was just saying today that one of the biggest mistakes public education has made is to get rid of Driver Ed courses in high schools. There are so many bad young drivers today and I believe it’s because they’re not taught properly and also maybe because they just don’t care.
@@lynnebattaglia-triggs1042 💔
Your comments about yellow and blue lights are spot on. I avoid driving at night these days. Best wishes from England.
Me too. Also the street lighting in towns where they have moved to white lights doesn't help. If you look at these lights they dazzle but are poor at actually lighting the road around them. Finally, councils allow road lines to fade, making it harder especially in the rain. I love the use of cats eyes.
Me too
I have to have the rear view mirror on dip, day and night. 🤷♂️
Last winter I drove at night in the UK on a road with intermittent new LED and old orange/yellow street lights. The light circle from the LEDs didn’t reach to the next light, leaving an area of darkness where I couldn’t see if anyone was on the pavement. The light circle from the orange lights reached the next light so there were no areas of darkness. It was so obvious as the same road had the different lights. Anyone would think “they” want us to have accidents by installing these new lights 🤔
The new headlights are far too bright as you can't see past them,coupled with the white street lights they kill all other colours except black and white.
i am so glad you are addressing the flourescent headlight problem. i wish someone would get rid of these lights. they are probably increasing accidents on the road blinding everyone.
The cynic in me is waiting for the profit-related punchline as to why action has not been taken.
We used to use our high beams when unusually dark and then bounce back to regulars when an oncoming vehicle is at 500 feet. Somehow that whole thing got thrown out of the window and now apparently you can use brights all the time. Part of the me first generation - screw the other guy.
There are no fluorescent headlights. We have halogen, xenon, and LED at this point.
I hate the bright blue headlights - and now I have them. They're wonderful to be BEHIND. I've always thought the stars were because of my astigmatism; it's always been a problem. And now you've made me look forward to cataracts making it worse. The best work-around I've ever been told about is to look at the right edge of the road, rather than the center. It works pretty well for me.
I am a Commercial driver with four million miles in safety awards and counting. As a driver my experience is similar to the MI State Trooper further in the comments. I'm glad you mentioned alignment early on HOWEVER, the most problematic issue I have had are people using their High Beams when it simply isn't necessary. May I add, I appreciate this video. I would like to see this added to driver training by the National Safety Council and the Smith System (Both of which I had at one time or another been certified to teach through the years).
Yes I’ve noticed the overuse of high beams also. It seems people are thinking to themselves….”hey my lights are already bright as hell anyways, so no one will even know if I have my highs or lows on”.
This also brings up another point. These new lights are obviously on new vehicles. Most of these new vehicles aren’t really part of the issue with the constant use of high beams even directly in the face of oncoming traffic. The reason for this is new vehicles have the auto dimming feature where the vehicle will control the lights itself and kick them down to low beam when it senses oncoming traffic or even slower moving traffic that you’re catching up to. The main issue is people are installing these new headlights on older vehicles which lack all of the sensors and CPU to take automatic control of the high/low beam operation and I’ve noticed 9 out of 10 times I get blinded by oncoming traffic with their high beams it’s because it’s an older vehicle that has these new headlight systems installed. That’s not to say the damn things aren’t too bright even on low beam, they are. Also just a personal observation I’ve had, the worst offenders by far that I’ve noticed that refuse to switch to their low beams are Jeep drivers. It seems every single wrangler I pass that’s older has these new lights installed and they don’t feel like adjusting their high/lows. 2nd most common offenders are simply older model pickups. This really seems like a situation where eventually no one’s going to “win” if it continues on its current trajectory. Those clowns that refuse to switch to their lows are just going to more frequently get high beamed by other clowns that refuse to switch to their lows, the more people install them. Just want to make this clear also, I’m not excusing them on newer vehicles with the auto dimming features. I hate the damn things altogether. I’m 40, not 80. They’re just too bright.
Yes I’ve noticed the overuse of high beams also. It seems people are thinking to themselves….”hey my lights are already bright as hell anyways, so no one will even know if I have my highs or lows on”.
This also brings up another point. These new lights are obviously on new vehicles. Most of these new vehicles aren’t really part of the issue with the constant use of high beams even directly in the face of oncoming traffic. The reason for this is new vehicles have the auto dimming feature where the vehicle will control the lights itself and kick them down to low beam when it senses oncoming traffic or even slower moving traffic that you’re catching up to. The main issue is people are installing these new headlights on older vehicles which lack all of the sensors and CPU to take automatic control of the high/low beam operation and I’ve noticed 9 out of 10 times I get blinded by oncoming traffic with their high beams it’s because it’s an older vehicle that has these new headlight systems installed. That’s not to say the damn things aren’t too bright even on low beam, they are. Also just a personal observation I’ve had, the worst offenders by far that I’ve noticed that refuse to switch to their low beams are Jeep drivers. It seems every single wrangler I pass that’s older has these new lights installed and they don’t feel like adjusting their high/lows. 2nd most common offenders are simply older model pickups. This really seems like a situation where eventually no one’s going to “win” if it continues on its current trajectory. Those clowns that refuse to switch to their lows are just going to more frequently get high beamed by other clowns that refuse to switch to their lows, the more people install them. Just want to make this clear also, I’m not excusing them on newer vehicles with the auto dimming features. I hate the damn things altogether. I’m 40, not 80. They’re just too bright.
Yes, I agree with the high beam issue. I think there's two causes. The first one is obvious - bad manners.
The other is misalignment of the headlights. I'm old enough to remember when altering the alignment involved going under the bonnet (hood) with a spanner. This meant that we mostly left it where the mechanics put it. Now we can change the alignment from the dash so OF COURSE we dial up so that we have the clearest view of the road, never thinking about dazzling oncoming drivers.
In it's turn, this makes every driver more irritable and therefore road rage more intense
They are too bright, it should be banned. A fancy, modern but dangerous, even led-matrix is simply a stupid idea.
I recently changed my car and now drive a Honda CRV the lights are full LED which automatically dimmed and are less of an issue to what you describe. I find the issue you describe of main beam over use is worse with older drivers who’s night vision is poor due to age (I live in a rural where there are many elderly drivers) I agree when the rain and poor lighting the LED lights are definitely more problematic though.
I definitely feel that the new, bright LED lights are hazardous for night time driving. I have made decisions about my life around whether I will be required to drive home after dark. It's not safe. Great video.
And pedestrians who don’t wear any bright colors at night are crazy. That’s asking for it.
The new LED blue and white light LED's are dangerous. It's not up to us to purchase special eyeglasses with blue filter in order to be safe on the roadways. It's up to the manufacturers, the NHTS, DOT and other agencies as well as auto manufacturers to engineer the equipment to operate and behave appropriately and safely. Believe it or not there are inded warmer LED emmiters. They use the White ones because the APPEAR brighter. Unfortunately they are using the wrong reflectors and lenses. Which requires them to use LEDs that are too intense at typical distances encountered on roadways. No wonder there are so many cars on the road with completely blacked out windows. It'll probably take another ten years before any agency does anything about it. SMH
@Barrythebiscuit in the US if the LED isn't factory installed, they ARE illegal.
@@Barrythebiscuitmany say they are straight from the factory. When it lights up everything in the car in front of you, they should not be on the roads. I'm not sure who thought these were a great idea...my guess is a blind man
@@johnpoulter what brand? I'm coming up with all different types when I type in glare removing glasses. Are they clear or yellow tinted?
Without a doubt, those headlights should be outlawed. Also, I remember when I lived in the NYC vicinity, certain areas were starting to change the street lights to a sort of more orange tint to help with light pollution. I found it so much easier on the eyes.
yes. and now they're switching back to a bright blue light, it's horrible
sedans and low cars should keep them since the sharp "cutoff" is below oncoming drivers eyes and wont negatively effect others, and with them being lower its very important to be able to see the road surface in more detail. BUT. Trucks and SUV's should NOT have new insanely bright lights cause they will always blind others. They naturally have a much better view of the road ahead and are not as effected by road debris, so they do not need the same amount of light. Nothing more infuriating that being blinded at a stoplight by all 3 of your mirrors because the new trucks headlights are just wide enough to hit your mirrors lol.
oh wow! Light pollution is a whole other topic I haven't really thought too much about (other than it's hard to see the stars anymore.
@@DoctorEyeHealthstars are barely visible even with lights off except for headlights: I was in a blackout and it was dark but sky wasn't lit up with stars.
@@DoctorEyeHealthThe stars have nearly disappeared. The night sky is no longer the deep purple/ black it once was even I remote areas the sky just isn't really dark anymore 😢😢
Dr. Allen, thank you so much for posting this -- I'm glad I found it. I have been saying that LED headlights should be outlawed since they first came out. I recently bought a new car and opted for the lower end trim largely because it uses halogen headlights instead of LED. But apparently LED headlights seem to be popular. I guess some people are stupid enough to think that they are better off because they can see the road better -- as though blinding oncoming drivers doesn't put yourself at risk as well. (When you referred to cleaning your headlights, adjusting the angle, lowering your brights as a "courtesy" to other drivers, I was thinking, it's also self preservation!)
The big problem is two-fold:
1: The concentration of new lights is way too sharp - they need to spread the source out much larger. They don't because a large headlight isn't very fashionable so these tiny, ultra bright, ultra focused lights are the norm
2: The color of these lights is way too blue - shifting this towards yellow would help a lot all on its own.
I wish windshields were polarized and headlights were polarized in the opposite polarity so you pretty much wouldn't see the direct beam.
I never thought of the polarized part
Brilliant idea. You should write the car companies. They could add thousands onto the price of new cars for that luxury.
Wait...if you polarize the headlights to where you can see them...that's dangerous my dude
@@YouMakeItHappen you could still see the portion of light that wasn't polarized. When light refracts it loses it's polarization
I wear polarized yellow glasses, it really helps.
You described my night blindness so well. You kind of feel like you’re the only person that has it and nobody else understands, but I hate driving at night because it’s so blurry.
Add in rain and I refuse point-blank to drive at night - the oncoming lights reflect off of the wet pavement, and, unless freshly painted, the lines on the road may as well not exist. Nope!
Same here. The makers of these lights must be in cahoots with the perception eyewear industry. 😆
It is a BIG FG PROBLEM!! I hate driving at night or whenever it’s dark out now. I get so pissed off and just want to blow up! Also, Tesla lights are the work of the devil. And of course it’s annoying when assholes have their high beams on, on purpose. Not a great way to start every morning in the darker months.
Why doesn't the car industry change the headlights
@@mariannechmelar4385 because there's no law in most US states that forces them to. I see on Amazon that sellers advertise brighter lights as if it's normal to sell some low beam headlights that are as bright as the high beam headlights. However it is different in Europe where there are laws that are enforced to control the misuse of these lights.
Thank you! I wish, as a Boomer, that the law would DISALLOW these new LED HEADLIGHTS.
I'm only 34 and I wish something would change with those too. I didn't talk about it in this video but the new LEDs tend to create color fringes and if a car behind you hits bumps or something the headlights can create a colorful glisten that sometimes confuses me - like maybe a police officer is behind me.
Can we create a petition? It seems it could save lives and property if we can reduce accidents!
I appreciate your videos so much as I have four ocular conditions including glaucoma, a cataract (one repaired) and retinal issues. Oddly I have a white cane and can still drive in daytime! 😮😂
No, get rid of those big suvs and trucks. Lots of headlights are way higher than smaller cars.
So do I. It nearly blind me. I have to slow down my drive speed. Also my side view mirror.
Yes these bright head lights on vehicles should be outlawed 💯.
I've noticed that I can see _better_ when I drive in snow/rain with the old headlights.
I've considered putting yellow film over my LED headlights (I don't how well that would work).
This made me feel better knowing it’s not just me! Im in my early 60’s but have been having trouble driving at night for many years, and especially when its not only dark, but rainy with the bright lights coming at me. It’s scary, because if it’s so dark, I can’t even pull over to stop because I don’t know if there’s a ditch off the shoulder (rural areas). Thank you so much for the tip on supplements, I never thought of that.
Also, when there’s a truck behind me with bright headlights, I have to temporarily push my rear view mirror up so as not to be blinded.
Rain at night is the worst 😱
This affects me and I don't even drive. I'm an adhd adult at a young age of 26, I am sensitive to light and sound especially with migraines.
Oh wow. Thank you, I have been describing that blue light problem to people and they have just reacted like I was crazy. Finally I have come across someone else who thinks of all things they should be illegal. I absolutely hope some day they are. These new lightbulb colors have ruined being out at night for me!
The blue headlights bother me a lot! Even the blue LED business signs or clocks on stoves cause physical pain and look like giant blue smears to me (astigmatism and cataracts. 😥) Here's a bonus question for you: have you seen the much more annoying green or purple headlights? Those hurt and they're extremely distracting! I see them once in a while but I'm fairly certain those actually are illegal.
@@Dandidandelion No, but I have seen a lot of lights that change color to police blue, people think they're being clever, but it is really annoying.
They used to be illegal, at least in Florida they were.
Indeed, night driving now is a nightmare because of these very dangerous lights.
They also can ruin being in at night if you use LED bulbs. I use NOTHING but incandescent at
home because LED will destroy your eyesight!!!!! Blue light has also been proven to be the root of many illnesses as well.
Totally agree with you about the blue lights!! I've noticed that it's harder for me to see anything clearly for a few minutes after they've passed by. They really ought to be made illegal, their effect on other drivers on the road are debilitating.
@@sloopy5191 AND DEADLY!
I have a pair of yellow tinted, anti-glare goggles that are worn on top of my prescription glasses while driving at night. They do reduce the unpleasant effects of the bright white LED headlights and make it easier to see the lines on the road during heavy rain. They look a little goofy but are only worn for the short drive home at night. Got them on Amazon and have been using them for a couple of years; good solution for my problem.
Governments must regulate this as it is a health and safety matter!
They have! They don't want you to drive at all! You're supposed to walk or bicycle around in your 15 minute cities... 😜
For get the government. Police have to enforce present laws already on the books
They don't care. What I've done is installed multiple customized super bright lights on my pickup truck on the front and rear bumpers that I use for a-holes who refuse to turn off their high beam lights.
@@roypurtell3694They couldn't care less.
They should, but our government @ work😠
YES! Good to know it's not just me. Every time my retinas are singed "Those damn things should be illegal" comes out of my mouth.
I appreciate this video so much. I was worried that it was something wrong with me. The bright LED lights are way too bright. Even more troubling is that I’ve recently noticed some cars in my area now have brighter blue, and even purple headlights. I really think these should be against the law.
Colors other than white for headlamps are illegal.
Happened to me to - seemed like all of a sudden but now that Ive noticed and understand - new lights are horrible
I’m 64 with 7 eye surgeries in the past 4 years. I worn Scleral contact lenses for a year now. Thankfully the Scleral lenses have corrected the night vision scenarios that you’ve shown in your video. Allowing me to drive with confidence at night.
One thing I was taught many many moons ago was to focus on the white line on the edge of the road - this lets you still see the road and not focus on the cars oncoming bright lights, putting that more into your periphery part of your vison. It does work to help keep from getting blinded by oncoming lights (at the time people with their brights on)
Also many rearview mirrors will have a lever or automatic adjustment for when the lights behind you are blinding you. It moves the focal point higher, but still allows you to see behind you.
my mom taught me this as well. It has served me well
Thanks for sharing this!
Yes! Agreed! I have taught my children to look at the white lines to the right side of the lane, as they were learning to drive, and 30+ years later, they tell me they remember that all the time.
They used to teach this strategy at my local defensive driving course that I had to take after I may or may not have gotten a speeding ticket.
@elangomattab "may or may not have" huh? Lol😆🤣😂
I am totally onboard with the bright white headlights being outlawed (the really blue, purple-leaning ones don't bother me quite as much). Especially now that LEDs are a thing and I know darn good and well there are softer colors of LED that can be used. (Also, I'll be honest and say if the traffic is heavy enough, I will pop on my sunglasses or else I can't see.)
The flip side of them is that people think you have your brights on ALL THE TIME. When we went out to visit my husband's grandmother some years ago, we rented a newer SUV to have space for luggage and SO MANY people did the retaliatory brights flash at us for something we had no control over, even semi-truck drivers. It was awful, and it really makes me hesitant to buy a newer model car since manufacturers seem hell-bent on using these lights.
This is a concern for me as well, to the point where for my next car I plan to research replacement headlight lamps before buying, then immediately replacing them with ones of a warmer color and saner brightness.
New trucks sag when loaded or pulling a trailer S.U.V,s same!
You can re aim your head lights to point more downward
I agree. These new super bright lights make driving at night much more challenging. They create a distortion and difficulty seeing for precious moments or more after they pass. And it doesn’t seem like they are “focused” towards the pavement instead of directly into the eyes of oncoming drivers
And how many people have had accidents and said, " I only took my eyes off the road for a couple seconds..."
With all the laws we Have to live by? Really makes me wonder Why these subjects aren't addressed?
And here I was thinking that ever since I moved a few years ago that everyone where I live now just uses their high beams all the time. Especially since my bf and I have older cars and use dimmer-looking lights. Its crazy that the lights are THAT bright! Thank you for the tips on how reduce eye strain when driving at night and how to maintain my car to help others!!!
Thank you so much for making this video!! I’m a mature woman with photophobia & I can’t stand driving at night! It hurts my eyes so badly I’m scared I’ll have an accident. There have been occasions where I’m certain they have their brights on, so I give a quick flash to ask them to turn the brights off. Many times, that’s a mistake! They flash back, but not until they are right on top of me and they nearly blow me off the road!! I have worn sunglasses (which I know I shouldn’t) because otherwise the blasted lights give me a headache after awhile. THEY DO INDEED NEED TO BE MADE ILLEGAL. They’re dangerous, at least for others driving in the opposite direction.
Try Amber lens safety glasses, not sunglasses 😎 the yellow tint blocks blue light, I too have light sensitivity & episodic bilateral monocular vertical diplopia/cerebral polyopia. Yesterday was bad, 6 images in offset pairs vertically stacked, gives me a headache & my brain shuts down, sensory overload
It would be TERRIBLE if government started regulating safety! Our rights to own guns would go right down the drain.
Back in the day, flicking your headlights was just a polite way to remind the person to dim and they always did. I don't think the new lights even have a dim.
Yes, I also am one who gets blinded by the intense light from some cars and trucks. In addition, many folks drive with their high beams on and don’t dim them. This causes intense pain in my eyes and blinds me. Something needs to be done for sure.
When a accident happens and a massive lawsuit happens things may change!
Probably half the people on the road are actually too stupid to be driving - despite passing their licensing exams.
I agree with pretty much everyone who dislikes the newer headlights. My problem is less with oncoming traffic and more with being blinded by blue lights behind me reflected in the rearview mirror. Even flipping the rearview mirror doesn't do enough. So I'm basically blinded in the right half of my right eye. I'll do pretty much anything to let that driver pass or get into a lane farther away from them. It's FAR worse than folks driving with the older style lights with their brights on. Great video. It's gratifying to know it's not just me being crabby : )
I actually have my rearview side mirrors pointed slightly more outward so I have to lean around to see from them, so headlights behind me don't directly flash in my eyes because of these FFFFFFFFKN LED lights.
I really have a problem at night, everything you described is what happens to me. I have been 'blinded' when driving due to those LED lights. And if it's rainy or wet out I just choose to stay home because the glare and depth perception that is altered make it unsafe for me and others. I do wear glasses that have the anti-glare in my prescription. I think they should reinstate the car functions check that includes checking the light angles. Thank you for all the research and information you present
Thank you so much! This is a problem I deal with (night driving vision) and I’m relieved to hear it’s not my imagination that newer cars have more focused headlights. I appreciate you!
as a former over the road trucker, I did exactly opposite of brightening my dashboard lights. I would dim them to the max, it would allow my eyes to relax and be less stressful
That’s what I do to
Agreed.
Another important thing is making sure your headlights are properly aligned. Because even a small amount off and you're blindling everyone around you.
I've noticed the harsh new headlights and wondered why they were so bothersome. Glad to hear someone talk about this situation. And with the super-sized so-called pickup trucks everywhere, the headlights are up high and often shine directly into the front and rear windshields. Even brake lights and turn signal lights seem very unforgiving nowadays. Of course, this means automobile drivers need to rush out and buy glare reduction glasses---a windfall for the manufacturers of such eye ware.
I've noticed that tail lights are so bright now that at red lights I have to cover my eyes or look away. Why are we making them so ludicrous bright?
@@did_I_hurt_you_feefees I'll make a wild guess--it has something to do with money?
@@dolittle6781 I have a strong suspicion that you are correct...
If I drive at night I wear my sunglasses which are blue blockers, I can see fine with them on, however cities do not want to spend Our money on road reflectors and street lighting!!
I noticed the exact same issues. They need to start manufacturing a better bulb. I suspect these lights contribute to accidents and it just hasn't been deemed a serious enough problem yet.
I'm 56 and had stopped driving at night for the last year or so but when I recently saw the eye doctor...she told me my eyes were just massively dry and that's why I'm having so much trouble with it. She said I only had small cataracts but I was certain that they were ready for surgery with all the problems I was having with driving at night. Now, some of it was the same thing all of you are experiencing but it seemed so much worse than before so I knew I had to do something. I'm just lucky I have an aide that can drive me if I have to be out at night. It still keeps me from doing many things but I prioritize my safety and that of others on the road much more because I was in a car accident in the past (caused by a driver under the influence of drugs) so I don't risk it.
I'm pretty sure most(if not all) of those extremely bright bluish/white headlights are marked on their packages "For off road use only" or "Not for highway use"! And I have found that the yellow glasses work fairly well for me!
These are all on newer vehicles. These are factory lights
@@RustyShackleford-gl1vi For trucks, it's almost always because they have a lift kit and didn't adjust the lights. Those super bright LEDs are supposed to face a bit downward. When you raise the truck, it throws off that alignment.
Nothing helps with the pickup drivers using high beams and aux lights in the city, because it's cool.
Great video ! I do have another tip my Dad taught me when I was learning to drive. Instead of looking dead straight ahead ( where those bright oncoming lights can blind you ) focus ahead but slightly to the right and at the road where the white line is. That way those bright oncoming lights are hitting your retina a little off center. Helps immensely. and those yellow glasses work for me as well.
Doesn't help at all. They blind you instantly. By the time you avert your eyes, it's too late
My dad taught me that as well, however with the level of oncoming light these days I’m practically just looking over my fender to see the edge of the road. Sometimes I just slow almost to a stop if no one is following me . The yellow lens glasses do help me just to stop the pain. But it reduces my night vision. Now I just hold my hand up to block the light, if they are going to collide with me I wouldn’t know beforehand anyway I’m so blinded. At least I won’t run over anybody walking into my path.
@@scurvy8895 I’ll probably just be driving less at night. Interesting that the yellow glasses reduce your night vision.
@@scurvy8895 I've been forced to slow down at times, too, also got in the habit of raising my hand.
I use this technique too, but it doesn't seem to work as well when I'm sitting on the passenger side.
Same problem in the UK. Rain also worsens the problem. Nothing will ever be regulated until accidents are starting to be reported and related to the headlights.
Even then probably not. In Vermont they spent a couple years and tax $$ studying why there were so many lethal accidents in Waterbury VT. Driving there, I found the white lines hadn't been painted for God knows how long... with 4-5 lines of traffic intersecting, of course it was a kill zone.
I’m 50 years old and have had a harder time driving at night for a couple of years. I was diagnosed with early stage cataracts last year. I personally find the combination of anti glare coated lenses on my glasses and the yellow clip on lenses to be extremely helpful.
Not only are the new lights super bright, somewhat painful but the height of them say on trucks effect where the lights hit our eyes! I feel blinded by on coming led lights and I feel I’m at an increased risk of an accident for the time it takes to re-adjust to the dark.
As a person who had a lens replacement due to a cataract, I can say this is a huge pet peeve for me! I live in a rural part of the country and have stopped driving at night because of this and frequent deer sightings. It’s especially bad with Semis and the large trucks from quite a distance . With the lens I received I now see more of the starburst effect and glare in general because of it, but it’s better than the alternative.
@@johnchapman7719 Same for me after cataract surgery I can not drive at night at all and I have the starburst all so.
@@kiwicutie770 If It was possible to naturally change focus It wouldn't be as bad but we can't even do that! 😬smh
As someone who has astigmatism, I have had the glare/starburst affect my whole life and I actually only found out recently (thanks to social media) that it isn't how everyone sees lol. I thought it was normal but actually it's due to my bad astigmatism 😅
Also the glare when driving at night in the rain is insane. Which sucks because I'm from Scotland and it rains nearly every day lol
I just saw this video and I have been waiting for an eye doctor to say something about prohiting the bright white headlights. You make my day. Thamk you!
prohiting
Thamk you
It's not the white ones that cause the problem. It's the ones with the bluish hue
With being a night shift trucker, I've learned how to cope with the newer headlights and I avoid blinking or straining my eyes when there's oncoming headlights pointing at me. Also there's times when oncoming headlights will unavoidably bother you especially in mountains where an oncoming vehicle is topping an uphill grade with you positioned centered in the projection of the low beams
Yes there really needs to be a law against these headlights because this is a consistent and frankly ludicrous problem. This really should have been regulated by now. If we wanted to get this regulated, how would we go about it? It's dangerous for the animals around us too. Recent studies have talked about our blue lights at night affecting animals' sleep schedules!
I didn't know about headlight alignment! That's important info too.
Indeed, 70% of US cars has misaligned head lights. Law blocks the use of lights like in the EU where the headlights sense on comers and then remove/lower the lights in either just the oncomer area or if the lights are not multi-lamps, lower the full head lights. LED are not an issue in the EU due to good regulation.
That won't help if you're in a sedan and the oncoming car sits higher, like a truck.
Good luck with that.
I agree on main roads we don’t need these headlights where there’s a lot of traffic
Back country roads use these LED is fine but switch off with oncoming traffic traffic
Agree 100%. The only time I ever hit an animal was recently, due to the face my peripheral vision was completely washed out by the headlights. Also they just make me angry, not good for road rage.
Totally agree about those horrible bright headlights. You would think car manufacturers would have done some real world testing before they unleashed that beast on the general population. It's an incredible problem when you've got oncoming traffic with glaring headlights, and a big pickup truck behind you with glaring headlights that are so high up they shine right into your rear view mirror.
Thanks for the extra info, I'll check it out. FWIW, I just recently got new glasses with an anti-glare coating, and honestly it's not much of a difference to protect from the glare, but every little bit helps.
The new headlights would have been illegal in the past. Tickets would have been issued for illegal headlights and for misadjusted headlights. I guess it's just like looting and rioting now, nothing gets done about it!
Agreed. I often end up turning my side mirrors at the ground when driving because there's some dipshit with LED lights reflecting straight off them and I can't see anything anyway. These things should be illegal
@@HeckYep Me too and I agree.
Cleaning the windshield, the headlights and my glasses- so simple! I had no idea that would help! Also my daughter and I were just talking about car headlights and how whenever I blink my lights at someone to remind them to take off their “brights” they just blink back at me showing me that they don’t even have the brights on! So this video made me feel better to know that there really is a difference now with headlights and it’s not just me! Thank you!
there are a lot of people driving with wrong light bulbs, wrong alignment, dirty glass or setting of their headlights. Anyway, cleaning the windshield occasionally from inside also helps a lot
Another thing is if you live in a heavy Snow Belt state or in an area with sandy, salty soil (think South Jersey), your windshield will most likely get thousands of micro-scratches in it over the years, so by the time it is 10 or more years old in one of those areas, it may be worth getting it replaced if you're going to keep the car.
Auto on/off highbeams (Or the system thereof) should be illegal
Had to rent a car recently (Deer and my car was in repair shop), and the rental model came with automatic highbeams.
Initially I thought it might be sorta neat, but I learned that:
1: It's default mode is active, meaning that the automatic headlights are active as soon as the vehicle senses it is dark
2: Oncoming has to often times get really very close (6 or 7 car-lengths) before the vehicle notices them and switches to standard headlight from highbeam
3: The typical manual light controls (for highbeam/standard beam) did not seem to do anything while the automatic system was active
4: The button to switch the automatic mode is both located in a weird spot, and only switches it off for the engine run-time of that particular instance
While I do hope it was just that particular rental - it was also an eyeopening experience as to why it seems so many vehicles and drivers now don't seem to know how to switch to standard beam until last moment
Another big problem is cars with their high beams on. I’ve blinked my highs at them to lower theirs but most people here in rural areas just don’t care. They drive around with their high beams on all the time. You can tell it’s their high beams on because after they pass you can look back and see the wide swath of light they’re creating.
I sometimes wonder if they can't see you blinking your lights because they are too busy looking at their phone....
Newer cars, at least mine does, have where the auto setting for headlights will turn highbeams on and off. So if I have them on in a dark area and a car is coming from the opposite direction, my lights will switch to the normal beam. After they pass, my highbeams come back on. I have a Honda.
@@BunE22 Now that sounds perfect. I wonder if other mfrs are putting this in their cars. Leave it to Honda to do this. Years ago I had a Honda and loved it - solid and comfortable. Now looking for an older Honda Element.
@@BunE22 They rely on the other cars headlamps being visible to the sensor .. guess what? If the other cars lamps are older .. your car won't see them until you're much closer than if you had operated them manually... thus you are often bliding other users unwittingly
@@DoctorEyeHealth
They don't care if you can't see but they will when they have a head on collision.
I had a 50% tint applied to my windshield because of the bright glare of oncoming headlights at night. It has made a remarkable difference in reducing the amount of headlight glare at night. I also live in an area where it snows, and the windshield tint makes a noticeable difference of reducing the amount of sun glare off the snow and the wet road.
In most states tinting your windshield is illegal
@@popejoeii If it's illegal in your state then don't do it. A 50% tint in my state is legal so it's not a problem.
Believe me, I would love to be able to do it. I'm totally jealous. 😂
Illegal
@@IAmTheOnlyMrDaryl in YOUR state maybe
Thank You! Yes! The blue light headlights are BLINDING! It seems like the vehicle has their bright lights on, but it really is just the kind of light. I wish someone would pass a bill to outlaw these, or put some kind of mandatory shield on the car windshields to reduce the glare. Everyone I know is talking about this.
I have been curious if there have been changes made. I have had to drive a couple times now in the dark since time changed and have noticed a huge decrease in the retina burners this year. Most of the cars have a nice orange like light that are much nicer to my eyes!
I wish we could go back to SEAL BEAMS. They were BETTER and CHEAP TOO!!!!
We used to use our high beams when unusually dark and then bounce back to regulars when an oncoming vehicle is at 500 feet. Somehow that whole thing got thrown out of the window and now apparently you can use brights all the time. Part of the me first generation - screw the other guy.
Start a petition. Get it rolling!
I've worn contact lenses for years and during the day they are definitely an improvement so I always assumed they would be better for night driving too. Not so. I was suffering from problems with glare to the point where I wouldn't go out unless I had to. Then I got some new glasses and asked for an anti-reflective (anti-glare in the UK) coating and the difference is amazing. I can now drive at night with far less issues and not struggle with the starry effect that I had with contact lenses.
Also definitely keep your glasses AND your windscreen clean and don't forget the inside, it will make a big difference. I also use a rain repellant on the screen which seems to help.
Enjoyed this video. Many of us have known this, but good to get confirmation. We were taught to look to the right when the light approaches. That's great if there's a white line on the edge of the road. When there isn't, I worry because I can't see the edge of the road. Wish every road had a white line painted at the edge.
Yellow glasses at night. You're welcome. Im telling you....i tried them and they are a god send. Cheap amazon aviators. Cost range of $10-$20.
Wore them for a long time… esp out of the city… not helping now!!! Such halos!! Painful!!! Cataracts starting. Have to get my eyes fixed!!!!
Newer LED headlights bother me as well, but what really causes me difficulty are the new LEDs on emergency vehicles / police cars. They seem to be brighter than most headlights and are eye level or in an elevated position in most cases.
When it comes to headlights the lightbulb can overtime bumb slightly out of place. And if they'd just adjust it every so often it would reduce the blinding.
Yes I have trouble with these newer lights as well but also feel that many newer drivers are not aware of the proper etiquette of the use of high and low beams of the headlights. I have met many people that had no idea that you can switch between high beams (meant for dark roads with no oncoming traffic) and low beams (aimed lower and toward the right for driving with oncoming traffic). I will flash my high beams at cars I believe are driving with high beams and only occasionally get a response. Thanks for the data!
My husband and I definitely agree that blue (and green) headlights should be outlawed. We encountered three vehicles in a row with them, and we had to pull over to recover our vision enough to drive. Fortunately, we were on a highway vs. an interstate where that would not have been an option. We both have better than 20/20 vision, and we literally could not see enough to drive. We had to wait around five minutes, and even after we were able to resume travel, we each had stabbing pain in our eyes.
I also think the insanely bright light lights of emergency vehicles create a road hazard. The lights that were used up until the 1990's were certainly bright enough to attract attention, but not so bright that they created vision impairment. I sincerely wonder if their overly bright lights are one of the biggest contributing factors to how many of them are rear-ended every year.
@zdavidzzunfortunately the right to bother other people for the sake of feeling tough is the only right our government currently protects
I'm glad you mentioned the blue headlights. I've had a problem with those things for years. Not only do they make it hard to see but because they're a different color than most headlights they grab my attention for a second. I turn to look at them as a natural reaction. Don't know if anybody else has that problem but something that takes your eyes off the road even for a second adds a second safety issue on top of it being too bright.
It's getting so bad I've seen black light looking ones.
@@FukaiKokoro Yeah now that sounds incredibly dangerous.
Yes, I have extreme problems with the new style headlights when driving at night. I live in a rural area where we do not have street lights. When newer cars with the bright white or blue headlights are approaching, I feel like I am blinded. Triple that when they don't dip their bright lights. I feel a stabbing pain in my eyes. I have had cataract surgery in both eyes. The bright white/blue lights just blind me. There should be legislation regulating how bright those lights can be. Thank you for talking about this subject.
The blue lights need to go. Some of the darker blue lights are VERY INTENSE !
What makes the problem worse: people try to install LED replacements for halogen bulbs that causes *MORE* glare because the LED elements don't match the position of the original halogen bulbs. Many cars use the 9012 (HiR2) halogen bulb for their headlights; they need to make sure the LED replacement has the lighting element that match exactly the position of the 9012 bulb so you don't cause undue glare due to light pattern changes.
Just a thought but usually the ones with the blinding blue and white lights are the same obnoxious people who have the lifted trucks, radio blasting, boom box rattling the widows and very loud exhaust..............." THE LOOK AT ME SYNDROME "
YES!!!! It’s so much worse on these dark rural roads!! Not nearly as unbearable when I get into town and there are bright street lights and store sign lights! But we have more dark roads than lit ones and I find that the vast majority of these people just refuse to dim their lights!!
I did an experiment with some lightly yellow glasses that I use when motorcycling. Kinda like yellow driving glasses but not as yellow or amber. Seems it reduces/mitigates the bright blue of the new LED lights from oncoming cars or what is in the rear view mirrors. You might disagree, but as for me it helps. I usually use 3+ readers as my go-to glasses and these don't have any correction, but the result is much better.
As you know, on ships during emergencies or in battle, the lights go red as that does not affect night vision (as much). I think this might be the same or that it makes those bright blue lights more like Halogen/Xenon headlamps.
Just a thought.
I had my cataract surgery because of this problem. I’m only 62 and it worked having surgery, highly recommended. 😊
It didn’t work for me because of my astigmatism, says my ophthalmologist.😢
I think opinions will vary here. I had cataract surgery about 8 years ago and while it improved daytime vision in general, I feel my night vision is not what it once was. I have more glare issues, and since we did a bit of mono-vision to gain practical use most of the time, I can no longer use binoculars in dim light for star gazing. Between the glare (pinpoint light problem) and the eyes being too far apart in focus to deal with the extra fine details, I can't get both eyes clear. There's' just not enough adjustment on typical binoculars to get the other eye right. Going into a night club, all of the LED lighting used these days is just a blur. Reading those LED road signs is almost impossible at night, since each light has it's own star-burst. The major reason I did the surgery was to get rid of glasses in general, which only seems to work during the day.
The cataract surgery did not improve my night vision. Those LED lights are especially bad. Also high SUVs.
@@lynnebattaglia-triggs1042 pre surgery I had great night vision because I didn't have any of those distractions but I did need glasses for proper focus. I had been wearing 1.25 "readers" to see the road signs and watch tv but working outside was a royal pain because of snow / rain constantly fogging the glasses. I often wonder if I made a bad trade.
@@lynnebattaglia-triggs1042 I’m sorry about surgery didn’t help. It was recommended to me and had it done.
The entire world should ban LED lights for head lights.
That's the same thing they say about halogen. What needs to be banned is aftermarket LED in reflector housing. Aftermarket LED was never engineered for that housing. It works better in projector housing
I like how you showed a Subaru. Yeah, the newer Subarus have this problem from the factory. (Headlight assembly is set for heavier, older model) We have a 2022 Crosstrek, and from the dealership, (using low beams) I was getting flashed constantly by other drivers. After some research, I discovered that Subaru sets their headlights pointing too high. I learned what socket size for headlight adjustment, and I dropped the light beams down a half turn. Now I don't get flashed by other drivers.
I live in rural area with 10 miles of single lane highway to come and I use to go nuts with the high beams
Finally installed LED lights on my sedan too and it surprisingly helps.
Agree with others -it is surprising that these headlights aren’t regulated. I am one of those people who are sensitive to light in general - commented on one of your previous videos that b2 has helped a lot with that. However lately I have been noticing that this “retinal bleaching” you are discussing is bugging me more and more during the day. Didn’t know it was called that but now I know what terminology to use when I go to my eye doctor next week.
Also mention that you see a long-lasting "after-image" after bright lights. But thanks for mentioning the b2!
@@DoctorEyeHealth hello doctor . Can u please tell me which is better between
J&J Technis Eyehance monofocal AND Alcon Clareon monofocal.
My Dr said both are equally good and I can choose any for my surgery. Is my doctor missing something ? Which one should i go for ?
They were regulated. But the auto and lighting industries lobbied governments to change the laws. And of course with a bit of cash, governments will do anything.
It seems my eyes are attracted to looking at car headlamps coming towards me, and on the narrow roads here in the UK I always physically force my gaze to the edge of the road where I can see without glare thanks to my own headlamps.
The angle of the headlights is incredibly important, and should be regulated more effectively.
For me this issue is even worse when it rains or snows, which happens a lot here in Alaska.
But you can't fix "too bright" with angle or beam pattern-because roads are not flat. You go over railroad tracks, you blind everyone in front of you for a couple seconds, etc. Brightness, angle, and beam pattern all need to be addressed. (... and regulated.)
@@aspidoscelisAgree 💯. A round of applause for the motor industry for neglecting the obvious...that ultra bright lights (daylight white/blue colour temperatures) blind other drivers at night 🙄. Nothing wrong with traditional warm tungsten lights; LED lights should have modelled those (warm colour temperature, sensible light levels/distribution). Unfortunately, the motor industry (and some drivers) seem to adopt the 'its all about them' attitude 🤨.
Even if roads were completely flat, vehicle headlights are not all at the same height. Leveling should be a given, but it also shouldn't be pushed as a solution the way the industry is trying to do.
Well, they check it all the time on state inspection and set it if it is off, they always do that !!
@@frankmartin4018 Depends on where you are. Some states don't even have inspections, others only check emissions.
I've noticed a huge difference recently. I'm from a larger city and used to night time driving with street lights even on the highway. But now that we've moved rurally I've noticed it's much harder when I'm relying just on my headlights and can't use high beams because cars ahead of me/oncoming. Very few street lights outside of town at all here. Will def try the trick to turn up the dash lights to counter.
You’re So Right on Doc… I HATE those Blinding new Headlights…. Gives me great pain and glare issues ! Thank you for this information.❤️
Headlight issues are one of the reasons why I bought a truck instead of a sedan for my latest vehicle purchase. Sitting higher above the road has helped me a lot with night time driving.
That's a two-edged sword, of course. Now you're the one shining your headlamps into the sedans around you. I don't fault you for your choice--it's reasonable--but it does have an external cost.
@@0num4Yes, it's a two-edged sword. That said, I feel much better being able to see what others around me are doing. Additionally, the most offensive headlight issues I ever encountered were from these ricers that buy sporty cars and install those awful blue LED (or sometimes Xenon) headlamps in them just to "look cool." Now I don't have to deal with them anymore. Plus, the headlights on my truck are very well aimed and have a limiter on the top end for the low beams so it doesn't blind regular sedan drivers.
@@nopenottalib4366 I love the custom BMW trend of very yellow lamps. It not only looks good, but they don't blind everyone else.
indeed, but of course that makes it worse for those still in lower vehicles.
@@dblissmn Not necessarily. My truck's low beams have a hard cut-off that is very visible at night above a certain height. It's hard to explain, but going over certain bumps or hills, you can see a very distinctive black line above the beams where there isn't any light being emitted. Either way, I'm in my 40's now and my eyes don't react as quickly as they did when I was younger. I know having a higher vehicle might not be super helpful to drivers of sedans, but at least now I can see THEM, whereas before I couldn't.
I’m so glad that you posted this video. I have so much difficulty seeing at night that I avoid driving at night. I do feel pain in my eyes when there are bright lights when driving, but also when I go to a restaurant and there are bare bulb light fixtures that seem to be the trend now. They’re terrible. I had cataract surgery in both eyes about 10-11 years ago and see my ophthalmologist every year. I had hoped that my night vision would improve when driving, but it didn’t help very much.
I agree with the "bare bulb" lights - I see them everywhere and I even had to change out the lightbulbs when I moved into my apartment.
Did you notice that things appeared brighter after the cataract surgery?
@@DoctorEyeHealth I was amazed how much brighter everything was after the cataract surgery. The colors were amazing.
So do I! They physically hurt! I was always told never look at arc welding, it will damage your eyes! It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen!!! And sue I will!
I had my cataracts removed about 3 years ago and I had assumed the halo effect from the on coming bright lights would help me see better for night driving but it didn’t make any difference, so I basically no longer drive at night unless it is just around my neighbourhood.
@grapejelly... thanks for the info. 😊
Very thorough video! Vitamin A also helps w/night vision; if yours is bad, it's often due to a deficiency.Just take for a month or 2 and then lay off for a month, as it builds up.The blue piercing ones are the worst! I just try like hell not to drive at night anymore!
I found the bright high temperature white/blue 5000K headlights to be quite irritating, even since back in the 90's. Even with regular lights, LEDs, 2000-3000K, much easier on the eyes. I used to work at a lighting company so I'm familiar with these color temperature differences. I usually put my hand up to block some of the offending glare which helps. Thanks for the info & advice!
Yep, when picking headlight bulbs I always go for the warmest white I can. You actually see better as a driver because everything is not washed out white.
Thank you for addressing this. I complain about every night, since I work third shift. Those new lights are overkill. Sure, the driver who has these on their car can see great, but not someone coming towards you. I don’t understand how these are legal.
Those newfangled lights should be for competition use only. Like in car rallies . Not on public roads.
@@reynaldoflores4522 Are HID and LED lights better for rallies? I keep thinking there's an explosion of toxic Dealer or Lighting Kit mechanics just setting stuff to blow up suburbs with that toxic amount and uplighting.
@@davenordquist4663 If you've ever been in a car rally, you would really appreciate the advantage of these high-intensity headlights. They light up the road for a greater distance, allowing you to drive much faster.
But unlike driving on public streets, rallies are restricted to cars running only in one direction, so that you won't have a problem of getting blinded by the glare of oncoming headlights. That's why I believe these lights should be for competitive use only.
I still prefer the older sealed beam lights, but I also know that the USDOT doesn't care what I think. I also prefer a wider beam that illuminates more of an area without hot spots, and newer headlights do the opposite.
The newer lights are definitely aggravating, but my biggest complaint is people driving around with their hi-beams on. It is illegal, but it is not enforced. I am pretty sure that some of the blue and purple headlights are also illegal, but that is no longer enforced either.
they created a massive sight problem when they went to these yellowing plastic headlights, they literally created a problem they didn't have before. I agree with the sealed beam, glass headlights being superior.