What are your thoughts on modern headlights?

[u/thenationalcranberry]

Not on the surface a political question, but I am enraged by them and a lot of the solutions I see people propose are much more liberal-coded than conservative, e.g. limits on headlight height, limits on how much a truck can be lifted, lowering headlight brightness maximums retroactively and mandating recalls, forbidding any sort of aftermarket headlight alterations, etc…

Basically all solutions are either tightened manufacturer regulations or stricter laws for car owners.

I’m in favour of any or all of the above, but I imagine conservatives might not be.

So, are you bothered by modern (ie blinding) headlights? If so, do you think there are solutions and what might they be?

[u/AutoModerator]

Please use Good Faith and the Principle of Charity when commenting. We are currently under an indefinite moratorium on gender issues, and anti-semitism and calls for violence will not be tolerated, especially when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Suspicious_Watch_978]

I'm with the "liberals" on this one. The people with problematic headlights just aren't smart enough, nor conscientious enough, to make the change themselves. They have to be forced. Unfortunate that the world is like that, but it is. 

I've also noticed that Tesla headlights flip into bright-mode for a moment every time they pass a pedestrian on the sidewalk, which is also an issue that needs to be solved via regulation.

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/Suspicious_Watch_978]

Wait, they flip into bright mode when passing pedestrians?

[u/Suspicious_Watch_978 → u/thenationalcranberry]

Allegedly no, but I go for walks every night and any time a Tesla goes by there is a split-second where I'm engulfed and blinded by its headlights. I mentioned it on a Tesla forum and was told some gobbledygook about "pixel alignment" temporarily causing me to be exposed to the "central beam." My guess is that it purposefully flashes for a moment to get a better look at the object (me, in this case), but even if their explanation is true somehow, then it should still be regulated out of existence. 

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/Suspicious_Watch_978]

lololol yes somebody saying things like “pixel alignment” at you after their stuff blinds you is spouting nonsense because they’ve got nothing else

For a hundred years cars weren’t blinding people with “pixel alignment,” there’s certainly no reason for them to start now. Douglas Adams would have had something to say about this.

[u/W_Edwards_Deming]

I rarely drive at night and agree it is a problem.

Seems there could be a light pollution law. Not very libertarian but there are limits where safety and suffering are involved.

[u/Skaeger]

Headlights should be mounted just above the bumper, not at at the top. It would fix %99 of the issues.

And it sounds like most of the people responding have never lived in a rural area where oncoming traffic on winding roads is only a few feet away.

[u/GreatSoulLord]

I have no problem with them and as far as height goes there's really not much you can do. My stock F250 will light up anyone in a small car. That's just the difference in height. I would just utilize your dimming mirrors.

[u/Suspicious_Watch_978 → u/GreatSoulLord]

How would using their dimming mirrors prevent your headlights from blinding them when it matters, for example, head-on on a two-lane road with no median? 

[u/wcstorm11 → u/GreatSoulLord]

Way back in college we actually covered this in engineering ethics. There's no reason to have the lights so high, but more importantly there's no reason to have the overall engine bay/front of the truck be so high, it massively increases your forward blindspot and incurs disproportionate injury in any collision with a lower car.

The ethics discussion is, should that be regulated or not. That's to say, in your case, the issue is the truck profile first

[u/zgott300 → u/GreatSoulLord]

You can easily adjust their angle so they are more downward pointed.

[u/Reptilianskilledjfk → u/GreatSoulLord]

In the same way that I've had people complain that my motorcycle's headlight blinded them in their sedan as if I have any ability to change the height or angle of my fixed headlight.

[u/ericoahu]

I think managing roads and traffic laws is one of the rare things best left to the government as opposed to the free market even knowing the government fucks it up and does so more inefficiently.

Yes, the excessively bright headlights bother me, and I don't know why regulations around them are not tighter. There are laws against having things dangling from a rearview mirror, but it's fine if I am randomly, unexpectedly blinded? That's never made sense.

Bean counters and pointy headed people can figure out exactly how/where to draw the line, but headlights should only be bright enough and angled such that they can illuminate an obstacle in the roadway at a safe distance to stop or avoid and to safely signal the vehicles presence to other drivers.

[u/wpucfknight]

I don't see an issue with them, thats just an advancement in car technology. More lumens, less power and less heat. I upgraded the lights on my mercedes when I bought it and it was a literal night and day improvement over the stock halogens. My old headlights could just barely illuminate the road at night, but once I went to 5600k LED, I light up the whole road and people's yards.

[u/Cerebral_Discharge → u/wpucfknight]

The biggest issue is lifted trucks shining them right into people's rear window/mirrors. They have a 12 foot blind spot in front of them and blind everyone on top of it.

[u/e_big_s]

as somebody who is rarely bothered by headlights unless somebody is incorrectly using their high beams this seems more like a social problem than a technical one to me. That being said, if there's a real problem to be addressed by regulations do the work to prove it and I'll give my blessings.

I'm all for authority if it has met its burden of proof.

[u/Strict_Gas_1141]

As someone with an astigmatism, I have a burning hatred for LEDs and brighter. I don't care about height, my mirror's antiglare switch will handle the issue of an F250 lighting up my civic. My issue is when some jackass using LEDs decides it's a good idea to blind oncoming traffic because of how stupidly bright it is. Even worse when it's some mom-uv who also has her brights on because the driver doesn't know how to operate their vehicle properly.

[u/GWindborn → u/Strict_Gas_1141]

I was wondering if anyone was going to bring up astigmatism, I have it too and it makes night driving horrible. I have to be extra cautious because it's hard to distinguish distance sometimes with all the light beams going all over the place. I'm in the south too, so you get a lot of trucks and Jeeps with additional headlights (presumably for off-roading), which I'm sure is great if you're the driver and hell if you're anyone else. I know there has to be controls on those things, you don't need your roof rack lights on the highway.

[u/Strict_Gas_1141 → u/GWindborn]

In my experience the worst offenders are the crossovers and for some reason toyota prius' in particular. Trucks tend to be fine. When I drive a normal car the drivers I end up hating the most are your crossovers and prius' because they're the worst. When I drove a pickup it confirmed my hatred of them.

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/Strict_Gas_1141]

The side mirrors are what kill me the most! Also when I’m just out walking the dog and have no mirrors to adjust at all and just have to stare at the sidewalk.

Do you think there are solutions that could gather bi-partisan support?

[u/Strict_Gas_1141 → u/thenationalcranberry]

Regulating the luminosity (how bright) for headlights and brights. And ideally when you go renew your license I'd be willing to accept you having to demonstrate you still know how to turn them on/off and other basic car operations (turn/hazard signals, breaks, that stuff). Too many people just operate their car with "auto headlights" and are unaware they are blinding everyone in oncoming traffic for the next 3 miles.

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Your submission was removed because you do not have any user flair. Please select appropriate flair and then try again. If you are confused as to what flair suits you best simply choose right-wing, left-wing, or Independent. How-do-I-get-user-flair

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/[deleted]]

Yeah the rearview mirror switch has been a lifesaver, but what about oncoming traffic?

I can’t count the times that a car at the opposite traffic light has been stopped at ever so slight an incline that their lights pierce into my skull.

Though it doesn’t bother you, are there people in your life that have expressed this sentiment?

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/[deleted]]

lololol no one is asking you to, height is only one thing people have floated as a solution.

Driving at night was fine for me until the super bright blue/white LEDs became the standard. I still try to plan any night drives through neighbourhoods where 2022 or later Teslas/Jeeps/etc… aren’t the majority.

I drive a 2010 forester, how was I supposed to predict that headlights would be blinding 15 years down the road?

[u/Reasonable-Fee1945]

Just limit the luminosity, that's a legitmiate negative externality. I don't car how big my nieghbors truck is

[u/its_a_gibibyte → u/Reasonable-Fee1945]

But it's not just about the brightness, it's the angle. Even normal brightness headlights are blinding when they're up at my eye level and shining right through my rear window.

[u/LonelyMachines → u/its_a_gibibyte]

There are state and local regulations on how the lights are mounted and angled. Problem is, the people installing them don't care, and law enforcement doesn't issue tickets.

Same with those ludicrous light bars. They're actually illegal to use on public roads. Check your state's regulations on fog lights and luminosity.

[u/GWindborn → u/LonelyMachines]

Yeah nobody is going to enforce that shit. No cop is going to pull someone with a lux meter and write a ticket.

[u/Reasonable-Fee1945 → u/its_a_gibibyte]

I don't notice them too much, but I can tell when the luminosity is higher.

[u/JudgeWhoOverrules]

The simple solution is requiring headlight angle regulations like they have in Germany. You would have officers field testing like they do for window tinting.

The problem is people who do not adjust their headlights after aftermarket installs of either headlamps or lifts.

[u/scarr3g → u/JudgeWhoOverrules]

That, and that people put the wrong bulbs in headlights.

Oem leds, when angled correctly, aren't usually a huge issue.... But when somoene buys a car with halogen headlamps, and decides they are not white, or bright, enough, then turns to ebay/amazon/alliexpress/etc and slaps in an led the issues begin.

For starters, 99% of the angle is now wrong. But it gets worse, as most (if not all) led bulbs don't actually work correctly (as in don't put out a clean cutoff) in most halogen housings.... No matter what the manufacturer of the bulbs claims. So even if they do aim them correctly, there is a still a glare leaking out above the cutoff. And led glare is way worse than halogen glare, due to the Kelvin color of most of the ones people buy.

[u/the-tinman]

I think they have become a safety issue, but that may be because I am old

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/the-tinman]

It’s not your age! Optometrists and ophthalmologists have been saying they’re bad for most people’s vision.

https://www.college-optometrists.org/news/2026/february/too-bright-to-ignore-dazzling-headlights-problem

[will add the statement from ophthalmologists when I find it, haven’t looked for it since summer]

Do you think there is a solution that could gather bi-partisan support?

[u/the-tinman → u/thenationalcranberry]

Bipartisan support? Never heard of it

[u/RumGuzzlr]

Whether or not I'm bothered by something is irrelevant to whether the government should get involved.

[u/LonelyMachines → u/RumGuzzlr]

Yes, but these can cause safety concerns on public roadways, which are the government's remit.

[u/Reasonable-Fee1945 → u/RumGuzzlr]

I think there could be some room for regulations here, at least local/state. If I shine an extremely bright light into your bedroom window, I think you'd have the right to tell me to knock it off.

[u/LonelyMachines → u/Reasonable-Fee1945]

There usually are. Most states have rules on number of lights and where they're mounted. You can usually find them in the code section regarding fog lights.

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/Reasonable-Fee1945]

Do you think conservatives would be more likely to support manufacturer regulations or end-user laws?

[u/Reasonable-Fee1945 → u/thenationalcranberry]

end-user regulations make more sense because you can modify things however you want. Manufactures comply because it's a downside to their product if the buyer has to modify it to stay legal right after purchase.

[u/RumGuzzlr → u/Reasonable-Fee1945]

Of course, I have the right to tell you whatever I please. And you have the right to ignore it

[u/Reasonable-Fee1945 → u/RumGuzzlr]

See I disagree. What I'm doing is affecting your ability to enjoy your property. Imagine if I lived right next door and played loud music 24/7, such that sleep was difficult for you.

[u/RumGuzzlr → u/Reasonable-Fee1945]

That would also be your right. If I don't like it, it's on me to mitigate the effect.

[u/Reasonable-Fee1945 → u/RumGuzzlr]

It's really no different than me physically affecting your property, it's just that sound waves are invisible. There also may be no way for you to mitigate the effect without moving.

[u/RumGuzzlr → u/Reasonable-Fee1945]

I hope you enjoy the incoming lawsuit, as the pixels you've sent to my screen have entered my property

[u/Pyxios → u/RumGuzzlr]

Might as well sue God for the sunlight entering your property.

[u/fastolfe00 → u/RumGuzzlr]

So if you live in a community where this is out of control, where people are installing super-bright headlights that temporarily blind you, making it unsafe for you to drive at night, what is the correct non-government solution to this problem?

[u/Tothyll → u/RumGuzzlr]

The government is inherently involved when it comes to public roadways in the U.S.

[u/RumGuzzlr → u/Tothyll]

The question asked for my thoughts, not for a listing of what laws already exist

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/RumGuzzlr]

Understandable. Does that perspective change if it becomes a public safety issue? For example, ophthalmologists are saying they’re unsafe, but we don’t actually have insurance collision data that allows accurate comparison to confirm that yet.

[u/RumGuzzlr → u/thenationalcranberry]

No.

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/RumGuzzlr]

Okay. Just curious then, do you think seatbelt laws are good legislation or government overreach?

[u/RumGuzzlr → u/thenationalcranberry]

It's my car, the government can stay out of how I choose to equip it

[u/thenationalcranberry → u/RumGuzzlr]

So government overreach then? I disagree but you do you, enjoy your weekend!