Why are headlights so bright? There may be a fix, but it's complicated
BOSTON - It's a problem on city streets and on country roads in Massachusetts and beyond. You can see it until you can't see anything at all. They are blinding headlights.
The blueish tint of LEDs can make for a white-knuckle ride and make us all wonder: "Whose bright idea was this?"
Mark Schieldrop, the Senior Spokesperson for AAA New England, says AAA members ask about bright headlights all the time. "People aren't imagining things," he said. "Headlights are much brighter than they used to be even just a few years ago."
The issue starts with the headlights themselves. Halogen bulbs used to be the norm. They had a more eye friendly warm yellowish light. But they were also not as good at lighting up the road.
LED lights are much stronger
Now most new cars have the much stronger LED lights. How much stronger? Well, the brightness of light is measured in lumens. A halogen bulb puts out about 1,000 lumens. An LED bulb puts out about 4,000 lumens. Some aftermarket LED bulbs, many illegal, advertise an eye melting 12,000 lumens!
Schieldrop says those aftermarket bulbs are a huge issue, but overall LEDs offer a big advantage. "It's a double-edged sword," he said. "The reality is very bright headlights are actually much safer. It significantly improves how much can see on the road."
The size of vehicles is another factor. The three bestselling vehicles in America are pickup trucks and trucks, really all cars, have gotten much bigger and taller.
"The most popular cars on the road are either very low to the ground or very tall. So as a result, anyone in a lower car feels like the lights are just blasting them in the rearview mirror," Schieldrop said.
"Smart headlights" could help reduce glare
A remedy might exist in Europe where many cars use advanced adaptive headlights. Also nicknamed "smart headlights."
AAA research found they illuminate the road 86% better than what we have in the U.S. without the glare. Basically, these smart headlights make about 5,000 adjustments per second to curve light around the part of the road already lit up by an oncoming car. So, there's no direct beam in the face.
Craig Fitzgerald, an auto writer for many different publications, says those lights being used in Europe are a huge improvement. "So that's the idea with the smart headlights is they dip away a little bit and that is enough to keep it from really bothering your eyes," Fitzgerald said.
But we have been stuck with our "not as smart" headlights because way back in 1967, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ruled all cars in the U.S. must have separate high beam and low beam bulbs.
"So that really negates these smart headlights. You have to have these specific headlights for the United States. So, we are behind Europe and the rest of the world by 10 years at this point," Fitzgerald said.
Two years ago, the NHTSA finally gave the green light to smarter headlights lights but no carmaker in the U.S. has them yet and the switch could take years.
Push to ban LED headlights
In the meantime, a non-profit called Soft Lights Foundation has a petition with 60,000 signatures calling on Washington to set limits on how bright and how blue headlights can be. The foundation would really like an all-out ban on LEDs.
Kimberly Denault of Methuen is a volunteer for the Soft Lights Foundation. "It's a public safety issue," she said. "I've literally been driving before and had to stop in the middle of the road because I was completely blinded. Completely blinded."
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