Driving at Night - Oncoming Headlights

[38Chevy454]

It may be some amount of me getting older, but driving at night seems so much worse now with all the new cars with "light up the world" LED headlights. These headlights about blind you oncoming. Much worse than the older more yellow lights of older cars; be it halogen or the older tungsten filament. Sure it is nice to be the one inside the new car with the LED lights, they do work nice for *that* car to see at night when driving. Not so nice for the oncoming car.

I think it is a combination of the excessively bright like 6500K or higher color light and the fact that the LED's do not have the lens pattern or projector lamp holders of older cars. So the pattern is not as well focused, and is much brighter to me as the person oncoming to this light. Made worse because I live out in the country where it is pretty dark, two lane roads and some slight hills. All of these combine to make it quite hard to see the road when oncoming new LED light vehicle is approaching. Fine once it passes. But near temporary blindness to see the road at times.

Anyone else notice this? I know I can't change it, just ranting. Now get off my lawn

 

[athena53]

Yes, I definitely noticed it on my recent trip from KC to SC and back. I thought it was my ageing eyes! I structure my long trips to minimize road time in the dark but it's not easy this time of year.

 

[REWahoo]

All the above, plus all of us "of a certain age" have some level of cataracts which exacerbates the problem. From the joke thread:

Whenever I see a car with them headlights shining in my face I always think that the person inside is stipid.

 

[Dash man]

I’m very sensitive to bright lights because of RK surgery I had back in the 90’s. Now with the beginning of cataracts it is that much worse. Because of this I don’t like driving at night and try to avoid it. We have an intersection on a hill near us with traffic lights. Turning left there is hazardous at night because everyone is blinded by the slightly upward angle of everyone’s headlights. Turn signals are nearly impossible to see, so people often stop and hesitate to turn until the other guy moves first.

 

[Koolau]

I find myself avoiding driving at night these days. Even though I've had both eyes done for cataracts, I just don't see as well and todays car lights are blinding as 38Chevy454 suggests. DW simply will not drive at night. YMMV

 

[skyking1]

I’m very sensitive to bright lights because of RK surgery I had back in the 90’s. Now with the beginning of cataracts it is that much worse. Because of this I don’t like driving at night and try to avoid it. We have an intersection on a hill near us with traffic lights. Turning left there is hazardous at night because everyone is blinded by the slightly upward angle of everyone’s headlights. Turn signals are nearly impossible to see, so people often stop and hesitate to turn until the other guy moves first.

My wife has the same problem and had RK. Also. I do most of the night driving.

 

[Palmtree]

You're right. The new headlights are WAY too bright. I would think that there should be some regulations that limit the brightness on low beams. Just this morning I had to pull over to let someone pass me. Even on low, the lights were blinding me in the rear view mirror.

 

[MichaelB]

All the above, plus all of us "of a certain age" have some level of cataracts which exacerbates the problem.

+1

Add to that all the SUVs, which have higher lights and seem to point straight into the eyes of oncoming drivers.

 

[street]

I try not to drive at night if I don't have too. The brighter better quality of lights and the pickups set up so much higher than 10 years even.

Age is also the issue like the rest have said.

 

[RetMD21]

This is much less of an issue for me after cataract surgery

 

[Car-Guy]

Yep, I live in the country too and it's seems to be getting worse as I get older and the lights get brighter on these really dark country roads....

 

[W2R]

All the above, plus all of us "of a certain age" have some level of cataracts which exacerbates the problem.

This is much less of an issue for me after cataract surgery

Me, too. I'd suggest mentioning this to your eye doctor. Perhaps you are starting to have cataract issues.

I had a similar problem before my cataract surgery. So, I got the cataracts removed (a surprisingly brief and painless procedure). That helped a lot with the brightness and glare. I still prefer not to drive after dark, but at least it doesn't seem as dangerous for me as it once did.

 

[rk911]

i just close my eyes when a car approaches at night. so far, so good.

 

[Powderjunkie]

Astigmatism

I have noticed similar issues with abnormally bright lights/slight when driving at night. The diagnosis from my Ophthalmologist was astigmatism. The prescription I received is almost like night vision - the bright lights don’t seem so bright and everything is much crisper without glares..

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I think the color is an issue. I suppose the blue-white improves vision for drivers, but blue light rays tend to scatter, which oncoming drivers discern as glare.

For years the French mandated yellow headlights to limit glare for oncoming drivers. A pair of yellow-lens shooting glasses or "blue-blocker" glasses can provide relief from headlight glare.

 

[NatureBoy]

In the recent past, I've noticed more oncoming vehicles have their high-beams on all the time. Do people not know what that that blue light in the instrument cluster means?

 

[Car-Guy]

In the recent past, I've noticed more oncoming vehicles have their high-beams on all the time. Do people not know what that that blue light in the instrument cluster means?

The car I usually drive has automatic dimmers, the other car does not, so sometimes I forget and I get "flashed". I suspect that's happening to others too.

 

[misanman]

I haven't noticed that this is a problem for me.

 

[ownyourfuture]

The intensity of the LED headlights isn't a problem for me...........yet.
Right now, my biggest complaint is the increasing number of drivers that either wait until you're already blinded (within 20 yards) to dim them, or don't dim them at all.

In Minnesota, you aren't supposed to flash someone who approaches you without turning down the brights.

https://www.hometownsource.com/elk_...cle_641e7d20-acee-5864-87ff-eb1ac3522eb5.html

 

[scrabbler1]

My night vision when it comes to driving has declined in the last few years. I recently got some distance glasses which have helped but not much (yet). I surely agree that those extra bright headlights from oncoming cars only adds to my challenges.

 

[REWahoo]

For years the French mandated yellow headlights to limit glare for oncoming drivers. A pair of yellow-lens shooting glasses or "blue-blocker" glasses can provide relief from headlight glare.

I tried thoe blue blocking lenses and they did nothing for me. What did work to reduce headlight glare was sunglasses.

I know you shouldn't wear them to drive after dark, but a couple of years ago my prescription glasses broke while away from home one evening and I had to wear my prescription sunglasses to drive home. Surprised how well they worked to block glare yet I could still see reasonably well - especially when encountering an oncoming vehicle.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Have you had your eyes checked for cataracts? I noticed all of a sudden that I had halo problem driving the night. My ophthalmologist said I had early cataracts and very mild macular degeneration in one eye. I asked if I should start on AREDS-2 and he said it was unnecessary. Instead he gave me eye glasses prescriptions. I did start on AREDS-2 and a week later, the halo was gone. The eye glasses did nothing and he double checked on glasses and said they were made correctly. I swear by AREDS-2. It made a world of difference to my night driving.

 

[old medic]

i just close my eyes when a car approaches at night. so far, so good.

This was a trick taught to me many years ago and so far its worked well.
Close your left eye, turn your head slightly to the right, and focus on the edge of the road. Helps preserve your night vision in the left eye.

 

[Philliefan33]

The intensity of the LED headlights isn't a problem for me...........yet.

Right now, my biggest complaint is the increasing number of drivers that either wait until you're already blinded (within 20 yards) to dim them, or don't dim them at all.



In Minnesota, you aren't supposed to flash someone who approaches you without turning down the brights.

I think the automatic dimmers in newer cars are partly to blame. When I got my RAV4 a couple of years ago I started out using the automatic dimmer function, but I noticed that it did not activate until well after I would’ve done it myself. I turned off that auto function.

 

[Car-Guy]

I think the automatic dimmers in newer cars are partly to blame. When I got my RAV4 a couple of years ago I started out using the automatic dimmer function, but I noticed that it did not activate until well after I would’ve done it myself. I turned off that auto function.

As I mentioned earlier, I have auto dimmers in one of my vehicles too and they work really well... (Actually had them in several vehicles in the past few years) I remember at first, I would "almost" dim the light's myself but the dimmers would do it, so for me it was just about right... Now I don't even think about it and never get flashed in that car. Of course when I'm driving other vehicles that don't have auto dimmers, I often forget.