No Stupid Questions

In Canada, the federal government just put out a nationwide poll for input on this exact subject, as it’s coming near to the time to review the related legislation. It’s very possible that some of the headlight implementations currently on the road will soon be illegal nationwide.

We haven't. Many states have new laws on the books about this issue, and others on the horizon. The issue is that they approved at one point, so there will most likely be a grandfather clause for existing ones on the road because you can't force car manufacturers to go back and recall all these things to be retroactively compliant with a new law at cost to them. Not how laws work.

Because consumer protection and regulation seems to have stopped being a real thing after Reagan. Since then everything good has been legacy agencies patching at the edges where they had authority (all gone now thanks to the Supreme Court - see Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo).

Buckle up. It's only going to get worse.

(This is extra ironic because buckling up is only even a thing because of consumer protections. So I guess get ready to be thrown through a windshield.)

Because (particularly in the US) people have the attitude of "I know that it's going to be shit for other people, but it makes me feel a little better about things, so I'm going to do it anyway"

Its (like many things) mostly the us's fault. A slide away from rules into vibe based everything.

I remember a long time ago when I was first getting my license you had to pass a headlight test where you parked in a spot and there where painted lines on a wall for both high and low beams. It was how you adjusted your lights and was common in Canada. Now no one even knows what I am talking about. The rules are still there but no one enforces them and most forgot they can even adjust their lights (not sure new cars and trucks can be anymore).

Manufacturers in North America are now putting their lights so high up on vehicles and use such bright piercing lights on everything that night driving has become a nightmare. The answer to getting blinded is now to out blind others, its madness.

This is a US and Canada problem. This is basically a non-issue in the rest of the world.

There are two standards for headlights, one established by the UN that applies to 99% of countries. Whereas the US and Canada have the other standard that is far worse for glare.

The global standard has strict rules on glare, requiring a sharp cutoff line at the top of the beam. The american regulations do not have this. American regulations do not account for headlight height off the ground, defining alignment purely with angles. An SUV or pickup with its headlights mounted above your eyeline can legslly shine the fullest part of its lights directly into your eyes at all times. In contrast, the international regulations account for height, and require tall vehicles to incline their headlights further downward to avoid dazzling other drivers.

This problem can be solved for new cars instantly by switching to the international standard. The auto industry is international. They sell in markets with the global standard and could switch their headlights immediately after a change in the law. This is an easily solvable problem.

For me it's not the brightness, but the color temperature of the light that gets me. Why do we strictly regulate the color of turn signals and brake lights, but not headlights? Warm white should be mandated.

What can any of us do about anything? Everything sucks ass and I have no idea what to do. Should I talk to my literal neo nazi neighbors until I've somehow successfully re-educated them? That's fucking stupid and not possible. The second they turn around from our conversation, they see a television, in their own house, in all the restaurants, in every waiting room in the country, blaring FOX News.

Also why did they make them cooler? Everything used to me more tinted red and now everything has gone to blue which is worse for your night vision.

Over here, ADRs (Australian design rules) stopped this problem before it began

Same reason we just accepted increasingly loud exhausts. Too many selfish idiots on the roads to enforce it effectively.

It's fucking horrible even here in EU, where I would expect it to be better regulated. Can't imagine how bad it's in the US.

I've even seen multiple posts on local subreddits about people buying SUV/crossovers and one of the main reason was being blinded by other SUVs.

Fucking horrible it should be checked at every MOT, and it sometimes is, but the newer vehicles are exempt from yearly MOTs for some stupid reason.

It pisses me off to no end, but what the fuck can I do about it lol

I know they have gotten brighter over the years but that's not what's been the biggest issue for me. To me it's the fact these trucks keep getting taller, 3 feet ago it wasn't as bad because the lights were closer to the road, now the headlights on these trucks are damn near eye-level.

We used to be a proper country.

The auto industry lobbied to deregulate headlights, and of course, they got what they wanted. Ostensibly, it was to allow for more aerodynamic designs. Of course, the real reason was to have a proprietary part that often needed replacement so they could charge hundreds of dollars directly for something that used to be cheap and standardized.

Ultimately, though, I blame the systematic dismantling of our public education. Basic values of citizenship used to be taught in public schools, and most kids grew up to be fairly decent. That's not as common anymore.

In the USA, the lack of proper technical inspections and adjustable headlight beams, is a problem with raised vehicles. WTF, riding a motorcycle against a raised POS Bro Dozer, with multiple light bars, is the closest thing to a blinding UFO encounter. One cannot see jack shit! In Europe, that pile of rolling bolts would not be allowed on the public roads.

We as a society just accept everything. It's what we were trained to do. We get mad and make posts like this one, then go back to our daily lives, having changed little to nothing about our behavior or the behavior of others. It's not necessarily our fault - it's difficult for one person to make a real change, but that's just the reality of our society.

I have light sensitivity, the new lights cause physical pain. I completely stopped driving at night because of them and sometimes have to wear sunglasses at night as a passenger. They're hell

It's all part of The Shittening

I bought glasses for this very reason. "Night vision" glasses. While the lights are still bright your eyes recover quickly.

I'm sorry you can't see, but I can see great.

Here's my take:

There used to be a time when headlights really did not penetrate the night as much as they should, esp. with increasing speeds.

Making them brighter was reasonable. So they invented Halogen lights. But at some point the whole thing ran away I suppose, making them ever brighter became a selling point.

Add to that the SUV effect: "most importantly, me and my loved ones are safe in this rolling fortress", you can see how we got here.

I used to drive a very, very old car. Now there's a law in Germany that allows older cars to keep on running the way they used to even if the same aspects would be illegal in a newer car. This car did not even have Halogen lights. I had trouble seeing, every time another car passed me on the road. The difference in brightness was - well, blinding. It was legit dangerous.

I believe the brightness of Halogen lights is totally sufficient.

Add to that the tone. Most LEDs are blueish which feels worse for human eyes. Regular lightbulbs are yellowish.

Because hurting people with your truck headlights is MANLY.

There's been a ton of coverage on this, not sure that it matters. The physics of car fired harpoons to attack other cars is eluding me, while I develop many patents on the matter

walking at night is kinda hard now because your eyes will adjust to the dark and then suddenly the brightest car ever drives by and then you just cant see

Probably because I used to complain about it a lot, and people like to do things that I complain about, specifically to torment me because they think it's funny, without giving any thought to the reasons why I was complaining about it in the first place...

Conservative governments have spent 3 generations, the world over, convincing everyone that deregulation is always a good thing.

Calibrated headlights shouldn't impair vision too much. Laser (and matrix) headlights are becoming more mainstream too, those gets even brighter but directed. Do you have an astigmatism by chance? Is it aftermarket and modified headlights causing the issue? My pet peeve is lifted trucks running brights behind me. Could be 6 car length back and still light up my interior like a stadium

A huge number of people are unaware that headlights must be aimed. Some are not adjusted by the manufacturer or dealer before sale (Tesla, Toyota). Sometimes a large enough pothole or going over a speed bump too fast will knock alignment off.

Couple this with American police driving primarily SUV's (higher up, less bothered) and no longer issuing "fix-it" tickets unless using headlights as an excuse to pull over minorities, and we wind up with tons of issues. Feed the prison system- Don't waste time making the roads safer!

Lawmakers are increasingly separated from those they are elected or appointed to represent by heightened economic status, and are not affected by issues that plague everyday citizens. No longer are they accountable to their constituents- Money drives their political aims.

As a frequent night driver, I often see people late at night using only the decorative running lights (because they don't understand the light controls?) or with one or both headlights aimed at the ground just a few feet ahead of their car from hitting a bump or a minor accident. Sometimes one or both headlights will be pointed too high. Other times, drivers have their brights on purposefully because their low beams are burned out, or perhaps for their own benefit.

It is a complex issue that I can see only getting worse in the future. Social consciousness needs to become a thing in America.