Is it time to ban LED Headlights

No issues here. Had a fiesta then focus now have a Kuga.

Auto dipping seemed to work quite well on my focus, but I weren't on the receiving end .. but never got any flashes from angry drivers. Use to go full beam almost immediately as the car came along side me.

Bright lights from cars behind me were nullified by the very clever auto dimming/ adjusting rear view mirror.
 
I've never had an issue with LEDs or Xenons and I do a lot of night driving.
Auto dipping is another matter entirely. I first had it on a BMW E65 730d in 2009 ish and it was useless so I turned it off. I then had it again on another 7-series and it was useless on that one too. Then had it in my 2010 Jaguar XJ and it was worse than the 7-series. I now have it in my 650i and it's.... guess what..... useless.
It's just too slow. By the time it dips I've already blasted the oncoming driver with the full force of my xenons which isn't very gentlemanly. So, I switch it off.
 
Ive never had an issue with cars affecting my driving even if they stay on full beam. It feels like its a moan for moaning sake sometimes when people do. Just aim for the gap, stay calm, keep your eyes open and it will be over in seconds. Quite how someone thinks they will crash as a result of it is a bit beyond me.

Another example of over sensitive souls that are most likely "not comfortable" with driving at night at the best of times.

Plus does anyone actually know what "being blinded" means?!
 
azazl187 said:
Ive never had an issue with cars affecting my driving even if they stay on full beam. It feels like its a moan for moaning sake sometimes when people do. Just aim for the gap, stay calm, keep your eyes open and it will be over in seconds. Quite how someone thinks they will crash as a result of it is a bit beyond me.

Another example of over sensitive souls that are most likely "not comfortable" with driving at night at the best of times.
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what roads do you drive on? I'm not sure if you're trolling or not?

driving on a dark country lane for a while with no street lights etc and then getting full beam in your face will end up leaving you half blind, no matter what gap you aim for. Eyes will never adjust that quicky to a shock of light in your face, especially if it is very intense like xenon/main beam/laser etc are.
 
azazl187 said:
Ive never had an issue with cars affecting my driving even if they stay on full beam. It feels like its a moan for moaning sake sometimes when people do. Just aim for the gap, stay calm, keep your eyes open and it will be over in seconds. Quite how someone thinks they will crash as a result of it is a bit beyond me.

Another example of over sensitive souls that are most likely "not comfortable" with driving at night at the best of times.
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Depends what sort of roads you're driving on. With streetlights in place, it's alright, but on a wet night on a windy B road, with no curb or edge lines, it's pretty hair raising.
 
grudas said:
what roads do you drive on? I'm not sure if you're trolling or not?

driving on a dark country lane for a while with no street lights etc and then getting full beam in your face will end up leaving you half blind, no matter what gap you aim for. Eyes will never adjust that quicky to a shock of light in your face, especially if it is very intense like xenon/main beam/laser etc are.
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I live in Salisbury and we are surrounded by country roads which i often use. If i look at the lights directly then yes i can be a little dazzling but i just dont... I can gather whether the oncoming car is without looking directly into the headlights.
 
cheesyboy said:
Depends what sort of roads you're driving on. With streetlights in place, it's alright, but on a wet night on a windy B road, with no curb or edge lines, it's pretty hair raising.
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I dont disagree with it being a little hair raising but that doesnt mean that LEDss should be banned in my opinion.
 
azazl187 said:
I live in Salisbury and we are surrounded by country roads which i often use. If i look at the lights directly then yes i can be a little dazzling but i just dont... I can gather whether the oncoming car is without looking directly into the headlights.
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Indeed, I live in a small village and don't have a problem unless you gaze into the headlights directly. Just like when behind a car at a junction with it's brake lights on, they dazzle you is you stare at them but if you don't it is a non issue. The LED headlight issue is the same as when HID headlights came out, they were way too bright for everyone.
 
cheesyboy said:
I find they make front indicators more difficult to see, day and night, and also find that I can usually see my own car's shadow when i'm driving and being followed by LED lights - it's not great that the area lit up by my headlights (non-LED) is dimmer than the area around it!
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I think most modern cars with DRLs actually dim/switch off the side that's indicating so that it makes it much clearer that the car is indicating, not sure how this functions with normal headlights on. Also a lot of cars now have an indicator built into the wing mirror so it's away from the headlights and should make that easier to see.
 
My new car to be will have LED headlights. I can turn on the £400 option for auto-dimming lights with my VCDS if I wanted to.
Reading this thread, I think I'll leave it disabled and do things the way I always have done - manually.
 
balky12 said:
Bright lights from cars behind me were nullified by the very clever auto dimming/ adjusting rear view mirror.
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My 06 Mondeo has the auto-dimming rear view and it's ridiculously quick. I've not been dazzled once by lights to the rear. Although I have privacy glass too.
 
I have a 6 month old BMW which was recently facelifted with LED headlights and they're terrible. They're insanely bright to the point I genuinely feel sorry for other motorists. I think it's similar to the recent Mini headlights.

If it's dry I probably get flashed by every 5th oncoming motorist on unlit country roads. In the wet, when the beams reflect up off standing water, I get flashed by probably every third. All I can do is give a brief flash back to let them know I'm not on full beams. Some people flash me politely which isn't too bad but others lock full beam on in anger which is very annoying. I've been driving behind people before and they've been gesticulating into their rear view and eventually pulled over to let me overtake as every road undulation sent my dipped beams into their mirrors/cabin. On motorways I can see my lights are lighting up road signs to a greater extent than cars 5 vehicles ahead of me.

At the next service I'm going to ask them to adjust the beam down. I definitely think brightness has gone too far.

One of these days an oncoming car with the same headlights will flick full beams on to which I'll do the same and we'll probably scorch the ground between us :D
 
ttaskmaster said:
On motorcycles, which don't have flip-down or auto-dimming wing mirrors, some vehicle lights from behind can be so bright the reflection does blind you, to the point where most of your forward vision is wiped out, and in some cases you can't even see your own dash. SUVs and Transit vans are especially bad for this.


Which sounds great until you hit the parked car that you couldn't see through the oncoming car's headlights. So yes it will be over in seconds...


As above.
The only things that saved me in the past were good brakes and knowing the road probably had cars parked up. Many others have not been so lucky.


Not at all. I love it. Most of my favourite rides have been long distance at night.
But if I can't see your number plate through your stupid LED headlights, they're too ******* bright...
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I also have had a motorbike and i know that glare through a visor can be worse. Bikes are always more dangerous and carry a higher level of risk with them. Id argue that being on a bike makes you more aware and vigilant and you would see the car before the dazzling of the lights. I would also argue that you can be dazzled by full beam on halogen bulbs. I used to just change my seating position or location of my head to avoid the glare of cars behind me reflecting in the mirrors.

I would also ask you why on earth you would be riding around in the dark on country roads where this is going to be quite a danger. Bikes always carry a larger risk especially at night. Its a bit fool hardy dont you think regardless of LEDs or not. You may have to use your bike at these times but again, this is always goign to be risky LEDs or not.
 
Matthew.M said:
I have a 6 month old BMW which was recently facelifted with LED headlights and they're terrible. They're insanely bright to the point I genuinely feel sorry for other motorists. I think it's similar to the recent Mini headlights.

If it's dry I probably get flashed by every 5th oncoming motorist on unlit country roads. In the wet, when the beams reflect up off standing water, I get flashed by probably every third. All I can do is give a brief flash back to let them know I'm not on full beams. Some people flash me politely which isn't too bad but others lock full beam on in anger which is very annoying. I've been driving behind people before and they've been gesticulating into their rear view and eventually pulled over to let me overtake as every road undulation sent my dipped beams into their mirrors/cabin. On motorways I can see my lights are lighting up road signs to a greater extent than cars 5 vehicles ahead of me.

At the next service I'm going to ask them to adjust the beam down. I definitely think brightness has gone too far.

One of these days an oncoming car with the same headlights will flick full beams on to which I'll do the same and we'll probably scorch the ground between us :D
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This suggests to me that your lights are not calibrated as they should be. The light pattern is clearly off
 
azazl187 said:
This suggests to me that your lights are not calibrated as they should be. The light pattern is clearly off
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The beam is flat and no higher than other cars I've had (using my garage door as a rough measure). It's undulating roads/elevation where the self levelling doesn't react quickly enough when you're in motion which means the beam can go as high as other drivers windows which causes the problem. The cut off is also very very sharp .There's no transition zone it goes from nothing to retina burning immediately.
 
fair enough. You seem to know what you are talking about in regards to testing your light pattern. They must be just too bright as you say. It seems extremely unusual for 1 in 3 people to be flashing you though dont you think?
 
I think it depends on the car. Cars are getting higher and higher and being in a low slung sports car is a real pain. As is my estate. My eco box with high seating position is fantastic even though it has the worst headlights of all.
 
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