Is it time to ban LED Headlights

[bigmike20vt]

in which case it seems we have the answer........ before drastic action needs to be taken then what needs to happen is that the rules which are already in place regarding headlight alignment checks in an MOT need to be enforced and if need be re-enforced to be stricter on forcing compliance.

once once that is done and if it is still shown that modern car headlights are a danger should there need to be a discussion about actively gimping or banning certain headlight styles.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Maybe they'll make us apply those amber headlight covers like they used to use in France.

I do hope not as they were awful. Drove an ancient Renault 4 van belonging to a neighbour a couple of years ago at night that still had those fitted and it was light driving on sidelights.

The DRLs on my Duster are better.

 

[JonRGV250]

I can’t speak for all testers, but most I’ve seen don’t set the aligner correctly (or at all) and just check the height and not the “kick up” (if it has one) which considering it takes about 15 seconds to set up is a bit inexcusable.

 

[Thomas_11]

LED headlights can indeed be too bright and cause problems for other drivers. When an SUV is driving behind you, it's just unbearable, especially at night. Older halogen headlights seem much more comfortable and less irritating.

 

[ttaskmaster]

Yup, the DVSA inspectors are super hot on alignment being correct.

Then they need to do a better job of inspecting the testers...

There’s a hell of a lot of adjustment on a headlamp, not sure why it’d have to be done by a “proper” garage (whatever that means).

Many MoT centres are purely testing places. They test. That is all. They are not actual garages.
They often don't have any tools with which to make any alterations anyway, or they'll just state that it's not their job and you'll have to get it adjusted somewhere else - Hence "proper" garage.

 

[Arterion]

Then they need to do a better job of inspecting the testers...


Many MoT centres are purely testing places. They test. That is all. They are not actual garages.
They often don't have any tools with which to make any alterations anyway, or they'll just state that it's not their job and you'll have to get it adjusted somewhere else - Hence "proper" garage.

But presumably they could fail you, thereby forcing compliance by mandating you have the problem corrected somewhere?

 

[JonRGV250]

Then they need to do a better job of inspecting the testers...

Yeah, good luck with that.
We used to have to do a refresher course every 5 years which was classroom and hands on (actually useful) now it’s a BS online test every 12 months.
The DVSA inspectors will only visit a MOT station every 3 years if its (and it’s testers) status is green or every 12 months if it’s red, and they only inspect one car from one tester.
They’re not exactly flush with staff.

 

[ttaskmaster]

But presumably they could fail you, thereby forcing compliance by mandating you have the problem corrected somewhere?

They could... assuming they do the inspection correctly. But therein is one of the problems:
"2/. Headlamp aim consistently tops the MOT compliance surveys as one of the most likely items to be assessed incorrectly by testers"

So while lighting and signalling accounts for 19% of all MoT failures and is reckoned to be the top point of failure by the RAC, according to data they got from from the DVSA, it stands to reason that many headlight alignment failures could be down to the tester not properly applying the test... as well as many poorly aligned headlights getting passed as a result of the same mis-assessment.

However, forcing compliance is another matter, with 2023 reports suggesting that up to a quarter of drivers admit to having knowingly driven without a valid MoT... how many more did so but didn't admit to is is anyone's guess, but the reports only sampled 2000 drivers. Either way, I imagine a fair few people wouldn't bother.

The DVSA inspectors will only visit a MOT station every 3 years if its (and it’s testers) status is green or every 12 months if it’s red, and they only inspect one car from one tester.

OMG, how lazy are they? It's only 24,000 test centres they have to inspect....!

I guess it doesn't matter how super-hot they are, if they're not applying it...
I can see this, with all the new technological online capabilities, ending up with testers having to include photo/video evidence of particular pass or fail points.