Is it time to ban LED Headlights

Yes, very. But they are biblically bright. I don't have a dashcam but maybe I'll rig rig my phone up sometime and go for a normal drive at night. It's no different to daytime on main beams and even dipped its quite uncomfortable if it's pitch black and these lights come around the corner in the other direction.
 
ttaskmaster said:
I'm not even getting to what it's like in the rain.
But no, it's just as bad in the cars.


Being blinded is being blinded, no matter what vehicle you're driving. That dazzling means I can still miss a pothole, or a pedestrian, or an animal, or any number of other things... Difference is, the oncoming car won't care if it gets hit by a bike, whereas a car or a truck means a serious collision.


It's about what happens while you're being dazzled that's the problem... and during rush hour with several of these bright-light ***** all oncoming at any one time, your 'few seconds in which it will be over' becomes 20-30 seconds and might take you through several bends along the way.


I don't care what they are, so long as they're not blinding me... especially the modern ones that blind even when dipped.


Firstly - Don't assume I'm talking solely about dark country roads, because I'm not. It can happen on any road, if the other car's lights are bright enough. Come sit on the A33 through central Reading during rush hour, if you don't believe me.
Secondly - I'm there, because I live there. It gets dark around 4pm - Should I not go home after work, and wait the 15-odd hours until sunrise due to safety concerns, or something?
Thirdly - I have every right to be there. It's not my fault car lights have gotten dangerously bright and I shouldn't have to give up that right just so some dick in a BMW can feel better about having stupidly bright, misaligned headlights.


It's a bit foolhardy, do you not think, for you to be driving your car around on the roads, when a blinded biker like me might careen off and smash 270kgs of metal motorcycle through your windscreen? It's always a risk...... :rolleyes:

Seriously, did you even ride your bike?


That's what I would have thought... but nope. I've driven various vehicles, including work ones. Lights are just as bright.
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Well i guess we will have to agree to disagree as i dont think its that bad. Maybe you are more sensitive to lights than i am in general?.... The nature of their usage dictates that they have to be bright anyway and different people will have different limits that they feel is acceptable. If you are being "blinded" by Halogens it might always be that way for you personally no matter what lighting solution is being used..
 
Personally LEDs headlights are fine, but there definitely are some which are much brighter than most. Audi's and Range Rovers were always the ones I noticed on my old commute, down a busy A road at rush hour, on a motorbike. There were times when I thought some cars were on full beam they were that bright/badly adjusted.

In the wet and dark it wasn't an enjoyable experience. It's really only the badly adjusted ones that are a problem though, and having one behind you is annoying as your mirrors reflect the light directly into your eyes.

I'm glad I don't do that commute on a bike through winter anymore.
 
ttaskmaster said:
I don't think me doing 140mph down the motorway is that bad, but that doesn't mean other people won'ty have a problem with it.


Highly unlikely. I have a car with Xenons, myself, but work on many with really bright LEDs. The only ones that are a problem are badly adjusted.
Similarly, if I were more sensitive, then I'd have more of a problem with car lights in general. As is, it's just a few, specific ones.


I expect the solution will be for me to give up driving, give up my job, and move house to a city without dark roads anywhere or without dickheads who drive with full beam on during broad daylight in the middle of July......
Or it just might be that people are correct and headlights are getting too bright....
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Lets not be silly now. No one would expect you to do that. I do think that you are being a little over sensitive to this matter in general. But that being said, i believe that you believe that headlights are getting too bright. I on the other hand do not. You are in the red team and i am in the blue team.
 
ttaskmaster said:
There's a stack of media articles on it too, but I'm sure they're all biased, being newspapers anyway.
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Finally we can agree on something!! Listen, i dont wish you to have a crash or get hurt while doing winter riding, i know from experience it can be pretty edgy sometimes especially when it gets colder, so i hope you dont get too many bright lights on your way home during the dark months.

Do you not have a car you can use for these seasonal periods?

Good luck and have fun ok.
 
I find the adaptive systems really annoying when behind me. I find the constant shifting of light levels around me really distracting.

Some of the regular LED systems also seem to be really dazzling.
 
I think I am a Light Wimp as I find most headlights, even day running lights, uncomfortable to glance at. A few times I've been behind a car with LED brake lights at a junction and can't look forward!

I get dazzled fairly frequently at night although this seems to be poorly adjusted lights rather than just being too bright.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Well, the Highway Code does say something about not sitting with your brake lights on, to avoid dazzling vehicles behind, but I'm sure that's just being over sensitive to the issue and whining for the sake of whining... :p
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Bit tough for the highway code when most the modern cars with auto hold system keep their brake lights on for safety reasons.:D
 
I agree with bloody SUVs having their lights too high and blinding the crap out of me.

Also that a bright sharp cutoff looks cool in theory but in practice may be far harder to see with
 
I agree that some new cars with led headlights are unnecessarily bright. A big new BMW (don't know the model ) approaching me after exiting a roundabout had the most dazzlingly bright retina-etching lights I ever saw.

Complete overkill.
 
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