Are car headlights too bright now? Campaigners call for law to be tightened up

A campaign group is calling on the government to take action to reduce the glare from modern car headlights and prevent them from dazzling other road users.

The LightAware group led by Baroness Dianne Hayter says super bright modern LED headlights are blinding other drivers and fear there could be an increase in the number of road collisions if nothing is done.

The group is urging the government to carry out more research into the issue and look into the need to introduce standards on new tech, high spec headlights including LEDs, which produce glare that can temporarily blind other drivers, risking road safety.

LightAware has issued its own report looking at the problem, put together by concerned road users, light experts and other specialists, as well as data from the RAC.

It says some older people have reported giving up driving at night altogether because of this, as their eyes may not adjust as quickly as a younger person, while motorcyclists with visors also struggled.

Baroness Hayter and the group will meet the Department of Transport’s Lords Minister, Lord Davies, on January 16 to present the case.

In her forward to the report, Baroness Hayter says the newer types of headlights are ‘a menace’ for on-coming vehicles or pedestrians, in built up areas where speed bumps can cause them to angle up sharply, or rural country roads where the oncoming driver is dazzled before the computer automatically dips the headlights.

She added: “The group’s first interaction with Ministers led them to say: ‘No problem here, no evidence of deaths or serious injuries’.

“Since then, the public have reached out to tell us they disagree, and that many are stopping driving at night, with eight out of 10 drivers surveyed wanting action to reduce glare.

“We know other countries share our concern, with drivers demanding action. Government needs to heed the call for action and be on the side of road safety.

“The Highway Code states ‘You must not use any lights in a way which would dazzle... other road users’ – a requirement breached on every road every night.”

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, between the ages of 15 and 65, the time it takes to recover from glare increases from one to nine seconds. At 60 miles an hour, that’s 250 yards in nine seconds.

Rod Denis from the RAC added its voice to the debate, saying: “A large majority of drivers we surveyed tell us they find the dazzling nature of some car headlights makes driving difficult, if not unsafe. While current regulations governing vehicle headlights are agreed at an international level, we think the whole topic warrants more focus from the Government.

“There is a good argument for independent research to be commissioned that gets to the root causes of headlight glare so that the problem so many drivers face can be tackled.”

Dr John Lincoln of LightAware, the report’s lead author, said: “Many modern headlights are incompatible with dark-adapted human eyesight – particularly for older drivers. They are too bright, too blue and are blinding over too long a distance. Regulation is required to cut the risk of accidents and reduce driver fatigue.”

You can read the full report by LighAware HERE