You may be right. While a few years were spent testing and studying the new LED clusters before revising the spec, regulators often seem totally oblivious to real life. This to me is most obvious in road design, where the feds mandate many things (by the power to withhold highway funds) that might work great in their beta test areas but cause problems in a New England winter.
Right, Whitey, I am getting older too, so is âeveryoneâ if you think about it. The âolderâ portion of the total population is going to be the biggest sector within a few years. If we are not making headlights that work well for âeveryoneâ including the oldsters, we are making a mistake. Remember certain vision conditions are more prevalent as we age, but nothing says you cannot get these at a younger age. And if the current crop of headlights are stressful, but âsurvivableâ for the âyouth,â why would we want ANY stressed drivers on the roads?
It think Ray Magliozzi has written that there is NO national standard for headlights in the US, not for brightness, not for color spectrum, not for coverage. Anyone here ever drive across state borders? This all seems a set problems needing to be solved!
Ralph Nader, Consumer Reports, the Insurance Institute, step up please? Someone is making money on this sloppy situation, and somebody else is losing outâmoney, injuries, deaths, though hard to prove. Law enforcement? Sheriffsâ associations maybe, who see the result of blinded drivers out on the highways?
I suggest you google Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108.
Itâs the federal regulation for automotive lighting.
Did google, but also searched in vain within that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 for âenforceâ and âenforcement!â Laws without enforcement lead to anarchy, which is what we have with headlights today.
Someone not doing their job(s)?
RELATED, but not exactly the same cause, are the very bright, very fast flashing lights on Law Enforcement vehicles in some states. I sometimes pass thru Massachusetts, and if there is a vehicle stop or crash scene, with the State Police cruiser running these blue lightsâI absolutely cannot see anything, I need to focus my eyes on the ten feet of pavement in front of my vehicle!!
I get that they want us to slow down, and not hit any first responders or police who need to get into and out of their vehicles, maybe several times for a given stop. But if I cannot see ANYTHING, I think I am more likely to hit someone, something. Has anyone looked into this situation?
Not exactly. The regulations are only enforced/enforceable for the manufacturers and their representatives (franchises). Theyâre mandates for the design of the lights, not directed toward drivers. States not being federal enforcement agencies, the buck stops when the car is sold to the public. Once the customer buys the car, all bets are off. There are a few states (17) that have periodic safety inspections, but Iâm unaware of any vehicle being denied a sticker because of headlight aim. Back in the days of sealed beam lights there was a device in use to easily check during safety inspections, but it references itself to the bulb surface and is unusable with modern headlights. Thus, nobody checks.
1 Like
Well, last year, I had my truck fail PA inspection due to cloudy headlight lens covers. (It should be noted they werenât all that cloudy, given the truck was 22 years old, and the inspection standards mention beam pattern and minimum candlepowerâŠand the shop never actually checked the lifhts, themselves.)
I thought it âticky-tack,â so I polished the lens covers, got a (begrudging) âpassâ out of the shop, and now I go elsewhere. If it was a scam on the part of the shop, it backfired!
Thatâll teach them to mess with someone thatâs not afraid of hard work.
Re headlight aim test required for state inspection
I seem to remember they checked headlight aim in Colorado as part of the safety inspection when I lived there. Donât know if they still do, but thereâs still a requirement in Virginia. They appear to check both the brightness and aim in Virginia.
"Virginia State Inspection Program requires us to purchase a very expensive machine that they certify to read headlight alignment correctly. During an inspection, one of the things that is mandatory is for a headlight alignment machine to be placed in front of the vehicle to check the candle power (how bright the light is) and the alignment (too far up, down, left or right). "
I remember when I was at the Benz dealership, they actually had a Bosch headlight aiming device
I knew how to use it, as it was identical to the one I was familiar with, when I was still in Europe
But not many other guys felt comfortable using it
In any case, as California doesnât have safety inspections, suffice it to say the device mostly gathered dust
1 Like
I check my headlight aim by shining them against a big blank wall at a business park. Last time I tested the aim I noticed the driverâs side was ok left vs right, but a little higher than it should be on the âdimâ setting, so I pointed it further down a little using the adjustment screws.
1 Like
Now I am an I do not like to drive at night guy, glare is hard, and in case you want to hear my personal story, I am basically blind in one eye, and have cataracts in my good eye. The eye doc is 5 to 10% chance of failure of the surgery is too much of a risk, as you would be essentially totally blind.
My first significant observation was looking at the night sky and seeing 3 moons. I thought it was an abnormal phenomoly, but it was my degrading eyesight. Yes driving at night is a 2 headed serpent, on one hand I can deal with it and drive safely, but on the other hand I do not like to do it. Sure all you young critters can dismiss us old farts as time to stop driving, but I do not feel I am a hazard to others, and yes you youngins will be where I am someday.
Yes glasses have solved the 3 moon problem, and reading street signs.
2 Likes
I did not see 3 moons but cars with 2 taillights I was following looked like 1963 Impalas! I also had trouble reading signs.
There is a national problem with color spectrum on streetlights as well. The âsuper-whiteâ ones contain a lot of blue in their spectrum. This is a huge issue that I cannot dwell on here, but you might look at the ama report https://www.ama-assn.org/ama-adopts-guidance-reduce-harm-high-intensity-street-lights
or this research paper: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/7328247/?reload=true
The best lights are 3000K or lower.
You may help mitigate the glare with amber sunglasses.
I have noticed the new streetlights. They are very bright but donât affect my driving as they are not shining directly in my eyes. I have âblue blockerâ yellow goggles that fit over my prescription eyeglasses. I donât need them in the city where there is plenty of ambient light or on the divided 4 lane where the insanely bright headlights are not in my face. They are literally a life saver on rural 2 lanes. Without them I was having to look to the side of the road to avoid being temporarily blinded. In the immortal words of Jim Morrison âKeep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheelâ!
Iâve read other articles wherein some states and many towns are considering discontinuing the use of the current LED-array streetlamps.
It is important to note that LEDs do not have to be blue-rich. There are 3000K LED streetlights available. In terms of bulbs for your house these are called âsoft whiteâ. They are a lot better.
Here in this town we are trying to outlaw new installations of 4000K lights outdoors.
âIâm sure thereâs no study on this but I have to wonder how many new cars have lamps that are out of adjustment?â
I donât know about all cars but when I had my last Dodge Dakota (2005) I checked with the service manager at the dealer when I was in for service and he said the headlights on this vehicle are not adjustable. I donât know if this is a Dodge thing or what, but there may be other cars where this is true.
From what I see, thereâs a vertical adjustment screw, but the horizontal isnât adjustable. Thereâs an air shield on the inboard side of the lamp you have to position out of the way first in order to see the screw. Itâs adjusted only on the low beam. If the low beam is adjusted correct, the high beam is automatically correct.
Yes they are bright the way I like them but I think it has more to do with the height of the vehicle than anything. If you have a low car and a pick up truck behind you, the lights will be shining in your side mirror.
I get the bright lights in the rear view mirror and the side mirrors. The rear view mirror on my new Accord has an auto dimmer and bright lights arenât a problem anymore. Those extra high 4WD trucks shine their annoying bright headlights in my side mirrors, but if I lean to the right, the driverâs side isnât a problem. I can j just ignore the left side since the angle is too big to reflect much light at me.