Do you think LED headlights are good or bad?

[Flarelaine]

I'm sure everyone has come across this at some point or another. A person behind you who you think has their brights on. Turns out, it may be new led headlights. They are often more blue then anything and are incredibly bright. I am starting to actually get annoyed by them. They are pretty blinding and make driving more difficult. Especially if I have to check my side view mirrors. Personally, I think some regulations need to come into effect for these things as I see them as creating unsafe driving conditions for anyone who is in front of them or in oncoming lanes.

What do you all think?

We have compulsory headlight dimming if there is a car ahead within a certain distance. Don't you?

[Afrospinach]

I'm sure everyone has come across this at some point or another. A person behind you who you think has their brights on. Turns out, it may be new led headlights. They are often more blue then anything and are incredibly bright. I am starting to actually get annoyed by them. They are pretty blinding and make driving more difficult. Especially if I have to check my side view mirrors. Personally, I think some regulations need to come into effect for these things as I see them as creating unsafe driving conditions for anyone who is in front of them or in oncoming lanes.

What do you all think?

LED headlights are not as bright as HID. If they are "bright" they may be a half assed retrofit which is actually illegal. Just like people putting HIDs into halogen reflectors.

I find them too bright personally on certain cars.

They've also started replacing street lighting where i live with WHITE leds and it's horrible, it feels way more 'polluting' that yellow/orange and not as relaxing.

This is also something that is supposed to be regulated. 6k I think is the max in most places and that is pure white/crystal white. Ironically the higher the colour temp the less light you get. However, bluer light has more "glare".

[Pentai]

This is also something that is supposed to be regulated. 6k I think is the max in most places and that is pure white/crystal white. Ironically the higher the colour temp the less light you get. However, bluer light has more "glare".

Not sure if 6k should be permitted for residential areas either, the light that leaks into homes feels as if it's always full moon, a candlelight-type tone feels less intrusive and more relaxing in my opinion.

[Tommi]

The auto-dimming thing sounds like something for fancier cars, but my current car has a button I can hit to toggle between dim and undimmed electronically (newer car; 2014), but all my old vehicles had that little tilt switch at the bottom you could flip in those situations, so I assumed it was standard in most cars. It's a useful feature!

The little tilt switch thingy is standard in every car I have ever been in since the 80's, fuck my grandads Lada had one. Never seen one in the UK without it. The auto dimming thing was amazing, but most of my cars have had privacy glass installed so it isn't a major thing for me.

I believe that incorrect headlights should be illegal though, punishable by a fine or points on your licence. Same with full beams on all the time, that should be an automatic 6 points on a UK licence. The amount of people that don't turn off full beams on country roads where I live is staggering, and I know of a few drivers who have had actual bad crashes into fields due to it. These are people I know are safe drivers as well, and because they couldn't get the number plate of the person with full beams on, it's caused them to have an at fault claim on an otherwise perfect driving record. If i could use a dashcam to shame these people publically, I would, but the cameras tend to get fucked over by full beams and make it impossible to see the number plates.
I would like to see full beams being automatic, with no manual way to turn them on. I had auto full beams in one of my cars and it was amazing, turned on and off depending on ambient light and if there was a car coming other way.

[DevilTrigger1989]

If used properly, it is a nice thing when you are riding in the evenings.

[Afrospinach]

Not sure if 6k should be permitted for residential areas either, the light that leaks into homes feels as if it's always full moon, a candlelight-type tone feels less intrusive and more relaxing in my opinion.

It is pretty harsh.

Ironically in NZ they have just started replacing street lights with LED versions and someone was definitely of the "higher is better" mentality. These LED streetlights to me look like 6k or higher. Traditionally the street lights were amber. I cannot really believe such a fundamental fuckup on a national scale. Additionally, these LED lights are super bright with a sharp cutoff to reduce light pollution BUT: if you live near one you are below that cutoff and it is quite ridiculous how intrusive the light is.

It gets worse and worse and worse. This blue light is more disruptive to you circadian rhythms and it is worse for night vision. If you walk around at night having a red torch is a must. This is what the use on night time game drives to avoid dazzling the animals, also by the military to preserve your night vision. Less clear is that yellower light improves contrast recognition(see shooting and their yellow goggles). I just generally think it is a bad idea to have higher colour temps than you need anywhere yet there seems to be this drive to do so.

All this stuff applies to cars too. There is nothing worse than driving past Mr retrofit with his 8k HIDs that are splashing light everywhere even with dip lights and then you are briefly blinded as you readjust. This does not happen to the same degree with soft halogens.

[kamuimac]

Typical truck-driver syndrome... "the higher I am, the more godlike I become" hahahahh... Ok Mr. SUV owner all great and mighty, let me ask you this: you do realize that blinding others is actually the opposite of safe for YOU on the road right? And why in the actual fuck are you even mentioning someone else's comfort if the discussion is about safety on the road, and how SUV drivers like you should angle their lights?!

anything which is apporved to be used in EU doesnt have enough lux to be qualified as "blinding" as i use original LEDs not cheap know-offs .

its your perception problem , im not doin anything that would break law

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It is pretty harsh.

Ironically in NZ they have just started replacing street lights with LED versions and someone was definitely of the "higher is better" mentality. These LED streetlights to me look like 6k or higher. Traditionally the street lights were amber. I cannot really believe such a fundamental fuckup on a national scale. Additionally, these LED lights are super bright with a sharp cutoff to reduce light pollution BUT: if you live near one you are below that cutoff and it is quite ridiculous how intrusive the light is.

It gets worse and worse and worse. This blue light is more disruptive to you circadian rhythms and it is worse for night vision. If you walk around at night having a red torch is a must. This is what the use on night time game drives to avoid dazzling the animals, also by the military to preserve your night vision. Less clear is that yellower light improves contrast recognition(see shooting and their yellow goggles). I just generally think it is a bad idea to have higher colour temps than you need anywhere yet there seems to be this drive to do so.

All this stuff applies to cars too. There is nothing worse than driving past Mr retrofit with his 8k HIDs that are splashing light everywhere even with dip lights and then you are briefly blinded as you readjust. This does not happen to the same degree with soft halogens.

the more modern LED you use the less power they require - thats why they change those on national scale - to lower the overall electricity usage.

honest question - do you your LED lights in your home ? or you are one of the people who are willing to pay much more for electiricty bill just because "older is better"

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We have compulsory headlight dimming if there is a car ahead within a certain distance. Don't you?

ofc he has . every country have it.

thats why i love when someone is "blinking me" showing me i have "long lights on " when i dont

a lot of people drives old shitty cars and think that just because their lights suck everyone should have "Weak lights " too.

[Greengrim]

anything which is apporved to be used in EU doesnt have enough lux to be qualified as "blinding" as i use original LEDs not cheap know-offs .

its your perception problem , im not doin anything that would break law

I can't believe you still don't seem to get the point, even though I specifically told you what we're talking about here... Who in the ACTUAL F cares for the quality of your LEDs or if you're breaking the law man (apart from yourself apparently)? You said that you put your safety before other people's comfort, so if you can't realize that when you blind people they endanger you as well as themselves, I think we have a bigger problem than your LEDs to worry about... Dear god, people nowdays.... I just can't....

[lockedout]

I'm sure everyone has come across this at some point or another. A person behind you who you think has their brights on. Turns out, it may be new led headlights. They are often more blue then anything and are incredibly bright. I am starting to actually get annoyed by them. They are pretty blinding and make driving more difficult. Especially if I have to check my side view mirrors. Personally, I think some regulations need to come into effect for these things as I see them as creating unsafe driving conditions for anyone who is in front of them or in oncoming lanes.

What do you all think?

If the car is older and doesn't have projector style headlights then you will get blinded. It's also illegal in my state. Newer cars with led lights that have the correct headlight housing are not blinding at all.

[vindicatorx]

What do you all think?

I think you are mistaken for the most part LED bulbs especially the second generation of them have a lower focal point in order to prevent blinding the opposing drivers.

Mine are like the ones pictured. Trucks that are jacked up will still cause some issues if they are LED but it's not as bad as the HID bulbs.
The blue ones are HID Halogen bulbs

[Afrospinach]

the more modern LED you use the less power they require - thats why they change those on national scale - to lower the overall electricity usage.

That doesn't explain why they have such high colour temperatures on the LEDs vs the older lights.

I am pretty sure higher colour temp = more energy intensive per lumen, too.

[Ghostpanther]

Good. Use less power and have a longer life before needing replacement. If the beam angle is not correct, then the police can stop you and write a ticket for you to have them inspected.

[Orlong]

The blue ones are HID Halogen bulbs

Not all HID lights are blue. Maybe its just the cheap ass aftermarket ones. I have a 2013 Genesis Coupe that I bought brand new and it came from the factory with HID lights and they are not at all blue

[vindicatorx]

Not all HID lights are blue. Maybe its just the cheap ass aftermarket ones. I have a 2013 Genesis Coupe that I bought brand new and it came from the factory with HID lights and they are not at all blue

Right, it's a preference thing. They do make LEDs that are bluish as well. Another factor is that a lot of new cars these days use the newer projector headlights instead of the old reflector type.

[Zantos]

We have compulsory headlight dimming if there is a car ahead within a certain distance. Don't you?

We have 2 settings on our lights here. 1 is regular and 1 is bright. We are required to dim it from bright to regular, if we have it on. Its just that the new lights are so bright in their regular setting that there really is no dimming them.

[schwank05]

I love them we are starting to convert a lot of older stuff to LED so you can actually see something.

[kamuimac]

That doesn't explain why they have such high colour temperatures on the LEDs vs the older lights.

I am pretty sure higher colour temp = more energy intensive per lumen, too.

but less power taken .

thats their main advantage.

[smegmage]

I'm more concerned about people texting and driving or vehicles with suspension/brake components that are on their last legs than misaligned headlights. If your complaint is that someones headlights behind you at night are blinding you, then you need to learn how to adjust mirrors.

[Unholyground]

I would never drive at night time anyways where I would need high beams honestly, I get easily blinded by light at night, I see better in the dark with no lighting.

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I'm more concerned about people texting and driving or vehicles with suspension/brake components that are on their last legs than misaligned headlights. If your complaint is that someones headlights behind you at night are blinding you, then you need to learn how to adjust mirrors.

I blast people who text and drive, there is no need of it.

[Uko]

Honestly they just need to regulate the height that headlights are at or something. When I'm driving my dinky focus when a truck or suv pull up behind me with their headlights at roof level of my car its just stupid because no s sherlock the person in the car will be blinded.