Bad Lux?

[Haliotis]

A couple of days ago I caught on TV news (unfortunately not from the beginning of the item) that the government were going to “look into” the situation of bright headlights - which I think may have been prompted by the motoring organizations.  Quite honestly, as is usual with UK governments, I think they have left things too late. How can they legislate to change the laws on headlights, when our roads are riddled with cars that may infringe any new regulations.  Who is going to police these existing cars, unless it is done through MoT procedures?

Regarding eyesight, as we get older our vision is bound to deteriorate to some degree.  The muscles in the irises tend to be less flexible, so reaction of the pupils to changing light conditions takes longer.  Then there is the problem of cataracts. Long before they are accepted medically as critical, they start to cause slight film which absorbs light and causes glare.  My cataracts are not yet formed to allow the optician to refer me for treatment.  Up until the present, I am given the all-clear for meeting the rules but, of course, this only covers the prevailing conditions in the optician’s examination room.  And there are other eye complaints which affect the ability to see clearly and drive safely.

[Cyker]

I do wonder if they just ran an ad campaign telling everyone to set their light level down two clicks if that would solve 80% of the problem  

[Big_D]

Is there a way to adjust self levelling headlights?

[Cyker]

I would assume so, as they may need calibrating at some point, but whether in the software or having to adjust a screw on the headlamps themselves would likely depend on the car.

 

[Mojo1010]

The majority of blinding most likely to do with bad/inappropriate aim level/alignment of the headlights. I sat in someone's car once, they retrofit hid on projectors, were getting flashed. He didn't understand why and were cursing other drivers, said he had been flashed previously. I told him the light aim is too high. Had it on 0, told him to lower by 1, no more flashing. He thought 0 was the lowest, been driving for over 20 years, donut. 

[Haliotis]

I looked for the headlamp beam adjusting control on my C-HR, but was told that it was automatically set depending upon ho the car was loaded.  Another feature for which to rely on technology.

[Parts-King]

14 hours ago, Cyker said:

I do wonder if they just ran an ad campaign telling everyone to set their light level down two clicks if that would solve 80% of the problem  

Maybe, but banning the sale of cheap LED and 250% brighter bulbs would be an even better idea, all for "off road only" use, but we all know where they end up 

[Parts-King]

12 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

I looked for the headlamp beam adjusting control on my C-HR, but was told that it was automatically set depending upon ho the car was loaded.  Another feature for which to rely on technology.

They turn and constantly "adjust" to road conditions, not a fan to be honest. I have just changed my CHR back to a Corolla, wow the lights on those CHR are good 

[Bper]

9 minutes ago, Parts-King said:

They turn and constantly "adjust" to road conditions, not a fan to be honest. I have just changed my CHR back to a Corolla, wow the lights on those CHR are good 

Are the headlights on the Corolla as bad as the Auris and are they Halogen?.

[Parts-King]

1 hour ago, Bper said:

Are the headlights on the Corolla as bad as the Auris and are they Halogen?.

No they are LED, but not as good as the CHR. I find you have to keep the headlamp lens really clean on these LED lamps  

[Bper]

1 hour ago, Parts-King said:

No they are LED, but not as good as the CHR. I find you have to keep the headlamp lens really clean on these LED lamps  

I suppose a question to ask would you have avoided buying any of the models that have poor headlights if you would have been aware prior to just how poor they are. Is this ever something we take in to consideration when buying a car.

To be honest I have never given it a second thought on past car ownership but I certainly will in future. I suppose the only way to know would be to ask for a test drive for a couple of days to try them out at night to get a good idea what they are like.

Looking at the cost of headlight replacement from halogen on the Auris to LED complete units is a little eye watering to say the least.

It's reported that 8 out of 10 drivers say they are affected by headlight glare.The RAC have asked the government to look into an independent review into this as drivers reporting that headlights are to bright..😀

[Mojo1010]

My answer to that is an absolute yes. About upto 15 years ago I first had experience of halogen on projector, very poor. So tried to avoid them from then or fit something brighter. 

[Bper]

31 minutes ago, Mojo1010 said:

My answer to that is an absolute yes. About upto 15 years ago I first had experience of halogen on projector, very poor. So tried to avoid them from then or fit something brighter. 

33 minutes ago, Mojo1010 said:

My answer to that is an absolute yes. About upto 15 years ago I first had experience of halogen on projector, very poor. So tried to avoid them from then or fit something brighter. 

 

So are you satisfied with the headlights on your new Yaris and do you ever get flashed from other motorists at night thinking you have the lights on full beam.?

[Parts-King]

1 hour ago, Bper said:

 

It's reported that 8 out of 10 drivers say they are affected by headlight glare.The RAC have asked the government to look into an independent review into this as drivers reporting that headlights are to bright..😀

Bring back the old sealed beam unit, 7002 or 7014 if it had a sidelight in it. Nobody could see where they were going and we didn't know any different 🤣🤣

[Mojo1010]

I am satisfied with the brightness of led, though not the colour temp. In normal urban driving lower the level dial by 1, motorways can be back to 0, though usually don't bother touching it. 

No flashing from others, have been aware of adjustment when first used hid from around 15 years ago also. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Aye the old sealed beam units,may have been poor compared with more modern lights.

If they're the same as the old Lucas ones,screw in with 3 screws, and refit the bezel with 3 more.

But they could be bought from the scrappy for 50p and changed in 10 mins.

I do think though that it was easier to see then , even with those, due to a lot less cars on the road for one thing, and not many stupidly bright ones,and it just being a sea of brightness now, destroying any night vision adjustment.

Or maybe it's just age😕 ,do you younger members find night driving difficult?

[Bper]

On 1/10/2024 at 10:01 PM, Bper said:

This is probably the reason why elderly motorists will not drive at night as they can't see or are blinded by the glare from LED headlights. I count myself now within this category and can totally sympathise. 

It's difficult to understand why our vision when tested is totally fine to drive, but at night it's like a combination of bad headlights, glare from oncoming traffic and when raining as well can be downright dangerous.

Hi Paul, This issue with glare and night driving has started to spread now on MSM. I suffer from this problem despite a number of eye tests that indicate my vision is above legal driving. If you read the reports it is not just older motorists that are suffering. 

Younger drivers are also having issues. I never remember a problem years ago with headlights as they just done the job and I do not remember anyone ever complaining about them.😎

[skidlid]

3 cars spring to mind that have had pretty dreadful lights, one was a 1999 Puma (halogen projectors) then current Fabia (halogen projectors), think that proves something about projector lamps. That is why we ordered the Design spec Yaris, did not want the halogens that came with the very well specced Icon model.

Our other car came fitted with 5.75" incandescent Lucas sealed beam units and even in the early 90's you realised how bad they were, how did we survive back in the 60's when this was all there was? Changed them for a pair of 5.75" lamps with H4 Halogen lamps and the difference was huge, even now on the rare occasions it goes out after dark they seem better than the 2 cars above.

[Haliotis]

Regarding the mention of headlight beams that turn as you steer to follow a bend.  My C-HR is the first car I’ve had with this feature.  At first, I found it a strange experience.  As the beam turned, I felt that I had over-steered, and started to straighten up to correct it.  Got used to it now, but it took a few dark nights to get to grips with it.   Has anyone else imagined an over-steering effect?

[Bper]

46 minutes ago, skidlid said:

3 cars spring to mind that have had pretty dreadful lights, one was a 1999 Puma (halogen projectors) then current Fabia (halogen projectors), think that proves something about projector lamps. That is why we ordered the Design spec Yaris, did not want the halogens that came with the very well specced Icon model.

Our other car came fitted with 5.75" incandescent Lucas sealed beam units and even in the early 90's you realised how bad they were, how did we survive back in the 60's when this was all there was? Changed them for a pair of 5.75" lamps with H4 Halogen lamps and the difference was huge, even now on the rare occasions it goes out after dark they seem better than the 2 cars above.

Well obviously there wasn't as much traffic on the roads in the 60s or 70s, and it's true to say that being younger our eyes weren't subject to the technology we have today with blue light etc etc along with the ageing process.

I remember at the time my old mini van and anglia headlights seemed bright enough but then maybe as you say that's all we had so got used to them.😀

[Mojo1010]

1 hour ago, skidlid said:

3 cars spring to mind that have had pretty dreadful lights, one was a 1999 Puma (halogen projectors) then current Fabia (halogen projectors), think that proves something about projector lamps. That is why we ordered the Design spec Yaris, did not want the halogens that came with the very well specced Icon model.

Our other car came fitted with 5.75" incandescent Lucas sealed beam units and even in the early 90's you realised how bad they were, how did we survive back in the 60's when this was all there was? Changed them for a pair of 5.75" lamps with H4 Halogen lamps and the difference was huge, even now on the rare occasions it goes out after dark they seem better than the 2 cars above.

It's halogen on projectors that was the problem. On reflector is fine, I could cope with that. Hence I retrofitted hid because couldn't live with it as it was a danger for me, even though compliance was an issue. 

 

18 minutes ago, Bper said:

Well obviously there wasn't as much traffic on the roads in the 60s or 70s, and it's true to say that being younger our eyes weren't subject to the technology we have today with blue light etc etc along with the ageing process.

I remember at the time my old mini van and anglia headlights seemed bright enough but then maybe as you say that's all we had so got used to them.😀

Tint of blue on the 6000k led, that is my gripe with it. It's not good for the eye and not good in the rain/fog. 5000k is what I wanted, had that on the HID on my last car MK3 Yaris with projector. 

[Big_D]

9 hours ago, Haliotis said:

I looked for the headlamp beam adjusting control on my C-HR, but was told that it was automatically set depending upon ho the car was loaded.  Another feature for which to rely on technology.

Same as mine, hence my question on the adjustment of self-levelling headlights. The C-HR headlights are brilliant.

[Cyker]

1 hour ago, Bper said:

Well obviously there wasn't as much traffic on the roads in the 60s or 70s, and it's true to say that being younger our eyes weren't subject to the technology we have today with blue light etc etc along with the ageing process.

I remember at the time my old mini van and anglia headlights seemed bright enough but then maybe as you say that's all we had so got used to them.😀

Maybe we were eating more carrots in the old days!  

 

The thing with the projector type is they waste a lot of the light as they just block off half the beam, so you need a very bright light to begin with. With normal reflectors, you get the full light from the dipped bulb/filament, and the high beam/filament just adds to that.

[Mojo1010]

Exactly the projector blocked half the light, hence I needed HID. First fitted 55w hid, it was better but still can do better, that is when I had to fit 100w ballast. 

On the MK1 Yaris I had 35w hid and then 55w. The 55w was amazing on reflector, before anyone think my car blinds others, no. The h4 hi/lo bulb works the same in the hid on reflector as the halogen bulb. Passed MOT no problem as the rule was fine with it at the time. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

3 hours ago, Bper said:

Hi Paul, This issue with glare and night driving has started to spread now on MSM. I suffer from this problem despite a number of eye tests that indicate my vision is above legal driving. If you read the reports it is not just older motorists that are suffering. 

Younger drivers are also having issues. I never remember a problem years ago with headlights as they just done the job and I do not remember anyone ever complaining about them.😎

Well Bob, the worst glare that I experienced was when I was due my cataract ops, but that aside, now I have had them done a few years down the line, I still find it a sea of glare on the odd occasion that I do drive at night.

My eyesight too is well within the parameters of legality, and common sense vision to be able to drive.

I remember reading a book by the late Spike Milligan about his experiences in Italy in WW2, he recalled a scene when driving to new barracks, when oncoming traffic blinded him.

He was a young man then, so I I would assume not affected by age,he wrote that the glare from the American vehicles headlights wiped out all night vision.

Well before any hids and halogens and LEDs, just incandescent bulbs, and maybe incandescent drivers coming in the opposite direction.