How Bright Headlights Escaped Regulation (autoblog.com)
- Reference: 0180544933
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/07/2339221/how-bright-headlights-escaped-regulation
- Source link: https://www.autoblog.com/news/how-bright-headlights-escaped-regulation-and-blinded-us-all
> ... the problem is that the federal brightness standards for automotive headlights have not changed for decades. The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 hasn't had significant updates since 1986, with an addition allowing Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB) headlights coming only in 2022. The NHTSA [2]last investigated (PDF) the issue of headlamp glare in 2003. The current standards [3]include huge loopholes for auto manufacturers to emit as much light as desired , as long as the manufacturer meets the requirements of the other parts of the regulation.
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> LEDs can be made to focus light using lasers, and auto manufacturers use this ability to their advantage. The regulatory standard prohibits excessive light in certain areas by referencing old technologies, but manufacturers design the areas in question to be shaded so that the total light output can still be increased greatly overall. Manufacturers want as much light as possible in order to get a high score for the [4]IIHS headlight safety ratings . [...] Although the U.S. finally approved the ADB technology in 2022, manufacturers are wary of implementing it because of conflicting regulations, with a few exceptions, such as Rivian.
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> To fix this problem, the first step is to update Standard 108 with a cap on the maximum allowable brightness for LED technology. Next, states should begin requiring headlight alignment inspection during vehicle inspections. Finally, NHTSA should enforce a ban against the sale of aftermarket LEDs that exceed the allowed brightness, at least for on-road use. The [5]Soft Lights Foundation has collected over 77,000 signatures calling for federal action to limit headlight brightness. People are frustrated with being temporarily blinded while driving, and it's high time some regulation was put into place. Vehicles have become cleaner and safer through smart regulation; the same just needs to be done with headlights.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1
[2] https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/final-report_rpi_glare_spectrum.pdf
[3] https://www.autoblog.com/news/how-bright-headlights-escaped-regulation-and-blinded-us-all
[4] https://www.iihs.org/ratings/about-our-tests/headlights
[5] https://www.softlights.org/
Okay, so this is a wishlist for 2029 (Score:5, Insightful)
We are NOT going to get any new even marginally consumer-friendly regulations during the next three years.
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> We are NOT going to get any new even marginally consumer-friendly regulations during the next three years.
Not even remotely true if we succeed in reducing the CAFE standards that have fucked consumer choice and automotive reliability for decades now.
The headlight problem looks like a booger on a battlefield compared to EGR.
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CAFE if we get rid it of which we should its kinda crap will only lead to profit taking by the 3. They are doing some supid shit to get to the insane CAFE limits.
I think thought the lights are insane as our cop lights those are just really about recking your vision.
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> CAFE if we get rid it of which we should its kinda crap will only lead to profit taking by the 3. They are doing some supid shit to get to the insane CAFE limits. I think thought the lights are insane as our cop lights those are just really about recking your vision.
Right now the only thing those 3 are on top of, is a massive pile of unsold inventory. We’re still tracking unsold 2024 models on lots. They aren’t profiting worth a shit by not selling jack shit at MSRP+FU pricing. Not to mention massive recalls due to unreliable designs pushed by CAFE extremes.
Manufacturing costs come down when CAFE is reduced. They actually might start making reliable cars again instead of insisting a Corolla needs 16-weight oil-water in the US.
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Or any time after. The previous administration directed the government regulators to make adaptive headlights level. They took two years to come up with a new standard, incompatible with what the rest of the world has been using for well over a decade, which could be enabled on cars driving around United States. They could have grandfathered in the global standard, then set their sights on making new regulations for the future, but no, they blocked everyone for a couple of years, then came back with new reg
Same problem in Europe (Score:5, Interesting)
Headlights are way too bright and now with idiotic daytime running lights (useful in the artic circle, not so much in the med in the summer) it makes it MUCh harder to see oncoming motorbikes who used to stand out with their headlights on. Being narrow they're hard to see at the best of times but frankly, if a driver can't see an oncoming car or truck in bright daylight without headlights perhaps they need an eye test.
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> Headlights are way too bright and now with idiotic daytime running lights (useful in the artic circle, not so much in the med in the summer) it makes it MUCh harder to see oncoming motorbikes who used to stand out with their headlights on. Being narrow they're hard to see at the best of times but frankly, if a driver can't see an oncoming car or truck in bright daylight without headlights perhaps they need an eye test.
Eye test?
Oooh, you mean that thing they do once to the brand new teenage driver to make sure they’re not totally blind, and then don’t bother testing anyone on again until after the third accident at 80+ years old?
Greed decided to charge $2000 extra for daytime running lights instead. More profitable than eye exams. For everyone, including the one fixing smashed up cars.
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DRLs have been [1]proven to reduce accidents [dot.gov] everywhere they've been mandated, not just in the arctic circle.
DRLs aren't the "bright headlights" this article is talking about.
[1] https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/809760
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tl;dr for the whole thing but I've seen similar studies to this that either completely ignore data from sunnier regions or, as this one appears to do, merge data from all over the place with no regard to location. So if DRLs decrease crashes by 10% in semi-gloom arctic regions but increase them by 5% in regions with more daylight, it's still a win even if it makes things worse for most of the US population.
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"DRLs aren't the "bright headlights" this article is talking about."
Learn to read, I didn't say they were. They're 2 related issues. As for DLRs reducing accidents, there have been no studies with and without in the same conditions , just "oh, accidents have dropped since they were introduced, it must have been the DLRs". Sorry, that isn't science.
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False. Europe's regulations have a different problem. The regulations cover specifically that the bright beam can't shine into people's eyes, even reflectively, but fucks up how to achieve this. Mainly that the headlights are limited by beam angle. That is perfectly fine when everyone drives a hatchback, but not so fine when you drive a hatchback and the person behind you drives an SUV. The beam angle then allows their lights to shine in your mirror.
In Europe it's not brightness that needs restriction, it'
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"Also I've never once ever been blinded by a daytime running light. Not sure what you're on about there."
Never said they were bright, but they're related issues.
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In what way do they cause problems, in your view? I’m asking an open question, I’m genuinely curious. I’ve not personally found them problematic, but YMMV.
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Read my original post - they make it much harder to distinguish motorbikes in busy traffic.
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DRL are fine. The issue is badly adjusted super bright headlights. Most people don't know that there is a switch to angle them appropriately, and the auto ones react too slowly.
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Daytime running lights help in the early evening when the sky is darkening but people have not yet turned on their headlights because they aren't legally required to do so until sunset.
Be we really need clarity about headlight colors (too blue destroys night vision) and that annoying flicker that you can see in your peripheral vision.
you guys are morons (Score:2)
The total light emission isn't the most significant factor regarding what makes headlights glaring. It's the size/area of the light source. When the Sun is behind a cloud, you can look at it directly .. and yet the surroundings/day isn't really any darker. Why? Because the brightness is spread out and no longer a point-source. If a car's entire front bumper was a diffusion sheet .. a car could emit a large amount of light and still not blind anyone.
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Another aspect is that white LEDs used in headlights, emit a much greater fraction of blue light than did old-school tungsten filament lamps. Shorter wavelengths give greater dispersion (blue sky) so worsen the contrast impairments from fog, mist, smoke, dust, windshield schmutz, and cataracts in the eye. This was at least as annoying with HID headlights, especially when applied aftermarket to jacked up bro trucks, with uncanny aim at rearview mirrors.
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> The total light emission isn't the most significant factor regarding what makes headlights glaring. It's the size/area of the light source. When the Sun is behind a cloud, you can look at it directly .. and yet the surroundings/day isn't really any darker. Why? Because the brightness is spread out and no longer a point-source. If a car's entire front bumper was a diffusion sheet .. a car could emit a large amount of light and still not blind anyone.
How much of this problem is reduced down to the car itself?
When a 1970s bumper was a foot or two off the ground, the headlight wasn’t aimed at the oncoming drivers face.
Fast forward half a century and we find car manufacturers who don’t even make cars anymore. Because all they make is oversized SUVs and trucks driving 21st Century headlights another foot or two higher off the ground. Right in the oncoming drivers line of sight.
We’re shocked that a factory configured F-350 truck that tak
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That works if you optimizing for not blinding others rather than, you know, seeing well in the dark in front of you at a cone. And when it's cloudy, it *is* darker, I'm not sure where you live but I live in a country that's mostly cloudy and the difference is very much observable.
Under-regulation. (Score:2)
> Manufacturers want as much light as possible in order to get a high score for the IIHS headlight safety ratings
Why does the entire problem of bright headlights, appear to boil down to this nonsense?
Ever thought about changing the IIHS safety ratings instead of blaming manufacturers who are literally chasing IIHS ratings? Why do the safety ratings, not have defined limits long before we’re fighting for defined limits?
IIHS, what exactly do you DO here.
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> You're proposing regulation of pure speech. You sound European.
You are confusing speech with headlights. Headlights are the bright things on the front of cars. Speech is the nonsense that comes out of your mouth.
Alignment Inspections? (Score:2)
> Next, states should begin requiring headlight alignment inspection during vehicle inspections.
You don't have this already??? Here in the UK, headlight alignment has been part of the mandatory annual inspection (MOT) for as long as I can remember and certainly from way before the invention of LED headlamps.
How much annoyance is worth a death? (Score:2)
It's possible that more glare causes less fatalaties than more glare prevents (not exactly the IIHS argument, but what it would be if they were honest). But shouldn't some weight be given to comfort?
If I had a button to kill a decision maker in the car industry for this during a walk after dark, the fatality rate for modern headlights would skyrocket.
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America is poison and is eating itself from the inside.
Concur, but I'm not convinced bright headlights are a major contributor to this.
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> America is poison and is eating itself from the inside. Concur, but I'm not convinced bright headlights are a major contributor to this.
If headlight brightness was representing intelligence instead of actual intelligence.
Some cars appear very bright. Until you talk to the driver who melted their headlight lens clean off by boosting them with Temu-grade laser light turbos putting out 376 million candlepower (gotta love how we still count candles ) in order to drive safely at high noon.