Car headlights to be reviewed after drivers complain of being ‘blinded’ at night

Criticism from drivers over the dazzle from oncoming headlights has prompted the government to take a closer look at the design of cars and headlamps on UK roads.

Drivers say LED headlamps, which are increasingly common in new vehicles, are causing them problems and making it harder to drive at night

Research into the issue on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT) has still not been published, but the BBC has learned that the government now plans to launch a new assessment of the causes and remedies.

New measures will be included in the government’s upcoming Road Safety Strategy, reflecting what is becoming an increasingly fraught issue for road users.

Both Ruth Goldsworthy and Sally Burt say bright headlights make it harder for them to get to their weekly SO Sound choir meetings in Totton, in Hampshire.

“Some of the lights are so bright you are blinded by them, for seconds,” says Ruth.

The beam from LED headlights is whiter, more focused and brighter than the more diffuse light from halogen lamps fitted in older cars.

“I’m not sure where to look, I look into the gutter,” says Sally. They are both relieved if someone else offers to drive.

Evening driving becomes a bigger problem as the winter evenings draw in, and especially after the clocks change, which means more people are driving in the dark.

The problem is worse for older people, whose eyes take around nine seconds to recover from glare, compared to one second for a 16-year-old, according to road safety consultant, Rob Heard.

“In severe cases, we might need to stop until our sight can recuperate,” he said.

A survey from the RAC motoring organisation found that more than a third of drivers were nervous about getting behind the wheel as the evenings get darker. Three quarters of respondents said driving was getting more difficult due to brighter lights.

The RAC’s senior policy officer, Rod Dennis, said so far little progress has been made on tackling glare, with regulations governing headlights dating back to 1989.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We know headlight glare is frustrating for many drivers, especially as the evenings get darker.”

• Ensure your windscreen is clean
• Wear glasses and keep them clean
• Avoid looking straight ahead, instead focus on the edge of the road
• Do not wear night sunglasses sold for night-driving, as they reduce overall light and won’t reduce glare.

Source: College of Optometrists

The results of last winter’s government commissioned research into the “causes and impact of glare” have been delayed since the summer but are now expected in the next few weeks, the DfT said.

They will inform the upcoming Road Safety Strategy, which is also expected to tighten rules on drink-driving and eye-sight tests for older drivers.

The BBC understands the government is commissioning new research into the role of vehicle design in causing glare, and possible solutions, which will feed into international discussion of the issue.

One already well-understood source of glare is drivers retrofitting their vehicles, replacing old halogen bulbs with LEDs.

The housing for halogen bulbs is not compatible with LED bulbs, and a retrofitted car will not pass its annual MOT check-up.

As part of the government’s new approach the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has “stepped up surveillance” to stop the sale of illegal retrofit headlamp bulbs, the DfT said.

Cars sold with LED lights can improve road safety, Thomas Broberg, senior adviser for safety at Volvo told the BBC.

“Headlights have become brighter over the years to help drivers see better,” he said.

However, avoiding dazzle was “equally important”, he said.

“I would say poor aiming of the headlights and also the road shape are the major factors for glare,” he said.

For larger vehicles, such as SUVs, where lamps are higher off the ground, there is a requirement for the beam to point more sharply downwards, to protect oncoming drivers. But the angle can be affected by how many passengers it is carrying.

Some new cars with “adaptive features” adjust the lamps automatically if there is a change in load, but cars without that will need manual adjusting, Mr Broberg said.

Some new cars also have automatic headlamp dipping, which lowers the lights when an oncoming vehicle is detected.

However, Daniel Harriman-McCartney, clinical advisor at the College of Optometrists, said automatic dimming features can be “slow to kick in”.

“If it only works when the car is closer than it needs to be, or doesn’t work for cyclists, that can be a problem,” he said.

He is seeing an increasing number of patients concerned about headlamp glare, he added.

Dazzling headlights are cited as a factor in around 250 accidents a year, but there is no evidence that brighter lights are causing more collisions than previously, the RAC concedes.

Instead, worried drivers may simply be “taking the risk off the road” by not driving at night, with a big social impact, the RAC’s Mr Dennis warned.

He would like to see action that “strikes a balance”.

“We don’t want to go back to worse headlights. It is about what is bright enough.”