r/Millennials • u/thehublebumble • 20h ago
Discussion Is everyone driving with their brights on or are my eyes just changing?
I have noticed a huge uptick in the last year or so of "idiots driving with their high beams on," frequently blinding me from front or back.
It's been so often now that I'm starting to question if its just me. Like my eyes are getting worse at night vision because I'm old now.
Yeah?
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u/PurpleSausage77 20h ago
It’s not you. The LED’s and height/aiming of lights is atrocious on newer 2020+ vehicles. It’s violent and aggressive what manufacturers are getting away with.
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u/thehublebumble 20h ago
How is this legal? I can barely see!
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u/ksu_drew_83 15h ago
They are finally looking into themhttps://www.carpro.com/blog/nhtsa-takes-aim-at-headlight-glare
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u/thwinks 8h ago
The problem with this (and every) regulation is that it only looks at new vehicles and vehicles in good repair.
In tests used to make regulation, they assume the "line" on low beams which prevents the light from going above a certain height will protect other drivers. Thus, they use a combination of aim and brightness to determine regulations.
In real life, people park their cars outside in the sun, and the plastic lens gets cloudy. Then it diffuses the light in every direction like a high beam. Now if you install an LED or other very bright light it shines above where it is aimed.
Because tests and regulations don't assume headlight lenses will be cloudy, they think making requirements about aiming will be enough, on headlights that can no longer be aimed.
For this to effectively address the problem, they would need to set a brightness level with the assumption that the headlights will be cloudy and aimed directly at the eyes of oncoming traffic.
But they won't so it will be useless.
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u/behemothard 5h ago
Or the road isn't perfectly flat so drivers get blinded going over a crest in the road.
Or it is raining and now the water on the lens changes the angle of the light.
Or drivers install lift kits without adjusting the angle so now everything is lit up regardless if the brights are on.
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u/crustyaminal 19h ago
I went through this same realization recently, wondering wtf was up with everyone with their damn high beams on, or am I just getting old, ha. Anyway, I'm trying out some polarized night driving glasses. Still blinding, but they do seem to take the edge off just a bit.
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u/K_Linkmaster 13h ago
It's not. Laws in most states have been ignored on brightness and location. Bright lights aren't a quota like speeding tickets. Bright lights don't get headlines like a speeder. Funding doesn't come from headlight defendants, it comes from speeders.
Cops can write tickets for a lot of things but they only know speeding is illegal and showy. Anything else is a guess as the USA doesn't require an officer to know a law to arrest you. You can be a mute and get disturbing the peace for yelling. "Let the courts sort it out." It's dispicable.
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u/RightToTheThighs 10h ago
Sounds like they could make a killing. Very few people will get it fixed in time before paying a fine . In NY you only have 1 day to fix the equipment before getting fined
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u/K_Linkmaster 10h ago
The impeding traffic tickets alone would make any budget. But that would require the officers to not sit in the left lane to "control traffic" everywhere. Undercovers in the right lane would write 300% more tickets.
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u/wbruce098 Elder Millennial 16h ago
Most people can’t afford customizations to their vehicle. This is the result of a complete lack of regulatory safety awareness. In the Before Times, the government said new cars must have speakers playing noise when running on batteries, and cameras when they back up because that technology is cheap now. Go vote and call your rep and demand action.
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u/Loud_Produce4347 19h ago
Aftermarket LEDs (in housings not designed for them) are not legal, but not enforced.
Headlight aiming is in large part due to “leveling“ lift kits, which lift the front end of a truck more than the rear and consequently aim the headlights higher. Legally, the headlights should be aimed down after a leveling kit is applied, but again, that’s not enforced.
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u/PositivePristine7506 16h ago
It's not aftermarket bulbs. Most people don't replace their headlights, these are factory bulbs that are both too bright, and on vehicles that are too large/high so they end up shining in peoples eyes more than before.
It's also a factor of color temperature. Human eyes can tolerate yellow light more than blue and white. Guess which colors these are? Sure some people are putting in super bright aftermarket bulbs, but most of these are coming from factory lamps in unmodified cars.
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u/Living_Pay_8976 15h ago
This. I have more trouble dealing with most new cars over people in older vehicles replacing their headlights with LEDs.
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u/DargyBear 14h ago
Exactly, my mom got a new Subaru last year and blinds everyone else on the road, not aftermarket modifications required
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u/Fire_of_Love 19h ago
Like these massive beasts they call pickups need anything lifted any higher, they’re terrifyingly huge now, if a kid or pedestrian gets hit, good effin luck.
I guess the trucks of my childhood and young adult life weren’t tank-like enough for those that have artificial testicles made for their choice of transport. Though some sports cars had (have?) bras, it’s not the same.
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u/donotgotoroom237 17h ago
I visited my dad's hometown recently. Us cousins drove my uncle's 1997 Toyota Hilux to get around. Really makes me miss when pick up trucks weren't absolute behemoths and can actually be loaded up properly.
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u/believeinapathy 16h ago edited 16h ago
You mean, the truck the government won't allow us to have? I hate this place
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u/alangerhans 14h ago
My truck, which isn't lifted or leveled, has a dial on the dash to adjust the angle of my headlights. Now that might not be on every truck, but it should be.
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u/Kal-El21315 15h ago
Why did you jump right to trucks and aftermarket? I drive a completely stock, 10 year old truck. I get blinded by more modern SUVs and some cars. This is now a problem being caused by manufacturers.
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u/ChelleInSand 10h ago
Politicians are too busy fighting culture wars to actually handle any real issues that need addressed. Blinding lights, pot holes, traffic issues, cost of living, meh, lets go after the next minority group of the month!
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u/ChelleInSand 10h ago
This honestly pisses me off every time I drive at night. It is most cars at this point where I live and I have to drive down some really dark roads which makes it so much worse when there isn’t other light around. These LED lights blind the hell out of me and I really don’t have any major vision issues. It isn’t safe and shouldn’t be legal. I get SO mad.
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u/SugarWarp 19h ago
I think its this. The type of lights on newer vehicles can be a bit annoying. I think there is an emerging market for workarounds where one can sort of counteract the brightness in a safe and effective manner so the eyes aren't being blasted.
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u/Imaginary_Sun_5739 14h ago
Like a mirror propped up in your back windshield c:
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u/Sudden_Juju 14h ago
This made me laugh lol. The retribution would feel so good, but the whiplash from getting rear ended would not. Still a person can dream
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u/doomus_rlc Older Millennial 13h ago
Yep. I just bought a new HR-V. Never had a vehicle with lights this bright before.
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u/PastLifeGangsta 19h ago
The hyper-bright LEDs are bad enough at baseline. Then they went & gave them a supernova setting. Then they added them to high-profile vehicles. Now they're putting them on 18 wheelers! The person(s) who designed them and the person(s) who signed off on them should be forced to spend every night of their lives in a room surrounded by those abominations. As for the assholes who just throw the brights on and leave them on: great. You can count the hairs on a deer's ass from 800 yards away...but nobody else on the road can see a mothafuckin thing, so how much safer are you?? I just moved back to Phoenix from western NC and I can tell you: it's way worse back there than it is here. A big part of it is probably because it was very rural (meaning no street lights), dark, winding, mountain roads and a higher percentage of big stupid redneck trucks. It was AWFUL. I had to leave for work at 4 am and drive dangerous, narrow, twisty roads next to sheer drop-offs, and that's when all the big ass trucks are on those same roads - with their insane brights and usually left of center...never mind, I'm trauma dumping. LoL
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u/godddamnit 18h ago
This is a copy-paste of a comment I wrote earlier to someone who said lights were ‘getting to the point of too bright’. I’m someone who had a late-night and nearly 2 hour long commute on hilly rural roads, also in the south, so I feel like you understand my pain/passion here:
“Getting to? We are way past that point. I’m not halfway to dead yet and I’m blinded every time I drive; god help me I try to drive at night. It’s to the point that I have made it my life’s mission to hunt down every person involved with developing and approving, then willingly manufacturing what is essentially the power of 10,000 suns being beamed directly into my retina.
I HATE these fucking lights. Anyone with me can DM for more information on my guerilla activism plan of plastering dimmer film over the headlights of every car at dealerships. (/s for the activism, for now).“
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u/Effective_Engine319 14h ago
If instead of dimmer film you put a cheap polarizing film then you'll be in a better spot. You can then apply polarizing film to your windshield (oriented 90 degrees from the headlight ones) and it will allow the drivers to see the deer with their super bright headlights but anyone behind a polarized windshield will see headlights with 80% reduction in brightness.
If manufacturers did this automatically then the problem would be solved for everyone at a cost of $0.50 per car.
Keep your super bright lights, but it doesn't blind other drivers
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u/Get_your_grape_juice Millennial 16h ago
If you ever decide to lose the '/s' on that plan, loop me in.
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u/JadedMacoroni867 15h ago
Might have to go through the government, unfortunately. Businesses don’t change because they should, they change because they have to
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u/maxheadflume 20h ago
I think it’s just the sheer amount of new cars with ridiculously bright “low beams”. I feel like my 99 Toyota has oil lamp headlights sometimes.
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u/GovernorHarryLogan 19h ago
My 2023 VW id4 is like driving a small sun.
My 2023 Niro feels like a guided Williamsburg candle tour.
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u/spacestonkz 19h ago
The small sun!! I was just driving home from work last night and all I could think about was how unfair it is that i squint and struggle to see at night more than in full sun! That all I wanted was to put on sunglasses at night to fucking drive.
The only thing stopping me was the thought of hurting a pedestrian that isn't holding a bat signal.
I'm getting so fucking pissed about these damn lights! Dangerous!!
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u/whamburglar 1984 Millennial 18h ago
It's the absurdly high contrast between the dark areas not being lit up, and the spots that are.
Sure I'd can see better in places that are lit. But if there's something off in the area of that side shoulder, I'm definitely missing it bc it's too dark. I don't drive in the right-most lane at night anymore due to this unless there are streetlamps around.
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u/A313-Isoke Older Millennial 19h ago
A guided Williamsburg candle tour!!!!! 💀
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u/GovernorHarryLogan 19h ago edited 19h ago
Im probably going to upgrade its light after this post and looking in to it, lol.
The VW electric is like 10k lumens more per light rofl
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u/Brief-Watercress-131 18h ago
Automatic high beams are to blame for a lot of it IMO. People will just drive around relying on the car to automatically dim the high beams and those systems don't always switch back to low beams when they should. I turned it off in both of my toyotas because it was worthless.
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u/wbruce098 Elder Millennial 16h ago
This makes sense. People are idiots and don’t know how not-smart sensors can be. And they don’t care.
Additionally, regular lights are brighter than they used to be. And that sucks. Especially for everyone not driving a truck or SUV!
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u/I_Enjoy_Beer 15h ago
Oh man, any time I drive my wife's car, I piss her off because the first thing I do is turn the auto high beam switch off. I hate that "feature". It rarely works the way it should.
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u/Sad_bippy 13h ago
Oh my god, my husband and I CANNOT agree on this. He thinks the automatic high beam feature is the Coolest Thing Ever and turns it on every single time he drives our new car at night. I think it fucking sucks and I’ve watched firsthand how shitty the censor is at turning the high beams off in time. Bless his heart, my husband is a great guy but easily dazzled by newfangled technology.
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u/markpemble Bottom 80% Commenter 10h ago
A big problem with automatic HI-Beams is that it doesn't turn off when people are walking or riding a bicycle in the other lane.
It is the worst.
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u/No-Present760 17h ago
I've borrowed a car with that function, at night, not knowing how to turn it off. I felt like a complete ass at every encounter because it did blind most cars for a split second. I'm guessing human eyes register things quicker than whatever sensor it uses, especially when the road curves. Whoever came up with the idea was an idiot, imo.
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u/Sudden_Juju 14h ago
That's funny, I run into the exact opposite problem with my auto high beams. They're so sensitive to light that they switch off at any hint of light even an external light from a nearby building. Makes driving through rural towns late at night annoying. No one's in the road, but a building in the near distance shuts them off, while the building doesn't fully light up the road or trees behind it.
Then again, I'd rather have this problem than it not shutting off when someone's coming. I turn them off anyway because I went 16 years without auto high beams, I can do it again lol. I'm better at telling what's a car than my car is.
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u/thewags05 15h ago
I think a lot of people don't seem to know that you can (and should) occasionally adjust the angle of your headlights. It's usually pretty easy to adjust the angle to properly point them.
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u/AtaracticGoat 14h ago
It also depends on the car and how it works.
Mine has the thing where it dims specific LEDs when it detects approaching cars, so it doesn't turn off the high beams, it only turns off the specific LEDs that shine in that cars direction. AFAIK it seems to work pretty well, I don't get flashed, but it's also a car not a truck, so I'm not high up off the ground.
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u/_troutlily 10h ago
I have a post-2020 Honda and maybe I’m dumb/don’t understand how they work, but every time I turn off my auto high beams they eventually turn themselves back on. It so annoying, I just want to turn them on as needed forever and it’s like this car wasn’t built to do that.
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u/midknight_gardener 12h ago
Ok no, so many of these comments blaming the angle of the lights. But headlight manufacturers are arguing they can make the lights as bright as they want. Beside that, many modern cars now activate the high beams automatically, entirely free of driver input. AND we now have headlights that “turn” to follow the road when you turn your wheel, which keeps them pointed directly at oncoming traffic.
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u/vietec Millennial 17h ago
Yes lights are brighter but also there's a lot of ignorant drivers out there rocking high beams for reasons.
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u/rebelangel Xennial 15h ago
I dunno if it’s just my city, but I also see a lot of people driving around at night with no headlights on at all.
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u/TomPeppersRaisins 14h ago
It’s because their dashboard lights are so bright that they don’t even know their lights are off
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u/captainstormy Older Millennial 13h ago
Honestly coming from a rural area where the night was legit dark it took a while to adjust to what dark in a city looks like. It's never really dark. So I'd forget my headlights a lot the first few months I was here.
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u/bonnbonnz 16h ago
Lately I’m always complaining about people being “scared of the dark!”
Sure, yeah on some back road with zero streetlights in the woods using brights makes sense… when someone turns into my residential neighborhood that has streetlights but some trees they turn their brights on immediately and it’s not fun for anyone! Just drive the residential slower speed limit and try not to blind people!
Not to mention how badly positioned their regular blinding lights are set 🙄
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u/Emperor_Palpatine_2 4h ago
Same rant, but for people who turn out anywhere from a single light on their house (not bad if it's 2700k, the absolute worst if it's 5000k) to a fort Knox level security lighting setup so they blind anyone trying to rob them.
Someone in my neighborhood had a fuckin strobe light of you so much as walked past their driveway.
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u/Feodar_protar 14h ago
I have auto high beam on my car and i use them in my neighborhood.
The number of people that are walking their dogs or just walking around in dark clothing with no high vis or flashlights for visibility is staggering. The only reason i put my auto high beams on is so i have a better chance at seeing pedestrians. They are damn near invisible out there until the last second.
There is one couple that has the vests and the flashlights and i almost want to stop and thank them for it.
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u/Useful-Problem-1725 13h ago
Even through the backroads I prefer lowbeams so I can see if there's a car coming, the exception is a long straight.
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u/nazukeru 1987 11h ago
I also rarely use my high beams. I finally have a car that isn't 20 years old and the low beams are so bright that it seems excessive to turn the highs on lol.
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u/TopRun3942 13h ago
No it's not you and if you want to know who the real culprit is that is driving up the intensity on the headlights and the proliferation of the ues of LEDs in the US - it is the insurance industry.
The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety), who works for the insurance industry, rates vehicle for safety. In 2016 they started to include headlamp testing in their rating system and came up with a ranking for how well the lights provide visibility. That ranking was based on a scale of their own making of what they believed was a safer headlamp. When they tested the existing headlamps to their specifications they deemed nearly all of them as poor performance - for being too dim. The media slammed the automakers for putting out "dangerous" headlamps and the IIHS would deny the vehicles the top safety ratings even if all the other crash testing and accident avoidance technology got the highest rating if the headlamps also didn't score in the 2 highest categories.
https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/new-ratings-show-most-headlights-need-improvement
The automakers responded and now demand that their headlamps meet the IIHS definition of safety. The problem is that definition of safety requires the lamps to have much much higher intensity than they used to have and they are tested on flat roads during the evaluation. The other issue is the federal regulations don't have limits in the area where the IIHS requires the high intensity, so the lamps meet all the federal safety requirements. The result is in the actual driving environment, everyone is getting glared by the new highly intense lamps. But the IIHS doesn't back down from their stance saying that even with the extra glare things are still safer.
The other issue with the IIHS specification is it incentivizes automakers to put the automatic high beam switching devices on their vehicle because they get a better score on their headlamp evaluation if they have the automatic high beams. This has caused a huge proliferation of that feature and a lot of people don't even know it exists or how to turn it off. So there is an increase in high beam usage tied to the IIHS as well.
There is discussion of the problem at the industry level and there has been some pushback from the lamp designers on how the IIHS requirements are causing the extra glare so things may change eventually.
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u/blink18zz 18h ago
It's not just you noticing this, there is a special reddit group on this topic only:
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u/TopRun3942 13h ago
Not the greatest sub for actually coming up with solutions to the problem or having a discussion about the factors involved. It's mostly rage baiting. If you want to spend your time looking at bright lights on the internet and getting more angry about it without actually driving then go for it.
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u/LexTCorp Millennial 17h ago
I think part of the problem is also the automatic feature. My Kia has it and if I leave it on, it will blast the high beams even if it’s just cloudy. i would bet people just leave it on Auto and forget about it as long as they can see. I usually don’t use it, I prefer to alter between highs and lows depending of the road.
Edit: typo
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u/Chance_Ad_4676 13h ago
This is 100% what it is. People leave on the auto setting and don’t even realize.
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u/Federal_Sell348 13h ago edited 9h ago
It’s a horrible time for drivers with astigmatism. Like myself. I don’t even bother driving at night anymore due to the high intensity LED headlights. I know my VW has them too as they are common on newer cars but I can’t handle other cars with them. Especially trucks. I drive half blinded and it isn’t good for anyone so I don’t drive at night anymore
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u/BreeIndigo Millennial 20h ago edited 6h ago
Some of the newer cars have very bright lights in recent years. I had friends who would always get flashed at by other drivers who thought their high beams were on, but the high beams were even brighter
Edit: they're/their mixup
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u/UnrulyPoet 12h ago
Ugh I got so many high beam flashes and people laying on their horns at me after we got our new car a couple years ago bc they thought I had my high beams on bc of the friggin LEDs. It was so damn stressful and there was nothing I could do about it besides actually turn on my high beams (lol) or turn off my headlights entirely (which I was obv not going to do).
Not having bs headlights was on our want list when we went car shopping (bc I can't drive at night in our other car bc of them) and we had to drop it bc we couldn't find anything that had normal lights. Our windshield is very slightly tinted though bc I can tolerate night driving again in this car. They're still bad, but they're not as debilitating as in our other car.
Doesn't make me less annoyed about them, though. Lolll
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u/GleepGlop2 14h ago
Night driving is outrageously bad now, when I see an oncoming car that was made pre-LED era I'm so relieved. The LED cars have a cumulative effect of making spots appear in your vision bigger and bigger.
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u/eaglebtc 20h ago
Don't forget about the new trucks and SUVs that have headlights set significantly higher than vehicles in the past.
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u/CylonSandhill 11h ago
Between that, the blindingly bright xenon/led lights, and half the vehicles being tall enough that their headlights are at eye level, I try to avoid driving at night and my eyes are perfectly healthy.
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u/naut_psycho 11h ago
Tesla Model Y is a common car now and has a serious issue with its headlight beam adjustment. I can spot a Model Y from very far away because of how much it looks like they have their high beams on.
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u/danniellax 20h ago
It’s probably LED or aftermarket lights that are not properly aligned… like they need to be aligned to point downward at the road more, but they aren’t and it just blinds the fuck out of everyone instead.
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u/ParadoxicalFrog Zillennial (1993) 19h ago
LEDs are brighter than incandescents, and vehicles are taller on average now.
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u/Quirky-Skin 15h ago
The height difference is overlooked here a decent amount. There's been plenty of comparison pics of older model trucks and their current model counterparts and the height differences are stark.
Factor in brighter factory lights and it's a wicked combo
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u/RockThe40oz666 20h ago
Those newer larger trucks forshre use some kind of different headlight. Either that or they're all assholes that are indeed driving with their brights on.
Either one is possible
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u/Polz34 19h ago
New cars. I am blinded often. Amazed there aren't more accidents on the roads in the darker months!
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u/No-Present760 17h ago
I work at night and I swear there's more traffic at 6am when it's pitch black than there was a few weeks ago. It used to be dead on the road when I got out of work, now I get a little nervous with so many headlights everywhere, about half of them too bright. What's up with the day walkers leaving for work earlier when the sun rises later?
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u/Polz34 16h ago
I work 6am to 3pm so I have the same issue! Leaving at 5:30am it's dark most the year and add rain/fog in the UK this time of year. Does appear to be more drivers but also they seem to assume they are the only one's on the road. I have to go under a single car train tunnel to get to work and although there are traffic lights on either side I often go through and find cars the other end ignoring the red light and just trying to crash into me!
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u/inkyrail inverted Y-axis 19h ago
Yes the LEDs, but there are a lot of geriatrics driving around with their brights on in the middle of town as well
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u/Forest_Orc 19h ago
I suspect that eye-changing are definitely a factor, I am at that age where both vision and dry-eye get worse (It's OK I bought glasses, and I am accepting to move them from in the bag to on my nose and put eye-drops morning/evening) , and driving at dusk is getting pretty awful. Night is Okay, but that semi-dark condition with a lot of traffic get not fun.
Then, there is a lot of too powerful beam car head-light. In theory, it's checked at safety inspection, but not always. and with SUV being higher than regular car it's even worse
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u/re-spawned 18h ago
I had to adjust my headlights on my car. Got flashed and even tailgated cause my lights were too bright and set up high. Came like that from the factory.
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u/SlowpokeIsAGamer 16h ago
It's not you and it's not age.
Car lights have been in something of an arms race for years now making progressively brighter and whiter lights.
I had to replace mine last year and I went out of my way to find the lowest possible brightness and it was still like driving with my high beams on 24/7. And that was a year jump of 5-8 years only.
Also as someone who already has an astigmatism and it's already a pain driving at night, those lights just make it impossible to see anything past 5 feet in front of me when people have the fresh off the dealership maximum bright whites.
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u/Comfortable-Two5720 19h ago
You can tell it’s high beams when an extra pair of lights is on, usually between the regular headlights. But as others have mentioned, LEDs are also insanely bright.
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u/RimjobStevesDeadWife 19h ago
Some of it is these modern LEDs are so crazy bright. But there are more than a few people that literally just leave their high beams on all the time.
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u/VanillaBryce5 19h ago
I bought an F150, that has over 200k miles and someone clearly cared for it. The lights are definitely not stock... As an Aveo owner I totally understand.
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u/AcceptableMuffin 17h ago
Was just complaining with my hubs about bright headlights on our way to pick up dinner. A car in the pick up lane had extremely bright lights blinding everyone in the parking lot. It is a thing!
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u/radahrens1 17h ago
I'm pretty sure my car has these super bright lights. I get flashed constantly driving home from work and I just wish I could somehow send a message saying "it's not my brights I promise!" But I totally get it...
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u/na8thegr8est 15h ago
Your lights probably aren't adjusted correctly. Pull up to a wall (10'), turn them on and see how high the beam shines
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u/EurekasCashel 14h ago
My car has a dial that lets me adjust the angle down. I keep adjusting it lower and lower, but I still get flashed. I just wish the lights were less bright.
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u/Mike312 13h ago
Then take it to the shop and get them re-aligned. They're probably pointing too high.
I was getting flashed constantly when I got my car in 2018, and when I took it on they confirmed the low beams were aimed way too high.
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u/spider_collider 15h ago
You’re blinding people. Make sure your headlights are pointed down next time you get your car serviced.
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u/1PooNGooN3 15h ago
They’re still too bright, doesn’t matter if they’re not your brights. We have the technology to make more brightness settings, how is a $20 flashlight more advanced than a car? Seriously tho, there should be dim settings for normal use because these new turn signals are brighter than my cars high beams
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u/StinkingDogsCunt420 14h ago
Usually it's not the brightness but how they're angled up instead of at the road like they should be, it's bad with aftermarket ones because no one fits them properly.
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u/Sudden_Juju 14h ago
Plot twist, the other car is running into the same issue and just hitting bumps/slight inclines looking like they're flashing their brights
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u/ludicristi 15h ago
Same. It sucks. Why do they make them like this??
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u/Seraphtacosnak 14h ago
I remember a meme like 10 years ago showing the guy who invented those lights. Under it, it says fuck that guy.
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u/Little_Let_6872 12h ago
Government regulations. European headlights are actually in the 21st century. Probably Asia too, since Europe has had better headlights for decades and they’re made in Asia. The car manufacturers aren’t willing to invest a shitload of money to create a bespoke system that could work within the archaic regulatory requirements that exist nowhere else. Government safety regulations at work.
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u/s3binator 13h ago
If anyone is getting flashed and don't have High beams on , your low beams are not angled properly. It's not that low beams are too bright. Google how to adjust or get the shop to do it
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u/MSNinfo 14h ago
It is your bright (lights). You can change your bulbs. You're an adult. I believe in you.
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u/DoctorBrufa 13h ago
You can research how modern car parts work on the internet. I believe in you.
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u/captainstormy Older Millennial 13h ago
A lot of modern cars don't have bulbs. They are one piece LED housings without a changeable bulb. The only option is a while new OEM housing which would be exactly the same anyway.
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u/FindYourselfACity Millennial 19h ago
No everyone really is. My mom commented to me the other day it’s a huge pet peeve of hers.
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u/littlecookiebear Millennial 20h ago
New vehicles have brighter lights than they used to. I bought an Explorer last year and people are flashing me when I’m on dims more often than not. I have to show them I am not on brights.
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u/buffilosoljah42o 19h ago
You probably need to adjust the headlights to point down a little more.
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u/DaRiddler70 12h ago
Blah blah blah.....
It's not the fucking light bulbs, it's not the new LEDs.
The average driver today is a fucking idiot. Left side of the bell curve dumbass. There are Soooooooooo many videos on YT of the police pulling people over for their high beams. When questioned, they have no idea what the cop is talking about. They don't know what the blue light means. They didn't even know the signal stalk moved like that.
The automobile today is just a method for folks to get places while doom scrolling on their phone. As long as Car Play works, they have no idea how ANYTHING else works.
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u/SummonBahamutZero 1982 20h ago
Same, it sucks. And literally a month ago is the first I’ve ever noticed not being able to read my books from up close. It is all very sudden.
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u/FusionPoweredFan 20h ago
Its both the LED lights and the fact that all the cars are now higher up.
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u/Thyrias 18h ago
Modern lights are super bright but on newer cars are generally aimed pretty well.
If, however, your glass (especially the inside) isn't super clean, it can amplify glare and scattering from newer led headlights. As an auto glass guy, I can say that the vast majority of windshields I see are dirty af. Start there and see if it helps.
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u/SOSweneedhelp 8h ago
cars are harder to see out of thanks to them becoming larger. the belt lines are way up past the shoulder in some vehicles today
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u/SgtNeilDiamond 7h ago
Man idk what's up with my car but if I use the auto lights it'll toss the brights on at the most bizarre times. Cars brand new too, super frustrating.
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u/No-Stay-6046 7h ago
More people are driving with high beams on at night and no lights on during the day smh.
I've been driving a lot more at night and even worse, is that the people with already dangerously bright headlights are the most frequent offenders of leaving on their brights.
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u/FCKABRNLSUTN2 6h ago
I once flashed a guy that I thought was high beaming me, then he actually high beamed me and I was like “holy shit.”
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u/Sand__Panda 6h ago
I turned high blasting beams off, but my car has these gd retnia burning blue LEDs...and well I can't help that. So we all get to suffer together, I'm sorry.
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u/Piemaster113 4h ago
Lights have gotten brighter with LEDs and such so even normal.lights might seem like brights, and some people adjust their lights to point up more so they go further without brights, which is a dick move to others on the road. If you are in an average car and more ppl are in trucks and SUVs that sit higher uo their lights will be pointer more at you than another average car.
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u/WhatAboutTheBothans 3h ago
Headlights are brighter than they used to be. High beams are often just your "lows" without a cutoff. Go over a crest or hit a bump and opposing traffic gets your full brightness headlights until your car is pointed down again. Pickups that are towing are often pitched further up because of the weight on the hitch, causing the same effect.
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u/CelebrationFar 2h ago
I don't think it's your eyes, I think it's the insane LEDs that car manufacturers are putting into cars, as well as the trend towards cars and trucks that are seated higher up so their LEDS go straight to your eye sockets.
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u/OrdinaryUniversity59 1h ago
I've noticed older cars are driving around with high beams on. Their lighting must look terrible after driving around in traffic with LED lights being so bright.
I'm sick of lifted trucks that haven't adjusted their lights. Those things are BRIGHT.
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u/hidden-jim 30m ago
4 bulbs on if you get at an angle you can see, yeah their high beams are most definitely on.
But you can see me better so you won’t run into me!
Bitch, I’m getting into incoming traffic JUST to do so.
(Not really, I usually pull over, but I definitely WANT to)
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u/AnytimeInvitation 19h ago
It also doesn't help when ppl run their fog lights when theybreally dont need to. The yellow ones are even worse. They have them on when just driving to pick up the kids but never when its actually helpful.
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u/habitual17 Older Millennial 19h ago
People are buying higher power headlights. I’ve seen that technically if someone blinds you with their lights they’re liable for any accident caused. But obviously there is no way to connect it to them or to pin on them.
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u/VariousWhole 18h ago
It’s not you but the new cars. Lights in average SUV are higher and now all of them use LEDs which are brighter.
I used to enjoy driving at night but it’s rather unpleasant now
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u/Brilliant-Potato-218 18h ago
also! people sticking the wrong bulbs into their cars as after
market upgrades
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u/thatwitchlefay 18h ago
I’m so glad I’m not alone. I thought something was wrong with my eyes until I saw this post!!
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u/authorHughMann 17h ago
They turn them off pretty quick if you flash yours back while playing chicken
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u/Fluff_Nugget2420 17h ago
I work at night and I hate all these super bright LEDs and people who can’t drive without their high beams. If I can run around in my 2012 Sonata and never need to use my high beams and am just fine with my regular low beams I’m pretty sure they can survive without their high beams. And yet, I still have tons of people flash their high beams at me like I have mine on!
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u/brycecampbel Millennial 17h ago
huge uptick in the last year or so of "idiots driving with their high beams on," frequently blinding me from front or back.
Are they newer vehicles?
the lumens output by modern LED, are better, they're still within legal limits, but they are brighter.
The other issue too, particularly with trucks, if they have lift or towing, the squat causing the headlights to be unaligned to where they're designed to be - some vehicles are also just not aligned properly at all. Either cause they never did at factory/delivery OR they had work done and they never got adjusted.
It's been so often now that I'm starting to question if its just me. Like my eyes are getting worse at night vision because I'm old now.
It can also be because of your eyes, as you get older they to take longer to adjust to dark/light. I have astigmatism, always have, it can, though I also prefer the proper white light LEDs than the old yellow sodium-vapour bulbs.
Those I couldn't see shit - they wash out any colour/depth, can judge anything. So I'll take the cool white temp LEDs (vehicle and street lights) any day.
I don't really care about behind me cause I have auto-dimming mirrors - oncoming, it is what is.
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u/RedditPosterOver9000 17h ago
I feel like car light bulbs just put out more lumens on average these days, even factoring in level and auto high beam issues. LED bulbs can put out a lot more lumens for a fraction of the wattage.
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u/cuppa_cat 17h ago
My newer car has ridiculously bright low beams. I see some blaming auto high beams, but mine have always worked reliably and do what they're supposed to do. It's just that the low beams are that bright. People flash their brights at me often because I believe they think my low beams are my high beams.
I'm not sure what to do about that. I know that having bright headlights helps me see better, even when faced with another vehicle's very bright headlights. When I took driver's ed as a kid, I was taught to look down towards the white line on the road to avoid getting blinded so badly. Maybe that helps someone?
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u/thartson 16h ago
I literally bought blue light glasses to drive home, and it does give everything a warmer tint, which has helped with some of the severity of the lights. I had eye surgery, so my eyes tend to be dry and very light sensitive. Hope this helps?
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u/No-Dig_Enthusiast Millennial 16h ago
I think it's just that newer lights are a brighter white rather than the older incandescent bulbs from years ago, same with street lights. It went from soft warm lighting to cold harsh white light. I hate it.
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u/BroItsMick 15h ago
I like the people on bicycles with the massive single headlight that isn't aimed downward. Nothing like being blinded from the side as well.
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u/shutts67 15h ago
Do you drive a sedan? I feel like its way worse in lower cars because there's so many more SUVs on the road
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u/therealjustin 15h ago
The LED headlights on newer vehicles are awful! It's almost always a Toyota, Subaru, or Mazda but a few of the new GMC/Chevy models are absolutely blinding as well.
They tell you in the driver's manual to focus on the white line in such cases... but you literally can't see anything!!! How are they brighter than the sun???
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u/StormerSage '96 15h ago
Those are usually their lows, actually, they're just absurdly bright now. When some of those modern cars have their brights on, you literally cannot see beyond them.
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u/Freddy_Pharkas 1983 15h ago
Yeah not just you. I drive my 2013 Sonata WITH high beams (not LED) on only to try to match the output of these newer cars. And my lights still feel weak.
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u/TheBalzy In the Middle Millennial 15h ago
The lights have gotten brighter. Trust me, I drive a lot in the dark...and a few years ago I finally just asked my eye doctor if somehting was going wrong with my eyes because headlights were super bright all of a sudden. She said no, the LED lights they're making today are significantly brighter regardless if they are on bright or not.
Side Note: You'll find there actually isn't much good legislation on the brightness of headlights...
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u/brettwasbtd 15h ago
I have a 2003 Toyota matrix, I feel like my high beams are still less bright than the majority of everyone else's normal lights these days 😞
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u/tLM-tRRS-atBHB Older Millennial 14h ago
I feel the saem way! I feel like i have to flash SO MANY freaking people that have brights on. Im starting to wonder if I'm going crazy
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u/adepressurisedcoat 14h ago
It's more so people putting in after market LED headlights and not having them properly adjusted, and every manufacturer putting LED lights in their cars + the cars being taller.
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u/rebelangel Xennial 14h ago
I’m convinced the brighter lights on newer vehicles are responsible for a lot of pedestrian accidents when it’s dark. When you’re driving and you have a car with the bright lights going the other direction, it fucks with your night vision and makes it hard to see a pedestrian crossing in front of you, especially if they’re wearing dark clothes. There was one time I was driving to work, and I got damn near blinded by a car going the other direction. There was a car parked on the street and I didn’t even see there was a man standing next to it until I was passing that car. If he would have walked out in front of me, I would not have seen him due to my vision being temporarily compromised by the car with the brights.
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u/emperorsleeps 14h ago
I just bought a 2026 and the lights are assaulting.
I can’t really do anything but I’ve been high beamed once now because they thought I had my brights on.
They are too powerful imo.
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u/ahendrix 14h ago
The headlights are overly bright nowadays. SOME luxury OEMs have finally started making the driver side headlight either dip or split when cars are oncoming but the tech hasn't trickled down to cars for normies yet
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u/Interesting-Rope-950 14h ago
So many modern headlights should absolutely be illegal. They are wayyyy to bright and blind the hell out of people
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u/Old_Swimmer_7284 14h ago
Most people do not have their high beams and headlights tuned correctly. If you didn't know, every car comes with headlight adjustments and you're supposed to adjust them. They don't come adjusted from the factory and a dealership doesn't as well. They're always pointed up far too much.
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u/D-Rich-88 Millennial 14h ago
More brights on for sure.
Also, regular lights are brighter as well and Tesla lights are notorious for not being aligned right and are pointed too high. The frustrating thing is it’s apparently a really easy thing to fix.
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u/BaldursFence3800 14h ago
People buy $30 Chinese LEDs from Amazon and put them in their car’s halogen housing.
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u/QuentinTarzantino 14h ago
Ugh, was driving yesterday and its fekking horrible. Especially in the country side where its usually darker.
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u/Crawlerado 13h ago
We try not to drive at night because of the headlight warfare that’s been going on since Covid. It’s the Wild West.
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u/Plus_Pangolin_8924 Millennial 13h ago
The problem normally is because they are now pure white rather than warm. It makes them much harsher on the eyes. Combine that with how focused LEDs it can be distracting!
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u/LadyPaige 13h ago
It’s not brights. It’s the type of headlights that are used in modern vehicles. Even low beams are insanely bright now. It’s not just you OP. It is insane. Most new vehicles have automatic brights which flip to low beams as soon as they detect another vehicle.
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u/Firm_Acanthaceae7435 13h ago
Even the newer cars with hid lights are bright AF.
If you can get the right angle and look at the lens without blinding yourself, you'll see the whole thing lit up indicating that the headlights and high beams are on.
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u/warmvegetables 13h ago
I drive a fairly low car and at this point I can’t see anything at night between the oncoming exploding stars and the laser beams hitting my mirrors. Just riding around like
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u/K_Linkmaster 13h ago
There is a large number of vehicles driving with their inside headlights on. Those are the brights every time. Not 2 headlights? Or stacked? I'm not sure anymore, but I know my blinker lights up a quarter mile of signs and turns off my headlight to do it
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u/Serafim91 13h ago
Cars have lights that are as bright as possible. Combined with taller vehicles because everyone needs an Escalade size monstrosity and it makes the light travel way further than it used to.
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u/jkalchik99 13h ago
I picked up a used car over the summer with an auto dimming feature on the headlights.
I categorically do not like it, nor do I trust it.
I had the opportunity to take a long night drive, and spent a couple of hours with the auto dimming feature enabled. I figure that in 25% to 35% of state change cases, it failed to respond with an appropriate action. It left the high beams on with oncoming traffic (granted, on the expressway.) It read reflections off road construction signs and refused to turn the high beams on. And that's just 2 examples.
I won't leave it engaged. I think this is why a lot of people are brighting others.
And..... TURN YOUR FULL LIGHTS ON WHEN YOUR WINDSHIELD WIPERS ARE ON.
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u/tubbis9001 13h ago
People aren't driving with their brights on. Normal lights are just that bright these days. Especially awful if you drive a sedan, because every truck, suv, and even crossover, has lights that are at the same level of your eyes.
I literally can't use my side mirrors at night anymore, I have to point them away.
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u/kgabny Millennial of '87 13h ago
It might not necessarily be your eyes, and likely not a lot of people are that ignorant as to drive with brights on. However, between when we were growing up to today we went from incandescent headlights with a warmer yet softer glow, to LED lights that are powerful for their size and power requirements.
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u/foco_runner Older Millennial 13h ago
A few years ago I started wearing night glasses when driving and helps a bit but some head lights still too bright
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