Are Headlights Too Bright on Cars in New York?

If you have ever been blinded by another vehicle's headlights you aren't alone, but are new headlights a hazard to drivers?

It's probably happened to you at one time or another, you're driving along at night minding your business when a car or truck traveling in the opposite direction has headlights that are extremely bright. In some cases, they are so bright you might think the other driver still has their high beams on and give them the friendly flick of the headlights to get them to turn the high beams off. Unfortunately with many new vehicles the other driver isn't driving with their high beams on, they simply have LED headlights that are just really bright and give off a seemly bad glare.

Are New Headlights to Bright?

The bright headlight glare problem isn't something new but as more new cars hit New York roads more and more drivers are complaining about it. It's gotten so bad that the folks at AAA have conducted numerous studies to try and determine if the LED headlight glare issue is dangerous for drivers or not. According to AAA, the LED headlights that are on most cars today are not brighter than the older ones, the issue is that they give off a blueish-white light and that type of light is more irritating to the human eye.

AAA cited numerous reasons why drivers might think LED lights are a problem including the positioning of them on certain vehicles, the height of newer vehicles, and in some cases the age of the driver who thinks they are too bright. AAA has done extensive research on headlights and has determined that there is no glare problem with LED lights. Greg Brannon, AAA's director of automotive engineering and industry relations said,

"LEDs put more light on roads where people need it. There is no evidence that LED lights are a hazard."

Should LED Headlights be Banned in New York?

Regardless of new research many drivers are still determined to have them banned on all cars. Organizations like the Soft Lights Foundation say that the use of LED and HID headlights "has become a source of dangerous, blinding glare." It's gotten so bad that they have started online petitions asking Congress and other federal agencies to regulate LED lights. More than 58,000 people have signed the petition so far with the number growing every day.

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Do you feel like LED headlights are a problem on vehicles in New York? Should they be banned? Let me know by emailing me at CJ@HUDSONVALLEYCOUNTRY.COM, I could use your thoughts in a future article.