| Re: Car headlights to be reviewed after drivers complain of being 'blinded' at night Posted by Mark A at 22:02, 28th October 2025 |     |
Interestingly there is a German standard for bicycle lamps:
To which I would add maybe it would be a benefit for application to other road vehicles. Bicycle lamps in this country seem to sold on how many lux, doesn't seem to matter if is being wasted illumination to trees, walls, roofs or sky etc.
StVZO bike lights are designed to conform to German Road Traffic Licensing Regulations, with a beam shaped to avoid dazzling other road users, but the safety standard may have benefits elsewhere in the world, too.
StVZO-compliant bike lights differ from other lights on the market in that they have a cut-off, which keeps the beam focused directly on the road ahead and, in theory, out of the eyes of other road users when cycling at night.
StVZO-compliant bike lights differ from other lights on the market in that they have a cut-off, which keeps the beam focused directly on the road ahead and, in theory, out of the eyes of other road users when cycling at night.
To which I would add maybe it would be a benefit for application to other road vehicles. Bicycle lamps in this country seem to sold on how many lux, doesn't seem to matter if is being wasted illumination to trees, walls, roofs or sky etc.
2014, was it, and I delliberately sought one out, and in the UK it was a bit of a slog, and bike shops I went to were unfamiliar with the concept. To this day, many cycle lights seem to be torches, with not a thought given to beam shape despite it being very simple to achieve.
Turning to vehicles, LED lights can be a pest even in daylight - and even LED daytime running lights.
Oh, and then there's lighthouses, which now tend to be retrofitted with something low-maintenance and energy conserving, but those are possibly xenon lights of some kind. Again cool white, but also an abrupt zero to 100% to zero ramp for the on and off. I'm sure the safety and functionality is unaffected but it's so unaesthetic. :-)
And not that I need to but I find it easier to pick out a lighthouse and fix its position when the light leaves a ghost of itself when the beam's away from you and a loom when the beam swings towards and away from your position. And of course those are light qualities that say 'This is a biggie, this is the light that guides, it's not something small and on a navigational buoy (which still helps, but pfffft...)'.
Mark, all at sea.
| Re: Car headlights to be reviewed after drivers complain of being 'blinded' at night Posted by Marlburian at 20:34, 28th October 2025 | |
My modest Vauxhall Corsa and my last car, an equally modest Ford Fiesta, both had switches to adjust the level of the headlights depending on the load, such as passengers in the rear seats. (Quite how they would fit into them I don't know but ...) I suspect that most drivers don't bother.
And that doesn't help when oncoming cars go over speed bumps. On Sunday I drove up one hill with eight such bumps in daytime and was still conscious of the running lights of oncoming cars "jumping up".
| Re: Car headlights to be reviewed after drivers complain of being 'blinded' at night Posted by CyclingSid at 18:52, 28th October 2025 | |
Interestingly there is a German standard for bicycle lamps:
StVZO bike lights are designed to conform to German Road Traffic Licensing Regulations, with a beam shaped to avoid dazzling other road users, but the safety standard may have benefits elsewhere in the world, too.
StVZO-compliant bike lights differ from other lights on the market in that they have a cut-off, which keeps the beam focused directly on the road ahead and, in theory, out of the eyes of other road users when cycling at night.
StVZO-compliant bike lights differ from other lights on the market in that they have a cut-off, which keeps the beam focused directly on the road ahead and, in theory, out of the eyes of other road users when cycling at night.
To which I would add maybe it would be a benefit for application to other road vehicles. Bicycle lamps in this country seem to sold on how many lux, doesn't seem to matter if is being wasted illumination to trees, walls, roofs or sky etc.
| Car headlights to be reviewed after drivers complain of being 'blinded' at night Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 16:17, 28th October 2025 | |
From the BBC:
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.
Night 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.
(BBC article continues)
