Are car headlights too bright? Traffic expert says we have other things to worry about

While we may sometimes be blinded by the light, the light itself is not the problem. Getty

You don’t have to look too hard to find a loose, rumbling global conversation about the potential hazard posed by ultrabright modern car headlights.

The Guardian recently documented how complaints about headlights have become “commonplace”. A piece in the Detroit Free Press this month titled “Headlights really are brighter these days” pinned the blame on the switch from halogen bulbs to newer light technology. Brett Baker wrote on Substack that “almost every time I drive in the dark … bright headlights leave me temporarily blind”. Another Substacker, Andrew Meblin, attributed the issue to “bright lights and car bloat”. Plenty of Redditors would also concur with the broad shape of these arguments.

Recent UK data found that almost half of motorists questioned by the RAC roadside assistance organisation said they felt “less safe” because of bright, sharp headlights causing glare and distracting them while driving.

There is little doubt that cars are getting bigger and taller. Our thirst for SUVs – with high driving positions, multiple safety features and generous ground clearance – shows no sign of being quenched. Little wonder that the new version of the Nissan Patrol, a perennial best-seller in this country, has been so eagerly anticipated.

It is not just one model or one marque, however. Most SUVs will be equipped with LED or HID units. Bright headlights producing clear light are regularly and generally promoted as a virtue or as an advanced safety feature in car manufacturers’ sales material. Halogen headlights of the type that were installed on previous generations of cars produced less than 1000 lumens on dipped headlights, which is the measure of visible light. LED and HID lights typically produce up to four times that figure.

If cars are getting bigger and taller, and bright lights are getting brighter, does this pose an enhanced safety risk to other road users?

As well as being brighter than before, SUVs tend to have their headlights mounted higher on the vehicle than a saloon car of 15 to 20 years ago. Higher mounted lights mean potentially more likelihood of those LEDs piercing through the night into your rearview mirror or dazzling you on approach.

Contrast that to the days when European motorists used yellow-bulb or yellow-lens headlamps. France stopped its mandatory requirement for yellow headlights in the early 1990s to match broader European standards, but the reason the rule existed in the first place was to reduce glare when compared to white or even off-white bulbs.

If cars are getting bigger and taller, and bright lights are getting brighter, does this pose an enhanced safety risk to other road users?

Elsewhere in the world it would appear to be yes, especially if you take those pieces of commentary and survey findings at face value, but Thomas Edelmann, an expert on road safety in the UAE, doesn’t agree.

Mr Edelmann, the founder of the long-established Road Safety UAE platform, says that headlight brightness is not as much a “major concern” in the UAE, because there are fewer single carriageway roads and most of our driving is on main thoroughfares separated by reservations.

Thomas Edelmann emphasises the need for road users to drive with each other, not against one another. Sarah Dea for The National

In several years of traffic data on accidents, he says, the relative brightness of newer headlights does not feature in the leading causes of accidents and fatalities. “There are many other things that are much more problematic,” he told me earlier this week. “Distracted driving is the number one cause of death and accidents.”

The National reported on Wednesday on a rise in traffic accidents on our roads last year, with distraction, sudden deviation and failure to maintain safe distances as leading causes. Distracted driving as a category covers a range of issues, including mobile phone use while driving and aggressive behaviour of other drivers causing disturbance, anxiety and errors.

While Mr Edelmann agrees that LED lights are brighter on newer cars, he says that they alone should not cause issues for road users. They may compound behavioural problems, however, if one road user was tailgating another car while flashing their lights in a coercive or overly aggressive fashion.

Mr Edelmann’s messaging over the years has been to emphasise the need for road users to drive with each other, not against one another. He says that eliminating antagonistic acts, such as lane swerving and tailgating, would go a long way towards reducing accidents, so too would a more general pivot towards courtesy and politeness on the roads.

He also said that lack of use or inappropriate use of lights was also a problem on our roads, citing motorists not turning their lights on at dusk or not using indicators enough or, conversely, using rear or front fog lights on clear days and nights, thereby causing a hazard to other motorists.

The message appears to be that while we may sometimes be blinded by the light, the light itself isn’t the problem, which means the driver in charge of them may well be.