LED head lights have to go until car manufacturers learn how to use them properly. It's perfectly possible to have non glare LEDs but the cheap mofos won't want to spend money to retool everything.
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2026
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I hope they ban loud exhausts and aftermarket noise exhausts next.
I have an EV that predates the external white noise requirement, it's weirdly quiet if the AC is off.
I love how quiet it is. But I wish it didn't startle cyclists.
Edit: someone at work gave me a deck of cards and a clothespin and said it was a "loud exhaust" for my car. 😆
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wild that there are two people who downvoted this, as if they have the right to pollute our neighborhoods with their exhaust and noise. what a bunch of entitled pricks
Lemmy has shadow downvoters. Some cunt downvotes everything.
someone downvoted you to prove you right. ugh.
The thing that always blows my mind is that there are laws against loud exhausts. Which is fine, i don't want a loud as car, it's silly. But what is point of these laws when they don't count if you spend enough money? No, your honda is not allowed to be that loud, now make room for the v10 asshole who is twice as loud.
it should all be evaluated by db and fined accordingly.
Brightness is obviously an issue ... Id be happy with them pointed at the fucking road, there is nothing at other drivers eye level you need to see
I don't know why the manufacturers have such a hard-on for super bright headlights. It isn't like anyone is basing their buying decision on it. I guess when you are an executive who never drives themselves you don't get blinded by them. I hope the NHTSA finally sets limits on headlight brightness and the gov bans aftermarket lights that exceed limits also. Now if we could just get enforcement to crack down on the a-holes who blast backward facing lights to harass other drivers also.
It’s an arms race. People are blinded by the glare of oncoming headlights in their old cars, so search for a way to safely drive their next car.
I was tempted for my older car because it was getting really difficult to drive at night with how dim those headlights were, relative to oncoming glare. I see replacement LED bulbs “for off-road use only” advertised as much brighter. Turns out replacing the bulbs (with new correct ones) and cleaning the windshield made some difference. Enough
yeah often cleaning and polishing the headlight lenses does wonders for regular wattage lighting.
It's a checkbox to put on the brochure for idiots who can't make a decision. Also big bonus for the ad-exec when they don't make any changes to the vehicle but still need something "new." Idiotic arms-race for sure. Same thing with how cars are so big now, no one wants to be the "small guy" at the car measuring contest. Because humans are stupid and easily manipulated.
I'm probably in a significant minority, but if I was buying a new car (~~lol why would I do that~~), I would specifically avoid anything which has blinding headlights.
I hate Tesla cars as much as the next guy, but this goes for every brand out there.
Literally everything about cars has enshittified, including headlights. Those were a problem solved back in the 1930s and we quickly understood that you need lights that give enough to see, but don't blind the other side.
Then came the 2000 era engineers who forgot everything we learned in the 1900s and refused to relearn them and everything has been going to shit ever since
I blame the Internet tbh. Vast amounts of information at your finger tips with no real curve to learn any of it, skipping official books and documents on the subject and the learnings of the past.
Quick answers no friction and no learning
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In my experience, while Tesla is a prime offender, it isn't only Teslas headlight that are too bright. Honda Prologues are another specific model that blinds me all the time.
While we're at it, I'm convinced auto-headlights and the general dumbing down of drivers mean a lot of people are simply driving around with their brights on all the time. Don't know how to fix that one though.
I've often thought that we could polarise the headlight glass one way, and then windscreen glass the other. The glare off the road would still hit you but the lights themselves would be much darker, but still enough for you to see they're there. The day-runners in the corners could still be unpolarised so you'd still see the vehicle. It'd be a bit more expensive and require collaboration between the manufacturers which are probably two large reasons why it would never happen.
I'm sure solving this problem isn't beyond the wit of humanity, but is beyond the expense threshold that the oligarchs will tolerate from their dividends.
My 2024 Santa Fe is also up there on annoyingly bright headlights list. So many people flashing their brights at me before I'm forced to unleash Ark of the Covenant by flashing my actual brights back. Even the emergency flashers are so darn bright I feel like I can't use them at night when I'm unloading groceries because it fully illuminates the entire apartment building in front of me a block away. This can't be a necessary amount of lumens.
I actually appreciate the flash back. I do a quick flash to cars whose headlights are blinding me probably 2-3 times each time I drive at night, and probably 95% of the time I get nothing back. So I'm left wondering if those people just have a 2024 Santa Fe (or the like, with crazy bright standards) or if their brights are on and are simply unaware.
The flash back is good because at least I know.
Auto headlights fixes that exact problem if it's implemented well. My car turns the brights on and off by itself and it does a damn good job.
Well, it fixes it for you because you are a responsible adult who can drive.
For many other people, it means headlights is something they never think about, and that is part of the problem. The other part is that auto-dimming headlights don't dim your headlights for pedestrians, and on behalf of pedestrians everywhere 'fuck you!' (Not you specifically, just in general)
Good point about the pedestrians, although in my car's case it is sensitive enough that street lights keep the brights from coming on, so they basically never come on in the city where there are pedestrians. I suppose there's the case of the tiny incorporated areas with no lights but where people might be walking.
Back when I still used Nextdoor, I once posted a picture of the regular (green) headlight dash icon and the blue high beam icon, and spelled out what they’re used for and that people should know the difference. I got flooded with hearts or whatever the Nextdoor equivalent of upvotes is, I’m sure all from people who already knew and were also frustrated. There are definitely some people who are either ignorant or oblivious; I wonder if any of them saw my post and learned something? Can’t say the problem got any better.
I still own vehicles without the green light. That started being a thing about the time they made gauge clusters giant lcd screens that were lit up at all times of day. If you don’t have your headlights on in my car then you can’t tell how fast you’re going since the gauges aren’t lit up at all. Makes it super obvious when your lights aren’t on…cause you actually have to turn them on in that car. Which leads into my next thing.
My pet peeve is people driving around with only the daytime running lights on. They have weak headlights and absolutely no tail lights. I run into at least one car like this nearly every time I drive at night. I found one possible cause for it. Any time you take your car in for service they usually turn off the auto headlights so it’s not draining the battery in the shop but they rarely turn them back on.
Yes I 100% agree! Making everything automatic also makes people complacent and they don’t check to make sure everything is working as intended. I rather miss my light switch in my car. Daytime running lights are dumb unless they are just always-on headlights and taillights.
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A thought occured to me the other day: there is absolutely no reason that headlights have to be on the upper part of the front grille. Mount them as close to the ground as possible. (Like busses and some cargo trucks) At least it will address a situation where pickup truck / SUV headlights are at eye level for drivers of anything smaller.
This is completely wrong. Higher mounting means they can be pointed more down, which gives a bigger buffer to them blinding people when the back of vehicle squats. Bus and truck headlights arent an issue because their suspension doesn't squat under normal loads.
Vehicle manufacturers in the US have to meet the new headlight requirements. Which require headlights to be bright as fuck and basically parallel to the ground. Then rear suspension is left soft to improve ride quality in all suvs. Put some weight in it and the front of the vehicle points up. Pickups are usually bad because the suspension is modified or it's overloaded.
A quarter of drivers i swear leave their highbeams on. I have stopped caring and just installed blind people highbeams. 10x brighter than a high output halogen usually gets them to turn off their highbeams.
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Given that many things, including reflectors, reflect light directly back, yes it is beneficial to have the headlights close to the drivers sightline
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I'd very much like every truck out there to have the headlights pointed away from my eyes and be less bright thanks.
I'm very close to putting a mirror over my rearview window to shine the light back at them.
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Good, include the other blinding shits too.
It didn't use to be this way.
The bright headlight thing has been a pet peeve of mine for a while. So, I’m glad to hear that government is apparently trying to fix it. That being said, why would anyone assume that a company like Tesla would comply with this regulation? That company has a long history of violating and flouting laws without consequence. I just have no confidence that US society does “laws” anymore when it comes to corporations.
Saw a pickup on I10 not long ago had a light bar on the roof lighting up both side of the highway. It was fucking absurd. What a total and complete dick head.
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