Headlights Are Growing Brighter (www.cbc.ca) 156
Modern LED headlights are significantly brighter and more glaring than traditional halogen bulbs, creating dangerous driving conditions, lighting experts report. The newer lights produce an intense, concentrated beam that is bluer and more disorienting, particularly affecting older drivers. "Headlights are getting brighter, smaller and bluer. All three of those things increase a particular kind of glare. It's called discomfort glare," said Daniel Stern, chief editor of Driving Vision News.
Xenons? (Score:2)
Between halogens and LEDs, there was an era of xenon headlights that were proliferating into mid tier cars when LEDs got decent enough to start replacing them. Xenons are way, WAY brighter than current LEDs (minus the massive light bars, floodlights, etc people install in addition to normal headlights).
And they were bluer too.
Is this really a problem of LEDs?
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"Some headlights were even worse for a short period of time" is not actually an argument that LED headlights are not bad, much less a coherent argument for that proposition.
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"These were a norm regardless" on the other hand is. And that's my point. Halogens were going away fast long before LED adoption.
Regardless this is a problem that will eventually be solved by proliferation of AHS LED headlights. That's matrix based headlights that have zones within lights that turn off when a car is driving in the opposite direction.
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The high color temperature of headlights has now become so bad that I have had to start to use yellow tinted glasses.
Maximize the color temperature to 3000K.
Add to it that the auto-dimming and the "glare free" headlights are stupid as a prick and only dims down after they have made sure you have been hit with the full deathstar power of those fully operational headlights.
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Re:Xenons? (Score:4, Insightful)
Xenons are way, WAY brighter
I never perceived them to be as much of a problem as LEDs. Xenon capsules are not replaceable by non-spec LED capsules. They are expensive as well, so less motivation to throw the factory bulbs out. Vehicles equipped with Xenon headlamps typically had self-leveling fixtures. So less of that bright light in your eyes.
I have a European vehicle with the oversized H4 headlamps. But very well engineered. The low beam pattern has a very sharp upper and left side cutoff and put more of their light on the road. So in spite of the higher lumen output, they don't bother oncoming traffic. It's the headlamp optics and putting the correct bulb in for the lamp that makes the critical difference. Instead of letting the ricers pick whatever they want off the store shelf.
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The one thing that Xenon had going for it was it still allowed for good optical control. The problem with most of the LED headlights is that the optical control is poor, so you get more light spread than intended. This just comes down to physics; the reflector needs to be 8-10x the chip (or array of chips) size for reasonable control.
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The LED spread is intentional - push out a wider light pattern because the LEDs have a higher capacity. This means that you also put more glare around corners on the road totally blinding other drivers.
Re:Xenons? (Score:4, Informative)
The one thing that Xenon had going for it was it still allowed for good optical control.
This.
The 'emitter' in a xenon bulb is actually a very small arc. Very small means easier to focus. Hence, better fixture design.
Incandescent (particularly halogen) have a somewhat larger filament. Although it's only about 0.25 inches long.
LED bulbs tend to be made from multiple emitters, fixed around the sides of a cylindrical post. This is done primarily for thermal control because its not feasible to get the same luminous flux out of a small area like a single LED chip (without melting it). The emitting surface approaches the size of an entire halogen bulb. Focusing that is nigh on impossible. Some well-designed projector fixtures (with a proper collimating lens element) can do it.
The typical LED bulb construction practices end up with at least one or more chips facing forward. Morons. Typical halogen fixtures are designed for bulbs that do not throw light forward [sylvania-automotive.com]. That black tip on the bulb is actually the back side of an aluminized reflector. Light going forward from a filament does not interact with any of the fixtures focusing optics and is a big part of what create that "dazzle" that all the ricers love. There are fixtures that include their own front reflector and are generally OK with LED bulbs. But when you see that dazzle coming at you, you can be certain that it's someone who up-modded a hoopty. Not an expensive car.
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One other point I forgot about: The whole "bluish tint" thing is marketing. It originated with the introduction of Xenon headlights as an option on high end cars. Manufacturers were worried that nobody would want to drop an extra grand if no one else could tell they had Xenons. So they changed the capsule gas mix to make the light bluish.
Aftermarket ricer bulbs came out with blue filters on their cheap halogen bulbs. But these use dichroic filters, which reflect unwanted colors off axis (just blocking that
Re:Xenons? (Score:5, Informative)
The hotter, brighter filament necessary in that rÃle produced significant tungsten vapour, which cooled onto the inside of the glass, producing a mirror surface. But put a few microgrammes of iodine (or bromine ; both "halogen" elements) into the bulb, and the tungsten vapour would react with that to form a stable, volatile molecule (WI4, or WI6, I forget; possibly both) which would float around inside the blub until it met the filament, when it would decompose and deposit the tungsten. When the lamp is turned off, it remains hot enough for several minutes for any vapour deposited inside the bulb to react, which WI4 (6) would then circulate to the filament ... lather, rinse, repeat.
In the light of that history, it's less than surprising that they're painfully bright to other road users. It's certainly an issue they could address, but the average road user always thinks "More is better". Which is wrong.
I saw a video going past on my YouTube algorithm with "Edd China" (he of the magic spanners and mug of tea on Discovery Channel's "Wheeler Dealers" show talking about the prevalence of "illegal headlights" on the UK market. It seems (it was hard to tell - YT doesn't like people who refuse to watch their advertising) that "More is better" has resulted in a lot of high light output ("lumens") lamps are becoming available in fittings that match popular headlamp units, but exceed the vehicle designer's design values. These are now a part of the annual MoT test, and if you have an excessive power lamp fitted, your vehicle will fail the MoT. It wasn't clear if, like headlight alignment, it was something you could drive away, fix yourself, and come back for a re-test within 3 (2?) days. Or whether you had to pay for the vehicle to be carried away from the test centre, and come back later for a new MoT and a new cost (£63, IIRC).
Whatever - check if those new lamps are actually legal to use on your vehicle. Just because they fit, doesn't make them legal to use.
Drawing a higher current through the cabling to the lamp may be a fire risk. Your headlights should be on a fused circuit, and if the new lamps blew that fuse, putting a higher-rated fuse in is a really bad idea. Insurance companies don't like it either - there's a box in your insurance quotation request covering it, and if you don't tell the truth, your insurance is void. Insurance assessors check these things, so keep your receipts and the documentation that comes with your modifications.
What is the justification for selling these lamps? They're entirely legal to use in spotlights, in stage lighting, etc - just not legal for use on the public road. They can even be imported of the box states "Only legal for off-road use", or some close variant of that.
I'm trying to remember when I last had to change a headlamp bulb. not in the last three cars, I'm sure. Dim and distant past, 15-plus years. They're quite reliable devices.
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You do remember that halogen bulbs were developed for use as aircraft landing lights?
That was before my time. I believe early cars used to use oil lanterns for lighting. That was before my time also.
These are now a part of the annual MoT test, and if you have an excessive power lamp fitted, your vehicle will fail the MoT.
I do know people on some car forums I frequent who have to do a bunch of part swapping before their car test and then a bunch of swapping back afterward so that they will pass. Fortunately we don't have those where I live.
I'm trying to remember when I last had to change a headlamp bulb. not in the last three cars, I'm sure. Dim and distant past, 15-plus years. They're quite reliable devices.
I had a xenon bulb replaced under warranty on a previous car, it was about 3 years old. Yes, they are very reliable.
Don't people dip their lights (Score:2)
when traveling in the city?
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They do not. At least not around here. I'm beginning to think cars are no longer equipped with low beams (dipped beams).
I've been blinded by the glare of on-coming headlights at 2 o'clock on a bright sunny afternoon. It's fscking absurd.
Those ARE the low beams (Score:5, Funny)
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I've got a co-worker who drives around with the high-beams on all the time. Their new Buick uses the front-facing sensors to determine if a car is coming or if they are following a car. It auto-drops them when it detects a car, so they so it as 'auto mode'.
It does not detect pedestrians, cyclists or any other road users. It detects other cars most of the time. They don't care -- they bought the feature.
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Depends on the individual, and their training (or lack of it). I've argued with coworkers who claimed that it was safer to run with high beams all the time, that low beam lights were only for when the car is parked. Two of them said they were taught that in their drivers training course.
As pedestrians who walk their dogs at night we're appalled by the number of people utterly oblivious to the effect of their headlights on walkers.
The problem is not the light source (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the aim. Properly aimed LED headlights are fine
Many people either don't know how to properly aim their lights, don't care or even worse, intentionally mis-aim
Re:The problem is not the light source (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the aim. Properly aimed LED headlights are fine Many people either don't know how to properly aim their lights, don't care or even worse, intentionally mis-aim
When the driver of a sub-compact car is staring into the oncoming SUVs grill, the problem becomes a bit more glaring.
It's multiple problems (Score:2)
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The good news is that new headlights in development will be able to sense oncoming cars and redirect the headlight beam automatically.
This has been a thing for ages in Europe. The bad news is domestic regulators may still take a couple decades to hear about it.
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It's worse when there's rain on the asphalt, and even worse when you're a pedestrian.
sense oncoming cars
When they sense pedestrians and bicyclists I'll consider them useful.
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Auto-detecting oncoming cars is already a feature in higher-end cars in the US. It's also highly inaccurate as designed (it will detect oncoming cars most of the time -- assuming there are no hills, ice, snow, rain, etc), and does not help with pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and other road users.
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or when they are behind you blasting you through the rear view mirrors as well
What I try to do in a situation such as this is adjust my outside mirrors so the light is reflected back toward them. Don't know if I'm hitting them, but I try.
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I was wondering how effective a mirror one way film on the back window would be. Provides privacy, dims glare, and reflects ultra bright headlights back at the guy behind you.
Re:The problem is not the light source (Score:4, Funny)
This is one of the big problems. People's penises are getting smaller and they insist on the need for ever bigger cars. These are unsafe for many reasons, and raised headlights which are impossible to dip below the mirror height of the car in front is one of them.
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It's an arms race. Bigger cars so that in an accident, the other vehicle gets crushed and you survive. Super bright headlights so you can see, even if everyone else is screwed.
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IT's one of the cases where projector headlights might be the key. They're in the EU already, but US regulations prohibit them currently. They basically allow you to have very bright headlights, but they dim the part of the headlight that is aimed at other drivers, so even your little subcompact driver gets to see your headlights are on, but his vision isn't dazzled - your headlights merely c
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And the pedestrians can be more efficiently blinded. Thanks a lot.
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It's the aim. Properly aimed LED headlights are fine Many people either don't know how to properly aim their lights, don't care or even worse, intentionally mis-aim
Additionally some modern LED headlights are advertised to be "smart", meaning that there is a LED matrix able to create a non-illuminated spot towards other vehicles while keeping the rest of the road illuminated.
My car has one of those and has an "auto" settings that not only turns on the normal headlights when it's dark, but also activates the high beams when it detects it's outside of an urban area (e.g. on the highway or on a countryside road) and keeps the high beam on when it detects oncoming traffic,
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As the Campaign for Dark Skies would say, we have normalised wasting energy lighting up things that don't need to be lit, and called it "light pollution".
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High beams outside of a city are great as they light up things further away. Of course they also dazzle other drivers, but if I do not see a car going the other direction I turn them on. It's not like they use that much more power - low beams are 55W and high beams are 60W, at least that's what is written on the lightbulb.
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That's probably more significant than the difference in power. I can't say I've looked at a headlamp beyond checking that the m
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The low beam filament has a built-in reflector or shield inside the bulb. It is also a bit further from the base, at least on a H4 bulb (I have one with a burned out low beam filament that I sometimes use for lighting or for load testing a 12 power supply).
I was replying to the part of your post about wasting energy. High beams (at least in halogen lightbulbs) do not use significantly more power than low beams, it is more about the direction of the light, not its intensity.
At least in Lithuania, they check
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It's the aim. Properly aimed LED headlights are fine
Many people either don't know how to properly aim their lights, don't care
Don't care to properly aim, or much MUCH more commonly can't be bothered to dip their lights to oncoming traffic. That, plus as already mentioned, SUVs and trucks have become yet another form of menace to those of us who prefer cars. Even when their lights are dipped they're still shining straight into my eyes.
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It's not just the aim. Aim doesn't matter if the road has any elevation change at all, since the lights will be angled into your eye at some point. Independent of aim, LED bulbs are much worse than traditional bulbs.
Side note, virtually all problems that brighter headlights solve are solved by simply slowing down a few mph.
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I've seen note that MoT test protocols (and thus, testing station equipment) now require testing of lamp brightness. You used to be able to take the car away form the station, twiddle your knobs, and being it back for re-test without paying an additional fee. Not sure if that applies to "too bright" lamps too. As parts intended for user-servicing at the side of the road, I would expect so, but I'm not certain.
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No, it's not only the aim. Sooner or later your beam will meet someone's eye, even if only for a short time. Be it because you're coming up behind a hill and your beam aims high owing to the curvature of the road, or because you've just hit a bump, or whatever... you will hit someone's eye.
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Blue light also destroys night vision. After sunset on the bridge of at least naval ships, I can attest, that the lights in the bridge are all red in order to maintain maximum visibility over the ocean. The blue wavelength of these 5500K and 6500K lights are washing out the retina of oncoming cars and temporarily dulling their ability to sharply see the road. Thats even without LEDs laser-like direction of light projection. Its not quite as bad as washing a helicopter on a green laser pointer but its not th
Correct (Score:5, Interesting)
I keep getting blinded by oncoming cars. So I flash my high beams thinking that they left theirs on, only to be hit with a blast from the sun itself as they respond in kind.
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I keep getting blinded by oncoming cars. So I flash my high beams thinking that they left theirs on, only to be hit with a blast from the sun itself as they respond in kind.
Nicely sums up TFS/TFA.
Yup... (Score:3, Insightful)
...where we live it's a huge problem.
The brightness and color of aftermarket LED bulbs are bad enough.... but when you also take into account the fact that the LEDs are usually not in the same place as the element in a standard bulb you have even bigger issues with the light being improperly focused especially in reflector style housings(this is less of an issue in projector housings, but still an issue).
Then there are all the lifted truck coal rolling dude bros with their multiple off road light bars that they run full time that are often far brighter than any headlight.
Personally I think every single one of them should be charged with endangering the lives of other drivers, spend a month in jail, and have their cars impounded for 90 days at their expense.
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That's what we do here for driving without insurance, driving without tax, driving in an unsafe condition (which would probably cover this situation), driving without a license.
The point is to get the bad. uninsured drivers (and bad cars) off the road, permanently. Or until they steal another car, in which case they're probably going to rapidly progress to other jailable offences.
There’s a “Driving Vision News” (Score:2)
My expiriences retrofitting (Score:5, Informative)
The main reason drop-in bulbs blind is because it is very hard to hit precise focal points in a reflector with anything but a halogen bulb that has precisely positioned filament that produces even light in all directions. HID bulbs produce plasma arc but it is not nearly as fixed in place, as a consequence they only used with more-expensive projector setups. So if you drop HID bulb into reflector you start blinding people - optics are out of focus and you start getting a lot of stray lights. The same goes with LED drop-in bulbs, but reasons are slightly different. I think direct drop-in conversions should be banned and selling direct fit replacement headlight bulbs of a different type should be illegal, as someone knowingly making not fit for purpose product that could never work safely.
Now, there is a new issue - OEM LED lights that are just too bright. The issue with these is that sharp cutoff is configured for level driving, but any big bumps or cresting results in blinding. The solution to these is to mandate self-leveling. I don't know why this is not mandatory, in the past many HID headlights would come with self-leveling tech, it should be easier to implement this with LEDs are they are lighter and smaller than HID lens+bulb.
Re: My expiriences retrofitting (Score:4, Insightful)
Self/auto-leveling headlights are far from a panacea. There is the limited range of motion issue, but more importantly, roads are not flat. If you're cresting a hill at the same time as another driver in the opposite direction, your lights are going to shine in the oncoming driver's eyes, period.
More advanced (so-called "matrix" LED) headlights, in conjunction with cameras, can instead detect oncoming vehicles and create local dimming in that direction. There's room for improvement in the execution, but the theory is sound, and improvements can be delivered in OTA updates rather than replacing the hardware. Which is good, because the hardware is not cheap.
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Matrix lights should sense when the car is coming over a crest and pre-dim. All it needs is an angle sensor and an upper and lower limit for rate of change that filter out bumps and gentle rolling.
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Self-levelling, at least on my Subaru, isn't engineered for bumps or cresting. It's for when the rear end is loaded.
NO. SHIT. (Score:2)
Yup - sure is bright (Score:2)
I think it would be cool if the lights would alter spectrum to 2500K when cars are coming from other direction. I think that would be doable, since cars like mine can be set to auto change mode already, and would help everyone out.
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My point is automatically tuning down the blue. The blue/white really is great for seeing more of the road and definitely the lines in the rain. But, it can be really blinding to oncoming traffic. That could be fixed.
My state has an annual safety inspection. (Score:2)
So many cars will fail that this would probably be lucrative for the auto shops.
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As does my state. It includes headlight aim test. I've experienced having my headlight aim tested ONCE in the 40 years I've been driving. The inspector was some young kid jut out of school. I had to show him how to use the aiming equipment (we had the same rig at the shop where I worked. Needless to say my headlight aim passed inspection. ;-)
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Seriously?
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Depends on location, and local enforcement. Some areas do a decent job of handling the issue, most do not.
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The border posts between states - they stop and inspect vehicles? No? Otherwise, how can they know that the vehicles coming into state are up to their state's standards?
Since the incoming President is such a fan of tarif
Yes, but! (Score:2)
It's complicated. Germany here. Two years ago, I changed from an ancient mid-range sedan with H4 lamps to an old mid-range sedan with H7 lamps (the original buyer didn't want to pay extra for Xenon). While high beam was brilliant, low beam was much worse than on the older H4 car. When LED upgrades became officially legal for my car this year, I immediately changed, and now high beam is excellent and low beam is very good; finally I can drive again at night without the fear to overlook something.
The general
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The biggest problem here is that more and more people just don't bother anymore to switch back from high beam to low beam in oncoming traffic, and in slow traffic on narrow lanes that can nearly blind you for some time. This is what really bothers me most.
That's because some drivers in cars with modern LED matrix headlights don't bother to manually switch to high beams in the first place. These cars have an "auto" setting for the headlights that not only turns on the low beams when it detects darkness, but also turns on the high beams automatically when it detects that the car is not in an urban area.
In that situation, the LED matrix system is supposed to keep operating on high beams but detect oncoming traffic and create a dark spot in the LED matrix aimed
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> finally I can drive again at night without the fear to overlook something.
I'm pretty sure that you seeing well inhibits oncoming drivers from seeing well.
What I learned from my time as an avid cyclist is: lights are primarily to make you be seen, not for you to see very well where you're going. At night, slow down.
It's aim more than anything else (Score:2)
I have definitely noticed an increase in lights that are just not aimed well. Had one just the other day - the bulb on the far side form me was just aimed up and across the street right at incoming drivers, while the one closer the the lane divider was fine. That tells me it wasn't brights on. I don't know if it's poor aiming as installed, or failing with some cars that have "smart" headlights that are just messing up.
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Probably collision damage. I can't even count the number of beaters with duct tape holding their headlights in.
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Many current car headlamps are retained in the reflector housing by a twist-lock base plate that has 3 metal tabs. It can somewhat fight you as you install it. It is very possible to put it in crooked- one tab not under the mating receiver socket, rather on top of it, such that the bulb is quite crooked- off center, hence the focus now being way off of the intended spot. I've seen them far high, far low, far left, far right, etc. Like many things, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" applies to m
Misaimed AND blinder cannons (Score:2)
I began to notice what I originally thought was an epidemic of fucktards driving around with their brights on during covid, and I chalked it up to them forgetting that you don't drive with brights on in town. Then it not only persisted but got worse and worse and I realized this wasn't some random thing because it happened on new-model cars, not old shitboxes
Eventually I stumbled upon the above Reddit and realized that it's actually some kind of brain damaged failure
Why aren't we polarizing headlights/windshields? (Score:2)
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Because night.
Tesla constantly flashed by other rural drivers (Score:2)
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I would suggest that you either learn how to aim your headlights, or if that's prohibited by the warranty take it in and have it fixed.
too bright/not bright enough (Score:2)
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
Discuss, you have 10 hours.
Not just headlights. (Score:2)
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From TFA:
Now LEDs are showing up on more and more vehicles and, even when they don't come standard, many people replace regular bulbs with LEDs, despite advice not to do so.
Pull them over and yank the aftermarket, unapproved Chink LED capsules. Raid AutoZone and impound that stuff on their shelves.
Care to lead that 10,000+ store endeavor (as if Autozone has the exclusive licensing import) and get back to us as to how “easy” that “fix” is? Or better yet, care to hear what the Government would charge you for that, taxpayer?
Lot easier to simply say XX style/color/type of headlight bulbs are now illegal for US roadways. Offenders will be rather easy for law enforcement tospot. They’ll be the ones still trying to blind drivers on the “low” setting.
Re:Easy Fix (Score:4, Insightful)
These drop-in retrofit LEDs are *already* illegal. There just isn't any widespread enforcement. Please enforce the laws already on the books and don't make any more.
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Lot easier to simply say XX style/color/type of headlight bulbs are now illegal for US roadways. These drop-in retrofit LEDs are *already* illegal. There just isn't any widespread enforcement. Please enforce the laws already on the books and don't make any more.
And now the clarification discussion ensues, since plenty of aftermarket LED light kits *are* legal, do not cause issues, and when installed correctly provide the enhancement the driver is looking for.
Some laws should probably be reviewed too. My local laws dictate that lights must be installed between 24 and 54 inches, and without causing “undue glare”. 54 inches is quite high to assume you’re not going to blind a seated driver in damn near anything that’s not a truck or SUV.
Actually, very few aftermarket LED kits are legal (Score:3)
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Nearly all of them, even in stores like Autozone, are imprinted "for offroad use only," that is, even though they are out front on the shelves being sold along with the stock replacement windshield wipers and tire valves, these lights have been manufactured with the understanding that they are not for use on public roads, just like exhaust mods and license-obscuring plate surrounds. These notices are printed as small and low-key as possible and everyone just straight up ignores them.
No worries, we would ignore them if they were printed in big letters too.
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I like the way you think. Lets give the cops another reason for contextual stops. That will surely fix the problem and have no negative side effects.
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Definitely using aftermarket LED lights is bad bad. But it's not just aftermarket stuff. A lot of cars (especially high trim levels) are designed for and ship with LED headlights. I find them almost as bothersome as the aftermarket LED upgrades. And they are super expensive to replace, thousands of dollars. I'm just not a fan.
Someone on slashdot some time ago mentioned using glasses with yellow lenses to reduce the glare at night by blocking some of that blue light. Now that my eyes are older this is
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Worst is the flicker in my peripheral vision when I'm being followed by a car with LED lights. I don't know if they're stock or aftermarket but I wonder if they ever cause seizures in other drivers?
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The cops don’t even pull people over for blowing through red lights anymore. Drive double or triple the speed limit, you won’t get pulled over.
Re: Easy Fix (Score:2)
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Who said unapproved, and who said Chinese (which is what you call it when you're not a racist twat)? There are plenty of US companies selling LED replacement systems and in many cases it's not illegal to do so.
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While doing some work on the security system near the front desk of the Tacoma PD I overheard a fellow say to the cop manning the post, "My neighbor stole my bike, I can see it in his yard. I need it to get to work tomorrow, can you send a cop over to arrest him so that I can get it back?"
Looking around and not seeing anyone who would care the officer replied, "The DA won't prosecute them unless the theft rises to the level of a felony, so we really can't arrest him. My advice would be that if he doesn't
Re:Easy Fix (Score:4, Insightful)
>"Pull them over and yank the aftermarket, unapproved Chink LED capsules. Raid AutoZone and impound that stuff on their shelves."
As bad as SOME of those can be (it very much depends on type, quality, and proper rotation/aim), I have far more problems with actual factory headlights on new cars. Especially most Jeeps (even when supposedly adjusted 'correctly'). Absolutely blinding.
I have never felt more unsafe driving at night. I have to put my hand up to block oncoming cars shockingly regularly.
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Tall vehicles are an issue because even when the lights angled down, they shine right into the eyes of drivers in lower down vehicles.
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for what exactly? they are not illegal... only thing that matters for headlights is that they have a high, and a low setting... otherwise.. there are no regulations governing them.
the lack of regulations is what's the issue... for such a key component of operating a vehicle safely on a road way and not creating a hazard for other drivers... amazes me that no one had regulations for this crap. But even if they tried... who will be enforcing it? with what money? you'd need to test every single car/head light
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the lack of regulations is what's the issue...
So, we get some regulations written. It's not like we didn't have them before. Remember the "good old days" when the only approved headlight was a 7" sealed beam H6024?
But even if they tried... who will be enforcing it?
States. States that want to keep receiving federal highway money. And it's not like the "good old days". When it was just a judgement call by some cop. It would be trivially simple to automate the sensing and violation reporting. Your headlights are detected as out of whack. You get a "fix it" ticket in the mail.
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Depends on the location, some countries have laws, others don't, some municipalities do, some don't. Where there are laws sometimes they're enforced, sometimes they're not. There's no consistency, which gives manufacturers and modders a lot of leeway.
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If they find the bulbs in your house, you can keep them. If they find them in your car, they get yanked.
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They're perfectly legal products to own.
They are not perfectly legal products to sell, however, if the packaging and instructions induce buyers to break the law.
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Well, with it being an AC, the opinion is as stupid as normal.
Some drugs are legal. They're called pharmaceuticals, and you generally need a prescription from a doctor. Equally, these lamps themselves are legal. They're just not legal for use on the road.
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"Woke" is what sociopaths and scumbags yell when they want to discount or shame the idea of sympathy or empathy.
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100%.
It's like a bunch of people have found a word which means "not a racist, sexist, homophobic bigoted dickhead" and are trying to turn that into a slur.
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You said the magic word. Pay the price [imgur.com].
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I love it!
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Won't help, the drivers you meet are too stupid to understand.
Drivers using automatic headlights are just not smart enough to realize that the automatic headlight system is dumber than a stoned dog.
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Newer headlights have a higher color temperature and an absolutely shitty CRI. Things that are green are nearly invisible at night with modern headlights. It's nearly impossible to see detail or depth, either.
"Daylight" bulbs have always been obnoxious because they create such an unnatural reproduction of what is actually being illuminated.
CRI is actually independent of color temperature, though in general higher temps have higher CRIs. If your color rendition is bad it is the quality of the light source, not its temperature that is the issue.
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I work in manufacturing LED lighting.
A-MEN to this.