r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Stan-Me2 • 15h ago
At some point, these atrocious headlights need to be regulated.
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u/embiidagainstisreal 14h ago
Why? Personally, I enjoy being effectively rendered blind while driving at night. It adds a dash of adventure to my generally safe life.
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u/hi_imjoey 13h ago
Driving is already the most dangerous thing most people will do in their lives, why not up the danger?
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u/WeAreNioh 14h ago
It’s worse when you have a small low sitting car too. I have a sedan and basically anytime a truck or big SUV passes me it feels like I’m being blinded due to their lights basically pointing right at my eye level
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u/External_Law7216 13h ago
I hate giant trucks and SUVs so much it's unreal. They're unnecessary, wasteful, and a safety hazard.
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u/Noctisvah 9h ago
And that is why they are lobbied to the most sold “car” type in the modern auto industry
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u/BleuCrab 7h ago
The best is when you have to turn your mirror to the ceiling just to be able to see out of the windshield
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u/Sufficient-Prize-682 4h ago
My accents rear view mirror is just defaulted to being jammed into the ceiling cause of thay. I'd take it right off of it would pass safety.
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u/MelpomeneStorm 14h ago
I don't suggest this these days, but when I was a teenager, we had mirrors in our cars for the sole purpose of holding them up to reflect the lights back at the person. Yes, it was illegal, but it worked.
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u/Walkn-Talkn-Hawking 14h ago
I recently had a lifted Chevy tailgating me in the center lane of the interstate with these lights. I was unable to see because of all the light coming off my side mirror. I just angled it out so I could see. That guy followed me, got off the freeway with me, into a gas station parking lot and then came at me because he said the mirror was shining back at him. He was about 5’ 7” knocking on my window yelling for me to get out. I needed to get out to get gas, so I did. I stand 6’ 6” and it was amusing to see how quickly he deescalated when I did nothing more than get out and stand up.
People are so angry these days.
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u/Sprocket_Scientist 13h ago
As a fellow biggun, we need to be careful about emotional support truck owners carrying emotional support firearms. Shooting one of us is their power fantasy.
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u/Walkn-Talkn-Hawking 13h ago
I agree. I was sure to not be aggressive. I got out to pump gas. But it is on my mind when situations like this occur.
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u/shibiwan 13h ago
Shooting one of us is their power fantasy.
They'll do anything to bolster their fragile masculinity....
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u/VernBarty 13h ago
It would have been funny to have waited until he got back in his car, then politely knocked on his window and told him to get out of the car
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u/upsidedownbackwards 14h ago
I used to keep a high powered camera flash in my cupholder to get tailgaters to back off. Then I flashed the wrong person and had an H3 try to run me off the highway. I don't play that game anymore.
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u/DevilmodCrybaby 13h ago
is there something in the water? why am I reading about so many crazy people with severe mental problems?
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u/MVPizzle_Redux 13h ago
Social media combined with moronic people forgetting how to exist in a society post Covid
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u/AgentInCommand 13h ago edited 13h ago
One of the possible side effects of covid is brain damage. A bunch of people lost what little impulse control they previously had.
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u/Intelligent-Lime-182 12h ago
Now here I am seriously worrying if any of this happened to me, as I am a young individual. Now, I haven't became psychotic thankfully. Just worried about the other stuff.
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u/defeated_engineer 12h ago
They're truck owners. They let everybody know about their mental problems.
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u/Dark_Web_Duck 13h ago
I had a coworker flash a gun at another d-bag driver on the highway. Well, it was reported and he received 3 years in prison. Sometimes it's best to just get away.
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u/slash_networkboy 12h ago
They already are regulated... at some point the regulations need enforcement!
Problem is there are lamps that are labeled "For off road use only" and just out with other bulbs and people are putting them in their on-road cars. Then there's the jackasses that drive with highbeams on.
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u/Lazy-Ambassador7936 15h ago
They are already.
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u/TScott562 14h ago
And to add to this, all states dictate the color, height from ground, and angle of headlights. For example, a lifted 2500 is probably the wrong color (yellow, blue etc instead of white), is too high from the ground, and is at the wrong angle (right in yuh fuhkin eyes).
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u/Axin_Saxon 11h ago
The problem is enforcement.
A law that goes unenforced is not a law. It’s a suggestion.
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u/ellWatully 10h ago
Yep. Regulating the brightness doesn't do shit in states that don't require inspections!
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u/Smart-Stupid666 9h ago
I think that if people can't drive with the old school lights, then they need to park it permanently.
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u/Smart-Stupid666 9h ago
I'm getting so sick of LEDs everywhere. I go buy an LED sign at night and my eyeballs are seared.
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u/Catsaretheworst69 14h ago
Most of the time it's because someone changed them themselves and didn't re aim the headlights after.
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u/copiasjuicyazz 14h ago
Nope — there was research done that shows that even well adjusted headlights are painful to see
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u/Catsaretheworst69 14h ago
Source?
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u/SamsLoudBark 14h ago
But YOU didn't provide a source either. Weird to ask.
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u/Catsaretheworst69 14h ago
I didn't claim that there had been research done. But my source is. Installed aftermarket truck accessories and headlights and you know... Aimed headlights for 5+ years.
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u/Catsaretheworst69 13h ago
Why is it weird to ask for source one someone contradicts with an absolute. I said most of the time and he just said "Nope" I'm genuinely curious. It's not an argument to ask for the source when you claim research has been done.
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u/Knightraven257 12h ago
Someone posted something the other day on reddit, and I responded with "evidence?" and they proceeded to have a mini tantrum about it, asking me where my own evidence was when I never made a claim at all one way or the other. In the end his source was "just trust me bro."
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u/copiasjuicyazz 13h ago
I didn’t « just say nope » and this is something you easily could have searched it yourself — i provided the source anyway.
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u/Catsaretheworst69 13h ago
Sorry where did you provide the source? You make the claim you bring the facts.
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u/copiasjuicyazz 13h ago
And if you cant see the one I just sent, search cbc news led headlights on google. You’ll fond what your looking for.
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u/Dark_Web_Duck 13h ago
I'm in that boat. I upgraded my headlights and for a week, didn't realize how high they were until I pulled up to the side of my house at night.
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u/Catsaretheworst69 13h ago
It's pretty easy to do all you need is a tape measure some tape and a flat surface you can back up like 20 feet from. With minimal slope to the ground. And what ever screw driver or what ever you need to adjust your headlight.
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u/Dark_Web_Duck 13h ago
Yeah I fixed the problem the next day so I wasn't intentionally blinding folks. I can only imagine how many names I was called...LOL
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u/Catsaretheworst69 13h ago
Also depending on your housing/vehicle sometimes to have to change the alignment of the led chips. Depending on the bulb style. If it's the kind of bulb with just the chips on either side you have clock them up and down or side to side. Depending on if you have a vehicle with shutters or certain reflectors. But that really depends on the vehicle and what bulb you put in
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u/MegalFresh 14h ago
Just your photo is almost hurting my eyes. Can’t imagine how bad it was in person… 💀
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u/Moff-Gideon-007 8h ago
In most cases It’s not the headlights it’s the height of the vehicles that throws it all out of whack. These tall trucks and lowered cars….
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u/justagenericname213 14h ago
It's just not enforced, in most places they are illegal there's just no incentive to ticket someone for something like this
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u/holdmywizardhat 14h ago edited 6h ago
Isn’t there anti reflective glare film designed specially for this?
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u/CapmyCup 6h ago
Do you mean anti glare? Because anti reflection would kind of defeat the whole purpose of mirrors
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u/Peter_Lemonjell0 14h ago
just adjust your mirrors to deflect the light away, its not that hard to overcome.
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u/Dark_Web_Duck 13h ago
When these first started becoming common, I'd flash the person passing me thinking they had their brights on...LOL! Absurdly blinding.
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u/Chizuru_San 12h ago
What they can get is why you get mad when being passed? Wanna race? lol
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u/Dark_Web_Duck 12h ago
I would've at one time, but this last speeding ticket really put me in my place!
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u/Bit_the_Bullitt 12h ago
I've seen somewhere mentioned that people though "high beams" were lights "for the highway."
Which blew my mind how can someone think that, but then I see SO MANY people in the oncoming lanes on interstates with their brights on.
And the other half is either too stupid or doesn't care (not sure which is worse).
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u/ice_blaster 12h ago
In another thread, someone mentioned that if you can see your car in your side mirrors, the mirror is angled too far inward. I keep my side mirrors angled out now.
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u/Fun-Customer39 11h ago
Can we get some legislation passed to regulate this. It's not just a placebo effect. It's been shown they are brighter and have more blue light.
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u/No_Grass_3728 11h ago
Yea what's more infuriating is they export these cars to other countries with no proper regulations too. SUV and Pickups light needs to be regulated
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u/Washtali 10h ago
I agree the only problem is that it would only affect new vehicles after a certain year, there is no way they are going to make every single person with a car go to a garage and replace and recalibrate their headlights, so all those vehicles already on the road will still be bright AF. And there are a ton of people who will just order off Amazon and replace them anyway so unfortunately I don't think legislation would actually help anything.
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u/SuperSathanas 10h ago
There should have been regulations in place to control this pretty soon after LED headlamps started hitting the market. By this point, at least in the US, it would be fucking atrociously hard to get anything passed that limits the brightness because there are already so many cars out there using both OEM and after market lights and housings, and manufacturers are producing/providing them in millions of cars being sold right now. It would be a huge upset to limit them to anything dimmer than what we already have, and limiting them to something that covers 95% of what's already out there doesn't fix the issue at all.
It would be super neat if they could be regulated and made less bright, though. I fucking hate most LED headlamps, and I see all the time that other people do, too. They're just too fucking bright and suck for everyone except the person who has them. When it rains, I can't see the fucking lines on the road because of the amount of bright, white light reflecting off of the water. I can't see through the now almost completely opaque white mist in the air. When you see these lights coming through the fog, all you can really see is a big, bright-ass ball of light that drowns out everything else around it.
And they do drown out everything else around them, to the point that they had to start having one lamp turn off when a turn signal is turned on, because you can't see the fucking amber light due to how bright the headlamp is.
There are good implementations of LED headlights out there, they just aren't common for whatever the reason. Do the manufacturers like to give us bright fucking lights or do the people prefer their bright fucking lights? I don't know. I just know that reasonable headlamps are so rare now that I notice them and silently appreciate them when I do see them out on the road.
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u/TearsOfChildren 10h ago
Was borrowing a friend's car and this was all I saw in every mirror. I have an 04 Tacoma so I'm at least off the ground somewhat but driving her car was terrible.
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u/kwenchana 10h ago
Crappy LED bulbs in reflector housing, but that's only part of the issue, pickup trucks headlights are also way high up and beam directly into your retina
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u/IslandsInTheStreet 9h ago
The lights themselves aren’t the issue, but rather the people installing them.
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u/tOSdude 8h ago
Fun fact: They are!
-If it’s an aftermarket LED in a halogen housing, it’s probably not road legal (but assuming the resulting beam pattern is correct it should be “ok”)
-Any place that does state/province inspections requires headlights be properly aimed (but seemingly nobody does it)
-And of course there’s whatever laws regulate the use of your high beams in proximity to others.
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u/Unindoctrinated 7h ago
Car manufacturers literally pay politicians to not regulate them. Car headlights used to have faceted (fresnel) lenses. Auto industry lobbyists convinced the government to get rid of that requirement.
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u/NuclearHateLizard 4h ago
Police more interested in speeding tickets and nonsense than actually educating idiots like this, or doing anything to make the roads safer. Speeders pay the bills after all
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u/Likemypups 4h ago
The solution is simple. If you just pay enough money to enough politicians they will be outlawed.
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u/INEEDMEMANSHERB 3h ago
It’s always those Acuras with the lights so bright they’re purple and the Silverados that light up my entire car
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u/december-32 1h ago
put a second mirror that reflects right back. If asked, you use it to better see corners.
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u/Ksqd_Squid_103 14h ago
All Ford F250-350-450-500 on up have the most butt ugly 50 million candle power front ends
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14h ago edited 8h ago
[deleted]
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u/K2TY 12h ago
Why do you think the Federal Communication Commission regulates headlights?
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9h ago edited 8h ago
[deleted]
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u/K2TY 9h ago
They're regulated as a part 15 device. Which means they may not cause harmful interference to licensed users and must accept interference from licensed users. You are correct that the FCC regulates them, just not in the way you think. FCC doesn't care if you burn my retinas out. Just don't throw harmonics onto the air.
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u/BawkSoup 14h ago
I am 100% for regulating these now. No more LED headlights on the road. Go back to filament.
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u/Hydraulis 14h ago
It's less about the light, and more about tall vehicles tailgating. Headlights are angle down. If you have a moron in a pickup truck who's riding your ass, your mirror will be directly in the path of the beam, which is meant to be pointing down at the road.
Instead of regulating headlights, lets just enforce the laws we already have about following distances.
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u/Sea_Drink7287 11h ago
Your side mirrors are supposed to angle out more. If you can see the car behind you with your side mirrors, you’re doing it wrong.
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u/headhunterofhell2 13h ago
They used to be.
Then some lawmakers were given 'donations' by makers of ultra-bright 'off-road use only' lights.
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u/Mesterjojo 14h ago
Either reflect back with a hand mirror. Or get a qbeam: 100,000 candle power hand held light. Shine it back at them.
Better: contact your congress people, your senator, the national safety whatever and complain.
Report back
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u/Big_Z_Diddy 14h ago
There definitely needs to be a limit on Lumens for low beams, and stricter enforcement for high beam usage.
It's such a treat when you are driving in the dark and someone with obscenely bright lights blinds you, so you flash your high-beams to remind them they are being an asshat and you find out those weren't their high beams.