Driving is always a very stressful experience for me and lately it has gotten so much worse
Is this something to do with LEDs inherently, or are they just being set too bright and blue coloured?
this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2024
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chapotraphouse
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Angled too high, mostly.
I always hear this excuse but I think it’s bullshit. It definitely makes it worse but the lights themselves are the problem. They’re too bright, too blue, and the “safety feature” that IF they’re properly aligned the light has a hard cutoff doesn’t help if the car coming at you is going slightly uphill
Angle isn’t that important when the angle cars face you changes all the time
personally I think a lot of it is just the height arms race. I see a lot of Jeeps in the city; their headlights are physically taller than my rear view mirror. Angle won't help that
Hm, I don't think that's natural to LEDs.
Correct, just shitty headlight placement
Yeah no, this laserlight ultra bright shit cutting straight into your eyes wasn't there 20 years ago, sorry kid.
there's inherent problems too.
- Except for where they screw into the socket, incandescent bulbs are point sources that emit light in all directions. About half of it comes out "backwards" and then is reflected out with a parabolic reflector. So oncoming traffic sees a large but relatively low-intensity light source. Power LEDs are bound to a flat substrate and the light comes basically straight out. This means that manufacturers are able to dispense with the reflectors. When you're behind a car with LED taillights, you see a bunch of little bright points instead of a big soft one. Total lumens might be the same, but the small high-intensity points are more likely to dazzle you.
- LEDs are much bluer than incandescents; making them warmer comes with its own downsides. Idk if this really matters though
kafka esq. is very good.
Polarized glasses help to some degree (as long as they dont darken) However if your windscreen is like that you a) need new wiper blades and b) also need to clean the damn screen inside and out. Also check out the German lighting standards. They're prolly the best in the world. All headlights need to have reflector/diffuser fittings to limit glare.
It's probably not as bad as the US but tbh with how cheap and ubiquotous Xenon replacement kits are and how little people give a fuck about setting their headlights right all the technical prowess in the world does not stop people from flashbanging oncoming traffic permanently because they can't be arsed to do some simple adjustments
Found a pair of cheapo yellow tinted "night driving" glasses at a Walmart that my wife says actually does a little bit to reduce the glare while driving a car. Shit still blinds you but slightly less so the edge of the road is still mostly visible.
Not sure how effective they are outside of a car's windshield though.
Halogen gang
I can see the image clearly though? It's just a picture of a pickup truck. I don't know what y'all are going on about.
are you joking
Yeah. But you know I'm right tho
I've considered strategically placing a few strips of retro-reflective marine tape on my car just to start counter-blinding people who get too close with poorly aimed headlights.
I got a car that came with HID bulbs once. The car was low to the ground and the lights were shrouded and angled properly. They illuminated just the ground in front of you (like 50-100 feet) but came up to the right so things on the shoulder were visible. If you wanted to see everything in front of you that was far away on an unlit road you turned on the high-beams.
Don't you love how huge trucks have their lights at EYE FUCKING LEVEL with sedans? Also any time a car hits a bump I panic because I think they're flashing their brights because my taillights are out, but no. LED headlights.