Scourge of bright headlights dazzling British drivers to be probed

The scourge of headlights on drivers in the UK is to be investigated by independent experts.

Berkshire-based Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) will measure light levels as drivers experience them using a modified vehicle, which will also monitor weather conditions and ambient light.

An increasing number of drivers have complained of the dazzling effect caused by oncoming headlights, with the RAC welcoming the new research, according to the BBC.

Ian Loader, who chairs the cycling campaign group Cyclox, told the broadcaster cars are bigger, heavier and higher on roads now, meaning headlights are more likely to fall into people’s sightlines.

He said: “The risk is drivers have lights that are so bright that you feel you are making yourself safe but you’re actually making the environment around you less safe, because you are interrupting the vision of people around you.”

The RAC urged the then Conservative Government to commission an independent study into the problem of headlight glare in January.

In April, former prime minister Rishi Sunak‘s administration announced it would launch such a probe, with the Labour Government confirming in September that it will go ahead.

A survey of 2,000 drivers carried out by the motoring organisation found 89 percent believed at least some car headlights are too bright.

Twenty-eight percent thought most headlights are excessively bright. Among those who complained of brightness, 91 percent reported having been dazzled while driving, according to the RAC.

Rod Dennis, the RAC’s spokesperson on road safety, has said understanding what causes the problem and what can be done about it will be a “huge step forward” for drivers.

The College of Optometrists has pointed out the irony of car manufacturers improving the vision of drivers with “brighter and better” headlights affecting the sight of those behind the wheel of oncoming vehicles.

Becky McCall from the organisation has said previously that sport utility vehicles (SUVs) appear to shoulder much of the blame as they rise higher off the ground.

Campaign group LightAware has said LED headlights are particularly incompatible with dark-adapted human eyesight, being too bright, too blue and too “concentrated”.

It said the human eye has evolved so it can adapt to a range of light levels from bright sunlight to near darkness, but it cannot do so in a short space of time.

Motorist, Malcolm Johnson, told the BBC high-performance lights are too bright, adding: “Even when they are dipped they shine too much.”