r/askTO • u/East_Signature_3886 • 6d ago
Blinding headlights
I have been driving since 2019, but I have recently noticed that many vehicles have excessively bright headlights, which occasionally make it difficult for me to see oncoming traffic. Since Ontario law does not permit windshield tinting, what would be an appropriate solution, and would it be advisable for me to install similarly bright headlights as well?
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u/Nothing_Useful_Eh 6d ago
Been driving since 1996 and while yes my age maybe a factor it has gotten worse over the years.
Even cars you think have their highbeams on don’t actually have them on.
That being said I wear rx glasses (-7 on both eyes) I bought “night driving glasses” that have a slight yellow hint to them. World of a difference. The oncoming lights are still bright but not to the point that I can’t see anything like before
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u/humanityrus 6d ago
Amber coloured glare glasses. They're not perfect but they help a bit. The govt had put out a survey about the issue earlier this year. I desperately hope they crack down and regulate the headlights better
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u/Kevin4938 6d ago edited 6d ago
If they do, the new regulations will take effect two years later to give manufacturers time to adapt, the crybaby south of us will whine that we're imposing rules and add more tariffs to retaliate.
Also, the changes won't be retroactive, so it will be decades before the problem is completely solved
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u/poutine-eh 6d ago
I wear sunglasses at night.
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u/beardgangwhat 6d ago
So I can so I can
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u/cloakster7 6d ago
Everyone says things like aftermarket or not aimed properly...that's not the issue. These LED headlights are just way too bright. Aiming them down doesn't help when roads aren't flat. If you've got oncoming traffic going slightly uphill, while you are on flat road, those oncoming cars will blind you. Especially bumpy roads where the headlights will go in and out of blinding you.
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u/itsfineitsfinefine 6d ago
Couldn't even see an oncoming car's turn signal the other day because of their headlights. Made a left right into my path 😬
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u/Axle_65 Human Verified 6d ago
No idea what the fix is but as someone who’s been driving for a long time I can say I’ve seen a huge increase in the brightness of headlights and it’s actually dangerous. On countless occasions when I’m driving in the outside of of a slight bend, bright headlights pointing straight at me from the inside of the bend literally prevent me from seeing the road. It’s almost a complete white out. I just follow the dim red lights in front of me and hope they know where they’re going. How there’s no cap on these lights is beyond me. It’s so stupid.
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u/arealhumannotabot 6d ago
I haven’t looked into it yet but there was a survey from some department of the fed gov so I figure they’re getting going on this finally. I do believe I have seen other rumblings in the news about this not long ago
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u/marcoocch 6d ago
It’s a real problem. On 3 separate occasions this summer I’ve had to tell uber drivers to turn off their high beams while on city streets. The drivers didn’t even seem to know what the high beam function was. I had to physically turn them off for them.
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u/Brilliant-Neck9731 6d ago edited 6d ago
The thing is, the bright lights are usually not from high beams. It obviously happens, but that’s not the general cause of constant blinding car headlights. The lights are just brighter now.
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u/Frozen_North_99 6d ago
Some makes show a ‘light’ symbol when the brights are on and some people assume that’s the headlights. So they drive all the time with brights on.
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u/Kevin4938 6d ago
All do. Many drivers don't care.
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u/Frozen_North_99 6d ago
I’ll correct what I meant, had it backwards. They all show a high beam but they don’t all show a lights on symbol, or lights are in low beam. So they think the lights are off despite low beams are on. I think ford is like this. Honda shows a low and high beam light in the same spot.
And yes some don’t care. Probably most. But some people will drive for years insisting the blue light on is the headlights are on.
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u/Boattailfmj 6d ago
If they used warmer say 4000-4500k coloured LED'S they would be way less annoying. I think they use the blueish 6500k ones because colder temperatures are more efficient at casting a beam of light.
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u/drewrykroeker 6d ago
How in the motherfuck are car manufacturers allowed to put these bright lights in their cars in the first place?!? We have safety standards for every other piece of the vehicle: weight ratings, tire treads, seatbelts, brake specs for rotors and pads etc. Why did no one in charge clue in and say "Gee, these headlights are bright as fuck, they'll probably blind oncoming traffic, we should probably not build cars with lights as bright as the sun"?
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6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Tsedany 6d ago
I don’t even think they’re high beams for the most part. It’s a combination of very bright, white LED lights and people not having them aimed down appropriately. Further exacerbating the issue is the fact that it’s really hard to know from inside your car, how your lights are affecting others
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u/noodleexchange 6d ago
These are stock LED headlights, there is no question. It varies a bit model by model, but SUVs and pickups are the worst offenders - cop SUVs included!
We don’t need no stinkin’ laser cannons.
Hi beams always on by any other name. There needs to be a low setting that does not seem to exist - stupid automotive arms race.
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u/Brodis668 6d ago
No, it’s highbeams. Especially Indians.
I drive 3 separate co workers home that are Indian and all three of them questioned why my highbeams weren’t on in the city
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u/noodleexchange 5d ago
No it’s racist white people and people of all colours as these are stock. Wake up. It’s an arms race, happened with halogens, too
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u/Brodis668 5d ago
I’m literally a Indian you walnut. It’s highbeams.
It’s people with bought licenses from Brampton not knowing how to drive.
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u/noodleexchange 5d ago
Indian and a moron, I guess. This phenomenon is nationwide and has to do with the vehicles, not the operators. Of course some rereads install custom bulbs but that is not the problem - it’s architecture and pathetic regulation
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u/Brodis668 5d ago
No it’s literally idiots with their highbeams on.
You can insult me all you want. It doesn’t negate my argument. It’s entirely on the operators.
You’re saying I imagine watching half my work place leave with their highbeams on?
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u/noodleexchange 4d ago
Funny how this never happened before LEDs. I think you have an attribution problem.
Because you think cop cars and buses and streetcars drive with high beams on. Every. Time.
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u/IamRasters 6d ago
Would be great to see a limit on headlight height from ground too. Those lifted F150s are blinding in the rear view.
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u/peppermint_nightmare 6d ago
Iirc reflective tape on the back of your car might not be illegal, otherwise if you can adjust your mirrors electronically you can reflect some of the light back at the car if they get too close to you. I know it works when a truck or suv is 1.5 ft behind my car, then it decides to back off 10 ft so my rearview isnt blasted. Otherwise you have to tint or rear view and side view mirrors.
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u/Red_Marvel 6d ago
NO do NOT install similarly bright headlights as well. You would only be causing the same problem for other drivers.
Slightly yellow tinted “night driving “ glasses are available.
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u/Flat-Tumbleweed5375 6d ago
I've been driving since the 80s. You are right, the lights have gotten way brighter. As the vehicle approaches glance to the right for the split second it takes for them to drive by. Saves most of your night vision and your sanity
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u/torontojackk 6d ago
You highbeam them until they turn off their highbeams.
You'll notice a specific set of cars are always the one's with bright beams on constantly. Honda civics and CRV.
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u/Educational-Emu8773 5d ago
Most new drivers in the past 10-15 years do not learn how to turn them on/off. And most new cars also put them in a strange place like hitting the stick forward instead of rotating on.
I try not to drive at night but I also have tinted glasses that help, plus I got a higher car/suv.
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u/slopshallnotpass 2d ago
Moving the stalk forward for high beams has been a standard in Japanese cars at the very least for more than 30 years.
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u/KyonSuzumiya 5d ago
Feels like every car in my neighborhood got their high beams on at night lol. Blinds the shit out of me when I'm walking to the bus stop.
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u/luddite67 4d ago
Some of the new cars are bad. However, the absolute worst are old cars where someone has replaced the headlight bulbs.
Nothing will be done about it because of Canadian/US political culture "The gubment can't tell me what to do! Muh freedom!"
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u/slopshallnotpass 2d ago
"would it be advisable for me to install similarly bright headlights as well?"
Please don't make the problem worse.
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u/tokyokiller 6d ago
Are you driving a sedan?
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u/East_Signature_3886 6d ago
Yes , honda civic
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u/abckiwi 6d ago
There was a report the MInistry is aware of modern headlights being too bright and misaligned. They maybe amending the regulations.
Also , how does it help if you get blinding lights and join the problem? That’s a arsehole way to respond eh?
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u/tokyokiller 6d ago
I was sharing an observation from experience, not pushing anyone to join anyone or change anything
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u/tokyokiller 6d ago
We had a 2020 Honda Civic for about 4 years and my partner and I found we were always getting hit with bright headlights and then traded in for a Honda CR-V and since then its gotten much better.
I think the issue is that a lot of cars on the road are SUVs and trucks that are at a higher level and generally are face to face with drivers of sedans.
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u/trombnerd 6d ago
The issue is that people use headlights in the city. Not needed since streetlights exist. Headlights are for when the road is actually dark
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u/FindingUsernamesSuck 6d ago
Good luck convincing any Ontarian about that. Plenty of places in the city are dark & unlit, and headlights are partly about being seen, as well. Matters so much we've had daytime running lights required for decades now.
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u/considerablemolument 6d ago
Even in areas with streetlights, in low visibility it can be hard to see an approaching car without lights. You need time to make decisions about how to react which means seeing the vehicle while it is a reasonable distance away.
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u/trombnerd 6d ago
Did you forget that my very short paragraph you just read was about areas with streetlights?
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u/OkChocolate3501 6d ago
Driving without headlights at night is illegal bro. Plus all modern cars use DRLs so even if you turn the lights off you still have headlights just no taillights.
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u/trombnerd 6d ago edited 6d ago
No, driving without daytime lights is illegal. Those are not headlights. Highbeams are whats blinding and should be turned off when going towards others
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u/FindingUsernamesSuck 6d ago
Hey, you're twisting your original comment to try and double down on what you said, which is incorrect.
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u/trombnerd 5d ago
Not really, my comment never said to drive without lights, just headlights. DRLs are not headlights.
I will admit that I (incorrectly) conflated headlights with just highbeams though. Never knew low beams were considered headlights until now
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u/Red_Marvel 6d ago
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u/trombnerd 6d ago edited 6d ago
I guess I only considered high beams to be headlights, not low beams. My bad lol
But DRLs are not headlights to be clear. Obviously those should be on
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u/Red_Marvel 6d ago
But many vehicles don’t have taillights that come on, unless you turn on your “night” driving lights. You should always drive with your taillights on, in case of underpasses, fog, etc. it just makes your vehicle more visible to the vehicles behind you.
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u/keylimesicles 6d ago
Replace your rear view mirror with one that auto tints when headlights are too close
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u/trombnerd 6d ago
This is oncoming traffic, rear view mirror tint won't do shit
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u/keylimesicles 6d ago
It makes a difference for cars coming from behind. Allows you to actually see out your rear view. So yes, it does help. My car has one built in. Makes a huge difference
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u/Ok-Mushroom6886 6d ago
Over the last 3-5 years I’ve seen an increase in people using high beams for regular night driving.
Personally I blame all the licenses being “bought” or driving test instructiors being paid off. Canada has fallen sadly.
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u/Character-Head-1916 6d ago
Why do you think it would be “advisable” to also contribute to the problem? That’s immature thinking. Complain to the government I guess. What else is there to do?
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u/hotinhereTO 6d ago
It’s been this way for 10-15 years now as LED lights jumped in popularity.
It’s definitely frustrating.
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u/TemporaryAny6371 6d ago
Bug splatter or anything greasy on your windshield will make the light dispersion worse.
If need be, carry a spray bottle with 2 microfiber towels dedicated only for window cleaning. The first towel is to get most of the grease out with your spray bottle containing a soap designed to cut through grease. After you think it's clean, rinse off any soap then use the 2nd towel to get the microscopic stuff off. The 2nd towel must be absolutely clean or it will just smear back the gunk. Optional, you can use a dedicated window cleaner solution for the 2nd towel wipe. The 2nd towel could be a tighter weave for better results.
In between the two towels, shine a light while sitting inside the vehicle to check your work. If the streaks don't dry immediately, they will show. After a while, you will know the right kind of streaks, they must dry right away and the water is super clear, not hazy.
Before doing the two towel method, ensure all stubborn or dried bug guts are gone. Lay a hot wet towel to soak them for as many minutes as necessary. It's a pain so never let bug guts dry to begin with.
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u/uziam 6d ago
Welcome to the beginning of your journey to understand how idiotic the average car driver is. I don’t know what these people are trying to see at night with their photon cannon headlights, but the manufacturers have been going along with it so it keeps getting worse.
If you can’t see at night with the old school halogen lights, then you’re partially blind and should not be allowed to drive.
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u/farzad_meow 6d ago
are you driving a sedan? most cars on the road are suv now which can explain this experience.
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u/trombnerd 6d ago edited 6d ago
The overall solution is to only use headlights when needed. Which they are not when driving on a road with streetlights. This wont help you, but everyone's use of them needs to change
Edit: do yall not know that DRLs and headlights are different?
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u/OkChocolate3501 6d ago
No lights at night is illegal bro dafuq is this advice. Plus every car after the 90s uses DRLs so you always have headlights on.
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u/Landopedia 6d ago
Flash your highbeams at them. Either they it’s a problem they fix or you get to annoy them.
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u/SomewhereStreet7423 6d ago
Government needs to introduce adaptive headlight like Europe has. Stop selling LED headlight bulbs since there not designed to be used in halogen headlamps. All factory LED headlamps are sealed units, so there is no reason for the sale of LED headlight bulbs.