If you disagree, try living in darkness for half the year and see if you hold the same opinion by the end of it. Don't @ me
The only inaccurate part is that the vehicle shown isn't eight feet tall and ten tons
Yeah honestly I’d prefer to see this than the trucks I actually see
Some of them (tr*ck owners) install an extra bar of extra bright lights even higher up
I’m not sure if the issue is LEDs in and of themselves, or the aggressive way manufacturers design them. Especially given how many vehicles are SUVs and crossovers these days that have the light right at the eye level for someone driving a sane vehicle.
I've also been told that adjusting colors and shades makes LEDs burn eyes less, but I have yet to experience a lack of visual pain and threats of auto-collisions that proves thats all that's needed
yeah, the same things about the light that burn your retinas also make things seem brighter and more visible to the driver of the vehicle so why would anyone ever sell a car with warm white LEDs instead of cold? just for the comfort of other people? not in america
at this point I think they're just maximizing light output within what little government regulations exist on like, angles and cutoff points and stuff. If they made softer whites and did something to reduce how much of it went into the eyes of people in front of you in short vehicles, it could be fine, but those don't sell cars, the bright cold white is still the modern aesthetic in that industry, and providing the driver with what feels like peak visibility is the priority, other road users do not get consideration
Just another aspect of how cars, especially amerikkkan ones, are designed for the convenience and comfort of their drivers specifically at the expense of everyone else near or on the road.
It’s cars folks. Cars are no good
Shouldn’t have to deal with that light whatsoever
Me, a pestrian looking into the lights to make sure there aren't any drivers or ebikes that are going to run me over
“LEDs” aren’t technically the problem, it’s the way that LED headlights are designed. There are LEDs that mimic incandescent lights really well. Use LEDs that have the same color, brightness, and softer distribution that incandescents have and we can still get the benefits of LEDs without this absurdity. They should be able to slot into the headlight socket of a car from 1990 with absolutely no issue and it should be hard to tell it’s any different.
The problem ones are all LEDs, but it’s not a problem inherent to LEDs.
Even worse, modern LED headlights are a whole unit. If part of the lights go out you're stuck replacing a $200+ headlight assembly instead of a $10-20 bulb.
Ironically I hate this but I’m completely in favor of returning to sealed beam headlights
No more choice. There are two types of headlight. Car manufacturer, you get to choose how to fit one of those two types of headlight on your car. That is the end of your choices.
The problem ones are all LEDs, but it’s not a problem inherent to LEDs.
Replace "LED" with "Capitalist" and we'll see who the real lib is!
They should be able to slot into the headlight socket of a car from 1990 with absolutely no issue and it should be hard to tell it’s any different.
this is the only part I don't think is completely true. older headlight housings and lenses/reflectors are designed for a single high intensity point of light (well not quite a point but a tiny coil like a grain of rice size max,) and LEDs don't behave like that (they tend to require more surface area to output that much light, and are directional), so putting any ol' LED drop-in bulb in old housings is somewhat risky and usually results in unintended beam patterns that don't match the OEM bulbs and can blind other drivers. With modern LED technology it may be possible to engineer a custom drop-in that works for the vast majority of old reflector designs but that isn't what any of the ones I've seen do, they just more or less mimic the size and shape of a bulb and cram as many surface mount LEDs on as they can and call it a day.
Also this is a dumb nitpick but I don't believe LEDs (at least consumer grade ones) can offer the full spectrum distribution of sunlight or even incandescent bulbs, since LEDs each output one specific wavelength. With the right combination of LED types and phosphor coatings I think they get close? but still have more peaks and valleys than incandescent
Goddamn bleach demons are burning my eyes with their presence.
Seriously, lights are so fucking bright on cars anymore you can't see a goddamned thing most of the time while driving at night. Teslas are the worst of the worst.
The real problem is the directional adjustments of the light and the lenses
High power lights have existed for decades, but before LEDs they were prohibitevily expensive, so they were mostly used on semi trucks and other professional vehicles with more regulation on how those lights can be directed
I imagine most of the OEM lights are just as bright as most of the aftermarket stuff, but they are properly adjusted so they don't blind the oncoming traffic and you don't notice them
I got some polarized yellow lenses. makes a huge difference for me
I hear ya, but just think about the absurdity of the fact that you need fucking
sunglasses to drive at night
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/09/headlamp-tech-that-doesnt-blind-oncoming-drivers-where-is-it/
I don't remember if this was the tech that was approved by the US, but I thought I heard somewhere that some led tech was going to be mandated to be installed on all new vehicles by a certain year, but now I can't find it. Maybe it wasn't that drastic. The US is lagging so behind on road safety, and it would be nice not to be blinded on the road. Sometimes some asshole has a million lights all turned on on their massive SUV, during a massive rain storm, and I essentially have to slam on the pedal in an intersection hoping I don't have to get by traffic coming from either side as I can't see anything at all while the person just sits there not paying attention.
I thought 90% people weren't turning their brights off all the time at night, but it seems more like half of the people's headlights are just that bright. Lately when I come home late from work, I have a slight headache from the constant 40 min of eye strain.
Gonna learn electrical engineering so I can equip my car's headlight housing with a fusillade of class 4 lasers then driving around D.C so I can motivate the hill to get a fucking move on with road safety laws.
- Show
Nice, I plan on going back to school for electrical engineering, too. Solidarity! <3
the best part about this tech is that it probably means pedestrians and other non-car "obstacles" will still be blinded. Just not other drivers
ugh
I've considered getting a reflective bumper sticker, but likely wouldn't be enough.
