Quarter of Motorists Avoiding Night Driving

A new study has revealed one in four UK motorists avoid night driving because of bright headlights found on modern cars.

The study, conducted by the UK’s Royal Automotive Club, found 95 per cent of British drivers agreed that at least some headlights are too bright – forcing many to stay off the roads at night.

Headlamp technology has advanced significantly in the past two decades, with the Lexus LS600h being the first production car to be fitted with LED low-beam headlights – followed by the Audi R8 V10 supercar a year later, which had LED lights all around.

Almost 60 per cent of those surveyed said headlight dazzle made driving “more difficult and uncomfortable” – a figure which increases to 67 per cent for those aged over 75.

Even worse, 97 per cent of drivers said they were affected by glare “in some form” – with almost 80 per cent of those saying it was hard to tell when a vehicle was indicating at night, and 77 per cent admitting it was difficult to judge the position of oncoming vehicles with bright headlamps.

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Alarmingly, 67 per cent found it hard to judge how far away oncoming vehicles were, while 74 per cent couldn’t tell how fast they were approaching.

The study found 72 per cent of those suffering problems with glare associated the problem with whiter coloured lights – indicating the problem relates to bi-xenon and LED headlights.

While traditional halogen globes emit between 700 and 1200 lumens on average, LED globes can output up to 8000 lumens.

Drivers locally with too-bright headlights that don’t comply with Australian Design Rules are at risk of being fined or having their vehicle defected.

Have you been affected by bright headlights? Should there be stricter rules for bi-xenon and LED headlights in Australia? Let us know in the comments section below.