LED headlights have been increasing in popularity over the years, but they are also causing issues on the road.
By: Cayley Bowman, Community Editor
I think everyone is aware of LED headlights—those bright blue (purple, yellow, green) lights that practically blind you when you pass them on the road, especially at night. Although they may offer the most illuminated option for headlights and benefit the driver, they have many repercussions for other drivers on the road. It is reported that since 2013, there have been an average of approximately 293 accidents (reported) a year in which LED headlights are a contributing factor.
Human eyes are not adapted to LED headlights, as we have dark-adapted eyesight (the retina adapts to decreasing levels of light, which entails a change from a cone to a rod activity, and the light sensitivity becomes different). LED headlights are considered to be “too concentrated” for the human eye, especially from a longer distance. Manufacturers take advantage of the high LED luminosity, using small chips to make the headlights smaller with narrow and bright centers to the LED beam. This causes the light to not be evenly distributed across the headlight beam, which results in blinding as they come closer due to being solely in the center.
These lights also cause disability glare, which is the loss of retinal image contrast caused by scattered light. According to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, “Between the ages of 15 and 65, the time it takes to recover from glare increases from one to nine seconds.” Human eyes are not adapted to the blue spectrum in LED lights, and it interferes with the night-adapted vision of the eye. The brightness and blueness of the light blind other drivers and then cause photopsia (when there are floaters in your vision, sometimes caused by lighting or age). This has happened to me multiple times, leaving me with floaters in my vision caused by LED headlights for at least a few minutes. This is an issue for drivers, as it hinders their vision for at least a couple of minutes. The situation is worse when the person being blinded is someone who may not have the best night vision and needs glasses.
Many people complain about this subject on a daily basis, and it does cause accidents. While there are no strict laws in place for this sort of thing (LED bulbs cannot be brighter than 3,000 lumens), civilians are trying to get them banned. Mark Baker started a petition on change.org to “ban blinding headlights and save lives!” The petition was started in 2016 and as of now, has 60,107 out of 70,000 signatures. The petition has videos of people giving their experiences and opinions on LED headlights. Part of the description states, “We are asking Congress, the Department of Transportation, NHTSA, and the FDA to take this matter seriously and properly regulate LEDs as spatially non-homogeneous, directed energy radiation.”
Along with the petition to ban these headlights, there are also several Reddit threads about this issue. Some date as far back as five years ago, highlighting that blinding LED lights have been an issue for quite a while. One specific thread from two years ago is titled, “Those bright-ass LED headlights should be illegal.” The post has 251 comments from people discussing back and forth the downfalls of LED headlights. One person stated, “The biggest issue I have seen is with after-market mods/installations, especially where the light spectrum is off the legal charts and extremely blinding/piercing to the eyes.” This comment indicates that people are buying bulbs that are past the legal lumen limits, simultaneously breaking the law and blinding all the other drivers on the road. However, how often is this something cops pull people over for? Not very often.
Something needs to be done about the rampant LED headlights problem. It is getting to a point where it is dangerous for others to be on the road, especially if their eyes are weaker. Accidents have risen, and there is a large attribution between them and the headlights. Even if a petition is not the answer, there has to be something put in place so people’s vision is no longer hindered while driving.