[Arun Varma]

I blame much of this on the prevalent psychology of most drivers/riders: bigger, bolder, brighter, and louder is always better. Sadly, this relentless pursuit of what I consider a phallic superiority comes at the cost of civic responsibility and makes things worse for most others. I have seen too many vehicle users change from stock (pick a part), without even trying to see whether it works "for them". Granted that some vehicles benefit from upgrades but it is never a universal or even a logical need. I understand that many owners want to personalize their vehicles. Cosmetic upgrades are perfectly fine other than being an eyesore to others, but some of the functional ones need to be tailored to the individual owners' specific needs and use cases for them to be viable. And then you have self-serving and rather puerile slogans that aid and abets this. Loud pipes save lives, is one example.

While the norms are present, they are mostly merely on paper and I suspect that many cops don't know the details. And of course, the degree of enforcement is indirectly proportional to the greasing of the palms!

[AudiFan]

What I have realised is that the cab drivers in Bangalore always drive with high Beam turned on, and private car owners counter them by turning on High beam just to spite them or beat them in to submission.
I guess its time the cab aggregators INTRODUCE Low beam feature available in the cars to their partner-drivers.
Most of these cabs come with basic headlamps as OEM but their High beams are potent enough to blind oncoming traffic with in city limits, and most of these cabs have additional lamps fitted to dominate the light wars.
I have seen Kerala cops penalising and dismantling such extra fittings on the spot, may be the same has to be done every where.

[TorquePull]

Aftermarket LED lights have been a menace in recent times. Omni busses and Trucks have started fitting them. Worse are the aux lamps that many vehicles have mounted on their bumpers. They don't illuminate well enough for the one who has it installed and also blinds oncoming vehicles, people just think LED means better.

I have been in a variety of cars in close circles and the ones with factory fit LED are not even good as seen in Creta/Alcazar, Sonet, City when compared to something as basic as Etios. They were not evenly lit with some patches darker than the other, it is bad to the point that I couldn't even tell if it's on high beam or low beam when there are series of oncoming vehicles. Cars like Hycross have decent lamps but when compared to Crysta's high beam, Hycross doesn't stand a chance. I think only Maruti has well lit LED lamps, probably due to the projector setup, the same applies for last gen Q3 with LED projector.

Even the bikes with factory LED lights perform poorly compared to a well designed halogen, they just blind the oncoming traffic. Not to forget the little LED lamps they have on the crash guard.

[revsperminute]

Installing aftermarket LEDs in stock reflectors has become one of the most common modifications nowadays. A renowned accessory shop in my area looked at me like I was an alien when I asked for simple stock-replacement Philips/Osram bulbs for my Honda City a few months back. “Sir white light laga lo, dipper tez hoga” was the suggestion I got.

[Meph1st0]

The problem in our country is not the lack of rules/law but the lack enforcement of rules/law and lack of discipline to follow them.

This is one example of aftermarket bulb that is available in amazon. This is a LED light with a wattage of 210W. Just image how bright it would be. The ad claims 700% more light which could be true as 30W LED is roughly equivalent to a 60W halogen in terms of light output. The other problem is using such a LED bulb on stock halogen reflector, these are irritating even in low beam.

[Ranger747]

I stopped driving at night due to this problem. I like to drive in low beam always, but sometimes forced to use high beam due to the oncoming floodlights. There is hardly anything we can do against them. They are so bright, you just repent you didn't bring a brighter one along. just to see ahead.
Now a days, I just try not to drive in the night at all. I don't have much hope of getting this problem fixed in the near future. It boils down to the overall thinking of general public.

[anjan_c2007]

ARAI has set the Automotive Industry Standards (AIS) that the Central Motor Vehicles Rules and the Motor Vehicles Act require us to follow. The Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR) set out the regulations for vehicles in India, and they allow for the use of LED headlights provided they meet the requirements. The LED headlights should comply with the specifications prescribed in the Indian Standards (AIS) for automotive lighting.

LED lighting though standard in many new cars cannot however be brighter than*3,000 lumens. This ensures road safety and prevents glare for other drivers from oncoming vehicle's glaring headlights. Vehicles passed as per ARAI in India have had their headlights with not more than 55/60W powered bulbs each side. So it is evident that this is cap that motorists need to follow.

During the earlier decades when there were no halogens, LED's or HID's but only incandescent bulbs, the traffic police of many cities made it compulsory for owners to paint the upper half of the headlights black or have a black painted circle at the headlight centre. This was also applicable to two wheelers including mopeds with 6 volt electricals. As such, many of these with magneto generated electricals had poor lighting and the blackening made riding these too dangerous.

There are umpteen cases where following local complaints, the traffic police conducted drives against blinding and glaring headlights. Bangalore was in the news in 2014 and also recently when the traffic police trapped motorists with more than bright headlights.

In July 2023, the Chennai police conducted a drive against fitment of illegal headlights, challaning vehicles with add-on aftermarket lights like fog lights etc. These were seized and the owners fined.

The link

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../101623026.cms

Activists, however, said no action has been taken against those manufacturing these illegal accessories and retailers who market and sell them. There are hundreds of shops in GP Road and Pudupet that sell these products, but not a single raid or inspection has been conducted there. K Kathirmathiyon, a transport activist in his letter to the Union Road Transport Ministry, asked, "Making things worse, automobile manufacturers themselves are fitting high-power lights. How can the government allow such lights without conducting any scientific study or assessment?"

Our traffic police is not equipped with light intensity sensors to measure illuminance of headlights and trap the offenders leaving no legal loopholes. Offences can however be registered under the laws and Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act is applied to levy penalties. But we all are aware first hand about how effective the traffic police is?

[Ethnicul]

Not only headlights but brake lights too. I find the brake lights of Baleno, too bright and blinding when you are closely following. It resembles led bulbs with some kind of lense on top

[MadinMumbai]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

In July 2023, the Chennai police conducted a drive against fitment of illegal headlights, challaning vehicles with add-on aftermarket lights like fog lights etc. These were seized and the owners fined.

Unfortunately, traffic police, across India, is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of traffic, not to mention the crap civic infrastructure that causes bottlenecks all around. The focus is solely on keeping traffic moving through any means necessary. Many obvious traffic infringements are simply ignored in the interest of keeping the flow moving. There’s little time and energy for things like lights or horns, or even nuisances like cascading/pressure horns.

[piiyush21]

I think in the present times LED lights have become a tool of menace and not of utility. The Beam of LED lights is sharp and it takes the eyes more time to adjust which can cause accidents. I live in Delhi and with new vehicles getting on the road and less driving knowledge, drivers are using LED headlamps like a toy. I've seen drivers using the dipper even during the day and multiple dippers to oncoming vehicles at night. Even in the rush hour traffic the cars are driven with high beam on which is practically useless and only disturbs the driver in front. And worst are the after market lights which throw not white or yellow but a bluish hue which doesn't even illuminate the road and just blinds the oncoming drivers.

City roads are usually well illuminated and very rarely one needs to turn on the high beam but who cares!! we have it we'll use it...I guess that's the mott

[Pulse500]

Wattage of LED lights could often be misleading. Some bulbs provide more luminous intensity for the same wattage. And different colour temperature have different blinding effect and visibility in different climatic conditions.


Commerically available/popular automotive Halogen bulbs produce ~20-27 lumens/watt (some examples claiming ~1200-1500 lumens at 55W, https://www.philips.co.in/c-m-au/car...-bulbs/halogen), while automotive grade LED bulbs ~60-80 lumens per watt. (branded examples - Bosch F002H52012FT9 claims 2300LM at 30W, or Philips Ultinon claims 1760 LM at 25W, https://www.philips.co.in/c-p/12985B...headlight-bulb).

Halogen bulbs therefore will generate more heat and less light for the same input electrical power, compared to LED bulbs.

Most aftermarket LED bulbs in accessories shops claiming to be 100W or above usually never consume that much and never provide good light either. I actually measured power consumption of H7 LED bulbs I bought in the US, although were rated for 36 watt each, were drawing about 1.56 to 1.67 Amps from the battery (~20W-23W depending upon engine RPM/voltage applied). Bosch Iris H7 LEDs claiming to be 30 Watt were actually drawing ~18W electrical power during my test. And Osram H7 LEDs (box was claiming 50W (warm white), not sure whether it is single or combined wattage for the pair) was drawing around 20W each bulb. I guess, the ratings are in certain conditions - voltage, ambient temperature and general manufacturing tolerance / derating factor / safety margins etc.

I found that the LEDs with colour temperature above 4500K can be blinding for opposite side drivers (although these are claimed natural white, they are actually 'cooler' white, maybe not quite cool as the domestic 6500 cool white LED batten).

LEDs with colour temperature of above 5800K (cool white, blueish) are really bad, both for the driver and opposite party, even if they provide better better Color Rendering Index (CRI) which is a measurement of how natural colors render under an artificial white light source when compared with sunlight.

LEDs with colour temperature above 5800K perform even worse in wet weather for driver visibility, drivers find difficulty seeing the wet tar road or objects on the road properly and the drivers in opposite side get blinded even with low beam. The light intensity is high, however, most light either gets absorbed, or doesnt get reflected from natural objects or road, leading to poor visibility and perception that the light is not enough. Visibility is worse than Halogen. I believe, typical Chinese bluish LEDs emit more light in the invisible spectrum, or just fake the numbers on light intensity and wattage.

I found 4200K LEDs with ~18-20W actual wattage far better compared to 5800K/6000K LEDs and stock halogens, they provide good visibility in all weather conditions and are far less blinding to the opposite side, while providing better CRI too. After testing different LEDs I settled on OSRAM Warm White LEDs, which, on my Scorpio_N are providing a perfect Halogen like pattern, sharp cutoff, no scattering as in case of bulbs of other brands, and did not see bad reactions from opposite drivers as I could see when I used Bosch Iris. And this 4200K light is close to natural sunlight.

I would have gone below 4200K, around 3700K, if such 'real' automotive LEDs were available. However, the ones claiming lower colour temp that I tested actually used a combination of LEDs on their PCB (a few white and one yellow/greenish yellow emitter added as part of the cluster) trying to fake lower colour temperature, but these were really blinding and not as effective.

[arpan_spark]

I am using Osram 50W 4200K LEDs in my H19 reflector setup of my Tiago and I am very satisfied with the light distribution and output. Driving at night is no longer stressful and I keep it in low level to avoid blinding others. Can't avoid while the car is on inclines though. Thanks @Pulse500 for your knowledge

[Dharmesh M]

Originally Posted by MadinMumbai

Unfortunately, traffic police, across India, is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of traffic, not to mention the crap civic infrastructure that causes bottlenecks all around. The focus is solely on keeping traffic moving through any means necessary. Many obvious traffic infringements are simply ignored in the interest of keeping the flow moving. There’s little time and energy for things like lights or horns, or even nuisances like cascading/pressure horns.

This is one of the major reasons that people flout norms and are not caught and penalized. One gets away all can get away. Then everyone has high powered lamps that's making other drivers blind on the highways. In order to overcome this certain countries for example Belgium have fully lit highways too.

[KrisTvpm]

Originally Posted by AudiFan

What I have realised is that the cab drivers in Bangalore always drive with high Beam turned on, and private car owners counter them by turning on High beam just to spite them or beat them in to submission <snip>

Cab drivers around here do one more irritating gimmick: they drive with high-beam ON by default. When I counter them with the same, they momentarily dip down to low-beam, and as soon as I reciprocate they switch back to high-beam again, blinding you all over again!

Have noticed this pattern with atleast 75% of cabbies.

Now I simply switch on my high-beam, won't reciprocate even if they dip down, only when I pass them, I go back to low-beam.

I always drive with low-beam as default.

[Cry0gen]

IMHO, we as a forum should discourage anything regarding such modifications which jeopardises the safety of others, the lights in this case. There is something that sets us BHPians apart from others and we should not be that forum which gives someone the slightest whiff that we endorse such modifications by allowing threads/posts on those topics. And no, I don't think a simple disclaimer on the part of this forum will ever be a solution. I just hope a stricter moderation is undertaken for posts/threads of such nature.