[SuperGirl_Dad]

Need of the hour is a simple circuit to automatically control the high beam with oncoming traffic, so drivers are not blinded.

Youtube showed these two videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krtfoJzt-aA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfuMqfNwBJE

Not affiliated with either YouTube channels. Based on the looks a simple circuit should help in controlling this menace.

PS: Have heard the erstwhile JJTC buses in Tamil Nadu back in 90s used to have this wizardry to automatically dip the headlights, so drivers could concentrate on driving. Could not find any reference to it now.

Wonder why it did not catch on with auto manufacturers.

[vredesbyrd]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Cancel the jacks on Activa / Access first. Or teach them not to ride on high beam all the time.

Agreed. Police should actively fine those fools. The number of times I've been blinded by them is far too high.

[dolphinjazz]

If we are talking about factory fitted white head lights/HID/Xenon/Projector lamps, they have a very clear cut off line and normally the light doesn't get scattered in low beam and hence doesn't effect the person coming from front. However the problem is in the driver, who may be lazy or arrogant enough to adjust the beam level or not to switch back from high beam to low beam when there is a vehicle/person coming from front.

White lights provide a very good visibility, so they are good things to have but on the flip side they have a very devastating effect when go to wrong hands (example: the new activa, they always have leveling issue specially 2 persons onboard).

Govt can not do much in such cases as the OEM is not in fault, the users are. If the Govt/Transport Dept launches operations against such users (just like they do against loud exhausts in many places) then there might be some relief.

[ReDevil009]

Back in the day, i had asked my dad why he had painted nearly the entire top half of his Chetak's round headlight black, and he mentioned it was a rule to follow and if not the traffic police would stop you if you don't have either a sticker covering or part of it painted. Same was the case with our old M800. Wonder where the rule has gone now? I don't know if they really had any rule back then or it was just a road courtesy everyone followed. Nowadays i don't see it on any of the scooters or cars. I really dread to drive on divider less roads in the night now.

[srvm]

It is comforting to know that I'm not alone in feeling blinded by LEDs/high-beams inside city .

Off late, in Bangalore I see two types of idiots: Ones that drive/ride with headlamps switched off and another bunch which drives/rides always with high-beam during night time

In case of 2-wheelers, AHO (all time headlamp on) rule was devised to protect us from Idiot group-1. But instead, it gets misused by idiots from Group-2 who don't understand what low and high beams are meant for.

[Krishna sankar]

High beam menace is more on highways which blinds from front as well from rear in the IRVM. Sometimes it becomes so scarry , we lose our eye sight for few seconds. Also, the high beam light of trucks and buses are in your eye level, which creates blindness always.

[Hemi6.2]

Originally Posted by KPR

Not only Crystas, Fortuners or Balenos, even a Honda activa LED HL disturbs me while driving in night.

The issue with an Activa is when it is following you even minor bumps on the road cause the whole handle of the scooter to shake and resembles someone giving a dipper behind causing me to give unnecessary attention to IRVM.

[OffRoadFun]

OK, so I am not the only one who feels so.

For years, I drove with low-beam on highway so as not to blind others and lately and now feeling like a fool. So much so that I have decided upon HID upgrade (most powerful Osram ones) on my car as I need a way to force oncoming vehicle to lower-beam for my own safety.

Lately even the two wheelers have such glaring lights and not sure if everyone even understands the difference between low and high beam and how important it is to drive on low-beam if there is oncoming traffic.

I was once returning in a cab from BLR airport and during conversation, the driver proudly showed me LED upgrade (~15k) and a (trainlike) horn upgrade for Rs 5k!

Balenos, Activas and Fortuners with aftermarket LED upgrades are really annoying on the highways!

[RM Motorsports]

These powerful headlights is one reason I try to avoid driving at night whenever possible. Still in cities it is OK that there are streetlamps which negate the powerful white light to some extent, at least you can see the road in front of you. Forget headlamps, even DRL's & fog lamps have become brighter than headlamps of cars sold 6-8 years ago.

Once upon a time, the word "Lazer" was used in laboratories. Now some high end cars have "Lazer Headlamps"

Past weekend I was in Mahableshwar, and it was absolutely horrible to drive on the ghats. With no streetlamps, it is pitch dark in some sections. And then due to curvy roads, all of a sudden around one corner you get this blinding light in front of you, at times I did come to complete halt, just to let the car pass. High riding cars like Fortuners & Endeavors, even with low beams do cause discomfort because to headlamp position.

From safety point of view, I totally agree these blinding headlamps of new cars are very annoying and nuisance. One big disadvantage of these white lights is visibility during monsoon.

Or RULES should be tweaked to at least to allow glare reducing films on windscreens on safety grounds.

[gopi_rm]

I am also one of you who gets frustrated/irritated on seeing highbeams. The highbeams of even a TVS XL blinds me. It is like someone pointing a torch directly on your eyes.

I think the main reason for this menace is no awareness/education on when to use lowbeams and highbeams and what are the impact of highbeams on oncoming traffic. I assume 90% of the drivers have no awareness on this. The rest 10% might be lazy to switch to lowbeams whenever there is oncoming traffic.

I always switch to lowbeams whenever I see oncoming traffic or if someone is driving ahead of me. If the oncoming vehicle has highbeam activated, I flash my highbeam once and if the other driver does not switch to lowbeam, I flash for the 2nd time and even then if the other driver does not switch to lowbeam, then with no other option I will activate my highbeam because otherwise I could not see a pothole or cyclist or pedestrian or any vehicle without rear lights on (mostly 2 wheelers) is driving ahead of me.

Another trend I see is that the old two/three wheelers are installing the round aftermarket DRLs (usually 2 pieces) and using them as headlights during night time. It also blinds me and I flash my highbeam twice and then activate my highbeam for those guys.

And mostly I try to avoid driving after sunset because whenever I see that someone is not switching to lowbeam even after flashing, my blood boils & BP goes up and it affects my overall health.

[BhaskarG]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Cancel the jacks on Activa / Access first. Or teach them not to ride on high beam all the time.

Originally Posted by srvm

It is comforting to know that I'm not alone in feeling blinded by LEDs/high-beams inside city .

But instead, it gets misused by idiots from Group-2 who don't understand what low and high beams are meant for.

I have a friend, who is a post graduate from a reputed university, who does not know why low beams are for. When I asked why he rides his Activa on high beams, he asked me, "what is that?". Now consider our uneducated and under-educated Indian brothers. People do not even know!

Originally Posted by Krishna sankar

High beam menace is more on highways which blinds from front as well from rear in the IRVM.

Yes, quoting a recent experience from another thread:

Originally Posted by BhaskarG

...

“I find driving easier in the hills. It is more difficult to drive in plains.”
“How come?” , wife asked, puzzled.
“Cars in the plains do not respect each other”, he said.
“How true!”, I thought.

...

As night set in, we crossed the border into Assam. Passang’s words kept echoing in my mind when we reached the 2 lane highway from Orang to Baihata via Mangaldoi. Very few drivers had the courtesy of lowering their headlight beams, even though I switched to a low beam every single time. Even truckers, who are known to be more aware of the rules, were utterly disrespectful and bullying on this road. Fearing that there was something wrong with the headlights levels of my car, I pulled over and checked them; they were adjusted properly.

[Neel70]

I completely agree. In my part of the world, low beam seems to be an unknown concept and night driving often turns into a nightmare.

[deathwalkr]

I would say it largely boils down to basic courtesy/manners on road. Question being, "why should I dim my light for others when others are not doing it for me!?"

Dim your light when there's a car in front of you. If you can see a car's brakelight in front, dim your lights. If you can see a car's headlight in front of you on the opposite lane, dim.

If it's a nice illuminated piece of road, dim.

Adding on list of wishful thinking, give way for others, stop for pedestrians on designated crossings, use indicators, merge onto traffic respectfully, do not tailgate etc etc.

[Rodie09]

I know many have expressed that the driver is at fault here as either they are not aware of a low beam concept or they are just defiant and do not care.

However, I'd want to point that High beam troubles have always been there since decades. We cannot do much about it unless authorities get stricter or manufacturers put some wizardry in place.

The intent of opening this thread was to understand whether this move to bright white lights has scientifically proven backing and if any governments have done any research on damage these are causing to human eyes. Can there be something done about this menace or will it be too late before the authorities realize the problem?

What are the views in the advanced countries on this matter?

[W16rocks]

White LED lights are a growing menace that needs to be stopped
I was so happy to see this thread, as me and my father(who has been driving for 40 years) agree that our good old yellow halogens were great for visibility and safety of the vehicles coming from the other side.

The government should regulate the LEDs, especially the after market ones, as they are blinding and a safety hazard to each and every road user. I feel white lights are best as DRLs and taillights, not as headlights as that is unsafe to every car coming from the opposite side.