Veey bright headlights

I don't understand how DOT allows them. Can be dangerous to oncoming drivers. I hate them.
 
Seems a lot of new cars have very bright low beams with sharp horizontal cutoffs, almost the European pattern without the right side kickup. While the sharp cutoff is good, the beam below can be almost blinding and the 'flicker' from above and below the cutoff as a car approaches is irritating. Still take all of this over the days of sealed beams...

I also wonder if main/low beam etiquette is even taught any more.
 
There doesn't seem to be a mandatory minimum reflector size so long as the output beam pattern is legal.

Something like a Volvo 240 with dinner plate sized Euro lights puts out a light that's way more pleasing than, say, my Prius with its tiny LED modules.
 
The halogen headlights on the 2017 Ford Super Duty trucks are called "quad dual beam". There are 4 low beam lamps and 4 high beam lamps. I can't recall ever seeing that arrangement on a vehicle.

I'm sure this is a better-performing headlamp system than the outgoing setups with single H13 or something like H11 low/HB3 high. But yee dogs, 120w per side on low beam and 140w per side on high beam (@ 12.8v) for a total of 240w low beam and 280w high beam? Not that there's going to be any shortage of power available in a truck like that, which I'm sure comes equipped with a monster alternator, but wow, that's a whole lot of amps (about 20 of them) to achieve the task.
 
Some cars have cutoff so sharp that on low, it is an abrupt darkness above the cutoff. It can be hard to see anything at distance on low. So I suspect a lot of drivers create an unintended consequence by leaving the switch on high.

There are 4 low beam lamps and 4 high beam lamps. I can't recall ever seeing that arrangement on a vehicle.
The Family Truckster had that system.
 
How about tall SUVs and lifted trucks with aftermarket lights... lovely. Reminds me of George Carlin. I've got a copy of Ivanhoe with me!!
This is the bigger issue than most bright, properly aimed OEM systems. The latter can certainly blast oncoming traffic occasionally if the vehicle is pitched upward, but poorly executed retrofits are the debbil.
 
Gotta wonder what the factory is doing about setting up the lights (robot slaps them in, done?) I have both rented and faced the new Ford Focus - and it needs to better follow its namesake …
 
It's a real problem, but IMO it's getting better since IIHS has been including headlights in its safety ratings (including glare limits). As older cars die off, hopefully we will also see a reduction in "aftermarket solutions" and the early HID lamps which are particularly bad.
 
Poorly designed and aimed. I feel that most American trucks and cars have either weak headlights or poorly aimed headlights. In fact, maybe it's confirmation bias, but I don't think US cars have good headlights at all. I rarely have any issues with European or Japanese headlight and to this day, I haven't found any manufacture (that I've driven) with headlights better than BMW.
 
Many new vehicles now have auto high beams. They will stay on the highs until oncoming lights are detected and drop to the lows.
That's the source of a lot of the initial ''flash'' of bright. Especially when cresting rises in the road before sensor detects oncoming.
It usually is defaulted to on in new vehicles, I turned it off in my '20 Traverse. I know how to operate headlights unlike most of the masses.
It's hard to hold the phone, steer and pull the lever at the same time.
 
The sharp cutoff on low beam is a good thing, provided the headlights are correctly aimed/adjusted. Drove for 11 years in Germany and never had an issue with blinding headlights, but then they all were properly adjusted. And, the European beam pattern, the sharp cutoff with the right shoulder projection, is SO superior to what the US DOT mandates. Agree with the poster above who commented that many in the US are probably using high beams because either they "don't like" the illumination provided by their low beams, or they are adjusted too low.
 
Bright headlights > not bright headlights

People like being able to see, hence, brighter headlights. You do realize that you don't have to stare directly at the lights coming towards you, correct.........?
 
Poorly designed and aimed. I feel that most American trucks and cars have either weak headlights or poorly aimed headlights. In fact, maybe it's confirmation bias, but I don't think US cars have good headlights at all. I rarely have any issues with European or Japanese headlight and to this day, I haven't found any manufacture (that I've driven) with headlights better than BMW.
Reflectors are basically trash. Why we haven't gone completely to projectors, I'll never understand. I mean, I get why, cost, but we're literally talking tens of dollars on a $20k+ vehicle. Instead of giving me supercruise at $4,000, give me projectors, even just halogens, for $40.
 
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Poorly designed and aimed. I feel that most American trucks and cars have either weak headlights or poorly aimed headlights. In fact, maybe it's confirmation bias, but I don't think US cars have good headlights at all. I rarely have any issues with European or Japanese headlight and to this day, I haven't found any manufacture (that I've driven) with headlights better than BMW.

Owned two BMW's and the headlights on my TourX are better yet...just WOW.
 
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