Veey bright headlights

Thinking of the original post, I’ve wondered about those super duty headlights. The number of bulbs glowing plus placement makes me want to think the brights are on, but they appear to oncomers as oem fogs, not offensive at all. i appreciate that.

my favorite personal setup was shoehorning lowbeam projectors into oem fog housings with amber tint. Dual lowbeams with a real cutoff and proper far-field distribution was really good, never got flashed.

when I DD the sedan to work, I’m regularly blinded by a lifted truck, probably with a legitimately proper low beam aim, either in oncoming traffic or parked on my back bumper. I may start commuting more in the f150 again.
I am blinded all the time in my cars by stock/OE lights in trucks and SUVs that are aimed properly from the factory. When they are behind me at a stoplight I use my side mirrors to try to aim the light back in their eyes...haha
 
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I am blinded all the time in my cars but stock/OE lights in trucks and SUVs that are aimed properly from the factory. When they are behind me at a stoplight I use my side mirrors to try to aim the light back in their eyes...haha
True story. The headlights in my truck came stock aimed UP. There was zero light on the road. The left lamp was up over horizontal and it aimed down ok. The right lamp was up and to the left. When I aimed it down, it also went right into the ditch. Both sort of “sprayed” light, neither actually had a cutoff or any kind of pattern.

i committed to retrofitting projectors, but ford’s lamps in 2018 used a lens adhesive with a higher melting point than the housings. This really didn’t go well at all. I’d be ashamed if y’all saw the resulting workmanship on what it took me to make it right, after doing it twice. It’s so bad. BUT, the light is even, consistent, has decent far-field distribution, and a nice low cutoff. I could probably raise the cutoff, but don’t need to, and it gives me some wiggle room for when carrying a load. The only drawbacks in mine are like many aftermarket projectors, they don’t light up street signs, but I’m fine with that. With hid projectors I’m fine with caution towards staying out of others’ eyes.
 
I am blinded all the time in my cars by stock/OE lights in trucks and SUVs that are aimed properly from the factory. When they are behind me at a stoplight I use my side mirrors to try to aim the light back in their eyes...haha
That's amazing, I'm going to start doing that. Was sitting at a light the other night and a guy in a brodozer had both his LED light bars on.
 
That's amazing, I'm going to start doing that. Was sitting at a light the other night and a guy in a brodozer had both his LED light bars on.
You just watch the light move until it's on their face, like a fighter jet targeting system. Only works if you are offset from them so their headlight is right at the mirror.
 
Another "treat" is encountering the clowns that insist on having the fog light switch permanently set to on, especially in bro-dosers / giant SUVs that make a 2001 expedition look small.
 
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.
This is the bigger issue. Most of the Chinese LEDs on Amazon have a lower lux rating at distance than halogens. Most of the light they produce is at a shorter distance. So lot's of these goofs adjust the vertical beam higher thinking it will improve down road visibility, but just a small upwards adjustment leads to blinding drivers.

I've noticed the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has started to go after some makers for violation of FMVSS 108, but it's whack-a-mole. They recall one and 10 other Chinese makers come out with new ones. Really under FMVSS 108 NO aftermarket LED conversions are legal. If they wanted to really put a dent in the market they would apply pressure on Amazon and Ebay to stop sales. I suspect 80+% of them are purchased from those two sites.

Interesting article: https://www.softlights.org/why-are-led-headlights-illegal/
 
I am blinded all the time in my cars by stock/OE lights in trucks and SUVs that are aimed properly from the factory. When they are behind me at a stoplight I use my side mirrors to try to aim the light back in their eyes...haha
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Another "treat" is encountering the clowns that insist on having the fog light switch permanently set to on, especially in bro-dosers / giant SUVs that make a 2001 expedition look small.
Yeah agreed. I'll admit I'm one of those people who always has my fog lights on in my car at night, but I live in a rural area and they really help light up the sides of the road where deer or stupid people walking with dark clothes on are lurking. They are aimed properly however, and the car being lower to the ground helps a lot. My Jeep I only use my e-code headlights, my foglights are really just KC daylighter off-road use only lights.
 
Another "treat" is encountering the clowns that insist on having the fog light switch permanently set to on, especially in bro-dosers / giant SUVs that make a 2001 expedition look small.
And that is another thing that made driving in Germany enjoyable. The police would ticket anyone who had fog lights on when conditions did not warrant, ie, in clear weather. The result was you never saw anyone who had them on when it wasn't foggy or rainy.
 
And that is another thing that made driving in Germany enjoyable. The police would ticket anyone who had fog lights on when conditions did not warrant, ie, in clear weather. The result was you never saw anyone who had them on when it wasn't foggy or rainy.
To be fair most “fog lights” in the US are useless for anything more than looking pretty. My 2011 Durango used PSX24W bulbs, you’re not doing anything with a weak 24w bulb in a reflector that casts a simple orb of light other than trying to be fancy.
 
My opinion if that current LED/ HID lighting create a significant hazard to other road users during the darker hours.
They should have a diffuser in from to make the light more uniforn with no parasitic bright side reflection as well as reducing the color temp to 3800k max.
It is not about how much or far you can see out from your car, but how much you dazzle/ blind other road users (cars, bikes, pedestrians,...)

I believe years ago, the US had very strict car lighting laws, less power and maximum reflector size. This made european car manufacturers convert their large rectangular headlights to two round ones
 
The quality of the headlights in the Maverick pickup is outstanding. The light is clear and spread nicely on the shoulders even on low beam, with a decent amount of distance. On high beam I have spotted deer eyeshine at a further distance than any car I have had. No fog lights needed. On low beam I am flashed very rarely. I have driven with LED's for a year of so now, the Venza also had them (one year total).

The absolute worst headlight glare is from vehicles whose lenses have fogged badly. Lots of those around here.
 
To be fair most “fog lights” in the US are useless for anything more than looking pretty. My 2011 Durango used PSX24W bulbs, you’re not doing anything with a weak 24w bulb in a reflector that casts a simple orb of light other than trying to be fancy.
I have to agree when it comes to most US vehicles. The issues I've had with fog lights on in clear weather are those driving lifted pickups with the fog lights on in clear conditions. Their fog lights are almost at eye level, and as a result are terribly blinding to oncoming traffic.
Also, those driving US spec European vehicles that have a rear facing fog light. That little red bugger is very intense. Driving behind someone who has that on in clear conditions at night is extremely blinding to anyone following. More than once I've turned my high beams on when behind some bubble head with their rear fog on at night when it's clear.
 
Age is a factor too. Older eyes do struggle with both night vision and the contrast created by oncoming lights quite a bit more than young eyes. As an amateur astronomer, I do enjoy when my eyes become dark adapted. But oh man does it take forever now, and it is ruined by even the smallest of light sources.

The lens becomes somewhat more opaque as we age, so there is that. But what really causes the problems is the lower number of light sensing rods coupled with the light sensitive aspects of the rods that takes forever to regenerate. Expect 3 minutes of additional time per decade to become "night adjusted" and by age 50, to require twice as much light as at age 20.

What many of the complaints here are about, involves the inability of older eyes to maintain adequate low light contrast sensitivity when subject to bright lights.

While I can't offer any suggestions to those who might consider cataract surgery, I will chose a clear, prime focus lens for myself. This allows a dark adapted eye to perform well without unnecessary distortions.

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