Bright headlights...too bright...

[revian]

On a recent late night brisk run to hospital it was reinforced that some car headlights are overwhelmingly bright for opposing traffic... Even when they seem to be dipped...is there any legislation on this...Or is it perceived to be 'the brighter the better'?

[superplum]

Extracted from the Road Vehicles Lighting Regs 1989.

8. Wattage–

(a) A motor vehicle with four or more wheels first used on or after 1st April 1986:
No requirement

(b) A three-wheeled motor vehicle, not being a motor bicycle combination, first used on or after 1st April 1986–

(i)having a maximum speed not exceeding 50 mph:
15 watts minimum

(ii)having a maximum speed exceeding 50 mph:
No requirement

(c) A motor vehicle with four or more wheels first used before 1st April 1986:
30 watts minimum

(d) A three-wheeled motor vehicle, not being a motor bicycle combination, first used before 1st April 1986:
24 watts minimum

(e) A solo motor bicycle and a motor bicycle combination–

(i)having an engine not exceeding 250 cc and a maximum speed not exceeding 25 mph:
10 watts minimum

(ii)having an engine not exceeding 250 cc and a maximum speed exceeding 25 mph:
15 watts minimum

(iii)having an engine exceeding 250 cc:
24 watts minimum

9. Intensity:
No requirement

I'm sure there is more to this including EU stuff/variations.

[revian]

Thanks superplumb...

Whilst not generally not in favour of more legislation (home or 'foreign' ) it looks like only minimum wattage is mentioned. It's not the same as brightness or type. Can I fit laser beams?
'Honestly officer I only meant to light up the road five miles ahead...didn't intend to actually ignite your car'

My drive was also on a wet night... Loads of glare...

[jont]

Many drivers don't adjust for additional weight in the rear of the car, so even if the car is MoT worthy, once it's full of passengers/luggage they can dazzle badly.

I thought there was a 60/55W upper limit (legally) - when fiddling with the rally car ISTR it could be an MoT issue if you fitted 80/100s (or even 130W, though the elements were fragile and they had a habit of burning out at inconvenient times!), with the exception being for cars pre 1986. Was quite a while back though.

[revian]

I'm surprised if there's no more spec than the wattage. Electrical Power consumed isn't the same as 'light power' out...

Wrong Levelling...Perhaps an advance on this might be an auto light leveller (not dipper) Some will tell me it's a done thing on some car or other.

[jont]

I'm surprised if there's no more spec than the wattage. Electrical Power consumed isn't the same as 'light power' out...

Wrong Levelling...Perhaps an advance on this might be an auto light leveller (not dipper) Some will tell me it's a done thing on some car or other.

Xenon's require auto levellers. Though many people now seem to fit Xenon bulbs in reflectors designed for halogens and without auto levellers

[Rick101]

Having HID lights and a not functioning auto levelling system is a MOT fail even if they are set at the correct height.

Regarding laser beams, I think this years Audi LMP1 car's had them and they are now an option on some of the prestige brands.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-c ... hting-tech

[Stephen]

The lights must be maintained so as not to cause undue dazzle, hemce if someone puts in bulbs to make them look like Xenons then they must be maintained, was it not just that the headlights were ones that the bulbs were not maintained ie set up correctly.

[true blue]

I fine the best advice when faced with bright oncoming traffic is to cast your gaze towards the nearside verge, potentially lose a spot of speed and look up once traffic has past hoping not to have lost too much night vision.

Some people advocate closing one eye to maintain partial night vision - have to say I've never fancied that.

[martine]

Having HID lights and a not functioning auto levelling system is a MOT fail even if they are set at the correct height.

HID's also need a headlamp washing system. I have to say they are fantastic from a owners point of view but I am conscious just the brightness (even is adjusted and clean) may be a problem for oncoming drivers.

Illegal HID's are probably the real problem along with loads of badly adjusted conventional headlamps, blown bulbs and those that insist on using fog lights inappropriately.

We now have the new variation of those that drive at night on Daylight Running Lights

[michael769]

Wattage is not a good way to limit them brightness of lamps as the underlying technology can make a huge difference to the light output without changing wattage. For example the difference between conventional and halogen lamps.

This is not a straight forwards area as the regulations now defer in many parts to EU regs and EU type approvals, and the latter often defer to the UN regs, leaving something of a spiders web of rules and regs to untangle.

As far as I can see the effective limit of brighness is the one set down in the UN regs at 2,000 lumens (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:42014X0614(02)&from=EN), I could be wrong in this I admit, as it's pretty hard to trace it through the mess.

The type approval rules only apply to original fit lamps. Where non standard aftermarket lights are fitted the original UK lighting regs apply to them. It is correct that those regs do not seem to apply a maximum brightness however (for vehicles registered after April 1 1986) the lamps do need to bear an approval marking. For H1 type halogen lamps the maximum wattage for the dipped beam is set at 55w (http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/tran ... 031r3e.pdf) equivalent to a max light output of 1,000 lumens. There are no apporval marking regs for HIT and other exotic types rendering them effectively illegal in the UK.

Most of the really bright aftermarket fits do not comply with the approval marking rules, however as can be seen some original fit lamps can be significantly brighter.

[triquet]

A couple of years ago (before the troubles) I spent some months in Egypt on a contract job. Many Egyption drivers prefer driving at night without lights on at all as they claim it dazzles them ... they have other interesting driving habits that would not be regarded as AD but I won't go into them now ...

[revian]

?..As far as I can see the effective limit of brighness is the one set down in the UN regs at 2,000 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:42014X0614(02)&from=EN), I could be wrong in this I admit, as it's pretty hard to trace it through the mess.

The type approval rules only apply to original fit lamps. Where non standard aftermarket lights are fitted the original UK lighting regs apply to them....

Good grief! Several decades ago I was involved in specifying 2nd generation electronic telephone systems... Clearly child's play compared with car headlights.

I'll pop down to my nearest MOT tester for an explanation. I'm sure they will have something to share with me

[Gareth]

HID's also need a headlamp washing system.

From what I understand, that's not always the case: below 2000 lumens washers are not required, applicable to some of the newer oem headlamps.

[superplum]

?..As far as I can see the effective limit of brighness is the one set down in the UN regs at 2,000 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:42014X0614(02)&from=EN), I could be wrong in this I admit, as it's pretty hard to trace it through the mess.

The type approval rules only apply to original fit lamps. Where non standard aftermarket lights are fitted the original UK lighting regs apply to them....

Good grief! Several decades ago I was involved in specifying 2nd generation electronic telephone systems... Clearly child's play compared with car headlights.

I'll pop down to my nearest MOT tester for an explanation. I'm sure they will have something to share with me

More info (MOT) here: http://www.ukmot.com/mot%20manual/index ... ion=lights