Headlights to be reviewed after drivers complain of being 'blinded' at night

Growing concern among drivers, who say they struggle to drive at night due to the dazzle from oncoming lights, is prompting the government to take a closer look at the design of cars and headlamps on UK roads, the BBC understands.

Research into the issue on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT), conducted last winter, has still not been published.

However, the government now plans to launch a new assessment of the causes and remedies, the BBC has learned.

New measures will be included in the government's upcoming Road Safety Strategy, reflecting what is becoming an increasingly fraught issue for road users.

Both Ruth Goldsworthy and Sally Burt say bright headlamps makes it harder for them to get to their weekly SO Sound choir meetings in Totton, in Hampshire.

"Some of the lights are so bright you are blinded by them, for seconds," says Ruth.

Drivers say it is LED headlamps, increasingly common in new vehicles, that are causing them problems. The beam is whiter, more focused and brighter than the more diffuse light from halogen lamps fitted in older cars.

"I'm not sure where to look, I look into the gutter," says Sally. They are both relieved if someone else offers to drive.

Evening driving becomes a bigger problem as the winter evenings draw in, and especially after the clocks change, which means more people are driving home after dark.

The problem is worse for older people, whose eyes take around nine seconds to recover from glare, compared to one second for a 16-year-old, according to road safety consultant, Rob Heard.

"In severe cases, we might need to stop until our sight can recuperate," he said.

A new survey from the motoring organisation, the RAC, has found that more than a third of drivers are nervous about getting behind the wheel as the evenings get darker. Three quarters of respondents said driving was getting more difficult due to brighter lights.

The RAC's senior policy officer, Rod Dennis, said so far little progress has been made on tackling glare, with regulations governing headlights dating back to 1989.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We know headlight glare is frustrating for many drivers, especially as the evenings get darker."

• Ensure your windscreen is clean
• Wear glasses and keep them glasses
• Avoid looking straight ahead, instead focus on the edge of the road
• Do not wear night sunglasses sold for night-driving, as they reduce overall light and won't reduce glare.

Source: College of Optometrists

The results of last winter's government commissioned research into the "causes and impact of glare" have been delayed since the summer but are now expected in the next few weeks, the DfT said.

They will inform the upcoming Road Safety Strategy, which is also expected to tighten rules on drink-driving and eye-sight tests for older drivers.

In addition the BBC understands the government is commissioning new research into the role of vehicle design in causing glare, and possible solutions, which will feed into international discussion of the issue.

One already well-understood source of glare is drivers retrofitting their vehicles, replacing old halogen bulbs with LEDs.

The housing for halogen bulbs is not compatible with LED bulbs, and a retrofitted car will not pass its annual MOT check-up.

As part of the government's new approach the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has "stepped up surveillance" to stop the sale of illegal retrofit headlamp bulbs, the DfT said.

Cars sold with LED lights can improve road safety, Thomas Broberg, senior advisor for safety at Volvo told the BBC.

"Headlights have become brighter over the years to help drivers see better," he said.

"You want to have a lot of light in front of you to understand where the road is going."

However avoiding dazzle was "equally important", he said.

"I would say poor aiming of the headlights and also the road shape are the major factors for glare," he told the BBC.

For larger vehicles, such as SUVs, where lamps are higher off the ground, there is a requirement for the beam to point more sharply downwards, to protect oncoming drivers. But the angle can be affected by how many passengers it is carrying.

Some new cars with "adaptive features" adjust the lamps automatically if there is a change in load, but cars without that will need manual adjusting, Mr Broberg said.

Some new cars also have automatic headlamp dipping, which lowers the lights when an oncoming vehicle is detected.

However, Daniel Harriman-McCartney, clinical advisor at the College of Optometrists, said automatic dimming features can be "slow to kick in".

"If it only works when the car is closer than it needs to be, or doesn't work for cyclists, that can be a problem," he said.

He is seeing an increasing number of patients concerned about headlamp glare, he added.

Dazzling headlights are cited as a factor in around 250 accidents a year, but there is no evidence that brighter lights are causing more collisions than previously, the RAC concedes.

Instead, worried drivers may simply be "taking the risk off the road" by not driving at night, with a big social impact, the RAC's Mr Dennis warned.

He would like to see action that "strikes a balance".

"We don't want to go back to worse headlights. It is about what is bright enough."