Bright headlights more than an irritation
It’s amazing that two countries as different as Canada and the U.S. can agree on everything about vehicle regulations — except for daytime running lights.
We were the first country to mandate their use back in 1989, while U.S. regulators refused to do so, citing the opinion that, with their traffic density, DRLS would create dangerous distractions rather than improve road safety.
Even though DRLS aren’t considered illegal south of the border, most automakers (but not all) delete this function for their products sold there.
Now, a few U.S. lobby groups are urging their government to ban them completely, along with exceedingly bright high intensity discharge (HID) and light-emitting diode (LED) headlights. And their focus isn’t just on the automotive sector, it includes LED street lamps.
Groups such as Softlights and Lightmare cite medical positions from such respected organizations as the American Medical Association, which claims the bluewhite spectrum of most LED headlights have measurable negative effects on humans and other life forms.
In its 2016 published statement, the AMA says
“in addition to its impact on drivers, blue-rich LED street lights operate at a wavelength that most adversely suppresses melatonin during night.
It’s estimated that white LED lamps have five times greater impact on circadian sleep rhythms than conventional street lamps.” This can reduce the quality and quantity of your sleep, among negative effects. But what does this have to do with cars?
Last month, Softlights started a campaign aimed at members of U.S. Congress, asking them to demand that National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “recall existing LED and HID headlights, to carefully examine the psychological effects of headlight colour temperature and brightness on sensitive persons, to ban Daytime Running Lights, and to set maximums of 2700 Kelvin for colour temperature, and 800 lumens/135 candela for brightness for headlights.”
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) began rating headlamps in 2016, and for a vehicle to attain the top safety rating, its headlamps had to perform well while minimizing glare to oncoming drivers. In 2019, more than 50 per cent received marginal or poor ratings because of inadequate visibility and excessive glare.
When shopping for a new vehicle, a nighttime road test is the only way to learn if your shortlisted choices can meet your vision needs. This should also include a good look at how headlights appear to oncoming vehicles; it’s no use having great headlamps if they blind other drivers.