Why there is so much debate.

[lm126027]

Here in MA we still have an annual inspection. When I was younger it was twice a year. Part of this inspection includes testing headlights for alignment. Not all states do.... But should... It would help greatly. The state my brother lives in has no annual inspection, assume others do not as well.

My prior vehicle was a 2020 Escape, when I got my new Mav in September I noticed that headlights definitely appear to be brighter. Although I did not feel that lights bothered me in the Escape, they do somewhat driving the Mav. With the Mav being a little higher (1.3) inches, it surprises me that they seem brighter. All I can think of is that the tint on the Mav windshield is less than that of the Escape. Not sure how to find out if this is true....

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[William Buckman]

I'm quite happy with my Mavericks headlights .
My wife's 17 year old Toyota has headlights that also work well .
But what I think is awesome is this infinite adjustment on the dash .
Besides the typical high and low beam switch you can adjust for loads , weather conditions , or the type of road .....

I'm quite happy with my Mavericks headlights .
My wife's 17 year old Toyota has headlights that also work well .
But what I think is awesome is this infinite adjustment on the dash .
Besides the typical high and low beam switch you can adjust for loads , weather conditions , or the type of road .....

I had this type of adjustment in my 16 Tundra. Worked great when towing my camper or heavy load.

 

[mielelaw]

I have yellow tinted glasses for night driving and they seem to do the trick.

 

[Ron Neal]

It's not my headlight thats the problem but everyone else's blinding me.

 

[lm126027]

agree on the yellow tinted glasses... They do cut the headlight glare, yet seem to lighten up other areas of the road.

 

[The Real Maverick]

It is a multifaceted problem for sure.

But there is no getting around, no denying of the fact it is becoming a problem.

Brightness, measured by a machine can be in "spec".

Brightness as seen by the eye is becoming greatly affected by the more focused nature of the LED "spot" lights compared to the old school "flood" lights.

Today, in general, manufacturers are packing more light into smaller apparatuses exasperating this issue.

 

[FischAutoTechGarten]

More of a General automotive topic, and not specific to Mavericks... Though it has value for Maverick owners, and any car owner for that matter. Can we move it to a general automotive forum or more specific forum?

 

[The Real Maverick]

It relates to Mavericks and Maverick owners. Can go in a lighting/tech section.

 

[FischAutoTechGarten]

It relates to Mavericks and Maverick owners. Can go in a lighting/tech section.

Thanks Jack.... I appreciate the value of the topic, just being a bit of a hard nose about our Forum's 'filing system'. I'll reword my request, upon further review, I was definitely a bit curt about it... Sorry about that.

 

[scottp01]

I get that misaligned LED headlights stink, and some aftermarket led upgrades are illegal but that isn't ever really prosecuted. Target that. Misaligned lights of any type should be ticketed. But brighter headlights save lives. They keep people like me alive when I go for a walk in the evening. The IIHS had a study recently that LED headlights have single-vehicle nighttime crash rates per mile that are 19 percent lower than those of poor-rated headlights. That's a better chance that when my son gets older I have less worry that someone is going to hit him if he's out past 5 over at a friends house.

The problem is that a study like this doesn't take into account the crashes that are caused by blinding LED headlights. Of course single-vehicle nighttime crash rates would drop with brighter bulbs. It illuminates more of the road for you. The issue is the other cars are being literally blinded by these bright bulbs. I've almost hit trees, animals and pedestrians because the only thing I could literally see was a large white light coming towards my vehicle.

Bright bulbs are trading others safety for your own.

 

[The Real Maverick]

The problem is that a study like this doesn't take into account the crashes that are caused by blinding LED headlights. Of course single-vehicle nighttime crash rates would drop with brighter bulbs. It illuminates more of the road for you. The issue is the other cars are being literally blinded by these bright bulbs. I've almost hit trees, animals and pedestrians because the only thing I could literally see was a large white light coming towards my vehicle.

Bright bulbs are trading others safety for your own.

Correct.
Thanks for posting.

These newer bulbs are a nuisance in city conditions, but may be great in rural areas.

I too cannot see unlit pedestrians or bicycles for some time after being hit with oncoming "projector" bulbs.

 

[RobN]

Very few if any states have any significant enforcement over headlights - and it doesn't matter what the law or regulation is if there's no enforcement for it. Buy the brightest LED bulbs you can find with the worst color temperature for blinding other drivers, mount them high on a jacked-up truck, and aim them directly at drivers eye level - and you won't get cited and might not even be aware you're a hazard.

Badly aimed fog lights are a huge contributor here. Aftermarket lights self-installed by fools who don't know what they're doing but want to look cool in their oversized truck to compensate for their undersized...life don't seem to care about what the lights do to oncoming drivers (or the person they're tailgating).

I'm not a big-government guy, but here's an idea - require every company that does oil changes to do mandatory headlight alignments at the time of the oil change. That might help a little, if they do it right.

Is it as big a deal as drunk drivers? No. Is it a problem that seems to be getting worse? Yes.

 

[lm126027]

The bright lights do bother me, but don't feel I am being blinded. What blinds me is a police car with all it's lights on.... And they wonder why people run in to them with all the lights on.... WFT... We're being blinded by all your damn lights.........

 

[slashsnake]

The problem is that a study like this doesn't take into account the crashes that are caused by blinding LED headlights. Of course single-vehicle nighttime crash rates would drop with brighter bulbs. It illuminates more of the road for you. The issue is the other cars are being literally blinded by these bright bulbs. I've almost hit trees, animals and pedestrians because the only thing I could literally see was a large white light coming towards my vehicle.

Bright bulbs are trading others safety for your own.

Agree, that brighter lights only make it safer for the 2/3 on the road as you point out. And that brings up an issue for sure here on what we should do if we can make roads safer for people and pedestrians by increasing lighting, what happens to those with poorer night vision who become even more dangerous behind a wheel.

Again, I don't want my kid hit by a car because someone has poor crappy dated lighting. I also don't want someone behind the wheel if a bright light makes them blind and they are unable or unwilling to get nighttime driving glasses to cut down on the glare.

Headlight inspections might be a large help here to make sure lights are properly fit and not shining in someone's eyes when driving. But yes, as roads become safer at night, maybe that should be something, if you are getting behind the wheel of a vehicle your night vision should be tested and corrected if not up to par.

I don't know what the answer is, but I know there's a LOT of deer around me, we don't have bike lanes on our country roads and up north here it gets dark pretty early and these things are a godsend for safety in my situation.

 

[slashsnake]

Very few if any states have any significant enforcement over headlights - and it doesn't matter what the law or regulation is if there's no enforcement for it. Buy the brightest LED bulbs you can find with the worst color temperature for blinding other drivers, mount them high on a jacked-up truck, and aim them directly at drivers eye level - and you won't get cited and might not even be aware you're a hazard.

Badly aimed fog lights are a huge contributor here. Aftermarket lights self-installed by fools who don't know what they're doing but want to look cool in their oversized truck to compensate for their undersized...life don't seem to care about what the lights do to oncoming drivers (or the person they're tailgating).

I'm not a big-government guy, but here's an idea - require every company that does oil changes to do mandatory headlight alignments at the time of the oil change. That might help a little, if they do it right.

Is it as big a deal as drunk drivers? No. Is it a problem that seems to be getting worse? Yes.

I think this is on the right track. Lights shouldn't be hitting a person full bore in the face. Yes add enforcement and make the penalties something that makes it tough to swallow for those to want to do that anyways.

The oil change is a neat one but misses out on EV's... so maybe tire changes?

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