I don't mind rain. Worst, imo, is ice crystals in the air. When the nearby air seems perfectly clear, then becomes milky mist at 200 meters ... and a complete whiteout at 300. Fortunately, we didn't have appropriately cold temperatures (under -20C) often in recent years (thank you global warming!)
I feel ya. Literally have to drive like a granny in the left hand lane of the motorway at night as the opposite side of the carriageway burns my eyeballs out!
I find the LED headlights the worst for glare, the halogen ones usually aren't too bad unless the aim is off. Due to the tight cut-off beam pattern LED headlights have, bumps in the road sometimes make it look like the driver is flashing their headlights.
This is the exact problem. LEDs are incredibly bright, many times halogen. They claim to be adaptive on many cars to prevent glare but that requires a lot of tech and bumps, undulations upset all this. British roads commonly dip and weave all over the place, most near me were formed by carts. They are also very busy. Try the A25 in East Surrey, it combines these issues with countless invisible pedestrian crossing points and parked cars with no effective illumination, streetlamp or otherwise. It's dangerous and the these LEDs need to be curtailed on British roads, especially if you do not have an SUV, which most of us do not.
That may sound sensible if you mostly drive in a city where there's street lighting anyway but I assure you as someone who often drives in places where you're more likely to encounter a moose than another human, modern LED headlights are life saving.
Biggest issue I have is drivers in the UK seems to LOVE fwd (i.e pointless) SUV's that have their lights high up, they may be dipped, but they're dipped right into my eyeballs.
Modern Land rovers and Range Rovers seem to be particularly bad. Just about every one I see has very bright light set in a way that points them right into my eyes/mirrors. I guess they must be OK, but I don't understand how the 3+ years old ones get through the MOT headlamp alignment check.
You, sir, are a national treasure. And it should be made compulsory to watch your videos before attempting a practical test. You taught me and many of us so much. Thanks for all your hard work.
Thanks for this. I have an MX5 and being so low makes modern SUV’s and vans a nightmare in traffic. I wish more people realised they should dip their beams for our safety
I used to have an MR2, same problem. I think everyone should try a low car at some point as it really puts into perspective how being that low can make the car small, and unseen. I think driving that MR2 has made me more aware as a driver.
@@Vikface1978 MR2 driver here. Oncoming SUVs or even taller crossover hatchbacks on single carriageways are a nightmare at night. I will be trying out all the tips in this video.
I own an R56 mini and I keep being blinded by some tall SUVs, always usually new VW tourags and tiguans and Tesla model Ys with LED headlights so something is really off with them the worst!
I was taught as an ex RAF driver, if you are ever dazzled at night, on a country lane in a tight space then immediately concentrate on the inside kerb or hedge. Thing is the eye is attracted to light, so if you look at the oncoming headlight there's a tendency to vere toward it. So this helps to keep the car straight in tight spaces
@@1mlistermy dad teaches the RAF to drive land vehicles (usually ambulances and transport vehicles), this made me chuckle as we always mock him that he forgets the wings.
My dad's not in the RAF but he told me the same thing. He said it's good practice to have most of your focus on the middle of your driving position and the verge at night, to keep wary of animals that may dart out, pedestrians in dark clothing etc
I'm a long distance truck driver. I just put the sun shade down. If they refuse to dip their headlights as so very many people do, I high beam them and there's nothing they can do about it. As soon as they dip I dip. This treatment works equally well driving to and from work in the dark in my car. Some people just wont dip so with the sunvisor down and your high beam on then you've got all bases covered.
When I lived in the U.S. these lights were a huge problem, now the problem has migrated to over here with these stupid ice white lights. 100% unnecessary and should be made illegal. The DVLA even states not to dazzle other drivers, good luck with that now
@@Hill_Walker Regulations have been ignored also. I've noticed that newer cars with these lights are straight facing and not angled away like they used to be.
Yea i love feeling like a dam bull frog driving around at night. 90% of the lights people have around here are more then 2x brighter then my high beams with new bulbs and less then year old battery.
The new Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux are the blight of the roads in Australia as far as extremely bright lights aimed directly into your vision go. I really want highlight temperature and angle better regulated.
@@Hill_Walker Yes! I've been saying this exact thing for years, since xenons appeared. It's like manufacturers just found a loophole to perpetuate the one-upmanship of making their lights continually brighter at the expense of owners of other marques.
Met him today purely by luck. These videos have been extremely useful while preparing for my test and have given me so much confidence. I love the way he points out even the minor things that could cost points and goes on to give instructions on how to avoid them. I think these videos should be made mandatory as a part of driving tests preparation.. can't recommend enough...
I was talking with my optician about this. He said that it’s pretty much because headlights are getting more powerful and more blue. Nothing wrong with my corrected eyesight but I find driving at night harder than I used to.
As a former ADI, I love your videos and recommend them to learner drivers, those newly qualified, and everyone else as we can all learn from newer techniques and ideas no matter how many decades we've been driving. After 40 years behind and aside the wheel, I still regard every journey as a new lesson. I wish I had the same enthusiasm for UA-cam. The plethora of banal advertisements and the ban on ad-blockers is rapidly disenfranchising me from UA-cam, not least because a number of the ads are blatant scams.
Hi Richard, I passed my test today finally. Many thanks to your videos - the way you concisely and clearly explain things really resonated with me. I’ll still be watching as it can’t ever hurt to learn!
This channel has given me so much more confidence with my car. I know a lot more about important details now and I feel less like I am fumbling in the dark.
Ah, so this has answered why my car's AC turns on whenever I turn on the demisters! I'm glad I found this channel. I've passed my test already, but passing doesn't mean I know everything there is to know.
Anyone else noticed that Tesla have the most dazzling headlights? I was driving home an hour ago and had to slow down on a dual carrigeway to let a tesla past, as it was dazzling me through my side mirrors. Also when driving at night I flash people to tell them to turn off their high beams (if they're on) but half the time it turns out it's just a tesla, I can't even tell it's a tesla until it's passed me, because the lights are too bright to make out the fish/crosseye style headlights, by which point I've already flashed them...
Tesla's have rapidly becoming an annoying pattern of glare yes. None of the Musk-cultists seem to adjust their lights, and when they do it's sill super-high. It's happened twice now that one of those blinded me so much that I basically just pulled into their lane and stopped them. Hey if I have to wait two minutes to see again, they can wait with me. Not saying other brands don't have their problems, but Tesla's as the worst.
the Ford Puma has an awfully high beam as well, my guess is that is caused by the shape and position of the headlight, but I swear you don't want to cross a puma on a bumpy road or you'll be blinded for good
I just passed my test 1st time with my dad as my only instructor only 1 miner . If it wasn't for your videos it wouldn't have been possible! THANK YOU!!!
I've noticed a lot of the issue is that newer cars that haven't had an MOT often don't have correctly adjusted headlights. So many times I'll have the beams of the car behind me in traffic go higher on the car in front than my own beams, meaning they cannot be dipped the same amount. As for why new lights are blueish white, thats actually because we are more sensitive to that sort of light, meaning in theory we can see clearer. Which I think is true, however most modern lights have a very sharp cut off, so while it is clearer in most of the beam, you can't see well beyond the beam if your eyes are adjusted to the light from the beam. Whereas my 2007 Volvo C30 with halogen lights has a much softer cut off at the end of its dipped beams, meaning my eyes can transition between inside and outside the beam more easily.
The way the human eye works means that at night, we really need different frequencies of light to daylight when driving. Bright white/ blue lights are not ideal because it has a more detrimental effect on oncoming drivers. Yes, you can potentially see more, but night driving often involves huge variations of lighting conditions in a very short period of time. Light to dark and back again. The human eye simply cannot adjust quickly enough between extremes.
A few points for consideration. 1/ People who sit in non moving traffic whilst keeping their foot on the foot brake. 2/ People who drive with either the front or rear fog lamps on when it’s raining 3/ People who drive with the headlamp level adjuster incorrectly set. All of the above contribute to hazardous driving conditions in low light conditions and hurt your eyes.
People who park on one's own side facing you and with headlights full on (not just parking sidelights). People who simply cannot find the brake pedal coming up behind a cyclist or opposing you in a narrow street so you have to stop and suddenly reverse.
@@dezzadiggler3693 they would just argue you changing gears to neutral/1st and applying the handbrake is not worth the wear and tear on them opposed to a couple bulbs
I don't know why people can't dip their lights before they come around a bend. The amount of people who have to dazzle you for a couple of seconds never ceases to amaze me. You can see car headlights way before the car so please dip earlier
edit: As I said before I live in the Netherlands and it was actually on the news a little while back. There might be some kind of regulation in the future so that's nice. It's been getting darker earlier and I've been driving more frequently at night. A thing I've noticed is that it seems that some people are honestly just using wrongly set-up headlights. I mostly look forward and I often have no issues with it, but sometimes there's cars on the oncoming side that have gigantic lights that are pointing into my eyes and blinding me rather than pointing forwards/downwards. I'm 99% certain that there's just some people driving at night with their high beams or don't understand how to setup the height and what it's for. I live in the netherlands and there's pretty much 0 reason to ever use high beam here considering there's street lights everywhere. So to add; I'm not looking at the lights, some people's super bright lights just "take away my vision" on my side of the road even when looking away.
Part of the issue could be LED replacement bulbs. On cars with headlights designed for halogen lights, the reflectors in the light are set up for a point source light where the filament of the bulb would be. Cheaper LED replacement bulbs can have a sort of corn-cob design which moves the light source away from this central point, which can cause greater beam spread than the headlights were designed to have.
As well as the blueness of modern headlamps is their placement - on an SUV (stupid ugly vehicle) the lights are at the same height as the eyes of someone driving a regular car, far too high. Even on low beam, SUV lights are blindingly glary.
@@21stcenturyozman20 I agree that SUVs are a big problem here. SUVs approaching from behind can cause me to be dazzled via my rear view mirror, such that at times on the motorways I have adjusted my mirror to stop the dazzling (that's probably unsafe, so I don't recommend it to anyone). That said, the recommendations in this video are good. It's good to be reminded not to look at lights! I frequently look at cars to "see if their high beams are on," dazzling myself in the process. I really should just focus on the road in front of me!
Driving at night (especially on roads I don't know) is very stressful. But doing so when it is raining heavily is almost impossible. The numerous bright raindrops, many reflections on the road, noise of heater and wipers, etc make me very very anxious.
Funny that I watched this video the other day and then got a question in my theory test about this today! It asked how do you reduce glare. Although cleaning the windscreen was the obvious answer out of the options I was given, it was nice to have confidence in the fact I watched a video covering this :) I got 49 out of 50 on my test today because of videos like yours so thank you!
I'm here to say thank you for all the work you've put into those videos. I just passed my exam and couldn't be happier that I watched lots and lots of your stuff. Even though I live in Norway, many things are still applicable. Thank you again!
I think it is good to mention also about an automatic lights where car decides when to change it from low to high beam. Many times on the way to work we were blinded by cars with automatic lights. I think drivers should be aware of that and change lights manually to avoid dazzling the other users.
Excellent video as always! The young vs. old people's discomfort with headlights brightness is probably because older people have less sensitive vision and actually require spaces be better lit to move safely (per my experience).
LED street lights have had an impact too for night vision. I've had people telling me that they have to be extra attentive driving at night due to the light, since they have been installed.
The big, and dangerous problem, is the ultra-bright LED lights. I have been tailed by a car with these ridiculous headlights at night. I could see a silhouette of my car in front of me, despite having my full beam on. When I slowed down to let the car with the LED light go past, the driver selected full beam! I have also followed other drivers who have braked just because the oncoming vehicle has very bright LED headlamps. Far too many vehicles with LED headlamps are driving around dazzling other drivers.
So glad to find out that I'm not the only one who finds the temperature of the new LED headlamps to be discomforting. There should be some international regulation about this, like how the driver's side's headlight is dimmer than the other one so that the oncoming drivers don't get dazzled by it.
my scooter i use for for work has its light on the opposite side and are very dipped to about 10ft ahead of me, i travel to work in the dark and the amount of lazy tired or ignorant drivers who cant see me is terrible...and im the one at most risk, yet im dazzled by nearly every car opposite on my commute, sometimes i feel like flashing at them or just put my full beam on to give them a dose.
Throughly enjoy your videos.i found my eyes where hurting,whilst driving in the night.ive applied you techniques,and it works.65 years old ,agency Nurse.Wendy.
I live in rural Devon, but my commute is a fairly busy narrow road which has everything from annoying BMW drivers to tractors and lorries. The roads are narrow and very potholed, and when it’s dark, foggy, rainy, and all the above at once, it is hell to drive. I wear glasses to drive and have astigmatism, I drive a smallish car (Fiesta), and the bright lights are just awful. I genuinely can’t see the road at all at many points when the lights are so close and bright, and it gives me migraines! Especially when it’s a huge Range Rover or something with their white laser beams. I implement all tips that I can, but it’s still bad. I just don’t know what to do.
I wasn't gonna buy that product when you talked about it in the beginning, but now that I'm at the end of the video I think I'm going to reconsider. I'm convinced now that you didn't just want to sell a product but that it was a genuine advice with no strings attached. Btw you are a good teacher!
Is like reading my mind. I have my driving license for about 2 years and in the last year and a half I started driving heavily in Europe as a courier, somewhere about 20k km each month. I keep my windows perfectly clean FOR THIS SPECIFIC reason - visibility, especially during night. Also mirrors and side windows. Also during cold season I noticed by myself that AC is making amazing work by "deleting" all the fog from my windows. Even in combination with heat from the engine to keep the cabin warm. I have myopia and I use glasses but I don't have a problem driving at night, maybe because I use the same focus points as you do. I DO NOT look into the oncoming traffic beams and I DO NOT look into the brake lights of the car in front. Only problem with lighting I have is when is heavy snowing :)) And I use only BOSCH wipers because they seem to work the best for some reason.
I live in a rural area, so headlights at night aren’t really a problem locally - but I was driving in Edinburgh last night, and wow, the ‘dazzle factor’ really caught me off guard! My eyes hurt and I almost had to take a break at one point! Another super timely video Richard - I can’t wait to watch this and get some tips for next time I’m driving at night in the city! Thanks again 😀
Without having read said study of the RAC about young vs. old, I strongly suspect there's some correlation with a different underlying causality than (just) age. Old people are much more likely to drive high and big SUVs, whereas younger people tend to have more reasonable, lower cars. SUVs almost never get dazzled because they're so high, but dazzle everyone else in a lower car because their headlights are so high. So it's probably not that old people are less likely to get dazzled, but it's that old people are more likely to be SUV drivers and SUV drivers are less likely to get dazzled.
It's about the question too. The way it was asked more self centred people would answer about their own lights, more cautious or perceptive drivers would answer about other people's.
In the UK it’s mostly young families driving SUVs, I don’t know anyone over 55 who drives one (and because of my age I know more people in the over 55 age group).
It's ridiculous that this man taught me how to drive stick years and years ago but still have videos to put out that teaches me things I didn't know O_o
I think the reason for the difference in figures between younger and older members of the public thinking headlights are too bright is purely down to the size of cars that older people are likely to drive. Younger people drive smaller cars, you can’t escape the glare of oncoming traffic regardless of if it’s blinding or not. Being higher up negates this completely
Not even just oncoming traffic; having those modern bright headlights behind you, especially from a big SUV or pickup, can also be blinding in a small car.
Na. I mean sure yea it is going to affect the results. But it is also that the older you get you lose your hearing AND eye sight. Just like how even now one brushes there teeth and limits smoking/sugar and everything else the teeth are going to wear over the years. If you are good about it you might still have decent hearing and eyesight later down the line. But you can not stop it completely even if letting it destroy your life trying to avoid everything and anything that can damage you. Your still going to lose some of the younger abelites you had. And living a life with good ear/eye/teeth protection simply is going to wear you out anyways to some extent. But stick to recommendations and do not let your work off easily! When you work/school you must care about yourself since that stupid work will not repay you for wearing yourself out after the fact. Even a healthy no inherent eye problems. (that makes you lose dark vision earlier) Still you are going to lose the brightness receptors or however the eyes work. Think of your eyes like a inverse light bulb. If you cream to much power into them they burn out and darkens. And they are not replaceable. Let them lean burn but not to the extreme of having them overwork in the darkness. That wears on them too. Just not overpowering lights and no looking at welding or directly at the sun or some crap! Agen one can not let it go out of control and ruin enjoyment of life. Be smart. And the stupid over bright lights are going to die down on there own over time. Even if you do not want them to due to loss in your eyes. If you take care of your vision and lucky to not need glasses or anything for most of your life? Your still going to have a harder time in the dark. And so someone older and most likely better used to driving in there stage in life will simply not have a big problem with the over bright lights. While someone young like me manages to drive with the parking lights on in the city without noticing. Since the amount of bleed from other motorists coming at me covers the car plenty without my lights helping. Stupid SUV's.
I am 71, I drive a Mazda MX5? I find it is mainly middle income and mid family age group buy these pointlessly large SUV's for Family cars, Oh, and as a status symbol?
@@TheDiner50You have some strange ideas about aging, the human body and how people behave. None of it particularly relevant to the fact that the human eye has serious deficiencies when it comes to driving at night. Mainly because of the huge variations of light coming in to the eye from other vehicles and street lighting etc. That affects everyone, no matter their age.
With the electronic handbrake the brake lights stay on in auto hold and only switch off when you manually apply the handbrake, this could be the reason why so many drivers 'appear' to be still on the foot brake when they could actually be on auto hold.
I agree with what people say about the light subject, and it`s down to bad drivers who don`t care about other drivers. But what a noyes me most, are drivers who park their vehicles on the wrong side of the road at night leaving their headlights on. That blinds me more than drivers coming towards me, even when they are on their own side of the road.
You give some very good advise, I'd like to throw in my tuppence on older drivers at night. I am just north of seventy, I do not like to drive at night any more, my two most avoided driving conditions are night and raining at night (always disliked that one even in my twenties). I find now that I keep my night driving to a minimum, same as winter when snowing heavily, mainly because of the folks who haven't got snow tires on (I'm in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, we get snow, lots and lots of snow). The temperature (colour hue) of light is important and I think should be researched again for automotive use. Anyway, you are doing a great service to motorists, hopefully those who watch your YT channel will act on at least some of what they have heard.
Great advice. I think there's obviously a problem though, when a video about this has to be made. Ever since the advent of xenon lights, modern headlamps are dangerous in my opinion. Not only do they need tighter regulations on the brightness, but there needs to be a height limit at which they can be installed. 9 times out of 10 when I'm getting blinded in my side mirrors it's a from van or tall SUV. The brake lights in traffic problem really gets to me, because it's just a lack of consideration for others. I don't find not looking directly at them adequate when stationary right behind another car, I have to look away to the side, which is not comfortable. If I feel like I'm starting with a headache, sitting behind brakelights makes it a certainty that it will develop into one.
I completely agree the point about headlight install height, though id hardly say that they’re dangerous. What is dangerous however is the people that install the LED lights in their car (aftermarket) as these tend to have an awful light beam that scatters all over the place. The point about the break lights, whilst true, is a harder one to combat as the majority of modern day automatics have a ‘hold’ feature where the car holds itself in positron whilst stopped . The majority of theses systems illuminate the break lights as a safety measure. I find that it is highly impractical for me to use the electronic hand break in my Toyota when stopped at lights or in traffic as this still makes the hybrid system want to move the car forward (when in drive) Personally id prefer it if the break lights were turned off after sitting on hold for more than 10 seconds, but I can completely understand why the remain illuminated permanently
@MaritalSnake9 the answer to brake lights remaining on is to make them work in a different way. A switch based on the braking system is becoming too simplistic when there are vehicles with effective regenerative braking. Brake lights should instead be based on inertia, I.e. the vehicle slowing down.
Some good tips. BTW, Wiper blades often don't need replacing, just cleaning or adjusting the blade angle a touch. But if that doesn't work replace them. It is a 30 second job for most cars.
It's mostly hard to see signs and lanes when there's so many lights everywhere it's not about it being uncomfortable it's about being able to navigate an unfamiliar roundabout when you're being exposed to 9000 moving lumens
Aside from headlight aim and colour, another important factor of halogen headlights being more bearable is that they have a larger surface area. They can still put out as about the same amount of light as your Xenon or LED bulb, but the area they use is the whole headlight reflector instead of a single point, so the intensity of that if you happen to glance at it is MUCH lower.
That's not down to the type of light source, that's down to the design of the light unit around it. You can make diffuse LED or Xenon lighting, just like you can make an intense spotlight from a conventional bulb.
I learnt all this the hard way. I was getting late for work so I used a cloth to wipe the inside moisture off, and when I drove back home at night, the smear made it near impossible to drive and my wiper blades also were smearing the heavy rain and the oncoming cars were dazzling my eyes! how I drove home a mile is beyond me ! thank you for the great tips
Problem is there are so many SUVs with LED headlights higher than saloon cars, if you’re still driving a saloon which I do SUV lights are at saloon drivers eye level. I’m a pensioner I can’t really afford to change not that I want to. I have been driving for sixty years, I am impressed by your driving tips for one so young, which are pretty much exactly the way I drive.
there needs to be regulations about maximum headlight brightness. headlights have gotten so bright, it would actually be easier for everyone to drive if we all turned our headlights off.
@@trubass23i live miles away from the nearest light pole, yet I understand that dimming isn't the same as turning off. Having to halve my speed anytime a new car/someone with new lights comes across is a real PITA.
Good advice, although when I learned to drive (not in the UK) in the 1980s I was taught that if an oncoming vehicle has lights that are too bright it's advisable to look away towards the edge of the road.
3:08 - I believe my car has this feature. However, when the AC is on, the engine has considerably less rev hang, which makes changing gear less smooth. I haven't mastered throttle blipping yet, but it would help. I tend to either crack the window or leave the AC off with the fan set at 1, at a cool-ish temperature and it seems to work.
@@kieranlangley3092 double clutching is slightly different (clutch neutral clutch gear). Throttle blipping is clutch, neutral, gear, blip, let out clutch. It is useful for keeping the revs up during upshifts (and downshifts, but then it's called rev matching) when the revs fall quickly, meaning the clutch would otherwise have to match the revs of the engine to the revs of the gearbox, which if you don't pause at the bite point can end up being jerky.
@@kieranlangley3092No, double clutching and matching revs (throttle blip is one half of rev matching) are not the same thing. DD does usually include rev matching, but it is just as easily applied to normal clutch use.
If you're not rev matching, then having the aircon on isn't going to make much difference, you're still being hard on your clutch plates by bringing them together at different speeds. Imagine a drill with a coarse sanding disc spinning at 1000rpm, then bring it in to face to face contact with another one spinning in the same direction, but at 500rpm. One has to slow down or the other has to speed up until they match. Either way they're grinding each other down. Modern clutch plates are a minor miracle considering the forces they endure.
@@another3997 The revs are normally perfectly-timed on upshifts when the air con isn't on, as the revs fall at the right rate for my tempo of gear change. I'm still working on rev matching when downshifting, but I'm getting better. The air con just means I'd have to hold the gas for a bit longer to allow the revs to rise. It's not a very powerful car, so the air con makes a noticeable difference to how the engine performs.
Honestly would love to see how these have been tested to see they're safe - flat roads maybe. But with constant speed bumps, potholes and general vertical curves on our roads you're constantly having to look down directly to the LEDs.
Really glad you mentioned that you did not compare the second auto gleam product to the competition - quite honest. Re. RAC, I think it is because of how much time we spend on computer screens, it just makes the vision go quite bad.
@@nvelsen1975 hahaha fair point, ive been tryna find a solution myself, as i work as a software developer so it really bothers me. The built in windows night light mode is really helping!
When it comes to headlights, ECE regulations state headlights can not be higher than 6000 kelvin, regardless of what tech it is. The main issue with LED headlamps is just down to the optics used. With minimal space and tiny headlamps being desirable, it doesn't leave a lot of space for a decent set of optics to be used, which means more glare when further away, yet testing occurs at a relatively close up distance.
Part of the problem is that LEDs are much more efficient than filament lamps and the headlight power is still limited to power input rather than actual light output. Together with the near monochromatic light output of LEDs, they produce a much starker light which can be hazardous, unlike the effectively black-body radiator of traditional filament lamps. The optics certainly don't help as you end up with a near point-source concentrated light rather than a larger area source, thus the intensity is far greater.
I was told to look ahead but look at the kerb because that gives you a reference point of where your car is placed and reduces glare from oncoming vehicles, works for me.
Being dazzled by headlights was the first symptom I had of diabetes. If you struggle with being dazzled by headlights driving at night, then it would be worth checking yourself out with a doctor. Getting diagnosed early could prevent a whole host of medical conditions from happening.
@@ScaniamHeadlights are brighter nowadays, and this affects people with crap eyes. People with good eyes don't find them a problem. The OP's advice seemed good - detecting and responding to diabetes early can avoid a host of expensive and debilitating problems later. If you've noticed you've got more sensitive to glare, it's worth being proactive...
@@kramelbbiwYou are talking absolute BS. The working of the human eye is very well understood, and no matter how good your eyesight, the basic biological restrictions inherent in it's design are still there. If you believe you're somehow immune to the effects of bright lights due to having "good" eyes, you're deluded. Ignorance nor ego will alter biological facts.
@@Scaniam No it's too many not very bright stupid people who don't understand or have never driven with modern LED headlights. I've yet to read a comment from anyone with LED headlights that complained about being blinded by others. Could it be they illuminate the road so well only those with crap headlights / uncorrected vision have a problem?. Let me think...
I definitely agree with what Richard said about where to look to avoid dazzle. In addition, on narrow country roads - as well as looking at the space beside the oncoming car (as described), the edge of the road (on your side of the road - left in UK) can also provide useful information and help you gauge just how big the space that you have is. Not only that, the oncoming car may even be illuminating it in a way that is useful to you. So it may be the part of the road that you can see the best in dark, wet, wintry, rural conditions. Another advantage to looking where Richard says (though I don't think he explicitly mentions it) is that if you are looking at the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, not only will you be more likely to get dazzled, you are also more likely to steer towards the oncoming car slightly. Obviously, that's not a thing you want to be doing.
As a young person, I have some thoughts on why more young people say they are dazzled by lights at night. The main thing is that our eyes adjust very quickly to the darkness. So, while I'm avoiding looking at lights at night, my eyes adjust to the darkness quite quickly. Then if a car with headlights comes across my vision or some other source of glare appears, it's much more of an issue because my eyes are fully adjusted to the darkness. So in general it takes less light to cause glare at night. As you age, the eye adjusts more slowly to changes in light, so for older drivers it's possible that their eyes end up in a more in-between state, not fully adjusted to the darkness because of repeated exposure to lights/glare. All of this is more theory than anything, if anyone has better ideas just respond below.
The biology of the human eye is such that it takes several minutes for it to fully adjust to darkness/low light. But it is actually much quicker to adapt to an increase of light coming in. This is why it's more difficult to drive on an unlit road with oncoming cars. Your eyes gradually adjust to the low light of your headlights which point away from you, when a car comes toward you, their lights shining toward you. This forces the eye to adapt quite quickly until the vehicle is passed, but then takes quite a while to adjust back to low light. Rinse and repeat. Young or old, that's the way it works.
I don't need expensive Autoglym products. I keep my washer fluid topped up, and give it a few sprays while driving. Then make sure the AC is run on HOT air (recirculation Off) as it removes moisture quickly. Job done
I think the reason older people are less troubled by headlight glare than younger drivers is that they drive less at night. I’m in my mid 60’s and find driving in the dark very uncomfortable due to the headlight glare, so I try and avoid driving after dark particularly on unfamiliar roads. I try and plan my journeys in day light instead.
@@devononairIf you have corrective lenses, then the state of your eyesight isn't a problem, other than possible glare on the lenses etc. Young people suffer eye problems too, so it isn't unique to older people. Unfortunately a lot of them don't realise things gradually changing for quite some time, and continue to drive.
Very 'enlightening'! Thank you. I discovered a helpful practice when driving on unlit country roads in my area and it was the use of conscious deduction. Watching the vehicles ahead can determine whether or not there's an unlit vehicle in my path because such a vehicle would obscure their lights. Also, if the road is wet, reflections from the surface can tell us a huge amount of information about the surface and the vehicles ahead, both approaching and receding. Finally, reflections from the sides of oncoming vehicles can help on winding roads, to determine if there are vehicles following them but out of sight around the next bend. We can pick up these signal sub-consciously but I also think it's good to deliberately concentrate on them.
It's 1000% worse here in the 🦅🦅🦅🦅! Everybody drives a massive pickup except me. Also, my windshield is insanely pitted but I can't really replace it rn.
You sir are saving lives with your videos, and I really mean it. As a young driver, many of your videos were crucial in my drivig journey and I never open my phone faster than when youtube notifys me about your new video! Great stuff as always
Great information. One bit of advice to help with night vision, keep your dashboard lights as dimly lit as possible so your not getting light from them dilating your eyes. Always notice people whom tend to use the high beams more often. Have the dashboard lights as bright as possible.
Top tip: Use the glass polish on the outside too, after cleaning the windshield thoroughly. Then, apply a treatment of rain repellent (RainX or equivalent from other manufacturers). And remember to have fresh wiper blades (I change mine every 6 months). Also, if you don’t use the air conditioner at all, at least run it for half an hour once a month, or whatever the owner’s manual says, to prevent it from seizing. But most of us would use the advice of actively using it for de-misting, right? ;)
Great video. Very helpful. My son cleaned my windscreen for me with that product. What a huge difference, so I'm ordering some. p.s. Google "colour temperature" photographers deal with this all the time, and it'll explain the the different headlight colours. Also, red is used at night because it doesn't affect your night vision.
Why do you wanna sit with your foot smashed on the brake pedal when waiting at lights? Some traffic lights take over a minute to cycle. Unless I am the first car, I sit with the car in neutral, feet on the floor and hand brake on. Relax.
Hi Richard very nice and helpful video as usual you made me nostalgic because I was staying in the area of Enfield town in London last year exactly around the same time of the year in the month of December 2022 I still remember the cold and dark afternoon It was our first visit to England
I was a little surprised about the findings that older drivers were less distracted by bright lights then younger drivers, I wonder to what extent simple experience was the major factor? A personal story that may be relevant. Last Autumn, 2022, I was finding driving at dusk almost dangerous, and in the dark difficult. I actively avoided both. I was finding that there was a great deal of periferal glare, making the view ahead blurry. I had an eye test, mentioned my problem to the optician, and she referred me to a specialist. In March I had cataracts removed from each eye. The results have been astounding. I no longer need glasses to drive, and my eyesight in the dark is as it was 40 years ago. Remind your optician that when a developing cataract interferes with your lifestyle if qualifies . under the rules, for specialist intervention. I am by the way 75 years old, and enjoy driving.
Some great tips. I have a couple of specific issues I can’t find good solutions for. I drive a regular car, but where I live there are many pickup trucks. Just the higher lights plus their propensity to ride your butt, quite blinding. The other one is junctions. Seems like a lot of them if I’m trying to enter onto the main road from the less main road, there is a slope up to the main road on both sides, so both sides of traffic are getting blinded by the angle the traffic is sitting at !! I agree totally though with the importance of where to look to minimize the effects of the lights. 😃
Good video, I work shifts and travel 11 miles via mostly unlit roads and my commute is awful this time of year. Modern headlights are so much better for the driver but for the oncoming driver they are simply too bright, cars made in the last 5 years are usually the worst. In 2013 I used to own a Suzuki swift sport which had very good lights, but I used to get drivers flashing me all the time as they thought I had high beam switched on. I think all your tips are well worth trying.
If your avatar picture is you though, means you're wearing glasses with no anti-glare layer on them. That makes a load of difference. It's an option with any decent optometrist.
i wear yellow-tinted glasses at night, it helps quite a bit but there's still times where a car coming towards you can blind you to objects sitting in the dark, especially in single-lane or when you are on the "outside" lane
What a great video . I have this problem . I just checked and found the inside of my windscreen covered in a sort of hazy film . How stupid am I . A lot of great advice . Thank you for that .
Shout out to all of us with astigmatism, driving at night...while it's raining....
Literally feels like a flashbang going off whenever a car on the opposite lane drives by
Have to work tonight and it’s pouring with rain… it sucks. It feels like everyone has the high beams on.
I don't mind rain. Worst, imo, is ice crystals in the air. When the nearby air seems perfectly clear, then becomes milky mist at 200 meters ... and a complete whiteout at 300. Fortunately, we didn't have appropriately cold temperatures (under -20C) often in recent years (thank you global warming!)
Do your glasses or contact lenses not correct this?
I feel ya. Literally have to drive like a granny in the left hand lane of the motorway at night as the opposite side of the carriageway burns my eyeballs out!
I find the LED headlights the worst for glare, the halogen ones usually aren't too bad unless the aim is off. Due to the tight cut-off beam pattern LED headlights have, bumps in the road sometimes make it look like the driver is flashing their headlights.
Oh yeah, I've noticed that!
This is the exact problem. LEDs are incredibly bright, many times halogen. They claim to be adaptive on many cars to prevent glare but that requires a lot of tech and bumps, undulations upset all this. British roads commonly dip and weave all over the place, most near me were formed by carts. They are also very busy. Try the A25 in East Surrey, it combines these issues with countless invisible pedestrian crossing points and parked cars with no effective illumination, streetlamp or otherwise. It's dangerous and the these LEDs need to be curtailed on British roads, especially if you do not have an SUV, which most of us do not.
There are people who illegally upgrade their headlights to LED and don't find ones with the correct beam pattern, and so they can cause more glare.
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That's true for older tech LED headlights. Modern cars nowadays come with autoleveling / antiglare lamps for that exact reason.
There should be new regulations to make headlights not so bright.
That won't help. The cars are still going to be on the road. New cars have headlights that brighten up the road well but don't dazzle motorists.
i agree, now a days car's are coming with very bright white lights from the factory
That may sound sensible if you mostly drive in a city where there's street lighting anyway but I assure you as someone who often drives in places where you're more likely to encounter a moose than another human, modern LED headlights are life saving.
eh, or mandatory glare reducing headlights?
dim the less yelloa
Biggest issue I have is drivers in the UK seems to LOVE fwd (i.e pointless) SUV's that have their lights high up, they may be dipped, but they're dipped right into my eyeballs.
The worst offenders are SUVs and Teslas. I don't know what it is with Tesla, but somehow they are lights are always way too high.
Modern Land rovers and Range Rovers seem to be particularly bad. Just about every one I see has very bright light set in a way that points them right into my eyes/mirrors. I guess they must be OK, but I don't understand how the 3+ years old ones get through the MOT headlamp alignment check.
I guess that people who drive SUVs are your enemies even if they use low beams?
You, sir, are a national treasure. And it should be made compulsory to watch your videos before attempting a practical test. You taught me and many of us so much. Thanks for all your hard work.
I agree
Bit of an extreme statement
@@cameronlotter1392 we can have a bit of hyperbole as a treat
@@vertigoEdits Stupid comment
@@cameronlotter1392 pffttt, that’s nothing,let’s go all out and give the man an OBE while we’re at it 😁😂
Thanks for this. I have an MX5 and being so low makes modern SUV’s and vans a nightmare in traffic. I wish more people realised they should dip their beams for our safety
I used to have an MR2, same problem. I think everyone should try a low car at some point as it really puts into perspective how being that low can make the car small, and unseen.
I think driving that MR2 has made me more aware as a driver.
@@Vikface1978 MR2 driver here. Oncoming SUVs or even taller crossover hatchbacks on single carriageways are a nightmare at night. I will be trying out all the tips in this video.
I own an R56 mini and I keep being blinded by some tall SUVs, always usually new VW tourags and tiguans and Tesla model Ys with LED headlights so something is really off with them the worst!
Literally 4cm off being T-boned this morning on the commute thanks to a Peugeot 3008 not looking. Dazzled & frazzled.
@@Vikface1978I've got a mk2 Mr2, most irritating are SUVs behind you. Just a constant beam of white led in your rear view mirror and side mirrors 😂
I was taught as an ex RAF driver, if you are ever dazzled at night, on a country lane in a tight space then immediately concentrate on the inside kerb or hedge. Thing is the eye is attracted to light, so if you look at the oncoming headlight there's a tendency to vere toward it. So this helps to keep the car straight in tight spaces
I was taught as an ex RAF driver, if you are ever dazzled at night, on a country lane in a tight space you are too low.
Obviously a member of 617 squadron 😂
@@1mlistermy dad teaches the RAF to drive land vehicles (usually ambulances and transport vehicles), this made me chuckle as we always mock him that he forgets the wings.
My dad's not in the RAF but he told me the same thing. He said it's good practice to have most of your focus on the middle of your driving position and the verge at night, to keep wary of animals that may dart out, pedestrians in dark clothing etc
I'm a long distance truck driver. I just put the sun shade down. If they refuse to dip their headlights as so very many people do, I high beam them and there's nothing they can do about it. As soon as they dip I dip.
This treatment works equally well driving to and from work in the dark in my car.
Some people just wont dip so with the sunvisor down and your high beam on then you've got all bases covered.
When I lived in the U.S. these lights were a huge problem, now the problem has migrated to over here with these stupid ice white lights. 100% unnecessary and should be made illegal. The DVLA even states not to dazzle other drivers, good luck with that now
The regulations apply a wattage limit. They haven't kept up, as now LEDs can be many magnitudes brighter than old bulbs for the same power.
@@Hill_Walker
Regulations have been ignored also. I've noticed that newer cars with these lights are straight facing and not angled away like they used to be.
Yea i love feeling like a dam bull frog driving around at night. 90% of the lights people have around here are more then 2x brighter then my high beams with new bulbs and less then year old battery.
The new Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux are the blight of the roads in Australia as far as extremely bright lights aimed directly into your vision go. I really want highlight temperature and angle better regulated.
@@Hill_Walker Yes! I've been saying this exact thing for years, since xenons appeared. It's like manufacturers just found a loophole to perpetuate the one-upmanship of making their lights continually brighter at the expense of owners of other marques.
Met him today purely by luck. These videos have been extremely useful while preparing for my test and have given me so much confidence. I love the way he points out even the minor things that could cost points and goes on to give instructions on how to avoid them. I think these videos should be made mandatory as a part of driving tests preparation.. can't recommend enough...
I was talking with my optician about this. He said that it’s pretty much because headlights are getting more powerful and more blue. Nothing wrong with my corrected eyesight but I find driving at night harder than I used to.
As a former ADI, I love your videos and recommend them to learner drivers, those newly qualified, and everyone else as we can all learn from newer techniques and ideas no matter how many decades we've been driving. After 40 years behind and aside the wheel, I still regard every journey as a new lesson.
I wish I had the same enthusiasm for UA-cam. The plethora of banal advertisements and the ban on ad-blockers is rapidly disenfranchising me from UA-cam, not least because a number of the ads are blatant scams.
I find the Librawolf browser with Ublockorigin adblocker works well and takes out the crap from youtube
Hi Richard, I passed my test today finally. Many thanks to your videos - the way you concisely and clearly explain things really resonated with me. I’ll still be watching as it can’t ever hurt to learn!
That's fantastic news! Thank you for watching and congratulations on passing!
This channel has given me so much more confidence with my car. I know a lot more about important details now and I feel less like I am fumbling in the dark.
Ah, so this has answered why my car's AC turns on whenever I turn on the demisters! I'm glad I found this channel. I've passed my test already, but passing doesn't mean I know everything there is to know.
Anyone else noticed that Tesla have the most dazzling headlights? I was driving home an hour ago and had to slow down on a dual carrigeway to let a tesla past, as it was dazzling me through my side mirrors.
Also when driving at night I flash people to tell them to turn off their high beams (if they're on) but half the time it turns out it's just a tesla, I can't even tell it's a tesla until it's passed me, because the lights are too bright to make out the fish/crosseye style headlights, by which point I've already flashed them...
Yes, I noticed that too. Often it's just one light (on the model S at least), so my guess is that it is a broken adjustment system.
I am currently being blinded by every Tesla model Y and VW toureg + tiguans with the LED lights. They are awful.
Tesla's have rapidly becoming an annoying pattern of glare yes. None of the Musk-cultists seem to adjust their lights, and when they do it's sill super-high.
It's happened twice now that one of those blinded me so much that I basically just pulled into their lane and stopped them. Hey if I have to wait two minutes to see again, they can wait with me. Not saying other brands don't have their problems, but Tesla's as the worst.
the Ford Puma has an awfully high beam as well, my guess is that is caused by the shape and position of the headlight, but I swear you don't want to cross a puma on a bumpy road or you'll be blinded for good
Ban these ridiculous LED bulbs
I just passed my test 1st time with my dad as my only instructor only 1 miner . If it wasn't for your videos it wouldn't have been possible! THANK YOU!!!
That's fantastic news! Thank you for watching and congratulations on passing!
congrats
I'm 52 and find headlights overly bright. Some good tips here, I particularly like the windscreen cleaning tool.
I've noticed a lot of the issue is that newer cars that haven't had an MOT often don't have correctly adjusted headlights. So many times I'll have the beams of the car behind me in traffic go higher on the car in front than my own beams, meaning they cannot be dipped the same amount. As for why new lights are blueish white, thats actually because we are more sensitive to that sort of light, meaning in theory we can see clearer. Which I think is true, however most modern lights have a very sharp cut off, so while it is clearer in most of the beam, you can't see well beyond the beam if your eyes are adjusted to the light from the beam. Whereas my 2007 Volvo C30 with halogen lights has a much softer cut off at the end of its dipped beams, meaning my eyes can transition between inside and outside the beam more easily.
The way the human eye works means that at night, we really need different frequencies of light to daylight when driving. Bright white/ blue lights are not ideal because it has a more detrimental effect on oncoming drivers. Yes, you can potentially see more, but night driving often involves huge variations of lighting conditions in a very short period of time. Light to dark and back again. The human eye simply cannot adjust quickly enough between extremes.
A few points for consideration.
1/ People who sit in non moving traffic whilst keeping their foot on the foot brake.
2/ People who drive with either the front or rear fog lamps on when it’s raining
3/ People who drive with the headlamp level adjuster incorrectly set.
All of the above contribute to hazardous driving conditions in low light conditions and hurt your eyes.
Also, not so dangerous maybe but very annoying and distracting - people who put their lights back up Before they've passed you.
People who park on one's own side facing you and with headlights full on (not just parking sidelights). People who simply cannot find the brake pedal coming up behind a cyclist or opposing you in a narrow street so you have to stop and suddenly reverse.
@@dezzadiggler3693 me too, and - me too.
@@dezzadiggler3693 they would just argue you changing gears to neutral/1st and applying the handbrake is not worth the wear and tear on them opposed to a couple bulbs
I don't know why people can't dip their lights before they come around a bend. The amount of people who have to dazzle you for a couple of seconds never ceases to amaze me. You can see car headlights way before the car so please dip earlier
edit: As I said before I live in the Netherlands and it was actually on the news a little while back. There might be some kind of regulation in the future so that's nice.
It's been getting darker earlier and I've been driving more frequently at night. A thing I've noticed is that it seems that some people are honestly just using wrongly set-up headlights.
I mostly look forward and I often have no issues with it, but sometimes there's cars on the oncoming side that have gigantic lights that are pointing into my eyes and blinding me rather than pointing forwards/downwards.
I'm 99% certain that there's just some people driving at night with their high beams or don't understand how to setup the height and what it's for.
I live in the netherlands and there's pretty much 0 reason to ever use high beam here considering there's street lights everywhere.
So to add; I'm not looking at the lights, some people's super bright lights just "take away my vision" on my side of the road even when looking away.
Part of the issue could be LED replacement bulbs. On cars with headlights designed for halogen lights, the reflectors in the light are set up for a point source light where the filament of the bulb would be. Cheaper LED replacement bulbs can have a sort of corn-cob design which moves the light source away from this central point, which can cause greater beam spread than the headlights were designed to have.
@@quinnobi42 I believe after market LED bulbs are illegal, mainly due to this reason.
I experience the same thing, particularly on highways.
As well as the blueness of modern headlamps is their placement - on an SUV (stupid ugly vehicle) the lights are at the same height as the eyes of someone driving a regular car, far too high. Even on low beam, SUV lights are blindingly glary.
@@21stcenturyozman20 I agree that SUVs are a big problem here. SUVs approaching from behind can cause me to be dazzled via my rear view mirror, such that at times on the motorways I have adjusted my mirror to stop the dazzling (that's probably unsafe, so I don't recommend it to anyone).
That said, the recommendations in this video are good. It's good to be reminded not to look at lights! I frequently look at cars to "see if their high beams are on," dazzling myself in the process. I really should just focus on the road in front of me!
Driving at night (especially on roads I don't know) is very stressful. But doing so when it is raining heavily is almost impossible. The numerous bright raindrops, many reflections on the road, noise of heater and wipers, etc make me very very anxious.
Bought one of those yellow glasses to make bright while light yellow, definitely helped a bit.
I've been using yellow tinted glasses for 50 + years and makes a lot of difference, even in fog , helps stop the glare of driving in 😢fog .
Funny that I watched this video the other day and then got a question in my theory test about this today! It asked how do you reduce glare. Although cleaning the windscreen was the obvious answer out of the options I was given, it was nice to have confidence in the fact I watched a video covering this :) I got 49 out of 50 on my test today because of videos like yours so thank you!
I thought this video was going to be a joke with someone who doesn't know what they are talking about, but you sir have changed my mind. Great job!
I'm here to say thank you for all the work you've put into those videos. I just passed my exam and couldn't be happier that I watched lots and lots of your stuff. Even though I live in Norway, many things are still applicable. Thank you again!
That's fantastic to hear! Thank you for watching and congratulations on passing!
I think it is good to mention also about an automatic lights where car decides when to change it from low to high beam. Many times on the way to work we were blinded by cars with automatic lights. I think drivers should be aware of that and change lights manually to avoid dazzling the other users.
I've just bought some of those yellow night driving glasses, life changing.
Same here
I will have to invest in some.
You will now be mistaken for Ali G
@@Xenon777_ lol, na they just clip onto my glasses. It's only a slight yellow tint but make a huge difference.
Excellent video as always! The young vs. old people's discomfort with headlights brightness is probably because older people have less sensitive vision and actually require spaces be better lit to move safely (per my experience).
LED street lights have had an impact too for night vision. I've had people telling me that they have to be extra attentive driving at night due to the light, since they have been installed.
Thank for this good advice, your videos need to be seen by all motorists.
The big, and dangerous problem, is the ultra-bright LED lights. I have been tailed by a car with these ridiculous headlights at night. I could see a silhouette of my car in front of me, despite having my full beam on. When I slowed down to let the car with the LED light go past, the driver selected full beam! I have also followed other drivers who have braked just because the oncoming vehicle has very bright LED headlamps. Far too many vehicles with LED headlamps are driving around dazzling other drivers.
Air con advice is excellent. I'm always conveying that the best way to keep it working is to keep using it in the winter.
So glad to find out that I'm not the only one who finds the temperature of the new LED headlamps to be discomforting. There should be some international regulation about this, like how the driver's side's headlight is dimmer than the other one so that the oncoming drivers don't get dazzled by it.
my scooter i use for for work has its light on the opposite side and are very dipped to about 10ft ahead of me, i travel to work in the dark and the amount of lazy tired or ignorant drivers who cant see me is terrible...and im the one at most risk, yet im dazzled by nearly every car opposite on my commute, sometimes i feel like flashing at them or just put my full beam on to give them a dose.
Throughly enjoy your videos.i found my eyes where hurting,whilst driving in the night.ive applied you techniques,and it works.65 years old ,agency Nurse.Wendy.
I live in rural Devon, but my commute is a fairly busy narrow road which has everything from annoying BMW drivers to tractors and lorries. The roads are narrow and very potholed, and when it’s dark, foggy, rainy, and all the above at once, it is hell to drive. I wear glasses to drive and have astigmatism, I drive a smallish car (Fiesta), and the bright lights are just awful. I genuinely can’t see the road at all at many points when the lights are so close and bright, and it gives me migraines! Especially when it’s a huge Range Rover or something with their white laser beams. I implement all tips that I can, but it’s still bad. I just don’t know what to do.
I wasn't gonna buy that product when you talked about it in the beginning, but now that I'm at the end of the video I think I'm going to reconsider. I'm convinced now that you didn't just want to sell a product but that it was a genuine advice with no strings attached. Btw you are a good teacher!
Is like reading my mind. I have my driving license for about 2 years and in the last year and a half I started driving heavily in Europe as a courier, somewhere about 20k km each month.
I keep my windows perfectly clean FOR THIS SPECIFIC reason - visibility, especially during night. Also mirrors and side windows.
Also during cold season I noticed by myself that AC is making amazing work by "deleting" all the fog from my windows. Even in combination with heat from the engine to keep the cabin warm.
I have myopia and I use glasses but I don't have a problem driving at night, maybe because I use the same focus points as you do. I DO NOT look into the oncoming traffic beams and I DO NOT look into the brake lights of the car in front.
Only problem with lighting I have is when is heavy snowing :))
And I use only BOSCH wipers because they seem to work the best for some reason.
I live in a rural area, so headlights at night aren’t really a problem locally - but I was driving in Edinburgh last night, and wow, the ‘dazzle factor’ really caught me off guard! My eyes hurt and I almost had to take a break at one point! Another super timely video Richard - I can’t wait to watch this and get some tips for next time I’m driving at night in the city! Thanks again 😀
Without having read said study of the RAC about young vs. old, I strongly suspect there's some correlation with a different underlying causality than (just) age. Old people are much more likely to drive high and big SUVs, whereas younger people tend to have more reasonable, lower cars. SUVs almost never get dazzled because they're so high, but dazzle everyone else in a lower car because their headlights are so high. So it's probably not that old people are less likely to get dazzled, but it's that old people are more likely to be SUV drivers and SUV drivers are less likely to get dazzled.
personally in my experience it is middle aged people who tend to drive SUVs.
It's about the question too. The way it was asked more self centred people would answer about their own lights, more cautious or perceptive drivers would answer about other people's.
Yep. Most studies are pointless and are heavily biased.
young drivers often also have cheaper cars with cheaper halogen headlights, rather than fancy xenon lights.
In the UK it’s mostly young families driving SUVs, I don’t know anyone over 55 who drives one (and because of my age I know more people in the over 55 age group).
It's ridiculous that this man taught me how to drive stick years and years ago but still have videos to put out that teaches me things I didn't know O_o
I think the reason for the difference in figures between younger and older members of the public thinking headlights are too bright is purely down to the size of cars that older people are likely to drive.
Younger people drive smaller cars, you can’t escape the glare of oncoming traffic regardless of if it’s blinding or not. Being higher up negates this completely
Not even just oncoming traffic; having those modern bright headlights behind you, especially from a big SUV or pickup, can also be blinding in a small car.
Na. I mean sure yea it is going to affect the results. But it is also that the older you get you lose your hearing AND eye sight. Just like how even now one brushes there teeth and limits smoking/sugar and everything else the teeth are going to wear over the years. If you are good about it you might still have decent hearing and eyesight later down the line. But you can not stop it completely even if letting it destroy your life trying to avoid everything and anything that can damage you. Your still going to lose some of the younger abelites you had. And living a life with good ear/eye/teeth protection simply is going to wear you out anyways to some extent. But stick to recommendations and do not let your work off easily! When you work/school you must care about yourself since that stupid work will not repay you for wearing yourself out after the fact.
Even a healthy no inherent eye problems. (that makes you lose dark vision earlier) Still you are going to lose the brightness receptors or however the eyes work. Think of your eyes like a inverse light bulb. If you cream to much power into them they burn out and darkens. And they are not replaceable. Let them lean burn but not to the extreme of having them overwork in the darkness. That wears on them too. Just not overpowering lights and no looking at welding or directly at the sun or some crap! Agen one can not let it go out of control and ruin enjoyment of life. Be smart. And the stupid over bright lights are going to die down on there own over time. Even if you do not want them to due to loss in your eyes.
If you take care of your vision and lucky to not need glasses or anything for most of your life? Your still going to have a harder time in the dark. And so someone older and most likely better used to driving in there stage in life will simply not have a big problem with the over bright lights. While someone young like me manages to drive with the parking lights on in the city without noticing. Since the amount of bleed from other motorists coming at me covers the car plenty without my lights helping. Stupid SUV's.
when the brand new range rover is behind me at the traffic lights I'm basically blind
I am 71, I drive a Mazda MX5? I find it is mainly middle income and mid family age group buy these pointlessly large SUV's for Family cars, Oh, and as a status symbol?
@@TheDiner50You have some strange ideas about aging, the human body and how people behave. None of it particularly relevant to the fact that the human eye has serious deficiencies when it comes to driving at night. Mainly because of the huge variations of light coming in to the eye from other vehicles and street lighting etc. That affects everyone, no matter their age.
Just found out we are the same age. been watching for ages. passed this spring. now moving onto night driving for my new job.
With the electronic handbrake the brake lights stay on in auto hold and only switch off when you manually apply the handbrake, this could be the reason why so many drivers 'appear' to be still on the foot brake when they could actually be on auto hold.
That's interesting, I didn't realise that. Maybe a time for lobbying for a change in the legislation as people are too lazy to use the brake properly.
I passed my test today (TGG)
Your videos have been so helpful and informative. Thanks for always sharing
I agree with what people say about the light subject, and it`s down to bad drivers who don`t care about other drivers. But what a noyes me most, are drivers who park their vehicles on the wrong side of the road at night leaving their headlights on. That blinds me more than drivers coming towards me, even when they are on their own side of the road.
You give some very good advise, I'd like to throw in my tuppence on older drivers at night. I am just north of seventy, I do not like to drive at night any more, my two most avoided driving conditions are night and raining at night (always disliked that one even in my twenties). I find now that I keep my night driving to a minimum, same as winter when snowing heavily, mainly because of the folks who haven't got snow tires on (I'm in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, we get snow, lots and lots of snow). The temperature (colour hue) of light is important and I think should be researched again for automotive use. Anyway, you are doing a great service to motorists, hopefully those who watch your YT channel will act on at least some of what they have heard.
Great advice. I think there's obviously a problem though, when a video about this has to be made. Ever since the advent of xenon lights, modern headlamps are dangerous in my opinion. Not only do they need tighter regulations on the brightness, but there needs to be a height limit at which they can be installed. 9 times out of 10 when I'm getting blinded in my side mirrors it's a from van or tall SUV.
The brake lights in traffic problem really gets to me, because it's just a lack of consideration for others. I don't find not looking directly at them adequate when stationary right behind another car, I have to look away to the side, which is not comfortable. If I feel like I'm starting with a headache, sitting behind brakelights makes it a certainty that it will develop into one.
I completely agree the point about headlight install height, though id hardly say that they’re dangerous. What is dangerous however is the people that install the LED lights in their car (aftermarket) as these tend to have an awful light beam that scatters all over the place.
The point about the break lights, whilst true, is a harder one to combat as the majority of modern day automatics have a ‘hold’ feature where the car holds itself in positron whilst stopped . The majority of theses systems illuminate the break lights as a safety measure. I find that it is highly impractical for me to use the electronic hand break in my Toyota when stopped at lights or in traffic as this still makes the hybrid system want to move the car forward (when in drive)
Personally id prefer it if the break lights were turned off after sitting on hold for more than 10 seconds, but I can completely understand why the remain illuminated permanently
@MaritalSnake9 the answer to brake lights remaining on is to make them work in a different way. A switch based on the braking system is becoming too simplistic when there are vehicles with effective regenerative braking. Brake lights should instead be based on inertia, I.e. the vehicle slowing down.
Some good tips. BTW, Wiper blades often don't need replacing, just cleaning or adjusting the blade angle a touch. But if that doesn't work replace them. It is a 30 second job for most cars.
Tbh i just close my eyes and hope for the best
Thank you for your videos they are really helpful and beneficial, I watch your videos to learn and improve even though I passed my test 5 years ago
It's mostly hard to see signs and lanes when there's so many lights everywhere it's not about it being uncomfortable it's about being able to navigate an unfamiliar roundabout when you're being exposed to 9000 moving lumens
Just want to say thanks for the videos passed my test first time today this channel was definitely a big help :)
That's fantastic news! Thank you for watching and congratulations on passing!
Aside from headlight aim and colour, another important factor of halogen headlights being more bearable is that they have a larger surface area. They can still put out as about the same amount of light as your Xenon or LED bulb, but the area they use is the whole headlight reflector instead of a single point, so the intensity of that if you happen to glance at it is MUCH lower.
Wow, you're the gtav mods guy
That's not down to the type of light source, that's down to the design of the light unit around it. You can make diffuse LED or Xenon lighting, just like you can make an intense spotlight from a conventional bulb.
I learnt all this the hard way. I was getting late for work so I used a cloth to wipe the inside moisture off, and when I drove back home at night, the smear made it near impossible to drive and my wiper blades also were smearing the heavy rain and the oncoming cars were dazzling my eyes! how I drove home a mile is beyond me ! thank you for the great tips
Where do get that handy adjustable windscreen buffer @ 1:50? No link in the description!
Just look up something like "retractable car windscreen cleaner" on google and you'll find pretty much the same product
I’d like to know too!
Sorry, I forgot to leave the links. They're now in the description.
Problem is there are so many SUVs with LED headlights higher than saloon cars, if you’re still driving a saloon which I do SUV lights are at saloon drivers eye level. I’m a pensioner I can’t really afford to change not that I want to. I have been driving for sixty years, I am impressed by your driving tips for one so young, which are pretty much exactly the way I drive.
there needs to be regulations about maximum headlight brightness. headlights have gotten so bright, it would actually be easier for everyone to drive if we all turned our headlights off.
We don't all live in urban dystopias. If I turned off my headlights I would only have the stars illuminating the road
@@trubass23i live miles away from the nearest light pole, yet I understand that dimming isn't the same as turning off. Having to halve my speed anytime a new car/someone with new lights comes across is a real PITA.
Good advice, although when I learned to drive (not in the UK) in the 1980s I was taught that if an oncoming vehicle has lights that are too bright it's advisable to look away towards the edge of the road.
3:08 - I believe my car has this feature. However, when the AC is on, the engine has considerably less rev hang, which makes changing gear less smooth. I haven't mastered throttle blipping yet, but it would help. I tend to either crack the window or leave the AC off with the fan set at 1, at a cool-ish temperature and it seems to work.
It's called double clutching
@@kieranlangley3092 double clutching is slightly different (clutch neutral clutch gear). Throttle blipping is clutch, neutral, gear, blip, let out clutch. It is useful for keeping the revs up during upshifts (and downshifts, but then it's called rev matching) when the revs fall quickly, meaning the clutch would otherwise have to match the revs of the engine to the revs of the gearbox, which if you don't pause at the bite point can end up being jerky.
@@kieranlangley3092No, double clutching and matching revs (throttle blip is one half of rev matching) are not the same thing. DD does usually include rev matching, but it is just as easily applied to normal clutch use.
If you're not rev matching, then having the aircon on isn't going to make much difference, you're still being hard on your clutch plates by bringing them together at different speeds. Imagine a drill with a coarse sanding disc spinning at 1000rpm, then bring it in to face to face contact with another one spinning in the same direction, but at 500rpm. One has to slow down or the other has to speed up until they match. Either way they're grinding each other down. Modern clutch plates are a minor miracle considering the forces they endure.
@@another3997 The revs are normally perfectly-timed on upshifts when the air con isn't on, as the revs fall at the right rate for my tempo of gear change. I'm still working on rev matching when downshifting, but I'm getting better. The air con just means I'd have to hold the gas for a bit longer to allow the revs to rise. It's not a very powerful car, so the air con makes a noticeable difference to how the engine performs.
Rich, you out here dropping knowledge for the people again🫡🫡🫡
Honestly would love to see how these have been tested to see they're safe - flat roads maybe. But with constant speed bumps, potholes and general vertical curves on our roads you're constantly having to look down directly to the LEDs.
Really glad you mentioned that you did not compare the second auto gleam product to the competition - quite honest. Re. RAC, I think it is because of how much time we spend on computer screens, it just makes the vision go quite bad.
That's a known cause of glare sensitivity yes.
But what's the solution? Stop working? 😆
@@nvelsen1975 hahaha fair point, ive been tryna find a solution myself, as i work as a software developer so it really bothers me. The built in windows night light mode is really helping!
When it comes to headlights, ECE regulations state headlights can not be higher than 6000 kelvin, regardless of what tech it is. The main issue with LED headlamps is just down to the optics used. With minimal space and tiny headlamps being desirable, it doesn't leave a lot of space for a decent set of optics to be used, which means more glare when further away, yet testing occurs at a relatively close up distance.
Part of the problem is that LEDs are much more efficient than filament lamps and the headlight power is still limited to power input rather than actual light output. Together with the near monochromatic light output of LEDs, they produce a much starker light which can be hazardous, unlike the effectively black-body radiator of traditional filament lamps.
The optics certainly don't help as you end up with a near point-source concentrated light rather than a larger area source, thus the intensity is far greater.
I was told to look ahead but look at the kerb because that gives you a reference point of where your car is placed and reduces glare from oncoming vehicles, works for me.
Being dazzled by headlights was the first symptom I had of diabetes. If you struggle with being dazzled by headlights driving at night, then it would be worth checking yourself out with a doctor. Getting diagnosed early could prevent a whole host of medical conditions from happening.
It’s too many cars with stupidly bright LED headlights is the first problem
@@ScaniamHeadlights are brighter nowadays, and this affects people with crap eyes. People with good eyes don't find them a problem.
The OP's advice seemed good - detecting and responding to diabetes early can avoid a host of expensive and debilitating problems later.
If you've noticed you've got more sensitive to glare, it's worth being proactive...
@@kramelbbiwYou are talking absolute BS. The working of the human eye is very well understood, and no matter how good your eyesight, the basic biological restrictions inherent in it's design are still there. If you believe you're somehow immune to the effects of bright lights due to having "good" eyes, you're deluded. Ignorance nor ego will alter biological facts.
@@Scaniam No it's too many not very bright stupid people who don't understand or have never driven with modern LED headlights. I've yet to read a comment from anyone with LED headlights that complained about being blinded by others. Could it be they illuminate the road so well only those with crap headlights / uncorrected vision have a problem?. Let me think...
I definitely agree with what Richard said about where to look to avoid dazzle. In addition, on narrow country roads - as well as looking at the space beside the oncoming car (as described), the edge of the road (on your side of the road - left in UK) can also provide useful information and help you gauge just how big the space that you have is. Not only that, the oncoming car may even be illuminating it in a way that is useful to you. So it may be the part of the road that you can see the best in dark, wet, wintry, rural conditions.
Another advantage to looking where Richard says (though I don't think he explicitly mentions it) is that if you are looking at the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, not only will you be more likely to get dazzled, you are also more likely to steer towards the oncoming car slightly. Obviously, that's not a thing you want to be doing.
As a young person, I have some thoughts on why more young people say they are dazzled by lights at night. The main thing is that our eyes adjust very quickly to the darkness. So, while I'm avoiding looking at lights at night, my eyes adjust to the darkness quite quickly. Then if a car with headlights comes across my vision or some other source of glare appears, it's much more of an issue because my eyes are fully adjusted to the darkness. So in general it takes less light to cause glare at night. As you age, the eye adjusts more slowly to changes in light, so for older drivers it's possible that their eyes end up in a more in-between state, not fully adjusted to the darkness because of repeated exposure to lights/glare.
All of this is more theory than anything, if anyone has better ideas just respond below.
It's probably down to the cars being driven by younger people also. Not many kids driving big suvs. It's usually a small hatchback or similar low car.
The biology of the human eye is such that it takes several minutes for it to fully adjust to darkness/low light. But it is actually much quicker to adapt to an increase of light coming in. This is why it's more difficult to drive on an unlit road with oncoming cars. Your eyes gradually adjust to the low light of your headlights which point away from you, when a car comes toward you, their lights shining toward you. This forces the eye to adapt quite quickly until the vehicle is passed, but then takes quite a while to adjust back to low light. Rinse and repeat. Young or old, that's the way it works.
I don't need expensive Autoglym products. I keep my washer fluid topped up, and give it a few sprays while driving. Then make sure the AC is run on HOT air (recirculation Off) as it removes moisture quickly.
Job done
I hate these new lights. It seems like they are on full beam all the time. The blue/white lights are horrendous 😢
The Best collection of tips for night driving I have ever seen in one Vid!
Thanks for the product links too!
Subbed & Shared!
I think the reason older people are less troubled by headlight glare than younger drivers is that they drive less at night. I’m in my mid 60’s and find driving in the dark very uncomfortable due to the headlight glare, so I try and avoid driving after dark particularly on unfamiliar roads. I try and plan my journeys in day light instead.
There might also be something to do with worse eyesight actually being a benefit when faced with bright lights, maybe?
@@devononairIf you have corrective lenses, then the state of your eyesight isn't a problem, other than possible glare on the lenses etc. Young people suffer eye problems too, so it isn't unique to older people. Unfortunately a lot of them don't realise things gradually changing for quite some time, and continue to drive.
Very 'enlightening'! Thank you. I discovered a helpful practice when driving on unlit country roads in my area and it was the use of conscious deduction. Watching the vehicles ahead can determine whether or not there's an unlit vehicle in my path because such a vehicle would obscure their lights. Also, if the road is wet, reflections from the surface can tell us a huge amount of information about the surface and the vehicles ahead, both approaching and receding. Finally, reflections from the sides of oncoming vehicles can help on winding roads, to determine if there are vehicles following them but out of sight around the next bend. We can pick up these signal sub-consciously but I also think it's good to deliberately concentrate on them.
It's 1000% worse here in the 🦅🦅🦅🦅! Everybody drives a massive pickup except me. Also, my windshield is insanely pitted but I can't really replace it rn.
5 mins in and these tips for those that don’t know are golden
needs to be legislation car headlights are too bright
You sir are saving lives with your videos, and I really mean it. As a young driver, many of your videos were crucial in my drivig journey and I never open my phone faster than when youtube notifys me about your new video! Great stuff as always
That's really great to hear! Thank you for watching.
Someone have the producs link's that he is using?
Whoops, I forgot to link them. I'll do that soon.
Great information. One bit of advice to help with night vision, keep your dashboard lights as dimly lit as possible so your not getting light from them dilating your eyes.
Always notice people whom tend to use the high beams more often. Have the dashboard lights as bright as possible.
the headlights are so angled up and bright a thousand suns nowadays that it makes it impossible to see their indicator
Top tip:
Use the glass polish on the outside too, after cleaning the windshield thoroughly.
Then, apply a treatment of rain repellent (RainX or equivalent from other manufacturers).
And remember to have fresh wiper blades (I change mine every 6 months).
Also, if you don’t use the air conditioner at all, at least run it for half an hour once a month,
or whatever the owner’s manual says, to prevent it from seizing.
But most of us would use the advice of actively using it for de-misting, right? ;)
The problem is, modern cars give off more light than a collapsed sun
I had to question if an on coming car had full beams on but they didn't they just had collapsed sun lamps.
Great video. Very helpful. My son cleaned my windscreen for me with that product. What a huge difference, so I'm ordering some. p.s. Google "colour temperature" photographers deal with this all the time, and it'll explain the the different headlight colours. Also, red is used at night because it doesn't affect your night vision.
Why do you wanna sit with your foot smashed on the brake pedal when waiting at lights? Some traffic lights take over a minute to cycle. Unless I am the first car, I sit with the car in neutral, feet on the floor and hand brake on. Relax.
Relax, it could be an automatic and the driver is just lightly touching the pedal to keep the car from creeping forward.
@@fritsified5952 Park
The French had it right years ago when they all used yellow headlights
Thanks for doing this video. I asked you if you could do one a couple of months back and I'm really pleased you did. Perfect
Hi Richard very nice and helpful video as usual you made me nostalgic because I was staying in the area of Enfield town in London last year exactly around the same time of the year in the month of December 2022 I still remember the cold and dark afternoon It was our first visit to England
Great video! Also, regarding windshield, polish and protect the outside of the windscreen also, this will save your vision and your wiper performance.
Thanks Ali, I'll keep this in mind!
My Dad told me to use the left hand kerb at night. I find this very useful. Helps with wildlife too, not hitting it, that is.
I was a little surprised about the findings that older drivers were less distracted by bright lights then younger drivers, I wonder to what extent simple experience was the major factor?
A personal story that may be relevant. Last Autumn, 2022, I was finding driving at dusk almost dangerous, and in the dark difficult. I actively avoided both. I was finding that there was a great deal of periferal glare, making the view ahead blurry. I had an eye test, mentioned my problem to the optician, and she referred me to a specialist. In March I had cataracts removed from each eye. The results have been astounding. I no longer need glasses to drive, and my eyesight in the dark is as it was 40 years ago.
Remind your optician that when a developing cataract interferes with your lifestyle if qualifies . under the rules, for specialist intervention.
I am by the way 75 years old, and enjoy driving.
Some great tips.
I have a couple of specific issues I can’t find good solutions for.
I drive a regular car, but where I live there are many pickup trucks. Just the higher lights plus their propensity to ride your butt, quite blinding.
The other one is junctions. Seems like a lot of them if I’m trying to enter onto the main road from the less main road, there is a slope up to the main road on both sides, so both sides of traffic are getting blinded by the angle the traffic is sitting at !!
I agree totally though with the importance of where to look to minimize the effects of the lights.
😃
the best car driving vid ever!
you can buy orange tinted glasses which remove the glare of lights if it's really a problem for you too!
Good video, I work shifts and travel 11 miles via mostly unlit roads and my commute is awful this time of year. Modern headlights are so much better for the driver but for the oncoming driver they are simply too bright, cars made in the last 5 years are usually the worst.
In 2013 I used to own a Suzuki swift sport which had very good lights, but I used to get drivers flashing me all the time as they thought I had high beam switched on.
I think all your tips are well worth trying.
First part of the video caked me it in 5 different languages. Thank yiu!
Thumbs up for this, passed my test in September and I wear glasses and have astigmatism so really struggle at night especially when raining 🌧️
If your avatar picture is you though, means you're wearing glasses with no anti-glare layer on them. That makes a load of difference. It's an option with any decent optometrist.
@@nvelsen1975 yes that’s me 👍 I’m going to ask about it tomorrow at the opticians
New cars seem to have laser like white beams that even dipped blind you. Especially the larger cars where the lights are higher up.
i wear yellow-tinted glasses at night, it helps quite a bit but there's still times where a car coming towards you can blind you to objects sitting in the dark, especially in single-lane or when you are on the "outside" lane
What a great video . I have this problem . I just checked and found the inside of my windscreen covered in a sort of hazy film . How stupid am I .
A lot of great advice . Thank you for that .
just got done with my driving test your videos are the best !!!
Congratulations on passing!
Thanks for the reminders and hints❤ They are useful for me 🌹