u/BarneyRetina

New car lights are brighter than my brights. I don’t understand it. It is physically painful to my eyes and it is entirely blinding out on country roads. How is this legal?

I drive a lot, and I’ve been driving for 25 years. The number of cars on and off the highway that just seem to leave their high beams on beaming me (and everyone else) in the face has most definitely increased in that time. It used to be like 1 out of every 200 cars or so, now it’s maybe 1/10-20 cars. Just mindlessly leaving their high beams on, on busy roads even. Well-lit roads too. And that’s *not* counting all the doofuses with aftermarket LED lights that don’t shine correctly in their old headlight housings and blind everyone else even on low-beam.

So what gives? Are people just more absent-minded these days, on their phones while driving? Or do they just not gaf about anyone else?

**EDIT** Lots of commenters are suggesting that it’s just LED lights being brighter these days or that my eyes are getting old. And yeah, those are issues too (well not my eyes- not yet!!), but I specifically mean leaving on their HIGH beams, and you can tell it’s their highs by looking at the front of their car-the high beams are the inner (towards the grill) lightbulbs that would only be on when the high beam switch is on.

Is it just me, or has driving at night become a total nightmare lately? I was out on some A-roads last night and felt like I was being interrogated by every second car passing me. Even with standard low beams, modern SUVs and those new LED setups are so bright they genuinely blind you for a second or two, especially if you’re in something lower to the ground. I’m starting to dread rain at night because the reflection off the road just doubles the glare.

Does anyone else feel like they’re constantly being flashed when they actually just have their normal lights on?