Blinded by the headlights

Summary

Summary of "Today, Explained" Episode: "Blinded by the Headlights"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Today, Explained
• Host/Author: Vox
• Description: Today, Explained is Vox's daily news explainer podcast. Hosts Sean Rameswaram and Noel King guide listeners through the most important stories of the day.
• Episode: Blinded by the Headlights
• Release Date: March 30, 2025
• Network: Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network

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Introduction to the Headlight Brightness Issue

The episode opens with Jonlyn Hill addressing a common concern among drivers: the increasing brightness of modern car headlights, particularly LEDs. Hill shares personal observations and listener stories, setting the stage for a deep dive into the problem.

Jonlyn Hill: "When I noticed a change in cars on the road, I thought it was just me. But then we got a call from Reed and he also worried it was just him." [01:36]

Understanding the Science Behind Headlight Brightness

John Aran, a veteran sports business journalist, and John Bulow, a research scientist at the Light and Health Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, provide expert insights into why headlights have become brighter.

Evolution from Halogen to LED

Bulow explains the technological shift from halogen to LED headlights:

John Bulow: "LED headlights put out about 4,000 lumens or four times more than halogen bulbs." [04:30]

He elaborates on how LED technology allows for greater efficiency and brightness without a corresponding increase in energy consumption, leading to more intense light output.

Perception of Brightness

Bulow discusses the human perception aspect:

John Bulow: "Our eyes will see the LED bluish one as brighter, even if two headlights have equal lumens." [03:14]

The shift towards bluish-white LED lights, compared to the yellowish hue of halogens, contributes to the perception of increased brightness and glare.

Regulatory and Industry Dynamics

The conversation shifts to regulatory bodies and industry practices influencing headlight brightness.

Role of Safety Ratings

John Aran highlights the influence of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS):

John Aran: "When the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety first started evaluating headlights in 2016, only two out of the 95 vehicles tested got the highest rating of good." [05:40]

Manufacturers aim to secure better safety ratings by enhancing headlight brightness, inadvertently increasing glare for other drivers.

Lack of Updated Regulations

Despite the advancements in headlight technology, John Aran points out a regulatory lag:

John Aran: "NHTSA hasn't changed the rule book to accommodate LED headlights, which many now see as an oversight." [16:47]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not updated standards to address the unique challenges posed by LED headlights, leaving a gap in regulation.

Aftermarket Headlights: A Growing Concern

Peter Kafka, an automotive and tech journalist, discusses the surge in aftermarket headlight modifications that exacerbate the brightness problem.

Peter Kafka: "Aftermarket retrofit kits for older cars, particularly on larger trucks, often result in incredibly blinding headlights." [21:10]

These modifications, frequently purchased online, bypass legal standards, leading to increased glare and safety hazards on the roads.

Challenges in Enforcement

Enforcing regulations on aftermarket lights proves difficult, especially in states without stringent vehicle inspection protocols.

Peter Kafka: "It's hard to enforce that people are modifying their headlights in a legal, safe way." [22:29]

Technological Solutions and Innovations

The episode explores potential technological advancements aimed at mitigating the glare issue.

Adaptive Beam Headlights

Peter Kafka introduces adaptive beam headlight technology as a promising solution:

Peter Kafka: "Adaptive beam headlights use cameras and intelligence to dim specific areas of the light, reducing glare without compromising visibility." [24:15]

These systems can dynamically adjust light distribution to prevent blinding oncoming drivers while maintaining optimal visibility for the driver.

Current Limitations

However, widespread adoption is slow due to high costs and the premium placement in newer, higher-end vehicles.

Peter Kafka: "It's going to be a long time before adaptive beam headlights are common on the majority of cars on the road." [24:08]

Advocacy and Community Response

Mark Baker, founder of the Soft Lights Foundation, shares his personal journey and advocacy efforts to address the headlight brightness crisis.

Personal Impact

Baker recounts how bright headlights led to his diagnosis of mild autism, significantly affecting his daily life and career.

Mark Baker: "LED headlights knocked me out of being a teacher due to their neurological and psychological impacts." [10:20]

Grassroots Movement

Baker details the foundation's advocacy efforts, including a petition that garnered over 70,000 signatures and ongoing lawsuits against regulatory bodies.

Mark Baker: "We've exceeded 70,000 signatures and submitted multiple regulatory petitions to the government." [11:38]

Despite facing resistance from bodies like the NHTSA and FDA, Baker remains committed to driving change.

Mark Baker: "Empowerment comes from listeners contacting the government and joining the Soft Lights Foundation to fix this system problem." [29:04]

Practical Advice for Drivers

In the absence of immediate regulatory fixes, the hosts and experts offer practical tips for drivers to cope with bright headlights.

Visual Strategies

Peter Kafka suggests techniques to reduce glare impact:

Peter Kafka: "Look at the white line on the side of the road to maintain direction without direct exposure to oncoming headlights." [26:13]

Technological Aids

Modern cars equipped with advanced rearview mirrors and camera-based systems can help minimize glare from vehicles behind.

Peter Kafka: "Camera feed rearview mirrors can block out bright headlights, enhancing driver comfort." [26:13]

Headlight Maintenance

Ensuring proper headlight alignment and opting for warm white LED replacements can also mitigate glare issues.

John Bulow: "Having your headlight aim checked annually can reduce glare from other drivers." [27:24]

Future Outlook and Recommendations

The episode concludes with a call to action and a look towards future solutions.

Regulatory Reforms

Experts agree that updated federal regulations are essential to set upper limits on headlight intensity and standardize headlight heights across vehicles.

John Bulow: "Federal regulations could establish upper limits on headlight intensity and restrict headlight height to reduce glare." [27:57]

Community Engagement

Listeners are encouraged to join advocacy groups like the Soft Lights Foundation and participate in governmental petitions to drive legislative change.

Embracing Innovation

With advancements in adaptive beam technology, there is optimism that future headlights will offer high brightness without causing harmful glare, enhancing road safety for all.

Peter Kafka: "Adaptive beam headlights could provide the brightness needed without causing glare, revolutionizing safe nighttime driving." [24:15]

---

Notable Quotes:

• Jonlyn Hill: "We have people begging us to do something about the problem." [11:38]
• Mark Baker: "It's not safe because the way LED light is, it's very intense." [29:04]
• John Aran: "With the lights being higher mounted, drivers with lower eye positions are more affected." [07:02]

Key Takeaways:

1. Technological Advancement: LED headlights are significantly brighter and more efficient than their halogen predecessors, but this has introduced new safety challenges.
2. Regulatory Lag: Current regulations have not kept pace with technological changes, leaving road safety concerning headlight glare inadequately addressed.
3. Aftermarket Modifications: The rise of aftermarket headlight kits contributes to excessive brightness and glare, complicating enforcement efforts.
4. Innovative Solutions: Adaptive beam headlights present a potential solution, but their adoption is limited to higher-end vehicles.
5. Advocacy Efforts: Grassroots movements and advocacy organizations are pivotal in pushing for legislative changes to ensure safer road lighting standards.

Conclusion:

The "Blinded by the Headlights" episode of Today, Explained effectively highlights the complexities surrounding modern headlight technology and its implications for driver safety. Through expert interviews and personal stories, the podcast underscores the urgent need for updated regulations and innovative solutions to mitigate the adverse effects of excessively bright headlights. Listeners are left with practical advice and a call to action to engage in advocacy efforts, emphasizing that collaborative efforts are essential to enhance road safety in the age of LED lighting.

Transcript

[Jonlyn Hill]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

[Peter Kafka]

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[Mark Baker]

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[Peter Kafka]

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[Mark Baker]

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[Jonlyn Hill]

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[Peter Kafka]

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[Jonlyn Hill]

Not available in all states or situations.

[Peter Kafka]

Hey there. This is Peter Kafka, the host of Channels, a podcast about tech and media and what happens when they collide. And this week we're talking about the symbiosis, the codependency between big time sports and big tv and what's going to.

[John Aran]

Happen to that equation as the TV industry gets smaller and smaller and smaller.

[Peter Kafka]

On to explain it all is the veterans sports business journalist John Aran. That's this week on Channels from the Vox Media podcast network.

[Mark Baker]

Nobody likes LED headlights.

[John Bulow]

Their intensity, the maximum intensity that they.

[John Aran]

Produce actually has increased when they sell cars. They really want a good safety rating, which is more easy to attain with a super bright light.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Foreign hey there, I'm Jonlyn Hill, and this is Explain it to Me where we answer the questions that matter to you most. What the heck is going on?

[John Aran]

Ugh, I wish I understood.

[Peter Kafka]

Somebody please just explain it to me.

[Jonlyn Hill]

And these days I only really get behind the wheel when I'm out of town. So when I noticed a change in cars on the road, I thought it was just me. But then we got a call from Reed and he also worried it was just him.

[John Aran]

Am I going crazy or does every new car on the road have the world's brightest headlights? I feel like whenever I'm driving at night now, I'm constantly having to shield.

[Mark Baker]

Or avert my eyes from people with.

[John Aran]

Giant flashlights strapped to the front of their car. So I guess I'm wondering, why is this suddenly happening?

[Peter Kafka]

And are there any limits?

[Mark Baker]

Can people just put whatever they want.

[John Bulow]

On the front of their car and blind everyone else?

[Jonlyn Hill]

There's literally a subreddit dedicated to and there are even scientists who dedicate their time to studying it, like John Bulow, a research scientist at the Light and Health Research center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

[John Bulow]

I'm not sure anybody has a dream of becoming a lighting scientist when they're a kid. It actually started out as a summer job at the university where I went to school, and I actually thought it was the Lightning Research center, which seemed a lot more exciting. I was a little disappointed when I learned it was lighting, but as I learned more about it, it really became something that was interesting to me about light. That's all around us. And it affects not only the way we see, but the way we sleep and a lot about our health and well being. And it hasn't gotten boring after 30 years.

[Jonlyn Hill]

I'd love to get your thoughts on the question we got from our listener. Are headlights brighter than they used to be?

[John Bulow]

Well, there's two ways to answer that question, but fortunately for your listeners sanity, the answer is yes to both of those. The first way has to do with the color of LED headlights. You've probably noticed that a lot of them look a lot more of a bluish white compared to the yellowish white of halogen headlights. Can we please go back to the.

[John Aran]

Soft white headlights that they used to put in cars?

[John Bulow]

Because I feel like now all these new LED headlights are like these bright blue, blaring, cold colored headlights.

[John Aran]

If you look at them too long, you're going to melt.

[John Bulow]

And the way that we define light, the definition of light, when we measure it, is actually over 100 years old. And it actually discounts a lot of the blue wavelengths, the blue part of the color spectrum. So in that sense, even though the light meter may say two headlights are equal, our eyes will see the LED bluish one as brighter. The second way to answer that question is to actually use the light meter. And intensity of headlights have actually increased over the last 10 or 20 years. A halogen bulb puts out around 1,000 lumens.

[Peter Kafka]

LEDs put out about 4,000 lumens or four times more.

[Jonlyn Hill]

But there are some aftermarket lights that.

[Peter Kafka]

Advertise an extreme 12,000 lumens.

[Jonlyn Hill]

And does that include LED lights and non LED lights that have gotten brighter, or is it just these LED lights that are brighter?

[John Bulow]

It's actually both kinds of headlights. Both the halogen headlights and the LED headlights have increased in their luminous intensity.

[John Aran]

Headlights are getting brighter, they're getting smaller.

[Mark Baker]

And they're getting bluer. And all three of those things increase discomfort, glare.

[John Bulow]

We think about the reason we have headlights. They're not to create glare to other drivers. They're to help us see things along the road so that we can avoid colliding with those. As we've paid more attention to headlights and their ability to provide visibility, it's become clear that they don't always do the best job. And so headlight intensities have actually been increasing in intensity, in part because of things like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's safety ratings that when they first started coming out about 10 years ago, were giving headlights pretty poor grades in terms of their ability to help us See things at night.

[Mark Baker]

When the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety first started evaluating headlights in 2016, only two out of the 95 vehicles tested.

[Peter Kafka]

Got the highest rating of good. About half of the models we tested don't have adequate headlights that provide enough visibility for the driver.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Okay, so LED and non LED lights are brighter, both low beam and high beam. But for the purpose of this conversation, let's focus on LED lights. That's the industry standard, right?

[John Bulow]

That's right. More than 90% of all new cars have LED headlights only. So halogen headlights are going to be going away pretty quickly. And LEDs are much more efficient than halogen headlights. So they use less energy and that corresponds to fewer vehicle emissions and things like that. That's a good thing. But because they're more efficient, LED headlights can actually end up having more light. And some of that light actually ends up in other drivers eyes or in their rear view mirrors.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Do you see these headlights 10 times brighter than the sun? Are there other factors coming into play when we talk about the brightness of headlights and drivers?

[John Bulow]

We're driving more pickup trucks and SUVs than we were in earlier years. And so headlights have gotten higher off the ground than they used to be.

[John Aran]

If you are a victim of these bright headlights, I apologize. I don't mean it. I can't do nothing if I buy the truck like that.

[John Bulow]

And all the requirements for headlights are relative to the headlight itself. So that means headlights are pushing more light into the eyes of drivers, especially drivers who are driving passenger cars and sedans. Their eyes are lower to the ground and now they're looking at headlights that are higher mounted off the ground.

[Jonlyn Hill]

What's happening? Because it feels like everyone has their brights all up. In my car it looked like y'all got ring lights for your headlights.

[John Bulow]

Another factor is the fact that low beam headlights are very sensitive to the way that they're aimed. And when you shine your lights on a garage door, for example, you see a broad horizontal band of light with a pretty dark area above and a bright area below. That bright area is supposed to be aimed slightly downward so that you're lighting up the road, which is what we want to see. If those headlights are even miss aimed just a little bit upward. That bright band of light is now going to be shining into other drivers eyes. And we found that headlight aim, especially when they're pointed slightly upward, can really increase the amount of glare by a lot.

[Jonlyn Hill]

John, thank you so much for confirming that our listener Reid is not losing it. Yes, lights are indeed brighter than ever. But they're also appearing brighter than ever. We're gonna say goodbye to John for now, but when we're back, we'll find out who's responsible for these bright lights. I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve.

[John Aran]

And it does.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Without me. Lift a finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can. 1, 2, 3. Will that be cash or credit?

[John Bulow]

Credit.

[Jonlyn Hill]

4 Galaxy S25 Ultra. The AI companion that does the heavy lifting.

[Peter Kafka]

So you can do. You get [e-mail] compatible with select apps.

[Jonlyn Hill]

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[Peter Kafka]

Blinded by headlights.

[Jonlyn Hill]

We're back. It's Explain it to me. Looking at why headlights are so bright these days, it's a question that's literally tormented our next guest, Mark Baker. He says that his intense experience with headlights led him to a diagnosis of mild autism and changed his life. He now runs an organization to protect people from the impacts of LEDs, the soft lights Foundation. How did you get involved in this? Like, what inspired you to, you know, take this up?

[Mark Baker]

It's not really like an inspiration. It was more like a disaster. So I used to be a middle school math teacher, and when these LED headlights started coming out, I remember vividly this new thing appeared, the Cadillac. And they had daytime running lights. I was assaulted by this LED light that I'd never seen anything like it before. And it was a white light, but some kind of a weird intensity that felt like it's indescribable really. It sort of looks like a hot oven but with a blue color to me. And it was really emotionally disturbing. So those headlights and other LED lights knocked me out of being a teacher. I just, I couldn't get to work anymore without suffering these impacts, these neurological, psychological impacts. So many people don't see it, but other people can actually consciously see it. So they're driving around seeing flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker. And that's of course, really disturbing.

[Jonlyn Hill]

I understand you've had quite a few people sign a petition about this. Could you talk about that a little bit?

[Mark Baker]

I would love to. We've notified the government. They have copies of this petition, but just recently we exceeded 70,000 signatures.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Wow.

[Mark Baker]

So we have thousands of comments. And they talk about their astigmatism and how the light impacts their astigmatism. They talk about how they can't see. They talk about how they stopped driving at night. They're begging us to do something about the problem. Begging anybody to do something.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Yeah. Does it seem the government is paying attention?

[Mark Baker]

The government is not paying attention. So we're being getting more and more aggressive. We are pushing. We've been doing this for a long time. So we've developed expertise on how this all worked. The Soft Lights foundation has submitted multiple regulatory petitions, formal petitions to the government. Some have been just flat out denied. I have two petitions in there right now. One to set the limit on maximum intensity, which right now there's no overall limit on maximum intensity. It can be as intense as they want. In fact, I do have a lawsuit. I filed it by myself. It's against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Food and Drug Administration together. Because there is a statute that requires the FDA and the NHTSA to establish a liaison and test and evaluate products that emit electromagnetic radiation. That includes LED headlights. They don't want to. They are fighting my lawsuit, and so I'm trying to compel them to do their job.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Marks also lobbied Congress to get a hearing on the impact of LED headlight, and he's tried working with state legislatures to pass light intensity laws, but he has, as of yet to score a W for all his efforts. So how did we get here? We reached out to Nate Rogers, who explored all this in his extensive article for the Ringer called Asleep at the Wheel in the Headlight brightness wars.

[John Aran]

So LEDs are new technology that took over pretty much everything in the lighting world in the last 15 years. It's just sort of arguably the biggest change in lighting technology since, like, you know, they first fired up a incandescent light bulb. It's taking the traditional form of a light bulb, which is sort of like one source of light that emits in every direction and replacing it with something that's more akin to like a computer chip. So you can really, like, program the different chips, which almost function like pixels or something. And it's more energy efficient. It lasts longer. It was a total sea change in the lighting world when LEDs came out. And over time, they've Started to replace pretty much everything, and that includes car headlights.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Why did car manufacturers make that switch in the first place?

[John Aran]

There's a lot of answers for that. And the shortest one is just that that LEDs are kind of the future. But one really concrete reason that car companies like LEDs is that they are very much in search of getting a good safety rating from this nonprofit called the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, the iihs. They're a nonprofit that is funded by the insurance companies. You know, they all kind of pool in together. That's sort of like when you hear about, like crash test dummies.

[Peter Kafka]

Even with airbags, Vince, you still gotta remember to buckle your safety belt.

[John Aran]

Now you tell me. A lot of that is like the IIHS and they, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, have deemed brighter headlights to be advantageous to getting a good safety rating. So if you're trying to get that safety rating, you want to pump more light down the road. And the way to pump more light down the road is through more powerful LEDs. So that's an important reason why car companies favor them.

[Jonlyn Hill]

But who ensures that LED lights are actually safe?

[John Aran]

Nhtsa, that's the National Highway Traffic Safety Association. They are the, you know, the federal highway safety czars. They are the ultimate authority. Any car that is driving on the road has to meet NHTSA standards. It's hard to say exactly what they're doing on a day to day basis. They're kind of mysterious. They did not want to talk to me for the story that I did. They actually told me at one point to stop emailing their employees. But I think that it's a government agency. It's not some vast conspiracy. They probably are just busy doing other stuff. And clearly in the last 15 years since LED headlights have started to roll out, they have not been a priority for nhtsa. They haven't changed the rule book to accommodate LED headlights, which people are seeming to agree now was an oversight because of how different the technology is.

[Jonlyn Hill]

It seems like, you know, they're paying attention to the regulations, they're doing something, but they're not doing any more than they really have to or as of now, need to do. Does this mean that bright headlights aren't a safety issue? The fact that they're not being regulated more?

[John Aran]

This is the million dollar question because, you know, common sense will tell you that headlights that are really bright, like let's imagine that you're driving down the road and a car's coming the other way and the headlights get in your eyes and they're really bright. And you're struggling to see that's an obvious safety issue. I mean, it doesn't, it's not disputed that headlight glare is a safety issue. That is important. The question is, how much of a danger is it and how can you measure that? Because with a government agency like nhtsa, you need hard data, you need proof, and when you're trying to measure. So one study that gets pointed out is that the IIHS, they said that there was a 20% reduction in CAR accidents with cars that have good safety ratings for their headlights. Right. Basically, the short version is it's really hard to measure something that's tied in as intrinsically with everything else in the way that the highway operates. And without that strict measurement of how dangerous car headlight brightness is, it seems that NHTSA is a little stuck and a little unsure about how to approach it, how to gauge it, and how to fix it.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Yeah, and, you know, NHTSA is not the only player here. There's also car manufacturers. How are they responding? Because it sounds like their customers are not happy.

[John Aran]

Yeah, it's really interesting. Car manufacturers at any time could make headlights that were, you know, a little bit less bright, but still fit the rule book of what NHTSA requires for a safe level of brightness. They could dial it back at any time. Any of these cars companies could, and they could market that and maybe that would work, but for whatever reason, they don't do it. And the car companies, their number one goal is to sell cars and whatever makes sense for that is why, you know, they, they make the decisions that they do. Generally speaking, like, NHTSA was created because car companies were not prioritizing safety in cars. So, you know, it's a shame that car companies can't be relied upon to fix this issue on their own. And, you know, when you try to speak to them, they don't even really acknowledge it. Like, I reached out to, like, probably about a dozen car companies, only got an interview with one, I think maybe two or three also responded and said no, you know, and there. And the rest I just never heard from.

[Jonlyn Hill]

That's writer Nate Rogers. If regulators and car companies aren't taking action, is there anything we can do to avoid getting blinded on the roads? One more break and we'll find out.

[Mark Baker]

If you've been online this week, you've probably seen an unending flood of those beautiful animated studio Ghibli style images of, of everything from happy families being together to beloved cartoon characters committing unspeakable acts of violence against each other that My.

[John Aran]

Friends, is the AI world we live in and it's not going to get less complicated.

[Mark Baker]

That is what we were talking about this week on the Vergecast, along with the future of robot vacuums, what's happening with car tariffs and everything else going on in the AI world. All that on the Vergecast.

[John Aran]

Wherever you get podcasts.

[Jonlyn Hill]

We'Re back. We've talked about the rules of the road, or lack thereof when it comes to bright headlights. How are we supposed to manage while we wait for regulations to catch up? Automotive and tech journalist Tim Stevens told me the worst offenders actually aren't new cars.

[Peter Kafka]

Well, you know, there are certainly really bright lights in a lot of new cars, but if you look at the Reddit forums and other places where people are complaining, a lot of these complaints are actually coming from aftermarket headlights. So we're seeing a lot of aftermarket retrofit kits for older cars, particularly on larger trucks, many of which are not legal. And the result of that is incredibly blinding, incredibly bright headlights, which can be pretty annoying and frankly damaging as some point to other people's eyes.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Okay, I want to get some clarity because you're blowing my mind a little bit here. So if I get a car with these headlights, it's not an accident, like I have to actively choose to get these bright ass headlights.

[Peter Kafka]

It definitely depends on the model. Certainly higher end, newer models, that kind of thing do come with super bright headlights. We see a lot of bright LED technology, that kind of thing. But most modern cars do include brighter headlights, LEDs built in. But when you're talking about older cars, cars that maybe came out 10 or 15 years ago at that point, that's kind of an active thing where a lot of owners are replacing maybe broken headlights or they want something brighter that's maybe comparable to a more modern car and they're going out to Amazon or ebay or somewhere else and buying aftermarket retrofit kits, which may or may not be legal. And they do result in brighter lights for you, the driver, but they can be pretty painful for everybody else.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Yeah, speaking of everyone else, is there anything we can do to get these modified lights dimmed?

[Peter Kafka]

It's really a question of enforcement. A lot of states like Michigan, for example, they don't have any kind of annual inspection at all. So at that point in becomes an issue for the police to basically pull someone over if they think that someone's headlights are too bright. And that's asking a lot of our law enforcement officers out there. So there are a lot of very strict defining rules when it comes to new vehicles coming on the road, that kind of thing. But for older vehicles, people who are either maintaining or modifying them, it's really hard to actually enforce that people are doing these things and doing them in a legal, safe way.

[Jonlyn Hill]

A constant refrain we've heard working on this episode is that there's difficulty regulating and car manufacturers aren't exactly springing into action. Is there an effort to develop technology that could successfully dim these LED headlights?

[Peter Kafka]

So we've seen technologies to address that. Auto dimming headlights is one of the kind of most common things that we see these days, where a car will basically detect if there's an oncoming car and automatically go from high beam to low beam. The problem is, a lot of the early implementations of this technology were pretty bad, particularly on Tesla cars. For example, I used to have a Tesla Model S, and it was so bad at identifying other cars, it would just leave the headlights on full blast for way too long. And I would have other people flashing me all the time. And I felt awful because the car was just really bad at identifying other people and dropping those headlights down. So that technology is getting better, but really, I think the better solution is kind of coming down the road. We're just sort of starting to see that now, which is what's called an adaptive beam headlight or an active matrix headlight, which is kind of a much more advanced technology. It really gets rid of the old high beam, low beam paradigm, but that really could change things quite a.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Can you tell us more about that adaptive beam technology? Is it successful? How does that work?

[Peter Kafka]

Yeah, it's pretty exciting stuff. So basically, since the dawn of cars, pretty much, we've had a high beam and a low beam. When there's nobody else around, you flip on the high beams. It lights everything up, everything is great. And when you are maybe in town or there's a car ahead of you or oncoming, you flip down to the low beam, which lowers your headlights down. Typically, that's from two sets of bulbs, two sets of reflectors, completely separate headlight system, and you're flipping from one to the other. When you switch to a more modern advanced or active matrix headlight system. With an adaptive beam system, something like that, you're kind of getting rid of that differentiation. And now basically everything is on all the time. You're shooting out a lot of light in a lot of different directions. But now the car is advanced enough to be able to identify oncoming traffic, pedestrian cyclists, and it can basically individually dim individual portions of the headlights to block out those things that would be blind to other people. So think of it like an advanced monitor, an hdtv, that kind of thing. We have portions of the display that are bright white, portions that are black. It's the same basic idea. You've got a bunch of small LEDs and mirrors in your headlights now which can block out individual portions of light. So you can have basically the high beams on all the time. But if there's someone standing in front of you, that portion of the light will be turned off so they won't see anything. It's really remarkable technology. And as is the case with many cool things in cars, it's been available in Europe and in the rest of the world for quite a few years. It's only been made legal in the US since 2022. But because it takes a long time for auto manufacturers to bring new technology to market, it's still taking some time for them to be able to bring these new headlights to the American market. So that technology is really promising. That'll mean we can have really bright, really amazingly high tech headlights, but theoretically without the glare. But again, it's only going to be on the newest and highest end cars. So it's going to be a long time before we see those really on the majority of cars on the road.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Okay, in the meantime, while we're waiting for that to happen, are there things we can do when we're driving at night if we're struggling to see with those bright lights from a car that's.

[Peter Kafka]

Coming directly at you? The advice that I've got is to look at the white line on the side of the road off to the right of your fender as you're driving ahead. Basically that allows you to keep an eye of where your car is going, but without looking directly at the headlights. I think that's the safest place that you can look at. But there is some technology that is much more available on modern cars now, which will help for really bright lights coming up from behind you. There are camera based rear view mirrors that are getting to be more common, particularly in larger SUVs and trucks where basically instead of having a traditional mirror to look backwards, you now have a camera pointing backwards. And when you flip the little switch on the bottom of the rear view mirror, it actually pops over to basically an integrated LCD that's built into the mirror. So instead of having the reflection of the lights coming at you, you're looking at a camera feed. And that camera feed can block out those really bright headlights.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Well, Tim, thank you so much for.

[Peter Kafka]

That, yeah, you're welcome. I'm happy to help.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Remember John below, who ended up having and loving a job? No kid dreams of being a lighting scientist. I asked him what solutions he'd suggest for the bright lights problem, too.

[John Bulow]

There are LED lights that are a warm white color that would look very similar to halogen lights and they would be much more comfortable to look at at night. So that's one possibility. Another possibility, and something we probably should pay more attention to is the aim of our headlights. Headlight aim is something that some states, but not most actually require as part of their safety inspections. So, you know, drivers could ask their mechanic once a year to have their headlight aim checked and to adjust it if needed.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Is there any chance that we could get something from federal regulators that all automakers would be required to do across the country?

[John Bulow]

Yes, the federal Department of Transportation is very interested in the glare question. They've been getting a lot of complaints from the public in the last 20 to 30 years about glare specifically. And so they have been looking into what might be done. Certainly what could be done is some upper limits on the overall intensity from low beam headlights. That's one possibility. Maybe some restrictions on the height of headlight heights on vehicles is another possibility. So there are some things that could be integrated into regulations to help reduce the glare issue.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Before we go, we wanted to go back to Mark Baker, the guy who says he was so incapacitated by headlights that he had to quit his job. He's obviously thought a lot about helping people avoid being triggered by overly bright headlights.

[Mark Baker]

So there are basically techniques for survival. You can get blue blocker type glasses with a yellow tint or an orange tint. It does help the glare, so they can try that. But it's really sort of not safe because the way LED light is, it's a directional light. It's very intense. And I've tried them myself. I basically can't see, so I don't use them. And so the empowerment comes from our listeners contacting the government, joining up with the Soft Lights foundation, contacting me, getting involved, and let's fix this system problem.

[Jonlyn Hill]

Thanks so much to Mark Baker and all our car and lighting experts who helped us answer Reid's question today. We're making a show soon about post high school graduation blues. If you have a question about those next steps, give us a call at 1-800-618-8545. This episode was pretty produced and sound designed by Hadi Milwaukedi. It was edited by Miranda Kennedy. It was fact checked by Melissa Hirsch. And Patrick Boyd was our engineer this week. I'm your host, Jonathan Hill. Talk to you soon.

[John Aran]

Bye.