That sounded like the intro to some sort of lecture or a report.

I know i can see where im going better with 5 million watt xenon's which therefore should reduce the chances of me crashing into something. If others dont like my lights they're free to go elsewhere. They're no brighter than your typical Audi.

The brighter the lights the easier it is for the driver. The brighter the lights, the harder it is for everyone else. Unfortunately, since the negative externality isn't borne by the driver, there is no disincentive to the upward trend in headlight power.

Too true, I have a very modern car but am still astounded by some of the headlight power I see on the road these days, you can only have so much brightness before you become a hazard.

Jamie - As your no stranger to controversy.......The only good thing about lights as bright as that is that we re all so blinded by them that there is no chance that we will even get as glimpse of a car as ugly as an S type jag as you pass.In all seriousness why do we need such lights?, have people suddenly become 50% blinder in the last few years, I dont think so!. I think these extremely bright lights are dangerous and should be banned, and whilst we re banning people any one who drives with there fog lights on when there is no sign of fog should also be banned.Rant Over...Incidentally at the moment people seem very keen to bash diesels. All we hear about is 1000 pound bills for DMF's and DPF's. How much do Xenon headlights cost to fix when they go wrong. I know that in some cases they are an 800 pound option to fit onto cars. I heard a story recently of someone getting a bill for hundreds of pounds to replace his led drl's. Await your abuse Jamie.....

Out of interest I had a look on ebay and amazon at replacement headlight bulbs. The Osram H7 nightbreaker seem to be good value and get rave reviews on amazon. Has anyone here any experience of these or similar bulbs? Also they don't seem to be car specific - do they fit all cars? Sorry if that's a silly question!

Thanks for the reply, ChannelZ. Is it just a just a straight replacement? I have a Passat and a MINI - how do I make sure I get the right bulbs? I don't understand all this H4, H7 stuff!

On the subjectof bulbs, I am constantly amazed at the number of cars driving around with a bulb or two out, and drivers who don't know or don't care. Police cars and ambulances are amongst the wors toffenders in myexperience! Life is unnecessarily complicated for those of us driving cars with virtually impossible-to-replace bulbs, but this is not the case for "most" drivers.

Why is there no legal requirement to carry a spare set of bulbs (as is the case in most other EU countries)? (Ditto hi-viz jackets and a warning triangle; and carrying the "optional" extinguisher and first aid kit surely isn't such a major effort...) For such an H & S conscious country, the UK is surprisingly lax about driver safety IMHO.

And another thing - why don't they sell car bulbs in packs of THREE and ONE? A set of two bulbs is useless, as anyone wanting to "upgrade" to super duper H7 has one set and no spare; replacing one bulb invariably means buying, guess what, another set of two.

Laser beams are the next development in automotive lighting, I hear.

If someone looks likely to crash into you, or walks out in front of you, you can put the high beams on them and quite literally remove the hazard from existence.

Jamie 745, "I'm 27 thank you very much".

As you gain experience it might improve things. Those too powerful headlights are very unfair on other drivers.

A little lighting technology.

Veiling glare is when the light is so strong that the recipient can't clearly distinguish what is behind the light.

Disabling glare is when the light is so strong that the recipient is dazzled and the eye doesn't begin to function properly again for a short time. That's when the driver has to stop their car until he/she can see clearly again, and that's what happens with these too powerful headlights.

Ah, deep joy ...

Do you remember the good old days when you could replace headlight bulbs just by lifting the bonnet, removing old bulb, inserting new bulb ?

Nowadays you have to remove battery, dismantle engine, detach bits of bodywork ... it should be part of the Construction and Use Regs that you should be able to replace bulbs without a ramp, a full toolkit, and a boring afternoon to waste ...

Only if you have some rediculous French rubbish. My Mondeo, open bonnet, pull out two metal pins and whole lamp lifts out. Disconnect single cable, retreat to house to change bulb in the warm and light. Return to car, plug in cable, push in metal pins, close bonnet, job done.