Government announces independent study into headlight glare

Richard Aucock, Contributor
Thu, 04 Apr 2024

The Government plans to commission independent research into the issue of headlamp glare after an online petition calling for action easily topped 10,000 signatures.

The commitment follows research from the RAC showing that 8 in 10 motorists believe the problem is getting worse.

"The fact the government has listened to drivers’ concerns and heeded our calls to examine the complex issue of headlight glare in more detail marks a real turning point. This topic has undoubtedly struck a chord with motorists," says the RAC’s Rod Dennis.

The RAC said that today’s brighter LED headlights undoubtedly give drivers a better view of the road ahead but “are clearly causing other roads users significant problems”.

14% of drivers aged 65+ have stopped driving altogether has a result of being dazzled, he added.

The Government has stated that all vehicle headlamps are designed and tested to follow international standards. These should ensure they are bright enough to illuminate the road, but not to dazzle other roads users.

"We know that lots of people raise concerns about headlight glare – but also that the police collision statistics don’t show any underlying road safety issue," says Dennis.

Because of this lack of evidence, the Department for Transport (DfT) actually raised the issue at the United Nations international expert group on vehicle lighting. This saw proposals agreed in April 2023, to include mandatory automatic headlamp levelling.

However, because car makers need time to plan ahead, the tighter tolerances won’t come into force until September 2027.

Ahead of this, the DfT says it "plans to commission independent research to better understand the root causes of glare and identify any further appropriate mitigations."

Baroness Hayter, who joined the RAC and the College of Optometrists in calling for action, said the review was a victory for motorists who have "sought help from an optometrist, only to discover the problem was with headlights and not their eyes".

Ask HJ

Is it legal to replace Halogen bulbs with LED bulbs?

I recently replaced the high and low beam bulbs with Philips Racingvisoon (Halogen) and noticed a definite improvement. I have always thought that LED bulb replacements would not be road legal in the UK but have now seen adverts for OSRAM Le driving Hl Easy H7/H18 LED bulbs suggesting that they are not only plug and play but also legal. Is this correct ? Any inherent problems in swapping LED for Halogen ?

The MoT inspection manual was updated in January 2021 with the following: 'Existing halogen headlamp units on vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986 must not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp for light source and lamp not compatible.' Although the OSRAM website lists a variety of LED-replacement bulbs as 'street legal', the product information states 'Approved LED light source - only applies to the respective countries in which there is approval or to which an equivalent approval applies and the vehicle models and light functions currently listed in the compatibility list.' At present the UK is not listed on this information page as offering compatibility with these bulbs, so we would expect these to result in an MoT failure.

Answered by David Ross

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