LONDON, Feb 18 — A petition and a study commissioned by the British government call into question LED vehicle headlights. Although they are increasingly widespread today, these lights can pose safety issues by dazzling other road users.
Who hasn’t found themselves dazzled by LED lights while driving or simply riding a bicycle or even walking, to the point of being genuinely inconvenienced? In any case, such is the opinion of an overwhelming majority of drivers in the UK, who are now beginning to question the use of these headlights.
In 2024, a study by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) revealed that 91 per cent of British drivers reported being dazzled while driving, with 74 per cent even claiming that this happens regularly.
According to the same study, 89 per cent of the 2,000 drivers surveyed thought that some car headlights are too bright. Following this survey, the RAC very quickly alerted the government, which immediately commissioned an independent study on glare caused by vehicle headlights—a sign that this is indeed a concern being taken seriously by the authorities.
However, drivers will have to be patient before seeing change, as the results of this study are not expected to be known before 2026.
In the meantime, an online petition is now calling purely and simply for a ban on light-emitting diode (LED) headlights. Once it reaches 10,000 signatures, the government will respond to this petition, and at over 100,000, the petition will be debated in Parliament.
In response to these concerns, new, stricter regulations could be introduced for the brightness and positioning of headlights to help reduce glare. It will then be necessary to ensure that vehicle headlights comply with standards during their various technical inspections and roadworthiness tests. Currently, it is difficult to imagine a technological alternative to LED headlights, as xenon and laser technologies are still not very widespread and much more expensive to produce. — ETX Daily
