Brighter headlights are causing problems for motorists “more than ever before”, campaigners have said – but ministers have played down the road safety concerns associated with them.
Three-quarters of AA members have told the organisation that LED lights on vehicles are among the factors causing them to be “blinded” while driving.
It comes after the RAC called for an independent study into the issue after its own survey showed more than four out of five (85%) drivers affected by headlight glare said the problem is getting worse.
But Lilian Greenwood, the UK’s minister for the future of roads, said the data doesn’t suggest “advances in lighting technology” are making collisions more common.
Dazzling headlights contributed to 216 collisions in 2023, statistics showed, 11 each in Kent and Surrey – the worst affected council areas.
This was up from 211 the year before, but down from 315 in 2017 and 309 a decade ago.
Independent research into headlight glare, commissioned by the government, should be published this summer.
However, AA president Edmund King said members are “feeling the strain of brighter headlights more than ever before, as well as brighter brake and traffic lights”.
“Conversely, they also say brighter lights enhance road safety. The problem seems to be LED lights on higher vehicles such as SUVs,” he added.
Meanwhile, RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis, commenting on his organisation’s report, said: “Few issues we deal with have triggered quite as much of a reaction among drivers as the brightness of headlights.”
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Another issue, according to Labour MP Graeme Downie, who asked a written question in parliament, is drivers may not realise how their own lighting impacts others.
The MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, said he understands from his own driving, as well as from others, that cars with newer LED lights “can be blinding for other road users”.
“While they might illuminate the road well for the driver, they dazzle in the eyes of other road users and could be dangerous,” he said.
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He said technology such as automatic beam control “means some drivers are less aware of the impact their own lighting might have on others.
“The safety of individual drivers cannot be at the expense of other road users and pedestrians.”
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Ms Greenwood, in her written reply to Mr Downie, said: “National collision statistics, which can record headlamp dazzle as a contributory factor, do not show any discernible trend to suggest that advances in lighting technology are contributing negatively to road vehicle collisions.”
She said independent research into what causes headlamp glare and developing potential solutions “is underway and is due to deliver in summer 2025.”
