New car it's fully automatic turns on the lights and high beams. Does a pretty good job turning the high beams on/off depending on other cars.

The combination of LED headlights and automatic high beams means that you're potentially looking at much brighter lights than 20 years ago.

It’s brutal lately. 50/50 a holes driving with high beams vs new lights.

I think it’s one of those driving behaviors that comes in waves. A few years ago I noticed an uptick and chocked it up to that people were realizing that you can get away with it and everyone will assume it was just an accident. A few years before that while living in Hartford I noticed a trend where people would put in their hazards then just run a red light. Then after a while I just stopped seeing that behavior. It’s strange but people act in these ways through some form of social modeling I think?

Probably not high beams in most of them. Just newer LED lights.

Nah, I can tell the difference and these boys are def high beams

I just got a new car and people are constantly flashing like my high beams are on. But they aren’t I think it’s just the brightness of the new LED.

I say this without a hint of anger. New Yorkers. They move here from the city or more densely populated areas and it’s just to dark for them.

That’s what a family member told me. It’s ridiculous. I feel my eyesight degrading on a daily basis. I wear glasses and I’m only 22. I used to be able to see fine in the night and could walk around my house in the dark, but after these past two weeks I’ve noticed a difference. Everything just looks dimmer

So it could be you are blinded by the lights(which shouldn’t be prolonged) or the time of year has snuck up on you. But if being hit with high beams leads to prolonged vision issues. Or you are noticing a legit change in vision you might want to hit up an eye doc.

Now i learned to drive in Connecticut in the woods. We were taught to focus on the line on the road when hit with high beams..

Yea I’m gonna have to see one if it gets worse. Even lookin at the line doesn’t help cause I still see them in my peripherals. I wish there was a solution

I’ve also noticed this, no idea why it’s increased so much lately (besides being in the dark)

Yeah depending on the car, automatic high beams either work great or are complete garbage. My previous car was a 2018 Volvo and the auto high beams were great. You could customize their behavior in the settings menu to make them more sensitive and reactive, so in that car I was never blinding people.

My current car is the highest trim level 2022 Subaru Outback, which has auto high beams, but they are pure garbage (from a standpoint of giving a shit about other people, and not wanting to blind them). If someone isn't in a 100% straight line exactly in front of me, they're getting high beams in their face with AHB on. So I have to manually shut them off, but I'm sure a lot of drivers don't do that and are just like "meh".

Are you typically prone to hysterical responses? You may not be the best judge of your own behavior, but maybe ask someone close you you?

New LED bulbs are incredibly bright even on low

Yup. New car here. People flash me all the time and I flash them back to let them know it could be a whole lot worse

Much brighter lights so that people can speed in the dark.

I have a Chevy with stock lights and get the beam flash so I show them what my beams are actually like

Lots of people seem to forget that new led car headlights still need to be tested for headlight alignment. Drove out a 2021 Corolla off the lot two months ago, and the headlights are already not aimed properly despite being projector beam.

So much this. I can barely see at night now because of this and they're bright enough to bother me during the day as well.

It's even worse in a smaller sedan like myself when a newer truck is behind me with the LEDs, there is zero hiding from it with the side view and rear view mirrors.

Automatic what now?

So essentially blinding them even more, how kind of you.

That’s u/coolducklings point though. You can’t tell the difference. LEDs are easier to be out of alignment, and they’re more directional, so even a bounce or a slight uphill or downhill angle can make LEDs seem like they’re right in your face (because they are). That, and as many have pointed out, the auto-high beam feature in a lot of newer cars is flashing them more often too. There’s an overpass near me that I go under nearly every time I leave my house. When I go under, my car decides to make my lights brighter, even in broad daylight.

Not disagreeing with you that headlights are a pain in the arse lately, but it’s more the technology, not necessarily a bunch of people being pricks.

And that’s why I wear sunglasses at night

It’s probably me when I’m using my wife’s Subaru that doesn’t have auto high beams instead of my Land Rover that does.

I forget! I’m sorry Connecticut!

I get people flashing me all the time to turn off my high beams. Only problem is they are not my high beams. I think they get surprised when I flash them back and they see what my high beams actually look like.

It's just the way my car came, it's a brand new car. I didn't do anything to make my lights that bright.

"pretty good" sounds like this tech isn't ready for road use.

You absolutely can tell the difference (at least around central CT) when most of the cars doing this are older and have completely separate bulbs and reflectors for high/low beams. (High beams are almost always the bulbs closest to the centerline of the car)

Make sure the adjustment is correct.

Make sure they're adjusted right.

Would rate it better than many human drivers.

If you can see this level of detail despite being blinded, then stop staring straight at the lights!

Yeah, that's probably true but this tech has been out overseas for many years. Funny that it's still only "pretty good".

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I think my Mazda does an excellent job of switching back to low beams.

I had them checked and dealer said they were fine. They said they get a lot of complaints about them. I guess they are using a new kind of bulb.

it’s been like this for years in hartford, and it’s always dipshits who have incredibly dark tints all around including their windshield, and then compensate by running their high beams, which are also almost always shitty non-OEM xenons

The New Yorker theory is interesting.. let’s not forget the dickheads who drive trucks with the brightest headlights and ride your ass.

Ah, must be dependent on make and model.

I think a lot of it is the damn LED head lights. Not even high beams. I have a newer car that has them, the visibility is fantastic for the driver but not for anyone else. I honestly don’t understand how these are allowed.

Yeah, I grew up in Vermont and then lived in cities for a long time, it was hard to adjust coming back to rural living. But it was a nice one. I also moved here just before the pandemic with the thought that, great no one wants to move to CT this will be great lol…

Some cars have better windshield coatings than others.

Old eyes hate headlights more.

Lower cars get it worse and higher cars do it worse. There seem to be more SUVs than ever.

People are greedy and don't care about others.

Winter is coming.

All at the same time.

Maybe you're just going blind. Eat carrots?

'63 Cadillac had "pretty good".

It happens all the time when I drive at night. I had a person driving behind me the other night with their high beams on and I know they were high beams bc every time a car on the other side would pass the lights were dimmed and then shot back on. I have a rule when I drive if I see the lights of a car coming I turn off my high beams if the other car doesn’t I turn mine back on and then the other car will usually turn theirs off. I actually try not to drive when it’s dark bc of the headache the newer led lights give me but now that winter is coming and it gets dark earlier I’m not going to have a choice. Also I think the worst cars with the brightest lights is a Jeep, those things are so bright for no reason, we’re not in a desert that needs that bright of a light.

I tend to have very high standards for tech. I'm an engineer.

Where I would see the other cars lights around a corner and go to low beams it waits until it can see the car comming. Similar it puts on high beams when a car gets very far out but I would not turn on my highs if I can see a car in front at all. It's pushing to keep the high beams on for as long as possible like your having problems seeing without them, that is a somewhat safe assumption. Where I'm normally looking for the extra distance to see a deer in the verge and the like, think the tech is setup so a 70+ year old feels safe.

Same here, I'm a toolmaker and overall nerd. I'm pretty fussy about quality and function.

You are probably correct with your assessment, companies are trying to idiot-proof everything. God forbid we actually teach situational awareness and ensure those 70+ year olds can actually operate a vehicle safely.

55 caddy too

Newer cars have their cars are generally raised higher off the roads compared to typical sedans so even low beams can be disruptive. Furthermore, newer headlights tend to have greater intensity and personally they cause me some discomfort.

My Jeep does an excellent job of dimming. It even dims when I’m turning. I think it may be the manufacturer’s technology.