Lately, I’ve really grown to hate riding at night. It is not because of those creatures that I have to bow down. Not because it’s cold. Not because my night sky-loving village is even darker and scarier with no outside lights. No, that’s because every new car, truck or SUV has the same lumen count as the sun. TL:DR; They’re bright as hell.
This issue has become something that most people know about and everyone complains about, because in recent years, the lights on new trucks, cars, and SUVs have been getting brighter with each passing year. And while most automakers would not tolerate such increases in brightness, they have been forced to admit this in court several times now, with Tesla and NHTSA going to battle in the most recent case.
What kind of fight, you ask? Well, Tesla says it shouldn’t do anything about its blindingly bright lights as it doesn’t affect road safety in any way. NHTSA says no, it happens. But Tesla isn’t alone in not wanting to fix the problem of ever-increasing headlight glare, as many automakers argue it’s not a thing.
A few years before Tesla’s latest case, as detailed by our friends drivewas the gm topic of a campaign The Goliath automaker was asked to change its headlights to something that wouldn’t resemble a nuclear explosion. GM said, like Tesla, everything was fine, and the parts were working as specified. Similarly, he said that no one had officially complained to NHTSA about their headlights, so the organization could not go after GM because of its own feelings and emotions.
GM also said that the fact that its headlights were too bright was “insignificant” to drivers. A vast majority of public driving would like disagree with that statementAlthough. Porsche, on the other hand, voluntarily recalled A number of his own 911’s to fix their too bright headlights. But Tesla isn’t Porsche, and Tesla didn’t want to fix its headlights like GM.
According to our brothers and sisters InsideEVS“Technically Tesla was in the headlines in 2024. Tesla informed the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that approximately 20,000 Model 3 and Model Y EVs had headlights that exceeded the maximum allowable brightness allowed by law in specific areas (in some cases, nearly double).
He added, “Tesla’s petition to NHTSA said the defect was ‘irrelevant’ to safety. Now, more than two years after the automaker tried to dismiss the lighting defect as no big deal, the feds have revisited the issue and rejected Tesla’s petition to avoid the recall. Tesla has since been ordered to fix the defect.” Whether Tesla will comply or fight the order, however, has not yet been determined, given Tesla’s Elon Musk relationship with the current administration. But NHTSA getting behind these headlights is good news for consumers, as it helps reduce the massive glare they produce, while also reducing the blinding rays that can cause a crash.
There may be further hope, too, because Congress – as wasteful and reckless as it is – introduced the Lighting (Limiting Intense Glare for Highways and Two-Lane) Safety Act, which would direct the Office of the Secretary of Transportation to study the growing problem and tell what should be done after the study is finished. Now, if this sounds like more bureaucratic nonsense designed to allow Congress not to make the call, you are absolutely right. They have the power to do something, but they pass the responsibility on to someone else.
Meanwhile, we are all riding our motorcycles in the dark and blind as bats whenever someone in a new car happens to be in the opposite lane. great stuff! breath
