Blinded by the Light

Solutions for too-bright headlights

Several times a year, it happens: I am driving at night and become unable to see.

Not because there’s anything wrong with my eyes, but because of other drivers.

The typical scenario unfolds like this. I am driving on a city road in my four-door sedan. Waiting at a red light, I am overtaken by an SUV or a pick-up truck. Its headlights are so powerful, and mounted so much higher than my car, that the lights shine directly through my rear windshield into my car, reflect off my rearview mirror, and dazzle my eyes, effectively blinding me. I’m obliged to twist my head or block my mirror with my hand to proceed safely, hoping all the while that the other driver decides to pass.

Perhaps you’ve had a similar experience. Many people have, and some have had worse.

If you've noticed a dramatic change in your nighttime driving experience over the past decade, you're not alone. Night driving has gotten worse, thanks to a combination of technological evolution, regulatory gaps, and unintended consequences.

Specifically, we’re caught in a prisoner’s dilemma: headlights have gotten much better, in ways that help individual drivers, but that also make everyone else using the road worse off.