What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Ivor Hawkins]

Lighting has really gone mad. Lights are so powerful that it's now dangerous.

Yes, to the point where I now avoid driving at night, which I used to love. 
In fact it's not uncommon now to find yourself dazzled by daytime running lights, which is simply ridiculous.
As for people with vast banks of LED's on the rear of their cars, who sit with a foot on the brake pedal at traffic lights because they don't know how to drive and lack confidence that their electric parking brakes are working, words completely fail me.
It's high time the Department for That Sort of Thing got a grip and amended the regulations, but the chances are slim given the extent to which the regulators are in the collective pocket of the motor industry, and our present lack of influence in Brussels.
I'm not 100% a fan but there is an organisation lobbying for change - http://www.lightmare.org/

There have been instances driving around the lanes where I have had to stop in order to avoid hitting the oncoming vehicle with those ridiculously bright lights which have left me almost blinded for a minute or so...I’m convinced they are not legal.

I wonder how many accidents have been caused by motorists being dazzled by them?

[Dave Mann]

Daytime running lights are a joke, I see more parked cars with them on than moving cars.

[Nick Lettington]

Not so much with, more like for... today I went to pick up some wheels for my Silverstone and met Peter and his wife (I can't remember my children's names, so I'm sorry to admit I can't recall hers and I feel rather stupid)

All in all a very enjoyable hour talking about everything from Austin Sevens to health and safety in the Levitical laws... then he asked if I'd like to sit in and start up the Le Mans speedy... and Carole wonders why I didn't get a courier to collect them!

   

[Tony Griffiths]

I recall in the 1970s when Volvo and SAAB started fitting daytime running lights - people flashed them to warm their headlamps were on. Two schools of thought about why these cars were so equipped: 1) months of low sun combined with gravel roads made the cars more visible 2) the hyper-safety-conscious Swedish and Norwegian governments used helicopter enforcement and the running lights made the cars easier to spot. I recall the motoring journalist L.J.K Setright visiting either Sweden or Norway to road test cars and when he arrived back at the factory and reported that the cars lacked grunt at over 100 mph, they were utterly shocked and refused to believe he'd driven so fast. They claimed he's have been jailed if caught.

---

Lighting has really gone mad. Lights are so powerful that it's now dangerous.

Yes, to the point where I now avoid driving at night, which I used to love. 
In fact it's not uncommon now to find yourself dazzled by daytime running lights, which is simply ridiculous.
As for people with vast banks of LED's on the rear of their cars, who sit with a foot on the brake pedal at traffic lights because they don't know how to drive and lack confidence that their electric parking brakes are working, words completely fail me.
It's high time the Department for That Sort of Thing got a grip and amended the regulations, but the chances are slim given the extent to which the regulators are in the collective pocket of the motor industry, and our present lack of influence in Brussels.
I'm not 100% a fan but there is an organisation lobbying for change - http://www.lightmare.org/

There have been instances driving around the lanes where I have had to stop in order to avoid hitting the oncoming vehicle with those ridiculously bright lights which have left me almost blinded for a minute or so...I’m convinced they are not legal.

I wonder how many accidents have been caused by motorists being dazzled by them?

Now that we're out of the EU and can make our own laws again, HTTP://lightmare.org will have a chance to force an amendment to the  UK lighting regulations. Let's hope that they succeed; last night I drove to Manchester airport in a light drizzle and thin mist over the tops. The glare from oncoming traffic was intense - and how pleasant it was to be approached by cars that appeared to have yellow bulbs - in reality, of course, just ordinary halogen ones that now appear almost vintage compared with the unnecessary searchlights fitted to modern cars.

[Alan]

I think it’s time we had a complete rethink on cars. It’s not just lighting it’s all the unnecessary techno junk that they get these days. I wouldn’t be surprised if a simpler petrol engined car, no modern Emission standards wasn’t more lifetime environmentally friendly than an electric car with all the junk.

[Chris KC]

I recall in the 1970s when Volvo and SAAB started fitting daytime running lights - people flashed them to warm their headlamps were on. Two schools of thought about why these cars were so equipped: 1) months of low sun combined with gravel roads made the cars more visible 2) the hyper-safety-conscious Swedish and Norwegian governments used helicopter enforcement and the running lights made the cars easier to spot. I recall the motoring journalist L.J.K Setright visiting either Sweden or Norway to road test cars and when he arrived back at the factory and reported that the cars lacked grunt at over 100 mph, they were utterly shocked and refused to believe he'd driven so fast. They claimed he's have been jailed if caught.

---

Lighting has really gone mad. Lights are so powerful that it's now dangerous.

Yes, to the point where I now avoid driving at night, which I used to love. 
In fact it's not uncommon now to find yourself dazzled by daytime running lights, which is simply ridiculous.
As for people with vast banks of LED's on the rear of their cars, who sit with a foot on the brake pedal at traffic lights because they don't know how to drive and lack confidence that their electric parking brakes are working, words completely fail me.
It's high time the Department for That Sort of Thing got a grip and amended the regulations, but the chances are slim given the extent to which the regulators are in the collective pocket of the motor industry, and our present lack of influence in Brussels.
I'm not 100% a fan but there is an organisation lobbying for change - http://www.lightmare.org/

There have been instances driving around the lanes where I have had to stop in order to avoid hitting the oncoming vehicle with those ridiculously bright lights which have left me almost blinded for a minute or so...I’m convinced they are not legal.

I wonder how many accidents have been caused by motorists being dazzled by them?

Now that we're out of the EU and can make our own laws again, HTTP://lightmare.org will have a chance to force an amendment to the  UK lighting regulations. Let's hope that they succeed; last night I drove to Manchester airport in a light drizzle and thin mist over the tops. The glare from oncoming traffic was intense - and how pleasant it was to be approached by cars that appeared to have yellow bulbs - in reality, of course, just ordinary halogen ones that now appear almost vintage compared with the unnecessary searchlights fitted to modern cars.

We can make our own laws Tony but no manufacturer of anything wants to make different products for different markets, I suspect we will be buying EU-compliant cars and other products for many years to come.

---

I think it’s time we had a complete rethink on cars. It’s not just lighting it’s all the unnecessary techno junk that they get these days. I wouldn’t be surprised if a simpler petrol engined car, no modern Emission standards wasn’t more lifetime environmentally friendly than an electric car with all the junk.

I couldn't agree more, governments should be encouraging preservation of existing vehicles and obliging makers to extend spares support, not funding scrappage schemes and incentives for non-viable transport. Sadly the motor industry has a vision for the immediate future of all-electric, self-driving cars and is heavily committed to seeing it through - whether we want it or not.

[austin]

My "modern" is a low sports car so it's horrific at night with the modern lights, was getting terrible headaches from even short night drives.

I bought a cheap pair of night driving glasses, (link below to similar) from Amazon and they have made it a lot better. I think they are just yellow tints but it seems to take out the blue / white glare.

https://fave.co/42pjulh

[Nick Salmon]

The recent posts about lights remind me of someone I knew who, some decades back, failed their first driving test. 

The Examiner had asked her: "What would you do if, when driving at night, an approaching vehicle failed to dip their headlights?"

The reply, which led to the test failure was, "I'd blind the bugger..."

[Reckless Rat]

Getting old is no fun, but its worse if you don't...

Having to wear specs makes the light scatter more at night due to imperfections and scratches on the lenses, plus any ageing of the car windscreen just exacerbates things. Driving a Seven at night carries the additional problem that the windscreen is more or less vertical and glare from following vehicles is reflected right back in your face. A roller blind helps. Ideally you need a bright red neon sign in the back window which shouts "back off you tosser" at those that get that close you can't see the number plate.

[Dave Mann]

That's interesting Reckless, I've noticed over the last two years I haven't had to deploy the rear blind because I don't experience the windscreen becoming a mirror.