"LED white lights make driving at night a hazard". Really?

[Ct3833]

2 hours ago, Avonez said:

I have no problems with LED headlights. But I have a big problem with excessive LED blinkers on the ambulance. You don't need to light up the ambulance like a Christmas tree and is extremely blinding. This is worst if you driving behind one at night. Why do you need blinkers at the rear? LTA should seriously review this.

That means the lights have served the intended purpose,  the lights are there to maximize the visibility of the emergency vehicles , not for people to stare into the lights. 

[badlammy]

I think the LED streetlights is a great idea. Picture says a thousand words.

[Achtung]

The use of the word 'hazard' in this context is wrong. What so hazardous? It is just the writer's opinion piece. LED has moved with the times. Having said that, in heavy rain, white light is reflective and may not be so good. Otherwise, I think LED is ok. We just gotta stop the god damn whining.

[Brass]

1 hour ago, Lovemyride said:

The factory fitted LEDs are fine. Many cars have auto alignment so it will level off properly and not blind the driver in front. 

The irritating ones are big bikes as they tend to shine straight into your side mirrors. Not sure if theirs is legal from factory or they modified. An auxiliary police bike had very bright LED lights that shone into my right side mirror at a traffic light the other day.

I'm surprised companies are buying high spec Toyota Hiace with LEDs for their staff to drive. Because of the height difference, the LEDs shine straight into my rear view mirrors. 

Toyota Hiace has electronic auto dimming rear view mirrors, to my surprise too.

Agree that its the illegals that form bulk of the problem.

Edited September 26, 2020 by Brass

[Count-Bracula]

Lousy driver he must be. 

[Ake109]

1 hour ago, Lovemyride said:

The factory fitted LEDs are fine. Many cars have auto alignment so it will level off properly and not blind the driver in front. 

The irritating ones are big bikes as they tend to shine straight into your side mirrors. Not sure if theirs is legal from factory or they modified. An auxiliary police bike had very bright LED lights that shone into my right side mirror at a traffic light the other day.

I'm surprised companies are buying high spec Toyota Hiace with LEDs for their staff to drive. Because of the height difference, the LEDs shine straight into my rear view mirrors. 

I freaking hate those Hiace LEDs, they cause crazy glare.

[Dark]

It is not about LED vs halogen or SUV vs sedan. It is about proper leveling of the lamps. A properly dipped headlight will not blind the driver in front. A halogen lamp that points up and shines straight into the cabin of the vehicles in front can be equalling blinding.

This problem can be solved. All we need is inspection centres to start failing vehicles without properly leveled headlights.

[13177]

3 hours ago, Stratovarius said:

Glare from rearview mirror is due to the presence of more suvs on the road. I agree that some aftermarket led lights that are not regulated is very irritating.

White lights are definitely brighter and diffuses better. But it is more straining to see in white light than orange light. Also, the bigger in contrast at night means our eyes have to keep adjusting to the difference in brightness if the road is not evenly lit up. Look at how bright our f1 track looks like when properly lit. Personally I prefer orange light as it is more comfortable to my eyes.

 

Guess our streetlights on road for decades have been using orange light, so drivers have to get used to seeing white light. So far i think only expressway installed with LED white lights, other roads still using orange lights right?

I agree orange light more comfortable to eyes, white lights sometimes i find quite glaring esp if  the road is wet. 

[13177]

28 minutes ago, Count-Bracula said:

Lousy driver he must be. 

Not lousy drive he must be, but maybe his eyes have some problem?

[Vegas]

LED lights glaring? after market hid then glaring lah

LED headlights are damn expensive to make, and the manufacturers (Valeo, Magna etc) spent huge amount on design and light guides to ensure it is safe for use in global market..

Light color is measured in kelvins.. the higher the kelvins, the whiter it looks. above 7000k, more and more blue. i personally feel light above 5500 kelvin is great for illumination, but fare badly in the rain. the wavelength is not great for light reflection

Edited September 26, 2020 by Vegas

[Zxcvb]

I say bring back the orange lights. White LED street lights may be brighter, but they are glaring. Was driving in the rain just now, it's significantly more glare on the windscreen now with the raindrops. And also during the day, whenever we enter the CTE/KJE/MCE tunnel, the orange lights come first for a few hundred metres. Why??

[Atonchia]

26 minutes ago, Zxcvb said:

I say bring back the orange lights. White LED street lights may be brighter, but they are glaring. Was driving in the rain just now, it's significantly more glare on the windscreen now with the raindrops. And also during the day, whenever we enter the CTE/KJE/MCE tunnel, the orange lights come first for a few hundred metres. Why??

Yup, you are right. 

Like all aviation instruments are red light..... 

Even red light districts all use red lights....... 😂

 

Why? 

Bcos red and warm lights doesn't not affect the Rods cells that allow us to see at dimly lit area. 

Cone cells allow us to detect colours.... But doesn't work in low lights. 

 

White lights cause blinding affect. 

It's not just after market HID or LED lights 

 

Many here assume all roads are totally 0 deg gradient..... 

It's not the light from vehicles behind, it's from opposite direction. 

My current car has high driving position, has dimmer on rear view mirror........so high beam or HID or LED from behind doesn't affect me......yes the headlights will affect vehicles with lower driving position.....but its warm light. 

But its blinding lights from opposite direction that can cause temporary night blindness when the gradient of the road is not 0.....

Anyway my next car have strong HID lights.....and also quite high driving position.... so please don't ban it... 

Going to blind other people now. 😅

 

 

Edited September 26, 2020 by Atonchia

[Philipkee]

15 hours ago, Lotr said:

So someone wrote into ST forum to say that "LED white lights make driving at night a hazard"

 

https://str.sg/JBcA

"As more vehicles and streetlights are installed with white LED bulbs, driving at night has become uncomfortable and hazardous.

As a driver, I have often been momentarily blinded by the glare in my rear-view mirror from cars with such headlights.

Alongside the road, the strong white glare from the streetlights becomes distracting for drivers as the brightness competes with the vehicle lights on the road.

I noticed LED streetlights do not diffuse as well as the warmer, more orange streetlights of the past. Hence, there is high contrast between bright white spots and the dark background. In terms of area covered, the old lights seem to do a better job.

I hope the Land Transport Authority will review the use of LED white lights on streetlights and regulate their use in vehicles."

 

Do people generally feel that night driving is uncomfortable and hazardous with LEDs?

Personally, I have no issues with LEDs in the rear view mirrors.  Only time I get blinded is from the LED of the car in opposite direction, especially if I am going down-slope and the car with LED is going up-slope. 

As for LED streetlights, just brightens up the road, the orange lights are just too dim, really "pales in comparison".  If LEDs are too bright, then why not install orange light for the F1 night race?

I am going to comment on the white street lights specifically.

It's very bright and doesnt diffuse well compared to the yellow light.  Now, this might be an issue of merely getting used to it.

I think one big problem is that if there is intermittent failure of the street lamps.  Example, alternate street lamps lost power.  It would be very irritating to switch from very bright to dark then to very bright.  The yellow lights are not so bad.  This might be more prominent if some street lights are covered by tree branches.  Example would be driving in the bright sunlight under some trees.  Will be bright then shady then bright all in seconds.

Driver whining? I would just say its feedback cos the lights are great when everything is working fine but if there is blockages power outage or even if the lights start flickering, it can get bad very fast.

F1 is different.  Cos it's for a race and for a specific time when nothing better go wrong.  Most drivers in Singapore just want a pleasant drive.  They are not racing.   At least I hope not.

My two cents.

Edited September 27, 2020 by Philipkee

[Fuelsaver]

12 hours ago, Jamesc said:

Glare from rearview mirror?

Flip it down.

common sense is not common sometimes..

[Fuelsaver]

improperly aligned halogen lamp and its high-beam counterpart are equally glaring, especially those from taller vehicles vans, pickups and lorries , not just LED.

[Fuelsaver]

7 hours ago, Atonchia said:

Yup, you are right. 

Like all aviation instruments are red light..... 

Even red light districts all use red lights....... 😂

 

Why? 

Bcos red and warm lights doesn't not affect the Rods cells that allow us to see at dimly lit area. 

Cone cells allow us to detect colours.... But doesn't work in low lights. 

 

White lights cause blinding affect. 

It's not just after market HID or LED lights 

 

Many here assume all roads are totally 0 deg gradient..... 

It's not the light from vehicles behind, it's from opposite direction. 

My current car has high driving position, has dimmer on rear view mirror........so high beam or HID or LED from behind doesn't affect me......yes the headlights will affect vehicles with lower driving position.....but its warm light. 

But its blinding lights from opposite direction that can cause temporary night blindness when the gradient of the road is not 0.....

Anyway my next car have strong HID lights.....and also quite high driving position.... so please don't ban it... 

Going to blind other people now. 😅

 

 

can use disperser / translucent shield for street lamps to reduce glare while not significantly reducing illumination

maybe next feedback may cite increase in crime due to reduce illumination / use of high / low pressure sodium lights

[Volvobrick]

13 hours ago, Avonez said:

I have no problems with LED headlights. But I have a big problem with excessive LED blinkers on the ambulance. You don't need to light up the ambulance like a Christmas tree and is extremely blinding. This is worst if you driving behind one at night. Why do you need blinkers at the rear? LTA should seriously review this.

Needed when they are stationary on roads/expressway to attend to victims.  Why follow so close to the ambulance? 

[Cheesey74]

For me, it's not abt led or hid or halogen light, only abt warm n cold light.

Personally i like warm light, from my house lamp to my car cabin lights/driving headlights n the older type high pressure sodium vapour street lamps.

Warm light is not glaring to me n more comfortable to my eyes, white light is cold n uncomfortable if view long time, esp. when driving on long stretch of road.

Heck.. i shit better in a warmly lit toilet too.. haha.