The Current Throwing shade on those super bright headlights
Feb 10, 2026
Daniel Stern, vehicle lighting researcher and editor of Driving Vision News, explains how regulations lag behind LED tech. Rachael Berger, Saskatoon optometrist, describes rising night-driving complaints and how blue-rich LEDs affect vision. They discuss why LEDs cause intense glare, who is most affected, aim and aftermarket issues, and possible technical and policy fixes.
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Blinding Headlights Caused A Crash
- Michelle Desru had to swerve because an oncoming truck's LED headlights hid the truck's position.
- She hit a rock while avoiding the truck and the truck driver didn’t even know he’d caused the danger.
Young Drivers Increasingly Affected
- Rachael Berger says more young, healthy patients now report new difficulty driving at night.
- She attributes many cases directly to the concentrated blue LED light rather than to eye disease.
Why LEDs Glare More At Night
- Blue-rich LED light creates more scatter and glare than older halogen beams.
- Larger pupils at night let more light in, making LED glare especially jarring to drivers' vision.