LED Lighting of Other Road Users

[rorywquin]

............

This is just so that I can be 100% sure which stage of lighting is switched on with no second guessing.

There are very clear indiators in my display that let me know what is on/off etc. Includes headlights/ side lights/ high or low beam / front and rearfog lights and even one to show if the lights are on "auto" or not. Does your car not have this?

 

[LostKiwi]

No I never carry a load which includes more than one passenger, and I never pull a trailer either.
The adjuster at 0 is the optimal setting.
I think you are just looking for things to disgree with me now.

No, I just found it strange you'd never had to change it but if you never carry loads or more than one passenger then that explains it.

 

[Ron240]

My partner’s mini passed MOT flying colours and if you put the lights on 0 it would blind everyone in front

I'm not sure from reading this how the switch was set when it passed the MOT.
I am not 100% on this but I believe when being tested the manual adjuster should be set to 0, so if the level is too high then the 0 position has been incorrectly set.

 

[rorywquin]

Multibeam LEDs in the Mercedes are amazing although you’ve got to use them with warning. The always on high beam is good, but no way near clever enough to be left alone. It still doesn’t turn off quick enough if I get to a roundabout or if someone’s at a junction turning into the road, it’ll blind them. The clever bit is when it reduces the LED intensity of passing cars to reduce dazzle. I was childish enough to ask my partner to drive the E class past me in her car... and it was really good. Noticeably lower dazzle than other LED systems.

Yours might be different to mine....I have had my car with Smart LED (ILS) for over three years and have never been flashed by another driver, even does the 'black box' thing around cars ahead. Mine are permanently on high beam but as the system is linked to the GPS, it knows where you are driving and splays the beams at roundabouts, dips the high beams in villages etc.......

 

[Janchee]

16 E class with Multibeam. Yeah, it does the black boxes but if it can’t see a light, it will blind the person if they’re at a junction on the road. Or even cyclists/runners. 9/10 it does it quick enough. But if I know I’m going to meet a car on the bend, I’ll turn it off before the bend as I know it’ll blind the other driver.

It uses the streetlights to dim the lights, but unfortunately, if there isn’t any until you get to the junction, it blinds people who are going around the roundabout...

Not sure if newer models are more intelligent (ie updated control boxes)

 

[M80]

My partner’s mini passed MOT flying colours and if you put the lights on 0 it would blind everyone in front ... if the car was a bit heavier in the rear then deffo would need to change the headlight setting. Even in my first car panda I had to do this haha

When I had that I would always leave the setting at lowest,
raising it for rural driving.

I would lower it if I was following another even than.

 

[Srdl]

Yours might be different to mine....I have had my car with Smart LED (ILS) for over three years and have never been flashed by another driver, even does the 'black box' thing around cars ahead. Mine are permanently on high beam but as the system is linked to the GPS, it knows where you are driving and splays the beams at roundabouts, dips the high beams in villages etc.......

Mine is the same. The only time I manually intervene is if I see pedestrians walking towards me and then I try to go to dipped beam before I blind them.

 

[rorywquin]

16 E class with Multibeam. Yeah, it does the black boxes but if it can’t see a light, it will blind the person if they’re at a junction on the road. Or even cyclists/runners. 9/10 it does it quick enough. But if I know I’m going to meet a car on the bend, I’ll turn it off before the bend as I know it’ll blind the other driver.

It uses the streetlights to dim the lights, but unfortunately, if there isn’t any until you get to the junction, it blinds people who are going around the roundabout...

Not sure if newer models are more intelligent (ie updated control boxes)

Mine uses gps for villages, roundabouts and who knows what else . It will dip the high beams even if there are no street lights.
Interesting article here.

Mercedes MULTIBEAM LED Intelligent Light System | Lighting Provider

lightingproviders.net

 

[rorywquin]

Brightness doesn't necessarily cause glare.
I think you'll find LEDs cause more glare than HiDs in spite of HiD being brighter.
The reason is complex but essentially boils down to the way the human eye perceives colour and light.
The human eye is tuned by evolution to work best with colour temperature around 4200K. This is typically about the same temperature as many HiD systems.
LED on the other hand is typically operating at around 5000-6000K. This has a far higher blue content which the eye perceives as glare.

Newer MB are equipped with LEDs that are tuned closer to daylight.

Mercedes MULTIBEAM LED Intelligent Light System | Lighting Provider

lightingproviders.net

 

[Gazwould]

 

[M80]

View attachment 65812

A difference to natural light is the height it's at.
The sun provides great light when high,
at dawn and dusk even it can be dangerous.

 

[M80]

Since the later post here I've been diagnosed with cataracts, to both eyes.
Both lenses have been replaced with new and the difference in vision is remarkable. I hadn't recognised the gradual deterioration as being so acute.

Anyway, I was looking forward to night drive testing of my new eyes, in hope that I no longer had to design a working day to be off the road prior to the LED attack.
Things are better. I certainly don't lose the vision as I did. But the LED affect, but not from all cars, is still a ****** nuisance.

I haven't a clue what some of the cars are, whizz past, gone.
I have noticed that MB's are often more friendly. In fact often they are absolutely no issue at all. I even get the opportunity to look at the headlights as they pass to confirm they're LED.

One of the worst, imo, is the Mini. Maybe it's the back tilt, maybe they are just plainly a cr*p design.

Those auto dim lights are a failure. LED's seem like a laser light, in that they 'can' still pierce from great distance. The auto system must see the oncoming before it can decide to dim, too late often. Some of these don't dim till closer than others.

Worst by far is when the oncoming is on dipped (I assume, but dipped is still illuminated while on full anyway) is rising and at a plane where the dipped beam is now higher than the road in front. As that oncoming car reaches the summit of a rise the dipped beam will then be aimed at the road again.
But meanwhile that dipped beam is straight into the eyes of cars travelling in the opposite direction.

Lowering the beam angle a couple of degrees would be an improvement.
Designing for a warmer colour temperature LED would be an improvement.
Designing for lower light output would be an improvement.

In these days of safety being everything it can only be the capitalist priorities of marketing that has caused this situation.

One contradiction to safety is that if a driver feels he can see more and further he is more confident to go faster. I realise that fitting a couple of candles as the opposite extreme isn't better.
I also wonder how many accidents are attributed to those having been blinded by LED's.

 

[Chris-net]

mercedes video demonstrating multibeam