The retrieved evidence mentions modern headlight technologies like LEDs and HIDs along with related glare issues, but contains no comprehensive data establishing that car headlights are generally getting brighter over time.
Background/Objective: The Indian automobile market has seen a drastic change in its trends over the past decade with several road commuters opting for mid-range sedans and SUVs, owing to the safety features of cars that two-wheelers can never provide. At times, the driver is not fully aware of his surroundings, leading to inconveniences and compromises on safety. Methods/Statistical Analysis: This problem has several facets to it. Blocked vision due to a large vehicle in front is a major hassle that persists especially during heavy traffic, in turnings and in narrow lanes. Bright headlights at night cause discomfort and troubled vision to drivers. It is the worst nightmare of a “fuel-conscious” driver to get caught in a traffic jam when he could have chosen a different lane and or to be forced to return back due to blocked roads. The most frustrating experience for any driver would be to get stuck under the sweltering sun in a road either due to a flat tire or an empty fuel tank. Result/Findings: These issues could be solved if the driver is given constant inputs about vehicles near him and the fuel level, battery conditions and tire pressure status. Providing information from other vehicles could be facilitated through vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Conclusion/Application: These applications can be incorporated into the future self-driving cars. This application also increases the safety of the drivers thereby decreasing the road accidents.
This study examined the effects of refractive blur on discomfort perception caused by peripheral glare from white LED passing (low)-beam headlights at night. The study compared two levels of binocular blur (+0.50 diopter [D] and +1.00D) against a baseline of optimal refractive correction. Thirty participants (mean age 21.3±1.6 years; range 20–24 years) simulating a driving position assessed discomfort from glare sources (headlights of oncoming vehicles) located at 40 and 20 m distances using the de Boer scale. The study found that, with a blur of +0.50D, discomfort glare from white LED headlights did not significantly differ from the baseline regarding de Boer scores. However, with a blur of +1.00D, de Boer scores significantly decreased, indicating increased discomfort glare compared with the baseline for all distances (P=0.004). These results suggest that refractive blur may contribute to an increased perception of discomfort glare during nighttime driving.
Driving requires effective coordination of visual, motor, and cognitive skills. Visual skills are pushed to their limit at night by decreased illumination and by disabling glare from oncoming headlights. High intensity discharge (HID) headlamps project light farther down roads, improving their owner's driving safety by increasing the time available for reaction to potential problems. Glare is proportional to headlamp brightness, however, so increasing headlamp brightness also increases potential glare for oncoming drivers, particularly on curving two lane roads. This problem is worse for older drivers because of their increased intraocular light scattering, glare sensitivity, and photostress recovery time. An analysis of automobile headlights, intraocular stray light, glare, and night driving shows that brightness rather than blueness is the primary reason for the visual problems that HID headlights can cause for older drivers who confront them. The increased light projected by HID headlights is potentially valuable, but serious questions remain regarding how and where it should be projected.
Highway safety performance at night has received less attention in research than daytime, despite the higher accident rates occurring under night-time conditions. This study presents a procedure to assess the potential hazard for drivers created by headlight glare and its interaction with the geometric design of highways. The proposed procedure consists of a line-of-sight analysis performed by a geoprocessing model in geographic information systems to determine whether the rays of light that connect headlights and oncoming drivers are obstructed by either the roadway or its roadsides. Then, the procedure checks whether the non-obstructed rays of light are enclosed by a given headlight beam. Different hypotheses were set concerning the headlight beam features, including the horizontal spread angle and whether the headlights are fixed or swiveling. A highway section was selected to test and validate the procedure proposed. A 3D recreation of the highway and its environment derived from a LiDAR point cloud was used for this purpose. The findings disclose how glare is produced on tangents, horizontal curves, transitions between them and sequences of curves. The effect of visual obstructions conveniently placed is also discussed. A greater glare incidence is produced as the horizontal headlights spread angle increases. Swiveling headlights increase glare on highways left curves and reduce it on right curves. Practical Applications: The procedure and conclusions of this study can contribute to develop more effective glare avoidance technologies as well as identify and assess glare-prone sections. The glare evaluation assists in evaluating glare countermeasures such as deciding whether to place a vegetation barrier and where.
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