Regulatory changes for NHTSA

Needed Headlight Regulatory Changes

Many have asked what regulatory updates would address the problems of blindingly bright headlights.

Here are OwMyEyes requests to regulators based on our test results and deep-dive into the limitations of existing regulations.

1. Create luminous intensity limits below the mounting height of the headlight in FMVSS 108 Table XIX LB2V. There is currently NO LEGAL LIMIT for how bright the light can be in this region. 

2. Reduce the maximum headlight mounting height. The maximum headlight mounting heigh should be below the eyes of the driver of a sedan. Laws in the US currently allow the mounting height to be at or above the eyes of the average sedan driver.

3. Regulate the color temperature of headlights. 6500K daylight headlights that are blue in color create much more perceived pain than 2700K yellow headlights. Regulations need to either limit the amount of blue light content in LED headlight or require less light (luminance, measured in candela) for 6500K color temperature headlights compared to 2700K color temperatures. This would ensure that the perceived pain from all headlights, regardless of color temperature and luminance would feel similar.

4. Regulate auto-high beams. No guidance is provided to regulate the operation of auto-high beams, there are no performance standards.

5. On-road glare testing to determine the real-world frequency of high-glare events and stopping the drivers to determine the CAUSE of the high-glare event. This would determine if the driver had on their low-beams, high-beams, auto-high-beams, if the headlights are mis-aligned and if the headlights are OEM or after-market. This study does not exist and without it, we are all speculating about why we are being blinded. Knowing the source(s) of the problem is key to making sure we fix the correct problem.

Back to blog