headlights on new cars to bright or is it me?

Nothing worse than having an oncoming vehicle with one of those 'off road only' LED lightbars poorly aimed, blinding you.

If I was a cop, I'd be writing a lot of tickets to drivers who use them when they should not be used...on the road.

Very irritating.

I don't think the problem is with newer cars and their newer light technology, I think the problem is with AFTERMARKET lights that don't meet DOT specifications and therefore throw light into driver eyes. Headlight beam should be cut sharply above a specified angle and distance. These cheap Chinese aftermarket lenses don't do that.

In days of old when I was not yet licensed to drive
"Brights" were 36 watts
"Dims" 56.... Now you know why they switched to High/Low beams.

And yes improvements in many areas mean they are getting brighter, Much Much brighter... Even brighter.. Theory is my "Fog" lights (Which I do not often use) are the equal to six 100 watt 120 volt lamps.

A combination of factors can be the culprit: brighter headlamps available, poorly aimed headlamps, and aging eyes.

As we age, our lenses often get a slight haze in them. Not yet a cataract (often not even close to cataract stage), still it scatters incoming bright lights and makes it harder to see. Sort of like a dirty windshield, only it's right on the eyeballs.

Yes, some times they are "too" bright but they also allow people to see better as well.
I think it's worth it.

Back in the '70s and early '80s, lots of people where installing "european" headlights in their vehicles. Used halogen bulbs, good glass with mirrored interiors. BUT, the DOT considered them illegal!! Not a sealed beam, water could get into lamp causing corrosion and deterioration of light output.

Look at what we got now!! Plastic lenses that yellow and fog, crack easily, water inside!!! Don't know what happened to the DOT and headlight regs, but seems like they don't do anything about it anymore. You'd think they would be all over the car mfgs for the poor quality lamp assys nowdays and make them replace them with a good glass assy.

And, as to the newer led stuff and aftermarket stuff, they seem to be completely missing in action!! Go figger!!

its great visibility if you are the one driving with the bright lights, but there are some that I have to look away rom like dodge guy said. They have gotten better tech to be a brighter and more efficient stream of light

Yeah, they are often too bright. I like when cars had FOUR headlights. Then you knew if someone was brighting you. Can't tell anymore...

I agree with you path1. Some are modern lights and some are after market. I especially don't like the blue ones. I avoid driving at night except for local area. Came down off Mt Davidson in a snow storm last night near Virginia City, NV but there was no one on the road.

What is worse is the drivers using the LED light bars as driving lights. I'm talking the 6-8 inch LED lightbars mounted on the bumper and are blinding. A lot of semi's have them on plus reg headlights and fog lights plus some passenger cars and pickup trucks run them which the package states are off road use only yet see them on the roads all the time. LED lights maybe great but suck while driving into their blinding lights