Blinded by progress
Some motorists may still think the brightest lights win. If this is a brightness contest, the driver with the strongest glare wins and expects a trophy while everyone else loses sight of the road.
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Some motorists may still think the brightest lights win. If this is a brightness contest, the driver with the strongest glare wins and expects a trophy while everyone else loses sight of the road.
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Almost every night, I encounter scooters and cars whose headlights are so bright that the road in front of me becomes difficult to see.
At times, the glare feels like the bright light from an alien abduction and I almost expect to see the bones in my hands.
Rain makes the glare worse because light reflects off wet roads and windshields, while road markings and people become harder to see.
The nightly glare we experience on our roads is also a concern in the United States, where a 2026 survey by the American Automobile Association (AAA) found that six in ten drivers considered it a problem after dark, while nearly three quarters of those affected believed it had become worse over the past decade.
The survey covered American adults, although the complaint will sound familiar to anyone who regularly drives at night in the Philippines, especially in Metro Manila.
After several encounters in one evening, I sometimes ask myself, “Is this a brightness contest?”
Modern LEDs should not receive all the blame because a headlamp is a complete system in which the bulb, housing and lens work together to direct light toward the road.
The problem happens when the headlamp points too high or a replacement bulb does not match its housing.
Headlights on taller SUVs and pickups can shine into the eyes of drivers in lower cars, especially when the road rises, while scooter auxiliary lamps cause the same problem when they point straight ahead instead of down.
In addition, some motorists leave their high beams on when vehicles approach even though lowering them requires only the headlight switch already fitted to the vehicle.
A 1999 Land Transportation Office (LTO) memorandum described headlight glare as one of the country’s most common traffic nuisances and hazards.
The circular said vehicles with dazzling headlights should not be accepted for registration or allowed on public roads.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that vehicles with good-rated headlights had 19 percent fewer nighttime single-vehicle crashes and 23 percent fewer nighttime pedestrian crashes than vehicles with poor-rated systems.
The LTO, with help from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in Metro Manila, hopefully considers nighttime operations against vehicles with excessively bright or badly aimed lights.
The LTO and Department of Trade and Industry could require road-use certification and compatibility labels so buyers know which products can be fitted safely to their vehicles.
Headlights should help a driver see the road without taking that ability away from anyone in the opposite lane.
Some motorists may still think the brightest lights win. If this is a brightness contest, the driver with the strongest glare wins and expects a trophy while everyone else loses sight of the road.
