Driving law change could crackdown on bright headlights from summer 2025

Driving law change could crackdown on bright headlights from summer 2025
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


Driving law changes to crack down on bright headlights could be rolled out in summer 2025. Lilian Greenwood, Labour Party MP for Nottingham South and Minister for the Future of Roads, has confirmed the update for road users.

Ms Greenwood confirmed to MPs the Labour Party government is looking into 'potential countermeasures' to deal with the ongoing issue of bright headlights. Jim Shannon of the Democratic Unionist Party asked the Secretary of State for Transport: "What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the safety of LED headlights on cars (a) generally and (b) on country roads?"

Greenwood responded on 20 January that a new study is being launched into the issue while acknowledging 'public concern' around the safety of bright headlights. Responding to MPs queries Ms Greenwood on 20 January said: "All types of road vehicle headlamps are designed, tested, and approved to internationally recognised standards to help prevent undue glare and ensure safety on a broad range of roads and environments."

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She continued: "However, noting increased public concern about headlamp glare, government has commissioned independent research to better understand the root causes and develop potential countermeasures. This work is underway and due to deliver in summer 2025; it will include real-world assessment of glare on a broad range of road types and scenarios including country roads."

Douglas Chapman MP, who represents Dunfermline and Dollar, confirmed the public worries: "I have heard from constituents, as well as from family and friends and my own experience driving round the constituency that cars with newer LED lights can be blinding for other road users."

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Ms Greenwood said: "National collision statistics, which can record headlamp dazzle as a contributory factor, do not show any discernible trend to suggest that advances in lighting technology are contributing negatively to road vehicle collisions."

AA president Edmund King said: "The problem seems to be LED lights on higher vehicles such as SUVs. The Government-sponsored investigation into the use of LED lights on our roads should help clarify this issue further, as well as provide appropriate measures where needed."