Vehicle Headlight Glare Standards

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the potential merits of a new standard for vehicle headlight glare.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I am grateful for the opportunity to present this motion today; it is the first time that I have been successful in an application for a Westminster Hall debate, and I feel that I have been incredibly lucky with the coverage that it has received so far in the news. But I suppose that I should not be surprised. This issue has been raised with me by many constituents, and polling indicates that 80% of all drivers are concerned about headlight glare. I am sure that most Members have at one time or another struggled to see the road because of the glare of oncoming headlights—I certainly have.

No one should deny the valuable role that headlights play in enabling people to drive safely. They enable drivers to see potential hazards, and other people to notice vehicles in motion. It is for that reason that we encourage cyclists to ensure that their bikes are properly illuminated at night—the conversation about their lighting, and particularly the flashing lightbulbs that they often have, can wait for another day. However, in recent years the glare from headlights has begun to tip over from enhancing road safety to compromising it. On average each year, police are called to 280 collisions and six fatal collisions where headlight glare is cited as having played a role in causing the accident.

Several factors have a role to play in driving the increase in headlight glare. Poor alignment of headlights means that often car headlights are angled too high up in the road, and consequently the light enters into cabins. There is increased adoption of SUV-style cars, which sit higher in the road, so again the light is more likely to enter a car’s cabin and impact drivers.

However, the most significant change has been the replacement of traditional halogen lightbulbs with light-emitting diodes. LEDs are a significant improvement on halogen bulbs; they are far more energy-efficient, last far longer and have the ability to be brighter and better directed than traditional lightbulbs. Unfortunately, although car companies feel the advantages of the increased brightness of LEDs—which, due to emitting large volumes of blue light, unlike halogen lightbulbs, take far longer for the eye to recover from—they do not appear to have considered the impacts on other road users. It is hard to say whether that is by accident or design. Brighter headlights may well be attractive to those purchasing a car; they can be more aesthetically pleasing, and drivers benefit from increased visibility, but that all comes at the cost of other road users.

The tension between the conflicting interests of those living in this country sits at the heart of our politics. It is our job as representatives to decide where that appropriate balance sits—curtailing the freedoms of some to protect the freedoms of others—and there will always be winners and losers. Fortunately for the Government, on this issue the balance seems clear. When four out of five drivers are telling us they are concerned about headlight glare, we know that the balance of freedoms in this country rests clearly on one side. We cannot have a road network where one in 20 people have stopped driving completely and a further 22% would rather not drive at night at all if they a choice.

From my hon. Friend’s research, how concerned is he about the role that increasing glare from headlights could be playing in increasing social isolation? A lot of my older constituents say they are quite frightened about going out at night, particularly in winter as the nights are drawing in, which leaves them feeling more isolated.

Although the researcher involved did not look into particular age groups, I think we all know that on balance, it is often older citizens who are far more inclined to feel the issue of headlights and problems with driving in general. When looking at the numbers, which show the scale of people who are simply staying at home because they no longer feel safe in the road, we realise that something clearly has to be done. The overwhelming majority of those who say that they are no longer driving at night, or would not drive if they had the choice, cite headlight glare as the primary reason.

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing his first Westminster Hall debate. I thought this was an issue of personal annoyance until I met Alan, an old colleague from Heriot-Watt University, who said he found it difficult to go out in the evening and was not looking forward to winter. He is a young man—even younger than me—so does my hon. Friend agree that we need more research to fully understand the negative impacts of these lights?

Certainly, there is probably work to be done in general around how transport impacts social isolation, and particularly at different times of day. We know the impact that losing bus routes has had on rural communities, and the age brackets for which that causes huge problems. Transport for many people is an essential part of daily life; they do not have the options that those of us lucky enough—I say lucky—to live in an urban area have available to us. We have to think of the enormous impact that this issue has not only on convenience, but on someone’s ability to get through life.

There are options available to drivers to reduce headlight glare. They can try keeping their windscreen and glasses clean; they can adjust mirrors to reduce glare; and they can ensure that their own headlights are properly aligned and avoid buying SUV-type vehicles. [Interruption.] Well, they could. Although all those things would see an improvement in our roads, driving-related law in the UK should not be reliant on voluntary measures by drivers. The law relating to driving begins from the starting point that every vehicle is a lethal object and rigid rules are required to manage that risk.

The track record of accidents stemming from headlight glare is now sufficiently clear, but it is time for that to be recognised in law with a new standard to ensure that headlights in the United Kingdom do not exceed safe levels of brightness. I am glad that the Department for Transport appears to have recognised that, with the Transport Research Laboratory having been commissioned last year to study the impacts of headlight glare. I understand that research was supposed to have been completed in the spring, but it has not yet been published. Despite that, there have been positive noises, certainly in recent days, about headlight glare being addressed, in part through the new road safety strategy. I hope that hon. Members will receive assurances about that from the Minister, and I hope that this debate will help to maintain pressure for the action that our constituents deserve at the earliest opportunity.

I remind hon. Members that if they wish to speak they should bob so that we can work out the timings. Hon. Members should also please bear in mind that we are expecting votes.

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for Crawley (Peter Lamb) for securing this important debate. The statistics are stark—as stark as bright light coming around the corner at night on a dark country road. The RAC tells us that four in five drivers complain of bright vehicle lights on the road, that 95% of drivers think that at least some headlights are too bright, that 53% have been temporarily blinded while driving, that 79% find it hard to tell when vehicles were indicating because of the bright lights, that 77% find it difficult to judge the position of an oncoming vehicle in the road, that 25% avoid driving at night due to headlights, and that 22% would like to drive less at night.

There is an issue that drivers with automatic headlight dipping, and indeed the manufacturers of the systems, may not be aware of: the sensors that dip the lights automatically do not seem to do so until they directly sense an oncoming light, so for those of us who can see a light in the distance and consequently dip our headlights manually, that courtesy is not returned until the first flash of the lights as they round a corner. That makes for more bad temper on our roads, occasional retaliation and of course the danger of being blinded.

Some may have seen advertisements for night driving glasses, which have yellow lenses that take out the blinding, blue part of the light. I have found them effective, but it would be useful if the Government’s Transport and Road Research Laboratory, the TRL, could undertake research into the effectiveness of these driving glasses. It could perhaps, along with the British Standards Institution, issue a kitemark for approved night driving glasses and make the case for them more obvious.

Other problems, such as the fitting of LED bulbs to standard car light housings are already illegal. Making that point of law more widely known and publishing statistics on the issuance of penalty points for that offence would be widely welcomed, and be a public benefit.

I am imposing an informal time limit of four minutes.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Peter Lamb) for securing this important debate, for bringing this issue to national attention and indeed—forgive the pun—for shining a light on it. [Hon. Members: “Ooh.”] I know, I could not resist; I apologise.

Many of my constituents have raised this issue with me, not just in the town of Hemel Hempstead and areas such as Adeyfield and Bennetts End, but in our rural communities—in Bovingdon, Chipperfield and Flaunden. The growing problem of the glare from modern vehicle headlights is now a real concern for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike. Hon. Members have shared their personal irritation at this issue. I, too, cannot now drive at night without adjusting the rear-view mirror to reduce the glare. I also recognise the occasional issue of flashing an oncoming driver because it appears that they have inadvertently left their full beams on, only to find that they have not—those are just their natural headlights.

According to the RAC, nine out of 10 drivers say that they are affected by this issue, and seven in 10 believe that it has got worse in recent years. The BBC, among others, has reported how serious this problem has become across the country. In my constituency, the impact is clear. On dark, unlit rural lanes in Bovingdon and Chipperfield, the glare from oncoming cars can cause a driver to go blind for several seconds. On busier roads in urban areas, such as St Albans Road in Hemel Hempstead, drivers face a constant dazzle from modern LED lights.

As my hon. Friends the Members for Rochester and Strood (Lauren Edwards) and for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) have said, the issue also affects older residents. We do not want to inadvertently create a situation where they are isolating themselves because they are avoiding driving at night altogether. I welcome the Labour Government indicating that they will review headlight glare as part of the wider road safety strategy. It shows that this Labour Government are listening to people’s real experiences and acting on them.

It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for Crawley (Peter Lamb) for bringing this debate to Westminster Hall. I declare that I have personal experience with this issue as a practising NHS optometrist, so I can say with some clarity that it is of great importance and concern, with potentially significant consequences. Many of my patients have told me of their utter despair when they want to drive at night. Some only take the keys out if it is a real emergency, while others have abandoned it altogether, which feeds into the narrative that elderly people in particular will not go shopping or go to the pharmacist to pick up medication. That can result in loneliness and other problems.

There are also those who continue to drive despite knowing that night driving is really difficult for them. That becomes a matter of life and death, as some of the statistics bear out. As an optometrist, I have only anecdotal evidence, but although excellent research has been done by the College of Optometrists, the Association Of Optometrists and the RAC, among others, it does not take an expert to know the link between eyesight and safety for everyone who uses the road.

I want to focus on two intertwined challenges: the impact of modern car lighting, and the lack of research and subsequent legislation around it, and the failure of our system to ensure that drivers meet basic vision standards.

Modern vehicles are brighter than ever. LED and xenon technologies have replaced many older halogen bulbs. They are much brighter and more efficient, and provide better clarity on the road for the driver, but unfortunately the increased brightness comes at a cost, which is a rise in glare and dazzle for other road users. The RAC, drawing on Government collision statistics, reported that since 2013, an average of 280 crashes a year in Britain have involved dazzling headlights as a contributing factor. Six of those crashes a year involve a loss of life. Campaigners believe that the real figures could be a lot higher.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate the hon. Member for Crawley (Peter Lamb) on securing this important debate. I have worked on this issue for some time, and I am really pleased that the Government are picking it up. I thank the Minister for engaging with it following my written questions in March and my early-day motion in April. I also thank Rod Dennis from the RAC and Denise Voon from the College of Optometrists for meeting with me around six months ago to discuss this in detail.

Constituents have contacted me about the dazzling effect of modern car headlights and the disorientation and loss of confidence that causes when driving at night. That is particularly concerning in rural communities, such as those in Newton Abbot, where driving is essential for work, appointments and, as we have heard, social contact. Losing confidence behind the wheel can quickly lead to social isolation, especially among older residents—it is delightful to see such continuity and consistency on this across the House.

LED headlights can be up to 10 times brighter than traditional halogen bulbs and that the glare they produce can lead to photostress with recovery times of up to 30 to 60 seconds. That is a long time to be effectively driving blind. Glare will always exist to some extent, but we can manage it by regulating brightness, colour, temperature and headlight height and angle. By working with drivers, manufacturers and medical experts, we can make real improvements.

From my own experience as a former non-executive director at the Department for Transport’s Vehicle Certification Agency, I know how crucial type approvals and manufacturing standards are. Let us use that system to ensure new vehicles meet safe and consistent lighting standards. Of course, we must also use the MOT test to ensure that headlights are correctly aligned and comply with the regulations.

It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I commend the hon. Member for Crawley (Peter Lamb) for setting the scene so very well. This is an important issue as road safety is important to us all. Keeping ourselves, as well as other motorists safe, is part of that. There have been reports of concerns from across the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland about the impact of vehicle headlight glare. Indeed, just this week BBC Breakfast had a story on this very issue.

I recently read a news article back home about how the Fermanagh and Omagh district council on the west of the Province wrote to the Committee for Infrastructure at the Northern Ireland Assembly raising concerns that vehicle headlights are becoming an increasingly distressing and potentially dangerous aspect of driving at night. It has also been noted that the intensity and resulting glare from headlights are not currently tested. The hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley), who spoke before me, referred to the MOT test. We really need to include this as part of that.

I know, from my experience living in rural areas, that there are safety concerns regarding vehicle glare. For example, on the roads leading down to my house, there are minor and major dips and hills. I live in the Ards Peninsula in a very rural part of Strangford. I know that some, on these country roads at night flash their main beam on, but perhaps do not turn it off when other cars approach. There is no doubt that that has a significant impact on public safety, and that is not to mention the fact that streetlight provision is next to nothing on these types of roads, so the spotlight glare of a headlight does not in any way increase safety. Indeed, it has the very opposite effect.

A more general UK survey found that 61% of drivers who suffer headlight glare say the problem has worsened in the past year, and I believe it has as well—certainly based on the evidence I have seen. Some 26% say that they try to reduce night-time driving because of bright headlights. If someone is not sure of being safe on the road, that would be the right thing to do. I would argue that the actual number is much higher; that figure is based purely on personal reports and anecdotes, and not on the many motorists who experience this issue daily.