Demand for new LED headlights has dipped as calls for them to be banned to improve road safety grows.
A recent survey found that searches for the ultra-bright lights have waned compared to the year before. The Department of Transport is looking into ‘potential countermeasures’ to deal with the on going issues of bright headlights and their safety repercussions, with findings to be delivered in the summer.
Saga Car Insurance has looked at the trends for car buying in 2025 and found a five per cent decline in searches for LED headlights. They noted that this might partly be due to such headlights coming as standard in new cars, meaning drivers are not looking to replace theirs with the brighter version.
However, it could also signal that car owners searching for replacement lights are instead looking for halogen bulbs – which are less likely to dazzle other drivers.
There are four reasons that have been cited for the rise in these type of lights dazzling drivers, according to This Is Money. Factors include that cars are being fitted with brighter LED lights as well as installed headlamps are not being aligned properly
Other reasons are because drivers are replacing their own lights with cheap aftermarket bulbs, in addition to the increasing popularity of SUV vehicles which are positioned higher on the roads.
A petition on the House of Commons website has called for the very bright lights on cars to be removed. It read: “We believe LED headlights need to be banned on public roads. A recent survey found that almost nine in 10 people think at least some headlights on cars on the road today are too bright.”
In a question in the House of Commons on January 20, Jim Shannon from 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?”
And Lilian Greenwood, Minister for the Future of Roads, replied that a new study has been commissioned – and would be looking into potential ‘countermeasures’.
She 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.
”However, noting increased public concern about headlamp glare, the 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.”
AA president Edmund King believes the LED headlights are a major contributing factor which are causing collisions on the roads. Three-quarters of drivers told the AA they’re being blinded by the headlights of oncoming vehicles, while 52 per cent have been dazzled by headlights from cars behind them.
Drivers who struggle with the intensity of the lights have been given advice on how to combat them. And drivers of cars with them installed have been asked to take action as a ‘courtesy’ to other road users.
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