If you feel like vehicle headlights are too bright these days and are blinding your eyes on the road, Transport Canada wants to hear from you.

The federal agency is conducting a survey on headlights that have gotten a lot brighter over the years, with some experts saying they’re a safety concern.

Bright LED lights on the road is becoming a more common trend that semi-truck drivers are noticing first-hand.

Bill Fries has been a trucker for 30 years and said the stronger headlights can be useful, but harsh on the eyes.

“LED lights are extremely bright, they don’t really have distance. They’re intense, and if the drivers don’t adjust them, quite often I wear those yellow glasses, nighttime driving glasses that kill the glare and take a lot of the blue light out,” said Fries.

Vehicle lighting expert Daniel Stern says headlights getting stronger isn’t a myth.

“Headlights are brighter in the sense that they’re putting out more light at wider beam patterns, they’re also growing smaller and smaller and bluer and bluer,” said Stern.

“All three of those things make them more glaring.”

He added the colour temperature — warm vs cool lighting — makes a difference.

“For any given intensity, blue, white light like we get from LED headlights, spurs a lot more glare. Fifty to 60 per cent more discomfort glare than that same amount of light in a warmer, white light colour with less blue in it.”

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Vancouver wants limits put on headlight brightness

That increased glare is a key part of Transport Canada’s national survey. It’s asking Canadians how headlight glare affects them and their experience on the roads at night with bright lights, at times creating dangerous situations.

“You put LED bulbs into a halogen headlamp, you turn it into a glare monster. It feels like they’re much brighter, but you’re not getting the right amount of light to the right places to see safely, so that’s a lose-lose deal,” said Stern.

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Edmonton auto repair shops say a very common concern they hear from customers is that their lights aren’t bright enough, but brand-new LEDS aren’t always the trick.

“A lot of the times it’s really difficult to see in front of you. I mean, if you could imagine yourself on a narrow highway and there are vehicles all around you and you have oncoming traffic that’s nearly blinding you, one miscalculation can cause an accident,” said Moe Araji with Fat Dog Automotive.

“There’s a misconception about bright headlights, though; just because the headlight’s bright doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to give you better visibility.”

As Transport Canada seeks potential solutions to headlight glare, local mechanics and Stern say they hope light inspections are part of the conversation.

“We really need to bring back vehicle inspections, at least lighting inspections. Not only are the lights badly aimed, but also you walk through any parkade, you see a lot of cars with cloudy, hazed headlight lenses. It happens with age, and that diffuses the beam so light that should be going down towards the road instead is going up towards other drivers’ eyes,” said Stern.

“Glare control measures that were adequate in the past, they no longer do the job. So what we have is headlamps much more glaring than they used to be, that are still legal according to the regulations, which haven’t changed.”

The survey is available on Transport Canada’s website and is open until April 20.

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Brampton considers installing LED lights on roads to increase safety

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Are vehicle headlights glaringly bright these days in Canada?

Transport Canada wants to hear from you, and is running a national survey about vehicle headlight glare and how it affects drivers at night.

“While new headlight technology in vehicles can help drivers see better, they can also cause problems for other road users. Transport Canada wants to learn how headlight glare affects road users and what vehicle or lighting features may influence how people experience it at night,” the release states.

“We want to hear about your experiences, opinions, and behaviours with vehicle headlight glare.”

The survey opened on March 6 and will close on April 20.

Last month, the City of Victoria’s municipal council unanimously passed a motion asking provincial and federal governments to “review and update safety regulations for vehicle designs.”

Coun. Dave Thompson, who put forward the motion, said brighter headlines can be a distraction to other drivers.

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“While improved illumination may benefit drivers using them, increased brightness and headlight height can cause painful glare for other drivers, particularly older drivers, and difficulty seeing people walking and using bikes and other mobility devices when backlit at night.”

The City of Vancouver also passed a motion asking Transport Canada to review headlight brightness.

4:21
Vancouver wants limits put on headlight brightness

“These LED headlights and HID headlights, especially on oversized vehicles, are very common in Vancouver. They’ve been linked to reduce nighttime visibility, delayed reaction times, and a higher risk of collisions,” Coun. Sean Orr said at Vancouver City Hall on Jan. 21.

“These impacts are felt, not just by drivers, but by cyclists, pedestrians, seniors and people with vision impairments who are especially vulnerable to glare.”

As of September 2021, the Canadian Vehicle Lighting Regulation requires that all new vehicles sold in Canada have one of the following:

• Tail-lights that come on automatically with daytime running lights.
• Headlights, tail-lights and side marker lights that turn on automatically in the dark.
• A dashboard that stays dark to alert the driver to turn on the lights.

However, glare is not mentioned in Transport Canada’s Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSS), which closely mirror U.S. regulations.

A 2024 study conducted in the U.K. surveyed 2,000 drivers and found that nine in 10 (89 per cent) of people think at least some headlights on cars on the road today are too bright, of which three in 10 (28 per cent) – a higher proportion than ever – think most are.

The study stated the effect may be due to more cars having LED headlights, which have a much more intense and focused beam than “yellower” halogen bulbs.

In addition, five per cent of surveyed drivers stated they have “nearly been involved in a collision themselves” due to vehicle brightness.

Nearly one in 10 (seven per cent) said they find headlight glare “so bad that they avoid driving at night altogether,” a figure that rises to 14 per cent for drivers aged 65 and over.

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The head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday he expected Canada would announce it was certifying some Gulfstream business jets that had been delayed for years, resolving an issue highlighted by President Donald Trump.

“I think we’ve resolved the issues with Canada,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters on Capitol Hill after a meeting with lawmakers. “My understanding is Transport Canada will announce the Gulfstream certifications that have been delayed for years.”

Bedford said he expected Canada would announce the certifications for the jets produced by the U.S. company later this week.

A spokesperson for Canada’s Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said on Tuesday that regulator Transport Canada “continues to work with Gulfstream and the FAA on certification of their aircraft.”

MacKinnon did not answer questions from reporters about the Gulfstream issue while heading into a cabinet meeting in Ottawa.

General Dynamics-owned Gulfstream did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Last month, Trump said in a social media post that the U.S. was planning to decertify Canadian-made Bombardier Global Express business jets and threatened 50% import tariffs on all aircraft made in Canada until the country’s regulator certified a number of planes produced by U.S. rival Gulfstream.

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Trump targets Canada’s aviation industry

His declaration came amid broader tensions between the neighboring countries after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, citing U.S. trade policy, urged nations to accept the end of the rules-based global order that Washington had once championed.

Trump also said he was planning to “decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada” until the Gulfstream planes were certified.

That threat, if it had been carried out, would have a drastic impact on U.S. carriers like American Airlines and Delta Air Lines which rely on Canadian-made airplanes for many of their regional services.

However, aviation experts have expressed doubts that Trump has the authority to unilaterally decertify Canadian aircraft.

Canadian officials said last month they were working to resolve the aircraft certification dispute with Trump.

Airline officials said if the U.S. could decertify airplanes for economic reasons, it would give other countries a powerful weapon and could put the entire aviation system at risk.

Trump has since highlighted other issues with Canada. On Monday, he threatened to not allow a $4.7 billion bridge between Detroit and Canada from opening unless Canada agreed to trade talks.

—With additional files from Global News