A letter from Dave Walton Petroleum Truck Driver
I am a professional Truck Driver. With a 25
year record of safe driving, I now operate mostly in the San Francisco
bay area, driving a petroleum tanker.
In my personal experience, I have observed LED lights are not only
unhealthy, but are an immediate danger as they impair the vision of
others. I want to point out several specific unsafe scenarios in
which LED lights impair vision.
Firstly, some are worse than others. The aftermarket “plug’n’play”
are horrible when installed into applications intended for halogen
bulbs. This causes light fragmentation and erratic beam
concentration. The factory LED lights can be bad too.
Many LED lights exceed state vehicle code limits of maximum lumens
(brightness). They also employ improper color temperatures. All
these aforementioned nuisances can impair vision.
I’ve noted several specifically bad situations:
When a car behind me has LED lights, I can't very well see objects ahead
of me.
The latest model cars with High Beam Assist seem to dim too late when
approaching from behind.
When a car with LEDs is behind me, I may not be able to see another car
right beside me.
When an LED equipped car is coming at me from the opposite direction,
it’s too bright. Just look down at the white line, right?
Wrong! Now I can’t see far ahead or anywhere else I should be
looking. This is not acceptable.
When multiple cars with LEDs are coming at me, I may not see a car
driving in front of me.
When a car ahead of me has LED taillights, I may not see cars or objects
ahead of them as even taillights are now too bright and impairing
vision.
I think although LED headlights supposedly project farther, drivers
actually aren’t seeing as far past their headlights.
Emergency vehicles’ disco lights are too bright. It’s difficult to
see men near their vehicles. It’s also difficult to see ahead of and
into the scene.
Road construction zone illumination is now dangerous. Recently I
saw an LED lamp brighter than the arc welder running at the site while
they were working on a bridge overcrossing.
All these situations ruin natural night vision.
Depth perception is impaired by LED lights.
It’s difficult to judge the speed of another vehicle when they have LED
lights.
LED auxillary lighting, such as off-road lights, light bars, fog
lights/driving lights, etc., legal or not, are now all too bright and
impairing other peoples’ vision.
LED licence plate lights now frequently project the white light
rearward.
In freezing conditions, LED lights on a trailer won’t melt snow or ice
as an incandescent light does. This can make the rig hard to see
during winter weather.
LED lights can conceal a neighboring vehicle.
LEDs cause so much blotch and glare, it’s hard to see anything.
LED lights from parking lots and buildings hit drivers’s eyes
improperly. In urban areas, it’s a bright assault from all
directions.
In the rain, LEDs glare and reflect worse than traditional lights,
especially on new pavement.
When LED headlights top a hill, they’re directly into others’ eyes, as
if the hi-beams are on.
After experiencing battery to the retinas, it takes several moments for
vision to recover.
LED lights cause road rage!
People have told me they have just stopped in traffic as they can’t see,
until an LED wielding vehicle goes around them. I've also seen
this action.
LED lights make it hard to distinguish specific scenarios.
Traffic cops aren’t adequately enforcing lighting issues. My guess
is because it’s become too rampant.
In closing, for 23 years, my job was fun. Now my job is miserable.
Before I was old enough to drive a truck, I worked in steel fabrication.
My eyes are now more tired after a night of trucking than they used to
be after a day of welding. I didn’t feel this way three years ago.
These lights are even bad in the daytime. They shouldn't be
painful to look at!
I know Truck Drivers who have quit their career because of LED lights.
Sincerely,
David Walton, Petroleum Truck Driver
