Dazzling vehicle lights a concern

The increasing prevalence of ultrabright headlights has become a significant safety concern, with experts pointing to both technological advancements and unauthorised modifications as contributing factors to this potentially dangerous situation.

Erskine Cumberbatch, president of the Barbados Driving School Association, said a major part of the problem stemmed from vehicles fitted with headlights designed for the American market being used here.

“When you dip the light, instead of the light going to the left side of the road, the light comes right over in the right and hits you straight in your face,” he said. He noted that even when drivers attempted to dim their lights, the brightness remained problematic: “Sometimes when they do dim, they’re that bright, you can’t even tell the difference.”

The Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) acknowledged this growing concern, noting that regulations under the Road Traffic Act CAP 295 only specified that headlamp beams must be “derived from filaments of an electric bulb” with a minimum rated wattage of 30 watts. However, with the global automotive industry increasingly moving toward LED technology, this dated legislation might need revision to address modern lighting systems.

Junior Jordan, a veteran road safety advocate, shed further light into the situation.

While newer vehicles came with factory-fitted bright lights that passed inspection through the MTW and the Barbados Licensing Authority (BLA), he identified a more problematic trend: owners of older vehicles retrofitting their cars with bright lights without proper adjustment.

‘Not adjusted’ “The challenge is, sometimes when they put these bright lights in, the lights are not adjusted, they just put it in anyhow,” Jordan said. He stressed that properly focused lights should spot to the left side of the road in Barbados, unlike North American specifications.

Sean Pilgrim, sales executive at NASSCO Ltd, said while newer vehicles came with brighter headlights as standard equipment, modifications were typically made by vehicle owners after purchase.

“All the newer cars are coming with them,” he said, adding that NASSCO did not adjust headlight alignment on their vehicles, selling them as is from manufacturers. He said manufacturers were continuously making improvements to headlight technology, resulting in increasing brightness levels with each new model year.

The impact of these bright lights was particularly concerning for nighttime driving safety. Cumberbatch pointed out that the situation was exacerbated by inadequate road markings and insufficient street lighting. He cited specific problem areas, such as The Mighty Grynner Highway, St Michael, and Greenway, Christ Church, where poor visibility had led to regular accidents.

“Every week, at least two people hit in that medium,” he said, expressing frustration at the lack

of action to address these hazards.

Enforcement posed another challenge, with Cumberbatch highlighting the practical difficulties in policing these violations.

“The police can’t find all of them on the road at night . . . . By the time the police try to turn around, they’re gone.”

He suggested that inspectors from BLA could be more effective in addressing the issue through targeted enforcement and vehicle inspections.

On the bright headlights, Jordan said the Road Traffic Act required drivers to “always dim your lights on the approach of another vehicle”. However, he noted that some drivers failed to comply because of their own vision problems, creating a dangerous cycle where “others who are not seeing well put theirs on high beam as well”.

In some cases, the situation led to accidents, with drivers pulling to the left to avoid bright lights and hitting sidewalks or ending up in ditches, he added.

MTW suggested that affected drivers consider visiting ophthalmologists or optometrists, or using night vision glasses to reduce the blue light beam commonly emitted by LED bulbs. Jordan supported this recommendation, noting that vision problems were not exclusive to older drivers.

“The research shows that people even in their early 20s and 30s have problems with their eyes, not seeing well.” He emphasised the importance of eye examinations for drivers experiencing night vision difficulties.

Both Jordan and Cumberbatch advocated for improved infrastructure. Jordan recommended the installation of reflective strips and crystallised markings that would be easily visible at night, a system he observed working effectively in other countries.

Cumberbatch suggested that traffic inspectors from the BLA could play a more active role in enforcement, noting that “the law has been amended to give them a lot of power”.

MTW acknowledged that legislative changes might be necessary to address the use of LED lights and ensure visibility for all drivers. As vehicle technology evolves, finding a balance between modern automotive lighting systems and road safety remains a critical challenge for Barbadian authorities. (DS)

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