Feds want to know if vehicle headlights are too bright at night

Night drive from car view

The federal government wants to know if motorists and pedestrians in Ottawa and across Canada are being blinded by the lights of other vehicles while driving at night.

Transport Canada is conducting a survey on “Canadian experience with vehicle headlights and glare at night.”

“While new headlight technology in vehicles can help drivers see better, they can also cause problems for other road users,” the federal agency said on its website.

“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.”

According to Transport Canada, the key questions for discussion include your experience travelling at night, contributing factors to headlight glare and feedback on possible solutions.

The questions on the survey include:

• Over the last 10 years, do you feel like it has become easier or more difficult to see the road while travelling at night?
• In general, how often are you affected by glare from the headlights of other vehicles? (Glare refers to light that causes visual discomfort or reduces visibility)
• How serious of an issue do you consider vehicle headlight glare to be?
• What traffic situations do you find causes the most vehicle headlight glare?
• How does vehicle headlight glare physically affect you on the road?

One of the questions asks drivers about the factors that affect headlight glare, including the brightness of the light and the light colour.

Canadians are invited to fill out the survey until April 20.

In September 2021, the federal government introduced the Canadian Vehicle Lighting Regulation, which requires all new vehicles sold in Canada to have one of:

• 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