It’s a common problem for drivers: an oncoming car with piercingly bright headlights makes it hard to see the road. And according to FARS data covering 2019 to 2023, of 46,154 fatalities from road crashes at night and in non-lighted areas, 446 were due to glare impeding the driver’s vision.
This study seeks to clarify the extent to which modern high-intensity LEDs represent a danger to U.S. drivers. We’ll look closely at glare-related crash details, compare modern LED lights to older halogen equivalents, find out which drivers are most at risk from glare, and consider what measures are being taken to reduce glare-related driving issues.
Let’s first take a broad look at the issue in the United States by considering which states suffered the most fatalities during the 2019-2023 study period due to headlight glare.
Top 10 States: Headlight Glare Fatalities Adjusted for Population
| State | Fatalities | 2023 Population | Fatalities per 100k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 19 | 5,117,673 | 0.37 |
| Kentucky | 17 | 4,512,310 | 0.38 |
| Virginia | 19 | 8,715,698 | 0.22 |
| Indiana | 16 | 6,833,037 | 0.23 |
| North Carolina | 18 | 10,835,491 | 0.17 |
| Georgia | 20 | 11,064,432 | 0.18 |
| California | 50 | 39,198,693 | 0.13 |
| Illinois | 16 | 12,549,689 | 0.13 |
| Florida | 30 | 22,904,868 | 0.13 |
| Texas | 30 | 30,727,890 | 0.10 |
Firstly, the three states on the list that feature the highest number of fatalities (California, Texas, and Florida) are the three most populated states in the country, and all feature the highest number of cars on the road, so their high ranking makes sense.
Illinois and Indiana also feature on the list of the top ten most populous states, so their placement is also unsurprising. Less immediately explicable and more notable are the other high state placings, with all remaining states (particularly Alabama and Kentucky) featuring disproportionate numbers of fatalities due to headlight glare.
Yet those high numbers can be at least partially explained by another notable feature of the crash data: the disproportionately high number (108) of fatalities suffered by drivers aged 65 and older.
The breakdown of state figures puts Florida (a state featuring a disproportionate number of drivers aged 65 and older) in fifth place on the list, with Texas and California also in the top ten. Alabama once again tops the list, with a hugely disproportionate fatality rate relative to its population size.
Top 10 States: Fatalities Due To Headlight Glare (65+ Drivers)
| State | Fatalities | 2023 65+ Population | Fatalities per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 5 | 932,119 | 0.54 |
| Arizona | 5 | 1,437,731 | 0.35 |
| Virginia | 5 | 1,498,931 | 0.33 |
| North Carolina | 6 | 1,915,356 | 0.31 |
| Florida | 13 | 4,917,782 | 0.26 |
| Indiana | 3 | 1,181,568 | 0.25 |
| Texas | 10 | 4,194,990 | 0.24 |
| Illinois | 5 | 2,205,830 | 0.23 |
| Georgia | 3 | 1,699,250 | 0.18 |
| California | 9 | 6,311,919 | 0.14 |
Regulations around the use of headlights differ across the United States. The following table provides information on the specific headlight stipulations set by each state.
Headlight Glare: Key Data
From 2015 to 2023, headlight glare was cited as a factor in only one or two out of every thousand nighttime crashes across 11 U.S. states. Glare is a significant danger issue for drivers, though over 90% of glare-related crashes are reported during daylight, usually due to dazzling low sun or glare from wet roads.
Regarding headlight glare, an IIHS study of 220 nighttime crashes between 2017-2024 resulted in some interesting findings. In 88% of the studied crash cases, oncoming traffic was cited as the source of headlight glare.
8% of cases were attributed to the headlights of trailing cars, with the remaining 4% citing laterally placed vehicles or vehicles parked against traffic as the key glare issue.
The study determined that headlight glare was the key factor in causing the following driver actions that subsequently resulted in a crash.
| Driver Action | Percent of Cases |
|---|---|
| Lane departure to the right | 45% |
| Impeding object obscured | 23% |
| Misjudging a turn | 15% |
| Lane departure to the left | 12% |
| Other | 4% |
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Headlight Standards and Ranking
An additional IIHS study found vehicles with good–rated headlights were involved in 19% fewer nighttime crashes and 23% fewer pedestrian crashes than headlights with lower ratings.
Generally speaking, data suggests that brighter, whiter LED lights usually earn a good rating, with older halogen lights usually ranked poorly. LED lights tend to illuminate far more of the road than halogen equivalents, and also last far longer before a replacement is necessary.
Official U.S. headlight standards for minimum and maximum brightness have been unchanged since 1997. The IIHS’s own headlight rating program began in 2016 and has led to a national shift in headlight design.
The first headlight ratings (2016) revealed that just one out of over 80 evaluated headlight systems was rated ‘good’. Based on more recent ratings, things have definitely improved: 51% of the headlights IIHS tested on model year 2025 vehicles were rated ‘good’. Additionally, only about 16% of 2025 headlights were rated as ‘marginal’ or ‘poor’, compared to 82% in 2016.
Since ratings began in 2016, automakers have worked to reduce the amount of glare their headlights produce. As a clear indication of this intent, IIHS data shows that 21% of tested 2017 headlights produced excessive glare: by 2025, the number of headlights issuing excessive glare was down to 3%.
Crucially, vehicles equipped with headlights rated ‘good’ are safer than those with lower ratings. Another IIHS study of police-reported crashes shows that vehicles with ‘good’ headlights are involved in 19% fewer nighttime single-vehicle crashes and 23% fewer nighttime pedestrian crashes than vehicles with headlights rated ‘poor’. ‘Acceptable’ and ‘marginal’ headlights were associated with respective reductions of 15% and 10%.
Crashes Due To Headlight Glare: Common Factors
Out of around 24 million total road crashes considered as part of IIHS studies, fewer than 150,000 definitively featured glare as a key factor. IIHS Principal Research Engineer Matthew Brumbelow examined data from the 11 states that differentiate nighttime headlight glare from daytime sun glare.
Brumbelow found that crashes due to headlight glare usually involved:
- A single vehicle
- Rain, or a wet road surface
- Local, undivided, two-lane roads with relatively low speed limits
- Drivers older than 65, and
- Older vehicles.
“Drivers older than 70 seem to be especially affected by headlight glare,” Brumbelow said. It’s worth pointing out that people who suffer from age-related macular degeneration (and numerous other health conditions) can be especially sensitive to bright lights, which may exacerbate driving incidents involving headlight glare.
Yet many drivers of all ages find headlight glare to be at least an annoyance, and at worst, a potential danger factor.
Headlights: Driver Perception
A study from the U.K. by the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) revealed that 89% of drivers believe some headlights are too bright, while 28% feel that over-bright headlights are a general and pervasive problem regarding most vehicles.
The study also suggests that, since 2013, dazzling headlights have been a factor in about 280 collisions and six fatalities every year.
Other findings from the study suggest that:
- 91% of drivers have felt dazzled by headlights while driving
- 74% of drivers feel that headlight dazzle is a norm
- 67% of drivers have had to slow down to reestablish clear vision
- 64% of drivers have worried about an accident due to headlight dazzle.
- 62% of drivers of standard-sized cars feel that the position of headlights on larger vehicles, such as SUVs, worsens headlight glare.
- 16% of drivers avoid driving at night due to worries about headlight dazzle.
- 44% of drivers attribute headlight dazzle to poorly aligned lamps (and an average of 1.6 million Class 4 vehicles fail MOT tests every year for this reason).
- 65% of dazzled drivers feel it takes between one and five seconds to recover after experiencing headlight dazzle.
Headlight glare is clearly of huge concern to drivers in the United States. As of January 2026, 78,394 American citizens signed a petition led by the Soft Lights Foundation (which was subsequently submitted to Congress) to ban ‘blinding headlights’ and potentially save lives. Multiple other petitions of a similar ilk are also in the works.
There are also legitimate concerns regarding modern ‘convenience’ tech that can lead to unintentional safety hazards. These include the ‘Ghost Car’ glitch, where a lit digital dashboard can falsely convince drivers that their headlights are active (a problem which leaves the car invisible from the rear and creates illegal glare for oncoming traffic).
There’s also the ‘Scattered Light’ Hazard that occurs when oxidized or cloudy headlight lenses reduce road illumination by up to 80% while increasing glare by 60%.
Further Headlight Glare Improvements For Better Safety
Ultimately, headlight glare is a potentially dangerous issue, primarily affecting older drivers, but ultimately capable of causing a crash involving drivers of all ages.
Yet with data confirming that nighttime headlight glare is a factor in no more than two out of every thousand nighttime crashes, it’s fair to say that it’s not a significant danger worry, despite considerable public anxiety.
Some road habits compound driver discomfort, and there are many available means of ameliorating the problem. For example, safety experts recommend that drivers briefly switch their lights off and on (known as the ‘Flash Off Protocol’) to signal other drivers, as opposed to flashing their high beams, which can cause temporary blindness.
And, when faced with blinding glare, safety experts also recommend the ‘Look Right Rule’, which involves drivers avoiding glare by instead focusing on the white fog line on the right side of the road to maintain lane position.
In terms of headlight evolution, it’s clear that improvements have been made to headlights since the IIHS began its rating system, with carmakers clearly keen to offer higher safety standards: a far higher proportion of headlights were rated ‘good’ in 2025 than in 2016.
Vehicles with ‘good’ headlights are involved in 19% fewer nighttime single–vehicle crashes and 23% fewer nighttime pedestrian crashes than vehicles with headlights rated ‘poor.’
And further steps continue to be taken to make them even safer. Between 2019 and 2021, manufacturers reduced the number of headlight systems available for each vehicle model by 17%, while an increasing number of automakers now equip models with a single, standard, ‘good’-rated headlight system. Examples include the 2021 Acura RDX, the BMW 5 Series, the Hyundai Palisade, and the Subaru Outback.
Overall, the data tells us that the safety benefits of good-quality LED headlights far outweigh the issues associated with glare from bright lights. In fact, IIHS data found ‘no indication that headlight improvements have led to an increase in glare-related crashes.’
That said, older drivers using older cars, local roads, and wet roads should still exercise plenty of caution before getting behind the wheel to prevent an avoidable accident.
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