Passenger Trains > We all know the headlight

That Charger LED headlight is unmistakable! The evening Amtrak Cascades at sunset heading south to Eugene and the end of its run.

Tom Trent
Eugene, OR

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Wondering if any Hoggers on here can tell us what the new LED headlight is like at night?? Illumination, glare, better visibility etc etc as compared to the incandescent type sealed beam headlight. I know on the highway I find the newer style headlights on automobiles / trucks to be very blinding. Doug

That is a well done photo with those lights. What I see, dimming for opposing trains becomes a huge priority. I just have to think they are way too bright for any reasonable purpose.

Bob

My feeling about those LED headlights on cars and trucks is that they should be outlawed. Driving against those on two lane country roads is a nightmare. If you need that much illumination to see where you are going, you shouldn't have a driver's license. That's why God invented brights, something that can be dimmed.

irhoghead Wrote:
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> My feeling about those LED headlights on cars and
> trucks is that they should be outlawed. Driving
> against those on two lane country roads is a
> nightmare. If you need that much illumination to
> see where you are going, you shouldn't have a
> driver's license. That's why God invented brights,
> something that can be dimmed.

It won't be outlawed for a while, until a decade or so later when enough accidents occur and the industry suddenly "wakes up" to the problem. Those bright LED lights feed the ego of the arrogant consumers who buy based on "I have, and you don't" mentality.

Off topic, but cell phone industry repeatedly published studies dismissing correlation between cell phone use, texting, and vehicle accidents for years, until there were enough injuries and deaths to "wake up" the industry. In the meantime, we had the arrogant "I can multitask, you can't" idiots dismissing the obvious. I suspect the insurance industry ("the keeper of the nanny state") finally had enough?

Amtrak's ACS-64 electric engines on the Northeast Corridor also have these bright headlights. They really screw up your photos when shooting head-on or a slight angle.

Thanks, Bob. I only had a tiny bit of sunlight right when the train came by.

Tom Trent
Eugene, OR

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> irhoghead Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > My feeling about those LED headlights on cars
> and
> > trucks is that they should be outlawed. Driving
> > against those on two lane country roads is a
> > nightmare. If you need that much illumination
> to
> > see where you are going, you shouldn't have a
> > driver's license. That's why God invented
> brights,
> > something that can be dimmed.
>
> It won't be outlawed for a while, until a decade
> or so later when enough accidents occur and the
> industry suddenly "wakes up" to the problem. Those
> bright LED lights feed the ego of the arrogant
> consumers who buy based on "I have, and you don't"
> mentality.
>
> Off topic, but cell phone industry repeatedly
> published studies dismissing correlation between
> cell phone use, texting, and vehicle accidents for
> years, until there were enough injuries and deaths
> to "wake up" the industry. In the meantime, we had
> the arrogant "I can multitask, you can't" idiots
> dismissing the obvious. I suspect the insurance
> industry ("the keeper of the nanny state") finally
> had enough?

For automobile use, there are existing laws that regulate headlight intensity and light beam angle. Most OEM LED headlights uses multiple lower intensity LED's that meets regulations, such as ones on Honda cars.

> For automobile use, there are existing laws that
> regulate headlight intensity and light beam angle.
> Most OEM LED headlights uses multiple lower
> intensity LED's that meets regulations, such as
> ones on Honda cars.

My new Subaru has a sensor. If I forget to dim the high beams for an oncoming car, it dims automatically.