Headlights feel dangerous

These new headlights are awful. After driving my new car in the dark for the first time, I experienced how bad they are. High beams were brighter, but not higher, and most of what was in front of me was utter blackness. Definitely not a safe feeling. A decent bicycle light held out the side window would do a better job.

Hopefully I can fix it with an adjustment...this sort of advice is exactly what makes PriusChat so useful. Thank you.

 

As a related sidenote, I've had vehicles which were nearly impossible drive at night in a snowstorm. Light from the headlights shines up into the falling snow, which is very disorienting. My new car doesn't shine light upwards, and driving in a blizzard is fine.

 

I've also experienced that tunnel-vision disorientation driving through falling snow. One solution that worked on a slow, winding road to a ski hill was to turn the headlights off...not really recommended, but the orange 'fog lights' were the right amount of light at the time. My solution to that problem now is not to drive in snowstorms. Which of course doesn't work for everyone....

 

Low beam also works, but not as well as some sort of visor along the top edge of the headlights.

 

I believe the original North American laws called for headlights to be on whenever the car was running. I read that Ralph Nader pushed for this. I believe the compromise reached with the automakers was to run the headlights in series, so that they did not consume so much power.

The updated legislation for LED lights is roughly equivalent in the amount of light output, I believe. At least that's how it seems when I switch off my headlights at night, leaving on only the driving lights.

 

Only the LE and SE don't have automatic headlights. So the rest of us don't even think about it.

 

Stock Prius headlights suck. I put some Clearwater lights on mine. Better than daytime visibility now!

 

How do you replace the Gen 5 headlights with aftermarket lights?

Also, I believe aftermarket LED lights are illegal now.

 

This is too simplistic of a statement to be meaningful.

1. All LED bulbs used in halogen housings are illegal in the US. (even though some do a fantastic job)
2. Replacement headlight assemblies that use LEDs are legal as long as they're inspected and approved by the DOT.
3. Extra lights that are LED may or may not be legal depending on how they're installed and used.

 

Vague, yes, but one of my points, which you ignored, was to ask if an aftermarket replacement was even available. And, sure, you can buy decorative and fog lights, chances of most of them being illegal, too. I find it very annoying when people hang such lights on their cars.

 

Answering my own question, it looks like these were installed, but I don’t know how they were mounted. DOT street-legal? No.

Clearwater lights LED motorcycle lights and off-road vehicle