Dear Supporters,

On January 13, 2023, John Ducker at the Times Colonist wrote the first accurate story about LED headlights, using information supplied by the Soft Lights Foundation.  Astonishingly, within days, this article had been removed from the Times Colonist website.  However, an archive of this article can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20230113173358/https://www.timescolonist.com/driving/john-ducker-the-fight-to-ban-dazzle-headlights-6362274

Now maybe there was just a technical glitch, and that's why it disappeared, but on January 26, 2023, David Harkey, the president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety responded to the article, and blamed all blinding glare on misaligned headlights.  https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/letters/letters-jan-26-better-health-is-as-vital-as-better-health-care-the-real-story-on-dazzling-headlights-6437327  It now seems possible that the industry pressured the Times Colonist to remove the original article.

You and I know that Mr. Harkey's claim is absolutely false and that his response was just an extremely weak attempt to gaslight us.  What Mr. Harkey's opinion letter gives us, though, is strong evidence that the industry will continue to make false claims in their attempts not to have to admit that LED headlights are dangerous due to the extreme peak luminance, extreme blue wavelength light, and the fact that LED light does not disperse following an inverse square law.

I will be sending Mr. Harkey's gaslighting letter to IIHS member insurance companies, NHTSA, the FDA, General Motors, and many other organizations.  We now know that we are getting the industry's attention, but we also know the lengths to which they will go to deny any responsibility.

I do encourage our supporters to write directly to Mr. Harkey, and explain to him that his attempt to blame blinding glare on misaligned headlights rather than the auto industry's switch to LED chips is negligent.  David Harkey, President, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, dharkey@iihs.org

Sincerely,
Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation