Dear Supporters,
An article appeared today in Business Insider about blinding LED headlights. We have contacted all of the people quoted in the article, and yet these so-called experts continue to provide misinformation to the media. I wrote the letter below to the Business Insider reporter, but I also copied the researchers, government officials, and automaker decision makers in my letter.
As usual, my request is that each our petition supporters is for you to call your Congressional House or Senate representative and request a short virtual meeting to request that Congress investigate the LED debacle.
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Dear Madison Hall, Reporter, Business Insider,
I was sent a link to your article about blinding LED headlights:
https://www.businessinsider.com/american-drivers-have-a-blinding-headlight-problem-2023-2
We have repeatedly explained to all of the people who you interviewed for your article (John Bulluogh, Matt Brumbelow, Greg Bannon, and Mark Rea) why LED headlights are so blinding. The refusal of these so-called experts, along with government officials, to tell the truth about blinding LED headlights is astonishing, and at this point, a concerted conspiracy to gaslight the public.
First, misalignment is not the problem. David Harkey, President of the Insurance Institute for Highway, claimed that the entire problem is misalignment. (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 This is entirely untrue. Why the IIHS is unwilling to tell the truth about LED headlights is a mystery because I would think that the insurance industry would be unhappy about having to pay claims due to crashes involving LED headlights or, in the future, claims of eye damage from LED headlights, but clearly the IIHS's misinformation campaign is purposeful.
The core of the problem is that LEDs emit visible radiation from a flat surface. This causes the light to merge into a tightly focused beam of energy, almost like a laser, but not quite. The correct metric for measuring brightness from a flat surface is called luminance, and is measured in nits (candela per square meter). You will see this metric when you purchase an LED television or computer monitor. You will also see this metric on the LED chips from the manufacturers.
Where you don't see the luminance metric and restrictions on this luminance is in the NHTSA FMVSS-108 standards or any of the so-called research by Matt Brumbelow, John Bullough, Greg Bannon, or Mark Rea. The entire auto industry has failed to understand the physics of light emitted by flat surface LED chips. Here is a link to a short research article by lead author Dr. Peter Veto, calling on the industry to wake up and regulate luminance: https://peterveto.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/A-quest-for-new-LED-glare-metrics_Veto-Chamberlin-Sabatier-Baker_2023.pdf
It is true that blue wavelength light is also a major cause of glare. Again, NHTSA has no standards for the amount of toxic and dangerous blue wavelength light. Why not? Why is NHTSA refusing to publish regulations to limit blue wavelength light?
It is also true that today's massive trucks direct this blinding LED light directly into the eyes of drivers in smaller vehicles. Why does NHTSA allow such giant front-ends when it is obviously not safe?
We can assure you that Adaptive Driving Beam will not solve the problem. NHTSA engineer Elizabeth Mazzae studied ADB and concluded that it does not work on hills, corners, bumps, etc. Yet, NHTSA approved ADB anyways, despite Ms. Mazzae's report.
The other major issue is that not a single manufacturer has applied to the Food and Drug Administration for authorization to use flat surface LED headlights. The FDA has the Congressional mandate to regulate electromagnetic radiation from electronic products. The automakers, by virtue of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, are required to petition the FDA for approval to use LED headlights, and the FDA is required to publish regulations. Because of the failure of the FDA and NHTSA to regulate LED headlights and follow federal procedures, the Soft Lights Foundation petitioned the FDA on June 12, 2022 to regulate LED products. (https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2022-P-1151-0001 The FDA has failed to act on our petition, likely due to political pressures.
The Soft Lights Foundation has notified General Motors, Ford, and other manufacturers, as well as the United Auto Workers, that their LED headlights do not comply with the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 and that they are required to seek approval from the FDA. None of these organizations have chosen to act to protect our eyes or our safety. This is now a massive liability for these manufacturers. At some point, hopefully in the near future, there will be a lawsuit against GM and other automakers for selling cars with non-compliant and unsafe LED headlights.
The petition to ban blinding LED headlights has over 37,000 signatures (https://www.change.org/p/u-s-dot-ban-blinding-headlights-and-save-lives I have attached thousands of petition comments to this email. Why do IIHS, NHTSA, General Motors, Consumer Reports, and others refuse to address these comments?
I have an upcoming meeting with the staff for a US Senator to request an investigation into all of this. The Soft Lights Foundation will persist in this effort until Congress investigates and exposes the truth about LEDs.
I hope that you can write a follow up article that dispenses with the nonsense that others are telling you, and instead provides the truth: LED headlights emit a spatially non-uniform directed energy beam that is not compliant with FMVSS-108, LED headlights must be regulated by peak luminance, dispersion characteristics, spectral power distribution, and square wave flicker, LED headlights are not approved by the FDA, and LED headlights are unsafe.
Sincerely,
Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation