Dear Supporters,
Here is the email address for NHTSA to report a "suspected safety defect." nhtsa.webmaster@dot.gov
I encourage you to write to NHTSA and let them know how LED headlights affect you. You will receive a case number. For example, I sent NHTSA an email today (see below) and received a case number attached to the email subject line. NHTSA will reply and recommend that you "Have a great day."
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Request #1457297 Over 50,000 Complaints for LED Headlights
Dear NHTSA,
I am reporting a vehicle safety defect. No automaker has submitted a petition to NHTSA for authorization to sell vehicles with LED headlight technology. As NHTSA is aware, automakers are required to comply with 5 U.S.C. 551-559 and petition NHTSA for authorization to use LED headlights, just as the automakers petitioned NHTSA and received approval to use rectangular headlights in the 1970s.
Due to the automaker's failure to petition NHTSA and due to NHTSA's failure to update FMVSS-108 to set an overall maximum luminous intensity for all points in front of the vehicle and failure to update FMVSS-108 to limit hazardous blue wavelength light which causes painful disability glare, LED headlights are far too bright, often exceeding the maximum luminous intensity value that would be considered safe. NHTSA has also failed to set limits on luminance which is the key metric for intensity for flat surface LED emitters.
I am attaching the thousands of comments from the public which detail the pain and dangerous conditions caused by LED headlights. The number of signatures on the petition exceeds 50,0000. I ask that each comment in the attached Excel spreadsheet be entered into the NHTSA complaint database as a separate complaint, rather than lumping all complaints in the spreadsheet into a single complaint.
Finally, I request that NHTSA collaborate with the FDA, as required by 21 U.S.C. 360ii, and publish performance standards for LED headlights, notify the automakers that they are required to submit a petition to NHTSA for authorization to sell vehicles with LED headlights, and set an overall maximum luminous intensity of 10,000 candela for all points in front of the vehicle.
Sincerely,
Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation
www.softlights.org
mbaker@softlights.org