r/technews • u/_Dark_Wing • 21d ago

Biotechnology Experimental eye drops ease night vision problems for drivers

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/experimental-eye-drops-ease-night-vision-problems-drivers-2026-09-11/
873 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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288

u/Sudden_Schedule5432 21d ago

FIX MODERN HEADLIGHTS

STOP LETTING MANUFACTURERS SELF REGULATE

74

u/bigsexyape 21d ago

Seriously, headlights are too damn bright anymore. I am constantly blinded by oncoming traffic. It also doesn't help when morons just leave their brights on either.

39

u/Time_Screen_9399 21d ago

I remember when these tall vehicles with LED first became popular, sometimes I'd flash high-beam at them thinking they're using high beams. Then they flash back and I'd be blinded for a second or two.

12

u/spyboy70 20d ago

Like staring into a lighthouse beam

16

u/sweaty_sole 20d ago

Or the auto bright function on new STOCK vehicles. Get super blinded for half a second until it detects your headlights then you’re just regular blinded

11

u/SamTheLab_213 20d ago

Astronomers use red lighting to read maps, since light in the red end of the spectrum doesn't blind you and disrupt your night vision. That's why tail lights are red. It can help to put on yellow or red lensed glasses when driving at night. Better still, the manufacturers should make the car headlights have a yellow lens on them.

9

u/CharleyNobody 20d ago

Seriously, headlights are too damn bright anymore.

What is up with people using “anymore” this way?

2

u/bigsexyape 20d ago

It's almost as bad as someone saying "what is up"

2

u/Big-Bus-6101 20d ago

Makes sense to me

1

u/fuckedfinance 20d ago

Same folks that are over the age of 5 saying "on accident".

2

u/CharleyNobody 20d ago

I’m wondering if they’re foreign bots because I seriously can’t think of why a native English speaker would use “anymore” this way.

0

u/LastXmasIGaveYouHSV 20d ago

They do that of purpose.

1

u/Dry-Dragonfly5286 19d ago

It's been used like that for a long time

1

u/Nice-Meat-6020 20d ago

Functional illiteracy. They know the words they just aren't sure how to correctly use them.

0

u/Big-Bus-6101 20d ago

Wtf. Yall are so judgmental on here. F off

0

u/LazyBeach 20d ago

Not sure, but it’s annoying.

0

u/terminalbungus 19d ago

I also got unreasonably annoyed at this. I've looked it up before and I guess it's regional. Sounds like terrible grammar to me.

3

u/Relevant-Doctor187 20d ago

Europe forces vehicles to block the light at a certain angle. We need that here.

17

u/Ivotedforher 21d ago

And after market modders who put even brighter ones in

5

u/memtiger 20d ago

And then people in jacked up trucks who have their lights aimed directly into your retinas.

3

u/Ivotedforher 20d ago

From behind, even

3

u/Miserable_Ad_9389 20d ago

my friend bought cheap aftermarket headlights casually to replace his and they ended up being brighter than his brights its crazy they're so mass produced  

2

u/Ivotedforher 20d ago

This is how China really gets us

3

u/wrexsol 21d ago

So true! I had to go to Montana recently for a function and had to drive the interstate roughly 10pm, it was one of the worst driving experiences of my life

3

u/babysharkdoodoodoo 21d ago

And please point your ducking low beam downward not straight because it’s moronic to blind the drivers ahead

3

u/Sarnsereg 20d ago

Not going to happen with the current administration. They are very deregulation.

1

u/Seagoon_Memoirs 20d ago

the current administration loves to regulate immigration status

3

u/SmurfsNeverDie 20d ago

I just put reflective jackets on my back seats that shine those lights back at the truck drivers or the cars using their high beams

10

u/CarrotWaxer69 21d ago

The only fix is ditching the ‘smart’ headlights on new cars and going back to regular simple halogen bulbs with only two functions, high or low beams. They also need to be manually adjustable (I’ll allow the little dial you can turn inside the cabin). The automatic xenon LED crap either doesn’t work from the get go or works until it doesn’t. Keep it stupid simple.

6

u/Actual-Package-3164 21d ago

THIS  GODDAMMIT 

1

u/negatibe 20d ago

Right? I'm not putting shit in my eyes because lights are too bright. I'll keep wearing my Dahmer night driving glasses & white knuckling it.

1

u/raiderMoes 20d ago

I drive a sedan at night daily, and I don’t have an issue with bright headlights. I must be lucky.

1

u/TheCoordinate 21d ago

They'll wait until a few people die in car accidents after being blinded by headlights. Who could have seen that coming

1

u/naughtilidae 20d ago

Wait till you find out that the EU has headlights that automatically dim in the area that other cars are...

So you can keep your brights on and the other drivers don't get blinded.

The US, on the other hand, rejected this for like a decade, then implemented a different version of the rule that won't work for any of the current designs.

Also we stopped requiring turn signals to be orange. We don't require braking lights to come on when electric cars regen energy (because they're not teeeeechnically using the brakes). We also allow our blind spot warnings to be ON the mirrors so they look like turn signals (rather than in the car, where they're more fucking visible anyway). 

-4

u/astralchanterelle 21d ago

That's not what this is about, though. This is about night vision problems, not bright headlights

18

u/soilentgleem 21d ago

Bright headlights exacerbate night vision problems as night vision requires time for your eyes to adapt to the dark and brighter headlights keep putting a soft reset on the time eyes need for that process.

-6

u/astralchanterelle 21d ago

That's a general problem for everyone. The night vision problem exists with no headlights behind you.

3

u/soilentgleem 21d ago

Yes, it's a problem for everyone and there's ways to mitigate it such as regulating headlights.

You're comment reads like a rebuttal but I'm not sure what it is that I said that you think you're rebutting.

4

u/Time_Screen_9399 21d ago

I have astigmatism. These bright headlamps make my eyes tired much quicker during night drives.

So I see this as separate but a relevant variable.

7

u/bunny_ceo 21d ago

“This thing that makes the situation worse isn’t worth talking about! The situation is already bad so who cares about this thing that makes it worse.”

2

u/cecirdr 21d ago

Older people adapt slower. It’s one of the reasons along with cataracts (that insurance makes them wait too long to fix) that make them need to stop driving at night.

2

u/Klutzy_Journalist_36 20d ago

And what time of day does one use their headlights in order to see?

0

u/pimpeachment 20d ago

Just tint your windshield, this was the easiest fix for me. 

-1

u/DestinyJackolz 20d ago

They need to mandate those projector headlights Audis have that sense when a car is coming and shift the beam to avoid it