What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Tony Griffiths]

I recall in the 1970s when Volvo and SAAB started fitting daytime running lights - people flashed them to warm their headlamps were on. Two schools of thought about why these cars were so equipped: 1) months of low sun combined with gravel roads made the cars more visible 2) the hyper-safety-conscious Swedish and Norwegian governments used helicopter enforcement and the running lights made the cars easier to spot. I recall the motoring journalist L.J.K Setright visiting either Sweden or Norway to road test cars and when he arrived back at the factory and reported that the cars lacked grunt at over 100 mph, they were utterly shocked and refused to believe he'd driven so fast. They claimed he's have been jailed if caught.

---

Lighting has really gone mad. Lights are so powerful that it's now dangerous.

Yes, to the point where I now avoid driving at night, which I used to love. 
In fact it's not uncommon now to find yourself dazzled by daytime running lights, which is simply ridiculous.
As for people with vast banks of LED's on the rear of their cars, who sit with a foot on the brake pedal at traffic lights because they don't know how to drive and lack confidence that their electric parking brakes are working, words completely fail me.
It's high time the Department for That Sort of Thing got a grip and amended the regulations, but the chances are slim given the extent to which the regulators are in the collective pocket of the motor industry, and our present lack of influence in Brussels.
I'm not 100% a fan but there is an organisation lobbying for change - http://www.lightmare.org/

There have been instances driving around the lanes where I have had to stop in order to avoid hitting the oncoming vehicle with those ridiculously bright lights which have left me almost blinded for a minute or so...I’m convinced they are not legal.

I wonder how many accidents have been caused by motorists being dazzled by them?

Now that we're out of the EU and can make our own laws again, HTTP://lightmare.org will have a chance to force an amendment to the  UK lighting regulations. Let's hope that they succeed; last night I drove to Manchester airport in a light drizzle and thin mist over the tops. The glare from oncoming traffic was intense - and how pleasant it was to be approached by cars that appeared to have yellow bulbs - in reality, of course, just ordinary halogen ones that now appear almost vintage compared with the unnecessary searchlights fitted to modern cars.