Democrat Representative Wants Blindingly Bright Headlights Outlawed

If you’ve noticed car headlights have become not only brighter but downright blinding, you’re not alone. Democrat Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is looking to drum up bipartisan support for eradicating what she and other believe constitutes a safety hazard on American roads.

Guys in Missouri use a clapped-out Ford Expedition to tow a mobile home down the road.

Gluesenkamp Perez notes the Infrastructure Law passed a few years ago tried tackling this issue of overly bright headlights by allowing adaptive headlights to be used on cars in the US. Many thought the European innovation would be the magical bullet to cure the problem.

Car headlights have gotten absurdly bright – roughly doubling in recent years – and it's dangerous for others on the road.

I encouraged the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to look into setting better maximum brightness standards in their upcoming infrastructure… pic.twitter.com/ZWclBJajJM

— Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (@RepMGP) May 21, 2025

But as you probably already know, it hasn’t played out that way. We know some engineers will swear it does work, because they live in an alternate reality where auto start/stop systems are also universally loved, but the reality is they haven’t solved anything.

Organizations like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have myopically pushed for brighter headlights in the name of safety and it’s ironically and predictably backfired. There is such a thing as too bright and we crossed that threshold years ago.

As Representative Gluesenkamp Perez notes, car headlights’ brightness essentially doubled in the past few years. It’s out of control and it’s high time someone does something.

Sadly, automakers and even these independent safety organizations (cough, cough, IIHS) could’ve admitted the brighter headlights are doing damage and pushed to walk things back. Since they haven’t, this has opened up the opportunity for more government regulation.

If anyone in the auto industry wants to complain about Representative Gluesenkamp Perez wants to do, they should look in the mirror. The industry has failed and that’s why the government is looking to step in, making a necessary correction.

We’re not always huge fans of government regulation, but in cases like these it’s warranted. We just hope this doesn’t turn into more unintended consequences, which it might.

Image via Mercedes-Benz