Yes—but the U.S. government has not set a new headlight-glare limit yet. On October 6, 2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a negotiated rulemaking to modernize Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, the federal standard for vehicle lighting. The process will examine glare along with headlamp aim and height, newer lighting technologies, and testing. NHTSA is seeking comments and committee nominations through November 9, 2026, in docket NHTSA-2026-1981.
What is NHTSA doing about headlight glare?
NHTSA has begun a negotiated rulemaking—a process that brings agency staff and stakeholders together to work on possible changes to a regulation. The effort concerns FMVSS 108 and explicitly includes glare among its subjects. The agency’s October 6 announcement describes a review, not a proposed numerical glare limit, completed rule, or regulation already in force. It does not give a final rule date or say when any resulting requirements would take effect. NHTSA’s announcement has the current scope and participation details.
The work is broader than simply deciding how bright headlights may be. NHTSA says the process will consider:
- Glare affecting other road users and possible ways to address it.
- LEDs, dusk sensors, automatic high beams, and replaceable light sources.
- How headlamp height and aim affect visibility.
- Testing procedures and materials, including plastic optics and replaceable lenses.
- Alignment between U.S. requirements and international safety standards.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy is to appoint up to 18 committee members from vehicle-lighting manufacturers, motor-vehicle equipment associations, safety organizations, research institutions, and engineering associations. NHTSA says this is its first use of negotiated rulemaking for vehicle-lighting standards in more than 25 years. Administrator Jonathan Morrison framed the effort as a way to modernize standards and address potential causes of glare; that is the administration’s stated rationale, not a finding that any one technology is responsible for glare.
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Is the government going to limit headlight brightness?
That remains unknown. NHTSA has not announced a new numerical glare limit or proposed final technical requirements. Its stated subjects include beam aim, mounting height, sensors, technologies, and testing, so the eventual work may address more than a simple brightness cap. The outcome will depend on the rulemaking process.
For public participation, the announcement asks for comments on the scope and committee balance, as well as formal nominations. The stated deadline is November 9, 2026; the docket number is NHTSA-2026-1981.
Are headlights getting brighter—or is glare the whole problem?
Glare is a common driver complaint, but it is only part of the headlight-safety picture. In crash records from 11 U.S. states covering 2015 through 2023, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found glare coded as a factor in one or two of every 1,000 nighttime crashes. IIHS says inadequate visibility is the headlight problem more clearly linked to crashes and the larger concern in crash data. That does not make glare harmless: it can be distracting or disconcerting, including below the tolerances used in testing, and some people with health conditions are especially sensitive. IIHS’s crash-data summary explains the findings and their limits.
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IIHS headlight-rating data also show improvement in tested systems over time: 21% of systems it tested for 2017 model-year vehicles had excessive glare, compared with 5% of systems tested for 2026 model-year vehicles. These are results for the systems IIHS tested, not a census of every vehicle on U.S. roads. IIHS says only one of more than 80 systems it evaluated in 2016 received a good rating; about 51% of systems tested for 2025 vehicles received a good rating. Around 16% of systems tested for current model years were rated marginal or poor, compared with 82% in 2016. IIHS attributes the improvement partly to its rating program and manufacturers’ attention to aim and glare. Its headlights overview describes how it evaluates visibility and glare.
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A headlight needs to put useful light on the road without sending too much into other drivers’ eyes. Aim and mounting geometry affect where the beam lands, while road shape and conditions affect what the driver can see. IIHS’s ratings assess both visibility and glare, rather than treating a lamp’s light-source label as a reliable quality score. A properly aimed headlight can illuminate the roadway without shining into other drivers’ eyes; a brighter lamp is not necessarily a better or safer one.
Visibility matters on unlit roads, too. In an IIHS illustration using a 2024 Subaru Solterra, an obstacle in the left lane was visible 202 feet ahead on low beams and 533 feet ahead on high beams. That vehicle-specific example illustrates the visibility contribution of high beams; it is not a universal stopping-distance figure or a safety guarantee. IIHS and University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute researchers also observed that only 18% of drivers who were isolated enough to use high beams did so in the Ann Arbor area. Both figures come from the examples summarized by IIHS.
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How do adaptive headlights differ from automatic high beams?
The U.S. already permits certified adaptive driving beam (ADB) headlamps. NHTSA amended FMVSS 108 in 2022 to allow their certification, with performance requirements intended to support the technology’s safe operation. The agency denied petitions for reconsideration in a 2024 action. The rule history is documented in the 2022 final-rule summary and the 2024 denial.
These systems are not interchangeable terms:
- Automatic high-beam assist switches between conventional high and low beams.
- Curve-adaptive lighting pivots or redirects light as the vehicle turns.
- Adaptive driving beam selectively changes portions of the beam, potentially keeping a lower-intensity shadow around other vehicles while retaining stronger illumination elsewhere.
IIHS reports that its research found significantly lower glare from ADB than from comparison HID low-beam systems. But the U.S. rule’s restrictions limit ADB functionality, and IIHS says only a few manufacturers currently offer the feature in the country. Availability varies by vehicle and model year; the available sources do not establish a complete current-market list. In a separate 2015 volunteer experiment, IIHS found participants spotted a difficult object on a dark, curvy road about one-third of a second earlier with curve-adaptive headlights than with conventional fixed headlights. That result concerns that experiment, not every driver or road.
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Do LED headlights cause glare?
The technology label alone does not establish whether a particular headlight will cause glare or provide good visibility. IIHS uses performance ratings and reports examples of strong and weak systems across different technologies. Beam pattern, aim, height, and the way the system operates all matter, which is why NHTSA’s announced review includes more than LEDs. A vehicle’s exact lamp system and model year matter as well; the fact that a technology is available does not establish that every version is certified or performs the same way.
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What can drivers do about glare now?
For your own vehicle, correct lamp aim is a practical place to start: NHTSA has put aim and height in the rulemaking scope, and IIHS notes that properly aimed lights can illuminate the road without getting in other drivers’ eyes. Follow the vehicle maker’s service guidance or have a qualified shop check the aim if a lamp appears misdirected. An aiming tool may help with a suitable vehicle and procedure, but it cannot change federal rules or fix glare from another vehicle, an unsuitable lamp assembly, road grades, or every other cause.
When choosing a vehicle, check the exact model year and equipment rather than relying on a general claim such as “LED” or “adaptive.” ADB availability is limited and varies; ask whether the particular vehicle has a U.S.-certified adaptive driving beam system, and distinguish it from automatic high-beam switching or curve-adaptive lamps.
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