The cause was easy enough to identify: Data parsed by Kuhls and her colleagues showed that drivers were speeding more, on highways and on surface streets, and plowing through intersections with an alarming frequency. Conversely, seatbelt use was down, resulting in thousands of injuries to unrestrained drivers and passengers. After a decade of steady decline, intoxicated-driving arrests had rebounded to near historic highs.

… The relationship between car size and injury rates is still being studied, but early research on the American appetite for horizon-blotting machinery points in precisely the direction you’d expect: The bigger the vehicle, the less visibility it affords, and the more destruction it can wreak.

    • The Assman@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      They need to mandate that headlights cannot be installed > 2-2.5 feet off the ground. Putting them higher than that does not benefit you in any way, it just fucks with other drivers.

      • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        If an 18 wheeled transport truck can have lights mounted at a reasonable height and brightness, so can your f150 or chevy Suburban.

        • The Assman@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          Exactly, practically every semi has its headlights mounted just above the bumper. People saying “it’s the angle that matters” don’t understand that if you’re in a small car you’re getting blinded from both directions regardless of how the lights are angled.

      • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        The height doesn’t matter nearly as much as the angle they are pointing.

        • psud@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          There are already rules about where they may point (for road legal lights, anyway) you shouldn’t get dipped headlights in your mirror or from oncoming traffic except briefly as they crest hills

          The height is a problem as when a large vehicle is tailgating you the angle doesn’t matter much

          • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I have a small car and even without being tailgated, excessively high headlights nearly blind me as they are as high or higher than my side mirrors or rear view mirror. Its so bad I’m tempted to wear sunglasses at times.

        • Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          If the headlights are higher than another driver’s eyes, the light will go straight and downward into their eyes. There’s just no way to highlight the ground without blinding drivers in front of you if the headlights are so high.

          • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            If the head lights are angled properly then they won’t be shining straight down. They should be offset so they are pointing down and to the right. If you’re in front and you’re being blinded it’s because they aren’t angled.

            The key word is “proper” installation. A lot of idiots don’t know how to do this.

    • corruptmagician@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      No joke, my MIL hit a dear the other day because she couldn’t see it due to a truck blinding her as it drove the opposite direction. Luckily she was only going 30 so the damage was minimal but it’s crazy they are allowed to blind drivers like that.

    • FReddit@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      With you on that.

      I live in a rural area with no street lights, and a lot of these redneck asshole trucks have two sets of headlights vertically, guaranteeing that you will be blinded