Ban LED Headlights

49 U.S.C. 30118(c)(1) states, “A manufacturer of a motor vehicle or replacement equipment shall notify the Secretary by certified mail or electronic mail, and the owners, purchasers, and dealers of the vehicle or equipment as provided in section 30119(d) of this section, if the manufacturer learns the vehicle or equipment contains a defect and decides in good faith that the defect is related to motor vehicle safety.” A defective product is one that is unreasonably dangerous. Over 67,000 individuals have signed a petition notifying GM and NHTSA that LED headlight technology is unreasonably dangerous and therefore defective: change.org/p/u-s-dot-ban-blinding-headlights-and-save-lives While there are sure to be multiple factors involved in this crisis, we feel one major cause is being overlooked by officials: It is clear to anyone who drives, walks, or bikes the roads that the switch to LED headlights has become a source of dangerous, blinding glare. In addition, LED daytime running lamps, as well as overly-bright LED tail-lights, brake-lights and turn signals, are a source of fatal distraction, creating what is known as inattentional blindness or the “Las Vegas Effect,” a visual field so polluted by distracting glare that the brain has a hard time keeping focused on the important subjects like pedestrians in a crosswalk. Previous petitions on this issue have garnered thousands of signatures along with comments that these headlights have caused accidents, made elderly drivers give up driving at night, and even induced migraines. Furthermore, the American Medical Association issued guidelines way back in 2016 on “blue-rich light”, the very sort of harsh, bluish-white light used by LED headlights and daytime running lamps. The AMA stated that blue-rich light causes pain and damage to the human eye and suppresses melatonin at five times the rate of other wavelengths. They have urged people to move lighting toward the more natural and warm red-end of the spectrum. As per 49 U.S.C. 30118(c)(1), LED headlight technology is clearly defective and poses unacceptable safety risks. Therefore, I am writing to you to beg of you to take this matter seriously and enact a federal ban on LED headlights before more accidents occur and more lives are tragically lost.