So, just finished reading an article on WaPo about fireflies/lightening bugs and got me thinking further… Car headlights suck. They mess up our night vision when we pass another dickhead running white/blue lights. We mess up the habit(at) of many animals/bugs. So why not red lights? My hiking/camping headlamp has a red light option, which is the only function I use, and I can see fine. Why the FUCK do we still have these ungodly bright white/blue lights?
Red light is great for a headlamp when you want to preserve your night vision, you’re also walking instead of traveling at +60 mph. Red light also doesn’t provide you with any color differentiation which would be an issue with already existing road lines (yellow vs white) and street signs along with the simple notion that humans are used to light in the full spectrum from the sun.
The biggest issue with headlights is people putting LED lights in older, halogen bulb housings that don’t scatter the light the same as LEDs which leads to blinding lights that are quite bright. Additionally, you get those assholes with lifted trucks that don’t re-aim their headlights and they too add to the annoyance and danger of driving at night.
Better enforcement of existing laws would help, but that’s asking a lot of police these days when they seem to have so many other “better” things to be focusing on. /s