Vehicle Headlight Petition
Add your comments and signature to our change.org petition to eliminate blinding LED headlights.
Lawsuit
These law firms have specifically addressed the dangers of LED lights and may be willing to litigate an LED lights injury.
Wagner Injury – LED Vehicle Headlights contributing to an accident.
Trantolo Law – LED Street lights interfering with driving.
City Analysis
Softlights.org offers a free public service, assisting city staff with the development of a comprehensive plan for protecting the natural night as a resource. City Analysis.
LED Influence Map
There are many people and agencies that must collaborate to solve the LED crisis. This is a map of the various people that need to be working together. Please contact them and let your voice be heard.
Government
White House
President Joe Biden
email: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
President Biden has so far not acknowledged the LED light crisis.
Task: Sign an executive order with these words:
No later than 18 months after the enactment of this Executive Order , the US Access Board shall develop and publish guidelines for the use of directed-beam light such as Light Emitting Diode that sets a maximum source peak luminance, absolute spectral power distribution, flicker, flutter and flash rate, that ensures that the use of directed-beam light from any stationary or non-stationary object does not impede access for persons with light sensitivity disabilities such as those with epilepsy, migraines and autism.”
Congress
Fill out this simple form and ask Congress to investigate why NHTSA isn’t regulating luminance and color temperature of LED vehicle lights. This is a link to the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Department of Transportation
Secretary Pete Buttigieg
email: SecretaryScheduler19@dot.gov
phone: (202) 366-4000
Secretary Buttigieg has so far not acknowledged the LED light crisis.
Task: Direct NHTSA to publish safety and comfort standards for source peak luminance, absolute spectral power distribution, flicker, flutter and flash rate of vehicle lights.
National Highway Transportation Administration
Acting Administrator Steven Cliff
email: mackenzie.praytor@dot.gov (Mackenzie Praytor, Executive Assistant for Acting Administrator Steven Cliff)
Administrator Cliff is aware of SoftLights.org, but refuses to meet and has been unwilling to acknowledge the LED crisis.
Task: Direct NHTSA to publish safety and comfort standards for source peak luminance, absolute spectral power distribution, flicker, flutter and flash rate of vehicle lights.
Eilzabeth Mazzae – Human Factors Engineer, NHTSA
email: Elizabeth.Mazzae@dot.gov
Task: Publish safety and comfort standards for source peak luminance, absolute spectral power distribution, flicker, flutter and flash rate of directed-beam vehicle lights.
US Access Board
Executive Director Sachin Pavithran
email: Pavithran@access-board.gov
The US Access board website says, “The Access Board is an independent federal agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities through leadership in accessible design and the development of accessibility guidelines and standards.” And yet, when we have contacted them about directed-beam lights, they have told us that we are on our own.
Task: Develop and publish guidelines for the use of directed-beam light such as Light Emitting Diode that sets a maximum source peak luminance, absolute spectral power distribution, flicker, flutter and flash rate, that ensures that the use of directed-beam light from any stationary or non-stationary object does not impede access for persons with light sensitivity disabilities such as those with epilepsy, migraines and autism.”
Centers for Disease Control
Debra Houry, Director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
email: cdcinfo@cdc.gov
Task: Research and report on how 200,000,000 peak luminance from LED headlights causes injury and death.
Environmental Protection Agency
Michael Regan, Administrator
email: regan.michael@epa.gov
email: PolicyOffice@epa.gov
Tasks: Protect the natural night resource, similar to the way water and air resources are protected. Set safety limits on source peak radiance of visual spectrum radiation emitted by directed-beam lights such as LEDs. Set limits on overall outdoor artificial light pollution.
National Institutes of Health
Natalie Franzin
email: frazinn@ninds.nih.gov
Task: Research the effects of chip-level peak luminance, absolute spectral power distribution, flicker, flutter and flash rates on human eyes and central nervous systems, especially those with highly sensitive systems.
Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice
Department of Labor, Department of Education
General Services Administration
Katy Kale, Deputy Administrator
email: katy.kale@gsa.gov
Task: Assign a GSA member to the US Access Board
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Postal Service
Department of Veterans Affairs
Oregon Department of Transportation
California Department of Transportation
Local Government
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Goleta, California
Fort Myers Beach, Florida
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Police Departments
Bell Tower Green
Advocacy Groups
SoftLights.org
Mark Baker, Founder
email: mbaker@softlights.org
Task: Facilitate the connection of all groups for the purpose of regulating LED and LED flashing lights.
IEM Technologies
Nisa Khan, Founder
website: https://www.iem-led.com/
Dr. Khan is a physicist, engineer, and mathematician who was the first to develop the calculus that describes the Lambertian shape of LED lighting. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8879542 She is the author of the book Understanding LED Illumination.
Soft Light Houston
Deborah Moran, Founder
website: https://www.softlighthouston.com/
Deborah Moran is an activist in Houston, Texas
Epilepsy Foundation
National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons
Audubon Society
League of Women Voters
American Automobile Association
Margaret Pittelkow, Vice President, AAA Automotive
email: mpittelkow@national.aaa.com
Task: Tell NHTSA to develop regulations that includes maximums on source peak luminance, absolute spectral power distribution, flicker and flutter.
Sierra Club
National Resources Defense Council
Manish Bapna, President
email: mbapna@nrdc.org
Task: Update NRDC website to describe the non-uniform luminance of LEDs and the harm that causes.
American Association of Retired Persons
Jo Ann Jenkins, President
email: jjenkins@aarp.org
Task: Update AARP website to inform members that it’s not their eyes that are bad, it’s that directed-beam LED headlights are dangerous and post a link to the change.org petition: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-dot-ban-blinding-headlights-and-save-lives
Debra Alvarez, Senior Legislative Representative
email: dalvarez, aarp.org
Anthony De Luise, Assistant to Nancy LeaMond, Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer
email: ADeluise@aarp.org
Disability Rights Groups
Disability Rights Legal Center
Disability Rights New York
Human Rights Commission
Plaintiffs
Epilepsy – MarieAnn Cherry, Heidi O’Leary
Migraines – John Moody
Autism – Mark Baker
Eye Damage – Sean DeVrisky
Neurological Trauma – Bill Smith
Law Firms
Lighting Industry
Duke Energy
Michael Kafka, Deputy General Counsel
email: Michael.Kafka@duke-energy.com
Task: Stop selling and installing LED streetlights.
We have notified Duke that they are making false claims about LED lights. We were sent a warning letter by their attorney. Duke falsely claims that LEDs increase safety and save energy and comply with existing standards.
National Grid
Florida Light and Power
Dalkia Solutions
Cheyenne Ernst
email: cheyenne.ernst@dalkiasolutions.com
Dalkia is installing discriminatory LED streetlights in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Task: Stop selling and installing LED streetlights.
Illuminating Engineering Society
Daniel Salinas, Interim Executive Director
email: dsalinas@ies.org
IES falsely claims that LEDs are a “point source”, when in fact LEDs are a “Lambertian source”. The IES RP-8-18 Roadway Lighting standard is being used by the entire industry for the installation of streetlights and parking lot lots, when, in fact, IES RP-8-18 is invalid for directed-beam lighting such as LED.
Task: Create a new Roadway Lighting standard for directed-beam LED lighting that specifies that LEDs are Lambertian sources, that specify maximum source peak luminance, absolute spectral power distribution, flicker and chip-level flutter.
Tapco
Richard Bergholz, CEO
email:
Tapco manufactures and sells signs with flashing LED lights that discriminate.
Task: Stop selling and installing LED stop signs and similar products.
Carmanah
John Simmons, Director
email: jsimmons@carmanah.com
Carmanah manufacturers and sells a product called a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon that is discriminatory.
Task: Stop selling and installed RRFBs and similar products.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
David Harkey, President
email: dharkey@iihs.org
The IIHS refuses to measure source peak luminance for vehicle headlights and taillights.
Task: Measure and set standards for source peak luminance, absolute power distribution, flicker, flutter and flash rate of vehicle lighting.
News Media
PBS Frontline
email: frontline@pbs.org
Task: Make a documentary on the LED lighting crisis.
CBS 60 Minutes
email: 60min@cbsnews.com
Task: Report on the LED lighting crisis.
New York Times
email: tips@nytimes.com
The New York Times reported on blinding vehicle headlights. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/05/business/led-hid-headlights-blinding.html
Task: Report on the failure of government to protect our eyes and central nervous systems.
Consumer Reports
David Friedman, Vice President, Advocacy
email: David.Friedman@consumer.org
Task: Report on how LED headlights do not comply with FMVSS-108 because the peak luminous intensity exceeds the limits.
Investigative journalists
United Kingdom
LightAware.org
Department for Infrastructure
Ombudsman
Eileen Peters
Colin Henshaw
Australia
New Zealand
Lightwise Guild
Kyra Xavia, Founder
website: https://lightwiseguild.com/
Kyra Xavia is an activist in New Zealand.