96. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport if he is aware of a survey commissioned by the RAC in the UK into the safety of LED headlights in modern vehicles, which found that four in five drivers were concerned about dazzling headlights; if he, his Department or the Road Safety Authority has considered the independent research study published by TRL in October 2025 titled ‘Glare from road vehicle lighting on UK roads’ that was commissioned by the UK government; if he or the RSA will now commission a similar study in Ireland to review the safety of LED headlights in modern vehicles and present the findings to the European Commission and the UNECE Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3293/26]

Sentiment score: 0.30

I am glad to hear the Minister's comments on DART+ South West. We will keep pressure on him there. This question relates to road safety. The brightness and intensity of the new style LED car headlights is a cause of concern for a lot of people. Is the Minister aware of a survey commissioned by the RAC in the UK into the safety of LED headlights in modern vehicles? It found four in five drivers were concerned about dazzling headlights. Has the Minister, his Department or the RSA considered the independent research study published by TRL, Transport Research Laboratory, in October 2025 titled Glare from Road Vehicles?

Sentiment score: 0.20

Many constituents, friends and family of mine who perhaps were travelling a little bit more on country roads over the Christmas period have come to me saying this is not a comfort issue and that it is a serious road safety issue. Depending on the direction or the angle of these lights coming at the driver, which is often from new higher cars and higher positions, they can temporarily blind the driver. Unfortunately, I am raising this in the context of a record of 190 people dying on our roads last year which is the highest since 2014. I raise this with a the view to try to probe any and all solutions to improve our road safety record. It is all well and good having the Minister and I discuss our anecdotal experience. I would push the Minister to carry out some research into this and not necessarily rely on the UK research but doing our own to try to push this issue forward to determine the cause and effect.

Sentiment score: 0.19

It would be interesting to get the statistics on collisions and fatalities in order to understand what the contributing factors are. I appreciate this is a European competency but I want to ensure we are feeding into the European agenda and, to the extent we have any data, providing it in support of any changes needed. Acknowledging the European competency, there are some things from an enforcement perspective we could focus on as part of the NCT. I understand the illegal retrofit of certain LED lights is an issue. Maybe that is something we could clamp down on to ensure it does not happen and bring it more to the attention of the RSA and the Garda when it comes to enforcing the existing standards in our cars.

Sentiment score: 0.07