I drive a lot, a real lot, in 50+ different rental vehicles a year, cars, trucks, SUVs, major cities, mountains, prairie and in the artic so this is something that really resonates with me.
There was always the jacked up 4x4s that were bad and then the F150s seemed to be one of the first with the really bright in your mirror lights when they were behind you at a light. That expended to other trucks and now as mentioned it's a whole new level of stupidity where manufacturers are clearly using loopholes to far exceed the intention of the rules. I live in a rural area and regularly pass a few Teslas, no idea what model but they seem to be the worst offenders, every little bump is a blinding flash.
I also think the advent of digital dashes and touchscreens has made stupid bright headlights not just a selling feature but a necessity since there is so much light inside the vehicle. The lowest setting for the dash lights on any of these cars is far, far brighter than the highest setting of most pre-digital dashes which I find a huge issue driving through the mountains in the rain at night, even with no other cars around. Automatic high beams compound the problem, they often stay on far too long or come on when they shouldn't. My Model A headlights don't even trigger them so nearly every car with then drives right past with highbeams on. Makes it tough to see for quite a while after that.
The other really big issue previously mentioned is all the LED "upgrades" the market has been flooded with. Very, very few meet any kind of motor vehicle design standards, it's nearly impossible to get the amount of light produced by an incandescent filament from a single point source LED so they use rows and rows of LED chips resulting in a completely unfocussed wall of light scattered everywhere. This gives the impression of great lighting to the person behind the light but a wall of blinding light for the oncoming driver. To meet standards, bulbs need to be precisely focused. 9003 bulbs appear identical to the old H4s however the H4 was not manufactured with the same tolerance for the filament position and didn't meet the testing standard but all that is out the window if you use uncertified LED replacements with rows of LEDs. Not hard to see this by just flipping between low and high beam and comparing where the light goes. Low beam is supposed to be aimed low and cut off at the top, "high" beam refers to the beam projection being higher. I remember some early 9003s were recalled because they didn't meet the new filament tolerance and I got several failed bulbs replaced for free at the time.
grumble grumble grumble... get off of my lawn.
