Ini alasan mengapa headlight lampu LED putih merusak kesehatan, bikin silau dan bikin jalan terlihat redup

Di saat di Indonesia kehadiran lampu headlight pakai LED dipuji puji dan dinanti nantikan, ternyata di luar negeri kehadiran lampu LED ini banyak yang protes. Protesnya terutama karena bikin silau, hal yang penulis juga setuju.

Contoh yang melakukan protes bisa dilihat pada link petisi berikut:

Investigate blinding headlights and soaring death rate among bike-riders

According to a recent report by the Governors Highway Safety Assn. death among bicyclists in the state of California is up a dramatic 23% in 2012. This trend is not adequately explained by new ridership or by an increase in overall miles ridden. At Lightmare.org we believe that the rise in ultra-bright HID and LED headlights is responsible for this increase in cyclist deaths.

Ban Blinding Headlights and Save Lives!

2015 saw a historic rise in traffic related fatalities. 7.2% more Americans died on the roads than in the previous year. This is an alarming statistic, representing thousands of new fatalities after years of decline. It’s so alarming that NHTSA has convened multiple conferences to look into the issue and the Department of Transportation has reached out to the public in an effort to “crowd-source” an answer. While there are sure to be multiple factors involved, I feel one major cause is being overlooked by officials. It is clear to anyone who drives, walks or bikes the roads: the trend toward LED and HID headlights has become a source of dangerous, blinding glare.

Campaign launched over ‘dazzling’ HID car headlamps

Mr Perham, who is being backed by the Driving Instructors Association and the British Motorcyclists Federation, isn’t worried about the drivers who have HIDs.

It’s those on the receiving end that he is concerned about. He claims that drivers with halogen lights can be so dazzled that other road-users could be at risk.

And that’s a view backed by some eye experts, including Geoffrey Roberson from the Association of Optometrists.
High intensity lighting [headlamps] have been solely developed to improve road safety
Paul Everitt , Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders

“They [drivers with halogen lights] are not going to see as well or as far because their headlamps aren’t as powerful – and they are going to have extra glare and discomfort that’s produced by the HID headlamps.

“The consequence of that, maybe, is that they are less able to see pedestrians, cyclists, that sort of thing,” he said.

Ban Blinding Headlights!

We call on Congress to ban harsh, blinding headlights by revising Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 to include specific language that bans the use of any light that is blinding, dazzling, distracting or otherwise causes pain and damage to the eyes of onlookers.

 

Tentu lampu led yang dimaksud jangan disamakan dengan lampu depan LED pintar seperti yang di Audi, yang bisa memilih untuk tidak mennyoroti pengendara lain (dibahas kapan kapan). Lampu depan LED yang diprotes adalah lampu LED yang nggak pinter, yang tidak ada fasilitas anti glare atau anti silaunya.

 

Sudah ada negara yang melarang penggunaan lampu LED ini, alasannya juga mengganggu pandangan bikin silau. Lucunya, malah diprotes karena dianggap tanpa lampu LED juga mengganggu pandangan, nggak kelihatan jalan. Berikut beritanya, lumayan banyak juga yang protes:

Arbitrary? Motorcycle riders protest LED light policy

MANILA, Philippines – Motorcycle riders are up in arms against alleged double standards and inconsistent enforcement in the enforcement of a Land Transportation Office (LTO) policy on light-emitting diode (LED) and other modifications on vehicles.

On Tuesday, January 26, over 1,400 riders from different organizations joined an impromptu meeting at Eton Centris, along EDSA, vowing to take action on their concerns that were also raised on social media.

Riders noted that there are existing hazardous road conditions, such as potholes and other debris on the road not easily seen with existing vehicle lights. Facebook user BossPapi Sanchez posted a video showing his daily route from Pakil, Laguna, to McKinley Hill in Taguig City. According to him, the roads he traverses are dimly lit.

Anehnya, pakai lampu putih dianggap lebih terang pada saat hujan dan gelap:
Online uproar: Riders reject LED ba

Motorcycle riders, in particular, were outspoken in their rejection of the ban. Many of them felt their concerns were not taken into consideration, and the removal of LED fixtures would bring them more harm on the road.

Jonard Mercado had stronger sentiments on the ban: “LTO is depriving all riders with their safety. LED lights is clearer that the stock bulb which will give all riders a better view while driving at night and in rainy weather.” Their main worry was that the lights allowed them to drive at night and on poorly-lit areas. Without the LED parts, riders would not see bumps and potholes as clearly.

Logan Howlett said drivers would not need brighter lights if they were driving safely. “You drive at a speed limit that is safe. So if your visibility is reduced, you drive slower. Not rocket science. You don’t haul ass in a heavy rain do you?” he wrote.

 

Penulis terus terang tidak setuju dengan hal itu. Penulis lihat sendiri saat jejer atau berpapasan, lampu LED tidak lebih terang daripada lampu halogen biasa. Di saat hujan atau jalan basah malah terlihat banget lebih redup. Heran mengapa pendapat bisa beda, padahal mestinya motor yang dijual di Filipina sama dengan yang di Indonesia, atau malah diimpor dari Indonesia.

Sepertinya protes mengacu kepada lampu LED aftermarket. Kalau memang iya, ya jelas nggak sekelas. Tidak fair membandingkan lampu halogen dengan lampu aftermarket (baik LED ataupun halogen). Karena reflektor lampu halogen di motor kan desainnya jelek dan berantakan. Jangankan dengan lampu LED yang tingkat cahayanya lebih tinggi, dibanding dengan senter 12V pakai lampu biasa saja bisa beda jauh banget. Jadi bukannya LEDnya lebih terang tapi karena desain reflektornya halogen yang amburadul. Sementara itu relector lampu penerang aftermarket tentunya reflectornya sudah didesain dengan baik sehingga cahaya mengarah pada arah yang diinginkan.

Logikanya, kalau mau semua cahaya bisa diarahkan ke depan semua, sumber cahaya ditaruh lebih mundur. Tapi coba lihat letak lampu di model halogen, terlihat posisi terlalu ke depan. Desain ini diperbaiki di model dengan lampu depan LED. Sehingga di model LED tempat sumber cahaya di taruh di paling belakang dari reflector. Seandainya desain dari reflector lampu halogen juga disamakan seperti itu maka model halogen bisa jadi akan menerangi jalan lebih baik daripada yang model LED.

 

Coba lihat desain reflector lampu Honda Beat berikut yang masih pakai halogen:

Lampu terlihat terlalu maju ke depan. Bisa dilihat sendiri bahwa banyak cahaya yang terbuang karena tidak direfleksikan ke jalan. Reflector yang bagian bawah juga aneh banget, masa ya cahaya dipantulkan ke atas. Desain terlihat jelas amburadul.

Beda sama reflector lampu Honda Vario yang sudah pakai LED:

Posisi lampu sampai tersembunyi di belakang atas. Cahaya memancar kebawah juga dipantulkannya ke depan dan bukannya ke atas. Bentuk reflector yang kecil juga memastikan lampu tidak bias kemana mana.

Seandainya reflector lampu halogen diperbaiki, maka hasilnya akan jauh lebih terang. Ini pernah penulis lihat sendiri saat ada yang buat lampu senter dari aki pakai lampu motor dengan reflector model cone. Terang banget. Lampu motor kalah terang jauh.

 

Jadi sebenarnya lampu LED itu tidak lebih terang. Di penjelasan di link berikut justru malah dikatakan LED itu bikin jalan terlihat lebih gelap. Link juga menjelaskan beberapa kelemahan LED yang lain:

• Dangerous, illegal, blue headlight bulbs
• White LED Effect on vision …

 

Yang menyebabkan lampu putih membuat jalan terlihat lebih gelap tapi bikin silau itu terutama karena keberadaan dari cahaya biru. Dan LED putih itu cahaya birunya sangat menonjol dan berlebihan.

 

Yang menjadi masalah adalah karena cahaya biru itu mudah bias atau tersebar / scatter.

Blue and violet are the shortest wavelength/highest frequency colors of visible light, and, as such, they scatter the most readily. This is why the sky is blue rather than any other color from the sun’s white output spectrum. Blue light doesn’t just scatter most readily in the sky, but also in the eye. The short-wavelength colors (blue, indigo and violet) are very difficult for our eyes to process and focus on. It is yellow light that stimulates the human eye most strongly

 

Dikatakan bahwa karena cahaya biru dan violet punya panjang gelombang cahaya yang paling pendek. Ini menyebabkannya lebih mudah tersebar. Ini yang membuat langit terlihat biru. Dan parahnya, warna biru tidak hanya terbias di langit tapi juga di mata. Warna biru dan violet susah diproses untuk mata, membuat mata susah fokus. Warna kuninglah yang paling bisa diproses mata.

 

Jadi yang membuat lampu depan dari LED putih itu bikin jalan lebih gelap adalah karena warna biru lebih mudah tersebar, sementara itu LED putih itu banyak birunya. Cahaya yang lebih mudah dikembalikan adalah warna merah dan kuning, warna kuning juga yang paling gampang di proses mata, sehingga karena cahaya LED sedikit kuningya maka cahaya yang bisa proses mata jadi lebih sedikit. Sementara itu cahaya biru yang banyak di LED itu justru bikin mata susah fokus.

Mungkin ini alasan mengapa penulis merasa tidak nyaman bila melihat pantulan dari lampu LED, yang menyebabkan penulis merasa cahaya LED tidak seenak cahaya HID. Spectrum Xenon HID katanya seperti berikut ini:

 

Sifat bias dari warna biru ini yang membuat LED putih bikin silau. Baik bagi orang lain ataupun bagi pengendaranya itu sendiri bila mengedarai disaat hujan, salju atau kabut. Selain itu ada penyebab lain yang dijelaskan juga sebagai berikut:

blue light per secreates increased glare for oncoming traffic. That’s because blue light does not trigger a strong pupil-closing response in human eyes. It is yellow light that stimulates the human eye most strongly to constrict the pupil. Due to the comparatively weak pupil response to blue light, the human eye is very glare-sensitive to a blue signal image. With the yellow light filtered out by the blue bulb and prevented from reaching the observer’s eyes, the pupils remain wider open than they should, and the eyes are hit with a blast of difficult-to-process blue light.

Dikatakan warna biru memperparah efek silau karena warna biru susah diproses oleh mata. Sehingga saat seharusnya pupil diperkecil untuk mengurangi cahaya yang masuk (otomatis biar nggak silau) namun karena cahaya yang datang sedikit kuningnya maka pupil tidak mengecil secara benar sehingga mata terpaksa harus menerima cahaya yang lebih banyak dari seharusnya dan menyebabkan silau. Ini diperparah dengan sifat lampu LED putih yang birunya berlebihan.

 

Simak juga penelitian berikut:
BLUE CONTENT OF LED HEADLAMPS AND DISCOMFORT GLARE

As predicted in our previous analytical study, we found that—when they appear bluer than current tungsten-halogen or HID headlamps—LED headlamps tend to produce more
discomfort glare. The effect is probably due to the color appearance of the LED lamps used in this study rather than to any inherent characteristic of LED sources, and it could probably be altered or reversed with different sources. For the data reported here, ratings of discomfort glare were linearly related to the amount of blue content in the light output as weighted by the spectral sensitivity of the short-wavelength (blue) cone photoreceptors. Therefore, if this relationship is replicated and extended in future studies, it may provide an index of blue content that could be used heuristically to select colors of headlamps to minimize driver complaints about glare.

Dikatakan bahwa kandungan warna biru lah yang membuat lampu LED putih menyilaukan. Di hasil tersebut terlihat bahwa lampu LED yang dua kali lebih redup pun masih lebih menyilaukan daripada lampu halogen dan HID.

Untuk terang yang sama, maka lampu LED lebih menyilaukan. Bahkan lebih silau dari lampu HID sekalipun. Lampu LED yang dipakai di motor di Indonesia sepertinya lebih dari 5000K. Jadi dijamin silau. Jangan coba coba dipantengin.

 

Glare ini membuat pengendara jadi kurang aware / kurang perhatian pada obyek selain kendaraan yang bikin silau. Beberapa pengendara juga juga jadi panik dan bisa mengambil tindakan yang membahayakan. Glare ini membahayakan.

 

Warna biru yang terlalu banyak juga ternyata bisa merusak kesehatan juga, seperti contohnya yang di sebutkan oleh pabrik kacamata Zeiss:
Blue Light: the Good and the BadHow much blue light do we need? And how and when should we be protecting ourselves against it?

Beneficial aspects of blue light
the blue light which reaches our retina also plays a part in ensuring our psychological well-being, which is why light therapy is successfully employed to treat winter depression and insomnia. UV light is also involved in the production of vitamins, which means that light stimulation also has an important effect on our metabolism. In summary, our bodies need blue light.

To take one concrete example, many people are familiar with the concept of age-related insomnia, which refers to the fact that elderly people seem to require less sleep. The light that reaches the human eye seems to play an important role in this phenomenon. The cataracts from which older people typically suffer prevent some of the blue light from reaching the retina – and the intraocular lenses used to treat patients with cataracts also have the effect of blocking blue light. This can cause disruptions in the day-night rhythm of these mostly elderly individuals and alters the amount of sleep they need.

But as in so many other cases, the rule that applies here is “everything in moderation.”

Damaging effects of blue light
Too much light in the ultraviolet and blue-violet bands can damage the human eye. As well as leading to painful inflammation of the conjunctiva and cornea, it can also cause damage to the eye’s crystalline lens (e.g., cataracts) and especially to the retina (macular degeneration).
That’s why it is so important to wear sunglasses with 100% UV protection in strong sunshine, especially in situations where there is a lot of glare such as on water or snowy mountain slopes.

Dikatakan bahwa dalam jumlah yang cukup / tidak berlebihan warna biru bisa memberikan terapi kesehatan yang baik. Cahaya UV bisa membantu metabolisme proses kimia dalam tubuh, sementara warna biru membantu memberikan ketenangan saat tidur.

Namun cahaya biru dan ultra violet akan dapat merusak mata dan menimbulkan penyakit. Padahal, lampu LED putih itu warna biru dan violetnya berlebihan!

 

Malah ada yang khusus memberikan warning terhadap pemakaian lampu LED putih. Dari Asosiasi medis amerika:
AMA Adopts Guidance to Reduce Harm from High Intensity Street Lights, For immediate release, Jun 14, 2016

CHICAGO – Strong arguments exist for overhauling the lighting systems on U.S. roadways with light emitting diodes (LED), but conversions to improper LED technology can have adverse consequences. In response, physicians at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) today adopted guidance for communities on selecting among LED lighting options to minimize potential harmful human and environmental effects.

High-intensity LED lighting designs emit a large amount of blue light that appears white to the naked eye and create worse nighttime glare than conventional lighting. Discomfort and disability from intense, blue-rich LED lighting can decrease visual acuity and safety, resulting in concerns and creating a road hazard.

In addition to its impact on drivers, blue-rich LED streetlights operate at a wavelength that most adversely suppresses melatonin during night. It is estimated that white LED lamps have five times greater impact on circadian sleep rhythms than conventional street lamps. Recent large surveys found that brighter residential nighttime lighting is associated with reduced sleep times, dissatisfaction with sleep quality, excessive sleepiness, impaired daytime functioning and obesity.

The detrimental effects of high-intensity LED lighting are not limited to humans. Excessive outdoor lighting disrupts many species that need a dark environment. For instance, poorly designed LED lighting disorients some bird, insect, turtle and fish species, and U.S. national parks have adopted optimal lighting designs and practices that minimize the effects of light pollution on the environment.

Dikatakan bahwa asosiasi medis amerika menganjurkan untuk tidak pakai LED yang mengandung banyak cahaya biru karena bisa menimbulkan gangguan visual yang bisa mengurangi keselamatan di jalan. Selain itu lampu seperti itu juga mengurangi kesehatan, menghambat melatonin saat malam yang bisa mengganggu siklus tidur yang pada akhirnya bisa menimbulkan gangguan tidur, ngantuk, aktifitas terganggu dan kegemukan. Cahaya juga dikatakan tidak bagus bagi makhluk hidup lainnya.

 

Untuk soal silau dan gangguan kesehatan sepertinya sudah jelas. Yang sering jadi perdebatan adalah soal apakah benar lampu LED itu bikin jalan lebih terang. Rasanya banyak juga yang bilang bahwa motor dengan lampu LED lebih terang.

Menurut penulis motor dengan lampu LED lebih terang terutama karena reflektornya yang bekerja dengan benar, tidak seperti reflektor lampu halogen yang desainnya tidak jelas. Kemudian secara tingkat terangnya juga sepertinya model LED dapat lampu yang lebih terang, yang watt atau candelanya besar.

Setelah menyusun artikel ini, rasanya penulis perlu menambahkan satu lagi yaitu lampu depan LED putih bikin jalan lebih menyilaukan. Jalan memang terlihat terang, tapi detil jalan jadi lebih susah terlihat.

Karena sekarang sudah jamannya motor pakai lampu LED putih, susah rasanya untuk bisa bebas dari dipancari lampu LED putih. Perlu cari solusi. Beberapa orang mengandalkan pakai kaca mata berkendara untuk mengurangi silau di jalan (baik siang atau malam). Kaca mata berkendara ini sepertinya salah satu fungsinya adalah mengurangi warna biru dan memperbanyak warna kuning. Namun sepertinya tidak bisa sembarangan kacamata warna kuning:

• Kacamata berkendara jangan asal pilih warna kuning!