Amaravati, December 02, 2025: Visakhapatnam's bustling night streets have become a gauntlet of blinding lights, with drivers' rampant use of high beams and LED headlights drawing sharp criticism from commuters who say the glare turns highways into accident traps. On key routes like the Beach Road and MVP Colony, oncoming vehicles vanish in a whiteout, forcing riders to swerve or slow to a crawl, with locals reporting multiple close calls.
"When you use high beams, the person coming from the opposite direction can’t see the road," said Hari Prasad, a daily commuter, adding that low beams allow mutual visibility but are often ignored. Sagar, a software engineer, called night driving "genuinely dangerous," citing offenders who refuse to dip their lights even after signals.
The problem has worsened with the proliferation of affordable LED upgrades, which cast sharper beams than halogens, exacerbating the issue in Vizag's expanding urban sprawl. Radha, a mother of two, stressed education: "Many motorists don’t know when to use high beams.
High-beam misuse contributes to many accidents." Traffic volunteer Sri Harsha noted the city's rapid growth demands better standards, as misuse fuels avoidable crashes on undivided roads.
