For a definitive yes or no answer: Yes, they are getting brighter. The Corolla is the litmus test of if a given technology has hit the mainstream in cars. Once

For a definitive yes or no answer: Yes, they are getting brighter. The Corolla is the litmus test of if a given technology has hit the mainstream in cars. Once upon a time LED headlights were too expensive to ever be standard on a car that basic, so halogens, which tend to be dimmer and at a less glare-prone temperature were standard. Now they've gotten cheap enough that one of the most simplified cars on the market features them, so it's a given that you are seeing many more of them than you used to. Bonus: HID lamps, which were the popular "blindingly bright" option back in the day were legally required to be self-leveling in some markets. In my 4 series for example, the HID lights are on something like a gimbal and can aim down if the car is pointed up, and side to side depending on which way the steering wheel is pointed. LEDs don't have that restriction, and these self-leveling assemblies aren't exactly cheap to design and manufacture, so naturally higher volume cars are skipping out on them. So now the most common cars are most likely to blind you. (there's also manual leveling switches in some cars, but most people barely know what their temp gauge means, so the odds someone both knows what it's for, and knows when to adjust it, are incredibly low)