Posted on 04/03/2016 9:02:04 PM PDT by smokingfrog
There’s a lot to consider when buying a new car, but headlights are rarely on anyone's top checklist; now a new study says it’s something drivers should seriously consider.
The first ever headlight test was conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety this week and researchers say the results are ‘dismal’.
Only one new car model received a good rating. The 2016 Toyota Prius with led headlights received the best rating in the study, while some higher-end cars were in the bottom tier.
The study says headlights should illuminate at least 300 feet ahead, but many of the new cars tested revealed only half that.
“If you're driving on the interstate in one of the worst performing vehicles you probably shouldn't be driving faster than 35 miles an hour,” Matthew Brumbelow, a senior research engineer at IIHS, told ABC News.
Local retailers say if you do a lot of night driving, there are some headlight upgrades that can help.
“A car that has the HID which are High Intensity Discharge lights…is going to give you about 25 percent better visibility; its going to let you see farther, wider and let you see some of those shorter obstacles that might be in the road ahead of you,” Tommy Baker with Schulte Subaru of Sioux Falls said.
If you're not in the market for a new car, area law enforcement say all drivers should think about headlight maintenance.
(Excerpt) Read more at ksfy.com ...
The LEDs are dramatically cheaper to operate and they last longer, that’s why cities love them.
Color temperature is often an issue. In an historic district you would probably want something closer to 2500 Kelvin rather than 5000.
My Hghlander is a 2001, but at 95,000 miles looks like a three year old car. But I need to polish the headlights as they are quite cloudy. I’m thinking of adding a cheap clear foglight in the rear, as the backup lights suck!
I think sealed beams were mostly phased out by the late 1980s, when the “aero” compound-reflector lights became commonplace. Older cars with sealed beams can deliver more light by splicing in a relay circuit, which allows the bulbs to run on full battery voltage. Older vehicles tended to run the full lighting system current through the light switch, not the best design. Look at Painless Wiring and some others for a relay and wiring kit that’s easy to install.
And annoy the hell out of, or blind, worse case, oncoming drivers.
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Absolutely! Those bright white lights are even bad during the daylight hours, as most autos have lights on then nowadays. I seldom drive at night anymore, but oncoming cars with those super bright lights would wipe out my night vision.
“Always-on” headlights burn out quicker.
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I bought my 2001 Impala LS new, so it’s now 15 years old. It’s a model that has the “always on” headlights. I’ve never had a problem with the lights. ....Driving in daylight, the lights are at a lower level and when I pull into my garage the darkness kicks them up to normal low beam lights.
One in ten?
Are you hoping to cause an accident?
I gotta do that about every four months. Worked well the first time but each time now it takes less time for it to get foggy again. I can't afford a new lens right now.
Back in the ‘90’s I bought a new Pontiac Grand Prix, loved that car! Fit like a glove, drove like a sports car. But, the headlights sucked. Oh they were plenty bright when you look at them, but, the light from them didn’t “cast” very far, and I felt I was “overdriving my headlights” at 45 MPH.
I don’t know light terminology, but they were the ones with the bluish cast to them.
I went bact to a car with old-fashioned, sealed beams, incandescent, and the throw the light twice as far.
I got rid of that Pontiac after a couple of years, mainly because of the headlight problem.
“If you’re not in the market for a new car, area law enforcement say all drivers should think about headlight maintenance.”
pretty easy to replace dimming bulbs and clear fogged lenses but no “upgrades” to factory lighting are allowed under law in the state I live in so if your factory lighting sucks learn to live with it. probably due to kids putting $50 HID kits in headlights not designed for HID light sources which results in blinding glare all over the place.
My last 2 cars have had HID lights, and I would never go back to halogen. I never have people flashing at me.
It’s important to recognize that not all HID systems are the same. Some are much better that others when annoyance to oncoming drivers is considered (one of the factors considered in the IIHS study).
I looked at the report on their site and they aren’t clear on what lighting technology is on the cars that they rated (only that it is the best available).
By far the worst for oncoming drivers are the rice-racer HID aftermarket conversion kits.
For stock HID systems, from my experience, the worst seem to be on Cadillacs (Escalade especially) and large Japanese SUVs.
If you think about how you really drive at night you don’t use your headlights to see oncoming traffic. You use the headlights of oncoming vehicles not only to see them but to see that there is nothing blocking that light which would indicate there is something in your path. Your headlights only light up the lane markings so you can stay between them. Animals attempting to cross the road are usually revealed by the jewel-like reflections of their eyes.
It takes more thought and attention to drive at night than in the day.
Those super bright lights blind me too. A car coming towards me with the new glaring bright lights momentarily wipes my vision out. I am getting to hate driving at night!
Yep, here’s the justification for the next reg increasing the price of your vehicle in the name of safety.
I’ve done plenty of highway night driving for years, w/o concern.
As far as the folks that sells these headlights are concerned, not enough of the market is buying them, because of the oncoming glare problem.
So what’s the fix? Send you lobbyist to capitol hill to work on pushing a reg through so you can recoup your investment.
This pattern occurs over and over. I’m surprised more people don’t recognize it by now.
If we had a real press, it’d research who’s pushing this through and how and publish THAT.
Would have been nice if the article included a link to the test results.
Back in the early I '90s, replaced the stock headlights in my Jeep Cherokee with higher wattage European halogens and glass housings. The difference was dramatic, and not once did any car flash its lights at me in eight years. Later, I replaced that with an Bi-Xenon HID conversion kit, and once more the improvement was dramatic. I probably can see out 300 feet on low beams. I found that the color of the light makes a huge difference, as the yellow light of a halogen bulbs does not reveal as much as the pure white light of an HID unit. Again, if the headlights are properly aimed, there is no issue with other drivers, nor has anyone ever blinked their lights at me.
In rural Mexico, the practice is to drive on back roads with your lights off so you can better see the glow from the lights of an on coming car. Of course, since everyone typically drives with their lights off, this does not work out as well as intended, but that's the story of a lot of things in Mexico.
I will drive around town at night but like you totally quit driving on the freeways at night. There just isn’t enough light for me anymore. Not sure if it’s me or the car but...whatever.
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