New research is being conducted by Vehicle Research centers in regards to the headlight ratings of newer cars. Information is being released concluding that these headlights in many new cars simply do not shine far enough. In a recent article on US.News.com written by Joan Lowy, some disturbing information was revealed.  In the article Lowy States, “A new rating of the headlights of more than 30 midsized car models gave only one model a grade of “good.”…Of the rest, about a third were rated “acceptable,” a third “marginal” and a third “poor.”(3/30/16)” These tests done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed a large gap between the top rated and the lower rated cars when driving on a dark road at night.  The only model to receive a rating of “good”, the new Toyota Prius V, It’s LED headlights allowed the driver to spot an obstacle or pedestrian in the road 387 ft away, allowing it to be traveling 70 mph and have sufficient time to stop.  this compares drastically to the BMW 3 Series who’s halogen bulbs did not shine farther than 128 ft away.  This would only allow the car to reach a sufficient stop while traveling under 35 mph at night.

With over half of all traffic related accidents occurring at night or dusk it is clearly important to find a car with headlights that would provide sufficient lighting.  There is no direct correlation to cost of the vehicle and the brightness of the bulb however the ratings can be found at http://www.iihs.org. What are your thoughts on this? We would love to hear your feedback, Message us on Facebook or comment on one of our Social media pages!

Cited

Lowy, Joan, “There is a Big Difference Between Car Headlights,” U.S. News and World Report. Web. March 30 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-03-30/study-illuminates-big-performance-gap-for-car-headlights>, (April 12 2016.)