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Headlights are often not a part you think about when shopping for a brand new car – or even a used one – but headlights are very important to your safety. For decades, the vast majority of vehicles were equipped with halogen headlights. But now, some automakers outfit their vehicles with high-intensity discharge (HID) lights or even LED headlights.
It all might sound like marketing gobbledygook to you, but it’s important to pay attention to what type of headlights your vehicle is equipped with. Just to demonstrate how important headlight performance has become, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) now includes a headlight evaluation as part of its requirements to receive a safety award.
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According to IIHS, about half of all fatal crashes in the U.S. occur in the dark, and more than a quarter happen on unlit roads. Differences in bulb type, headlight technology, and even how your headlights are aimed all have an effect on the amount of useful light your car emanates. In addition to the different types of headlights available today, automakers also have advanced features such as curve-adaptive headlights and high-beam assist.
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Curve-adaptive headlights respond to steering control according to the direction of travel, automatically adjusting the aim of your headlights so the road ahead is more visible. High-beam assist meanwhile, can increase the use of high beams by automatically switching between low and high beams based on whether there are oncoming vehicles.
One of the major issues with headlights is how the government currently regulates them, at least in the U.S. There aren’t enough strict rules to guarantee consistency on performance, resulting in a wide range of performance. Ever since IIHS began evaluating headlights in 2016, it has found that many vehicles sold today have inadequate headlights, despite advancements in lighting technology.