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The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety says nearly half of all fatal crashes in the U.S. occur in the dark. To combat this, they’ve just introduced a new headlight safety test. And after rating 31 midsize sedans with their new methodology, the safety lab in Virginia has concluded that many modern headlights need to step up their game. Here’s how they tested them.
The IIHS just put 81 headlights for 31 different mid-size sedans to the test, and only one of them scored a good rating: The Toyota Prius V with LED lights and High-Beam Assist.
IIHS says the Prius V with LED headlights allows a driver traveling 70 mph on a straightaway enough time to identify an obstacle on the right side and come to a complete stop without making contact.
The same cannot be said about the BMW 3 Series, whose headlights IIHS says are the worst of the bunch, allowing the driver to travel only 35 mph in order to see an obstacle and stop in time.
That’s a huge difference in performance, one that IIHS says has a lot to do with automakers’ focus on styling over performance, and a lack of federal regulations specifying headlight aim.
But the 3 Series isn’t the only culprit, as 44 different headlight systems received poor ratings.
How Are The Tests Run?
Using a system of demerits, IIHS determines a headlight’s overall score by combining test data for two different categories: glare and visibility.
Glare and visibility scores are determined by using photometers to measure illumination for five different vehicle approaches: a straightaway, 150 meter radius left and right turns, and 250 meter radius left and right turns.
Using crash data, satellite imagery, and typical rural roadway speed limits, IIHS determined this appropriate radius of curvature and also the length for their tests as well as the appropriate vehicle speed.
As the vehicles drive the five different approaches specified in the table below, headlight visibility readings are taken by the photometers, which sit 25 cm from the ground, and glare readings are taken at 110 cm off the ground (presumably to emulate the eye-height of an oncoming driver.)
How Does IIHS Assign Scores?
Visibility
Visibility demerits are determined by driving vehicles along the straightaway or curve, and determining the distance from the vehicle that the luxometers begin to read five lux (a unit of illuminance.) IIHS says that the five lux rating was determined based on their research on how much illuminance in needed to identify low contrast objects, though they admit that there are many factors that play into how much light is needed to notice an object at night.
The distance at which the instruments read five lux, as measured along the center line of the travel line, is averaged between three tests and demerits are assigned based on how headlights stack up against the competition and against an ideal headlight (like the one represented in the plot above).
Glare
Low-beam glare lux readings, which are measured at a higher vertical position on the roadway and in the oncoming lane, are rated based on thresholds detailed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108.
IIHS says an acceptable glare reading may not exceed 10 lux from 5 to 10 meters away, and at longer distances, overall exposure distance (the distance traveled at a given lux reading) must be lower than those shown in the plot above.
The idea here, is that when an oncoming car is closer, the larger angle between the driver and oncoming headlights means the driver can withstand more glare (in this case, 10 lux) without discomfort. As for farther readings, IIHS says setting the limit for total distance traveled at a given lux reading, rather than simply allowable lux at various distances from the light source, accounts for both “dosage” and illumination level.
Overall Rating
Visibility and glare findings are combined to create an overall rating in what IIHS calls a “system of demerits.” Based on crash data and knowledge of real-world usage, IIHS has weighed straight-line tests and low-beam values more heavily than curved and high-beam results.
In addition, cars with High-Beam Assist and adaptive headlights can have their demerits reduced for a higher overall score (though any vehicle with excessive glare can only score as high as marginal).
You can learn lots more about the methodology on IIHS’s website. I think it’s an interesting rating system, and it will be interesting to see how it affects the ways automakers design (and most notably, aim) their increasingly-fancy headlights.
Stunning, highly illuminating Jewel Eye® LED headlights are standard equipment on all Acura models. For the TLX, five LEDs per side provide a whiter, brighter beam, use less energy and last significantly longer than HID or traditional halogen headlights.
On low beam, the three outer LEDs on each light reveal the road more clearly without blinding oncoming traffic. The lenses are precisely aimed, yet focus the LED beam over a longer, wider area.
Engaging the high beams adds the two inner LEDs, illuminating distant objects 200 milliseconds sooner than conventional lights. At 60 mph, 200 milliseconds is over 17 feet.
Also with the Prius being the only good? I have been besides and behind many in the dark and they arent that good, especially in the country 2 lane hwys.
Also with the Prius being the only good? I have been besides and behind many in the dark and they arent that good, especially in the country 2 lane hwys.
The only Prius v that got good rating is with optional high beam assist. Without it, low beam doesn't project far enough like the other cars with lower ratings.
That list is full of BS. While i agree certain model's headlights do suck.. like the 3 series Halogen (worst Halogen ever) but there are many available headlight options that can't be imported here... thanks to US's regulation.
like the adaptive high beam assist on a lot of the Audi, BMW and Merc. that can't be used in the US. Not to be confused with the regular High Beam Assist, which i have but absolutely useless because it never turns on due to incoming traffic, street light and whatever other factors. So unless you live in the middle of nowhere, otherwise it is useless.
That list is full of BS. While i agree certain model's headlights do suck.. like the 3 series Halogen (worst Halogen ever) but there are many available headlight options that can't be imported here... thanks to US's regulation.
like the adaptive high beam assist on a lot of the Audi, BMW and Merc. that can't be used in the US. Not to be confused with the regular High Beam Assist, which i have but absolutely useless because it never turns on due to incoming traffic, street light and whatever other factors. So unless you live in the middle of nowhere, otherwise it is useless.
MB does have adaptive high beam assist, it's optional on many of their US models.
As to whether the list has merit, hard to say at this point but IIHS has access to the vehicles, test instrumentation, and testing environments so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt as their past crash testing data correlated pretty well to crash injuries and deaths. Details and graphs on how IIHS rated below.
Visibility and glare findings are combined to create an overall rating in what IIHS calls a “system of demerits.” Based on crash data and knowledge of real-world usage, IIHS has weighed straight-line tests and low-beam values more heavily than curved and high-beam results.
In addition, cars with High-Beam Assist and adaptive headlights can have their demerits reduced for a higher overall score (though any vehicle with excessive glare can only score as high as marginal).
You can learn lots more about the methodology on IIHS’s website. I think it’s an interesting rating system, and it will be interesting to see how it affects the ways automakers design (and most notably, aim) their increasingly-fancy headlights.
My low beam is also adaptive, not just left right up and down. It also goes up up to 3 degrees depend on the surrounding lights and the speed.
the one i am talking about is it is high beam all time and it splits and blah blah you know what i am talking about. The one on the benz is like the intro version.
Last edited by oonowindoo; 04-04-2016 at 08:28 PM.
If only the Prius is "good", maybe the test is a bit too stringent? I have a hard time believing any cars from the 70s, 80s, 90s or even 00s would score any much better in this test. So basically we've been driving blind since cars have been developed
I'm not sure how you're supposed to make lights better without blinding the shit out of oncoming traffic
What I do know is that if I feel I can't see far enough, I slow my speed until I can reasonably react to the dark conditions. I don't maintain my speed, especially at 70mph, and hope nothing steps in front of me.
My low beam is also adaptive, not just left right up and down. It also goes up up to 3 degrees depend on the surrounding lights and the speed.
the one i am talking about is it is high beam all time and it splits and blah blah you know what i am talking about. The one on the benz is like the intro version.
I just rechecked MBUSA website below, this what they say
Full-LED headlamps
Active Curve Illumination and corner-illuminating front lamps
Adaptive Highbeam Assist
The world's first all-LED active headlamps generate light that's even closer to natural daylight than the standard Bi-Xenon headlamps. Bright white LED Daytime Running Lamps express the legendary four-lamp face of the E-Class in a decidedly modern style that is unmistakable, even at a glance. They also include Active Curve Illumination, Adaptive Highbeam Assist and corner-illuminating front lamps.
Adaptive Highbeam Assist uses continuous input from a camera to automatically vary the range of your headlamps, based on the distance to oncoming vehicles and to those ahead of you. It's engineered to maximize road illumination without creating glare for other drivers.
If only the Prius is "good", maybe the test is a bit too stringent? I have a hard time believing any cars from the 70s, 80s, 90s or even 00s would score any much better in this test. So basically we've been driving blind since cars have been developed
I'm not sure how you're supposed to make lights better without blinding the shit out of oncoming traffic
Audi matrix LED lighting, BMW laser lights, etc. US DOT laws ban us from having those things, however. Thanks Obama
I think the headlights in our 09 tsx and 05 is300 are great on low beam and high beam. The 4runner sucks on low but is decent on high.
The fords all have lights that are aimed in your eyes and are too bright. Jeeps are annoying as well, at least the wranglers.
If only the Prius is "good", maybe the test is a bit too stringent? I have a hard time believing any cars from the 70s, 80s, 90s or even 00s would score any much better in this test. So basically we've been driving blind since cars have been developed
I'm not sure how you're supposed to make lights better without blinding the shit out of oncoming traffic
projectors. that is why cutoffs are so importantly and one thing that Honda is consistently good at other than 6mt is its projector headlight (Halogen, HID or LED)
So you can go far and wide without going over incoming driver's eye level.
I have that type of High beam assist, similar to the E class one. Like i said, it is useless unless you live in the middle of nowhere because you high beams are off most of the time due to incoming cars/street lights.
04-02-2016, 09:13 AM
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