Safety Features of Your Headlamp Car
The headlights of your car are a vital safety feature. Their design, function and light sources are regulated by law, so it’s important not to tamper with them.
These halogen bulbs are fanless to improve longevity and have an aluminum heat sink for temperature management. They’re CAN bus compatible and work with most vehicles.
Halogen Bulbs
Halogen bulbs have been the standard headlights in most vehicles for decades, but they now face competition from LED and HID lights. These newer bulb types are more efficient, meaning they use less electricity to produce the same amount of light.
Unlike the incandescent filament that burned inside the old-fashioned headlight bulbs, halogen bulbs contain a little bit of inert gas inside. This makes headlamp car the filament a little cooler and extends the life of the bulb. But even with this added protection, there are a number of factors that can affect the lifespan of your headlight bulb. Things like road and engine vibration, electrical surges in your car’s charging system or even the touch of a hand to the glass surface can cause the headlight bulb to die sooner than you might expect.
Changing a halogen headlight bulb is a relatively simple process, but you have to be careful. The wattage of your headlight bulb determines how bright it is, but higher wattage bulbs can blind oncoming traffic. Also, higher wattage bulbs put more strain on your car’s electrical systems and could lead to dimming or overheating.
LED Bulbs
LED lights can be a good choice for your headlamp car because they use less energy and last longer than traditional bulbs. However, they do create a lot of glare that can blind other drivers on the road. Therefore, it’s important to get high-quality LED bulbs that are properly positioned and housed.
The best bulbs will have a reflector that helps them focus light in a narrower area while providing enough coverage for the road. This will help you see more of the road without creating a distracting glare in the process.
You can find LED headlights from a variety of companies. Some are bluechip name brands like Philips and Sylvania, while others are boutique high-end outfits that specialise exclusively in LEDs. It’s important to choose a reputable brand because there are a lot of poor-quality LEDs on the market that produce unintentional glare. These bulbs will also be a little more expensive than your standard halogen headlights, but they’ll save you money in the long run by using up less electricity. You’ll likely get back the cost of your upgrade in savings on electricity costs in no time.
Xenon Bulbs
As the name suggests, xenon bulbs contain a halogen gas which is heated by an electric current to emit light. The arc between the two electrodes produces an intense white or bluish light which is significantly brighter than standard bulbs. These are currently being offered as retrofit kits by a number of car manufacturers to improve night time visibility.
Unlike LEDs, xenon bulbs do not produce a lot of heat and are thus much more energy efficient. This makes them perfect for use as headlights. Xenons also have a longer lifespan and are less susceptible to vibration damage. Xenons can cause glare for other road users if the automatic levelling is not working correctly so they are usually fitted with a hood which covers the bulb to prevent this.
The bright white light produced by xenon bulbs also makes them popular for use as medical lights in hospitals and surgeries. They can be aimed very precisely to allow doctors to see fine details within tight spaces. Similarly, they are used in stage and studio lighting to create a crisper, more detailed image.
Indicators
Indicators are the blinking lights found on the front left and right and rear corners of your car, or also sometimes in the side mirrors. When activated by the driver, they show other road users your intent to turn. Common uses include turning at roundabouts, pulling away from traffic lights or changing lanes.
Your headlights are controlled by a switch on the dashboard or steering column that allows you to choose between high and low beam. The high setting produces a brighter, more headlamp car concentrated light that illuminates further into the darkness, but it is essential to dim them for oncoming vehicles as you may dazzle them.
Low-beam headlights are the best setting to use when visibility is reduced by fog, rain, smoke, dust or snow. High-beam headlights are not suitable for such conditions because the brighter light will illuminate the road surface and reflect off of traffic and pedestrians, making it less visible to you. Learning how to use the appropriate headlight settings for each condition is an important part of becoming a safe and considerate driver.
Sidelights
Sidelights, also known as parking lights, are situated on the nearside and offside of your car. They are switched on by using the indicator stalk and are used to show other road users where you intend to turn, such as at roundabouts, pulling away from traffic lights, overtaking or changing lanes.
It takes just 1.5 seconds for a driver to react to an unexpected event at 55mph (Green, 2000). That’s why headlight performance matters so much.
Many low beam headlamps are not bright enough to light the front of a vehicle going down a straight road, and are too weak on a curve. Additionally, many high-beam headlamps allow too much glare to other drivers – which is why they are only suitable when there are no other vehicles around.
HID headlamps use a spark plug to ignite a xenon gas arc that produces light. This technology does not produce glare and is safer for other road users than halogen headlights, which contain mercury. However, these lights are more expensive to manufacture, install and operate than halogen bulbs.