Your car headlights …are they too bright? …or not bright enough? 

Over recent years, the on-going innovation in relation to vehicle design has led to significant changes in vehicle headlight designs and headlight types.

In particular, there has been a significant shift from the use of Halogen headlights to now using the innovative light-emitting diode (LED) headlight or the high-intensity discharge (HID) headlights…the intention in headlight bulb improvements being to create better, brighter and more efficient vehicle headlights.

So what are the principal types of headlight bulbs? And what are the main differences between them?

Once the ‘go-to’ bulb, Halogen headlights are not particularly efficient consuming approximately 80% more energy than an LED headlight. The bulbs are also not as bright as LEDs or HIDs, as the bulb energy usage is converted into heat rather than illumination. Halogen lights contain filaments which are very fragile and easily break, (in particular when driving over our pot-holed roads!). However, their dimmer light and yellowish glow is far less distracting and dazzling for other road users.

Turning to the latest LED bulbs, these are much longer-lasting and use less power, whilst emitting a very bright white light beam. Made of aluminium, they are shockproof, vibration-resistant, and anti-corrosive. LED headlight bulbs often incorporate an efficient cooling system, which helps to dissipate most of the heat from the LED chips and consequently they may last between 30,000 to 50,000 hours. They are expensive to replace. LEDs can (and do) dazzle oncoming traffic and other road users.

HID stands for high intensity discharge,

…and the HID light bulb comprises two electrodes sheathed in a glass enclosure which contains Xenon gas and metal salts. You may see HID headlights referred to as Xenon headlights. Because HID headlights don't use filaments, they are far more durable and again last much longer than Halogen headlights. A typical HID light bulb has between 2,000 to 5,000 hours lifespan. The light from HID headlamps can exhibit an obvious bluish tint. The brightness of HID bulbs may gradually fade over time.

It is worth mentioning that if you’re thinking of upgrading your headlamp bulbs you cannot replace Halogen headlights with LED bulbs. The technology between LED and Halogen headlight units is not the same. Replacing a Halogen headlight bulb with an LED bulb is more likely to dazzle other road users and LED bulbs fitted into a Halogen headlight casing won’t actually illuminate the road effectively.

In reality, the type of vehicle bulb in your car will usually be down to the type of headlight and bulb which was initially installed and fitted by the car manufacturer.

Regardless of the type of bulb you have in your vehicle….it remains that headlights are an obvious and crucial driver aid and enable drivers to travel safely (particularly at night). Proper vehicle lighting (and making sure your lights are actually turned on !) enables your vehicle to be seen in the dark or when driving in bad weather conditions.

We’ve come a long way since the initial fitting of headlights on vehicles back in the 1880’s but with the introduction of LED vehicle lighting, there are increasing reports that these headlights are too bright and lead to dazzling and glare which could potentially lead to an increase in accident risks.

It goes without saying that headlights remain an absolutely essential driver aid, but watch this space as the DfT (Department for Transport) is now participating in an international study to examine the current regulations regarding headlight brightness.

For free initial legal advice upon any motoring matter contact Moss Haselhurst’s motoring team on 01606 592159.