Most car owners never think twice about their headlights and take their vehicle lighting for granted. Let’s face it; headlights are not necessarily the biggest selling feature when you’re shopping around for a car. However, when you think about it, headlights are among the most important parts of a car in terms of safety because they are all about communication.
Headlights and taillights ensure that motorists can see and be seen by others, even in the most unfavorable visibility conditions. The headlights provide the necessary illumination so that one can see where one is going and avoid becoming involved in a car crash. The lights are vital components of your car because without theses beams, the roadway would be considerably more dangerous. Turning your headlights on saves lives and they should always be routinely used in bad weather, during dusk and dawn, or at any other time when visibility is low.
Working Properly:
Headlights should be inspected to be sure they are working properly for both the low beam and high beams. Your dealer or auto service shop should check that the lights are aimed correctly to ensure that the driver can see the road safely and not blind oncoming motorists. The Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 108 (Lighting Systems and Retro-reflective Devices) regulations require that headlamps provide illumination necessary for safe night driving while eliminating or limiting glare. According to the CMVSS, the regulations are based on two criteria: read more
• To illuminate the roadway far enough ahead of the vehicle so that the driver has time to react and stop the vehicle before striking an object in the vehicle’s path
• To avoid excessive glare to other drivers
Cloudy & Opaque Lenses:
The majority of the headlight lenses that are produced for manufactured vehicles today are made from a plastic composite. The plastic is very susceptible to damage by both road and weather conditions, including the harsh UV rays in hot climates, ice, sleet and salt. The material is also vulnerable to the chemicals that emanate from the engine and its fumes. All of these conditions take their toll on the headlights and cause the material to breakdown from the outside in, resulting in reduced visibility and making your vehicle unsafe at night.
On average, nine out of ten cars on the road today have headlights that have abrasions on them from road dirt and grime. These dirty and yellowed headlights greatly reduce vision and need to be replaced or repaired to restore the clarity of the lenses since the plastic lenses can cloud and become opaque over time. These worn out or cloudy headlight can reduce light output by as much as 95 percent, which affects their effectiveness and performance for night driving.
According to the National Institute for Highway Safety, the chances for an accident are far greater. In addition, accidents that are caused by reduced light output or cloudy headlights tend to also be much more severe in nature.
Professional Services:
Up until recently, the only solutions for dull, cloudy or damaged lenses were to either replace them with the manufacturer’s original equipment, which can be very costly at upward of $300 each. Alternately, you can just take the risk of driving with bad headlights, but that’s a pretty dangerous substitute. However, now there is an alternative to replacement, which is to have them professionally restored.
Headlight restoration can restore the cloudy headlight to make them look like new again and provide the safety features they were originally designed for on your vehicle. They will have the same light output for a fraction of the cost of replacement. Most professional services will use various techniques, including using a rotary buffer to make this process faster and obtain better results
So don’t take a chance with your safety and those of others. Make an appointment with a professional auto service facility, like Waterdown Collision. We can ensure your lights are correctly aimed and buffed to work their best during the darkest time of the year!