BETTER HEADLIGHTS = GREATER SAFETY

Headlight upgrades are often viewed as extraneous add-ons, used mainly for aesthetic reasons to improve the overall appearance of a vehicle. Driving at night, however commonplace is still dangerous, as many potential obstacles and moving objects that are visible in daylight can be difficult to see at night. For that reason, we need to move from viewing headlights replacements as appearance boosters to seeing them as safety upgrades. Sharper, more penetrating light that provides a wider scope of the road and the entire surrounding area can help drivers avoid the devastating consequences of hitting something that would have been spotted easily.

HID (High Intensity Discharge - also known as "xenon") headlights are at the forefront of this 'safe lighting' approach, as HIDs are over 3x brighter than conventional halogen headlights. Besides offering an increase in brightness, HID lights also substantially increase one's peripheral vision when driving in the dark, and the sharper color contrast provided by xenon lighting makes it easier to discern between harmless and harmful road obstacles. Though halogen lighting can be sufficient, when a driver's forced to switch to his car's low beams while driving towards oncoming traffic, what was previously a sufficient visible range is now seriously reduced.

Missing a single critical warning, such as a highway marker or road sign, can leave a driver unprepared for what's ahead on the road. Not seeing the 'falling rock zone' warning sign or the 'sharp bend' marker can lead a driver into a false sense of security, when it's exactly the opposite situation. Unlike stock halogen light output, HID lighting reflects better off most signs and markers on the road, making it much less likely that a driver will miss them. Even something as small as a road reflector can have a huge effect on a driver's safety.

Driving at 65mph (or faster) is something so pervasive nowadays that most people don't give it a second thought. But crashing into anything at high speed can be devastating - airbags or not. It's hard enough to notice and react to obstacles on a roadway in broad daylight, so any extra time headlights can provide at night can be the difference between a horrible accident or just a quick maneuver. The more vehicle owners that understand headlights are vital safety components, the more drivers will begin using upgraded HID headlights that could save their lives.