safety

Headlights dim safety on mid-size cars: Prius v with LED good – BMW 3 worst

ToyotaPriusvsBMW3lightsHeadlights that light the way for drivers see what is ahead can help to prevent crashes. Headlights, however, as the eyes of the vehicle are more often designed as a style statement rather than provide the best light.

A new IIHS report shows that many headlights are marginal even on luxury cars. Only one car is rated good, 11 are acceptable and 9 are maginal.The Institute’s headlight  rates higher systems that produce ample illumination without excessive glare for drivers of oncoming vehicles.

Headlights are evaluated on the track after dark at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center. A special device measures the light from both low beams and high beams as the vehicle is driven on five different approaches: traveling straight, a sharp left curve, a sharp right curve, a gradual left curve and a gradual right curve.

Glare for oncoming vehicles also is measured from low beams in each scenario to make sure it isn’t excessive.

Headlights are tested as received from the dealer. Although the vertical aim of headlights can be adjusted on most vehicles, IIHS doesn’t change headlight aim because few vehicle owners ever do and some manufacturers advise consumers not to.

After a vehicle is tested on the track, IIHS engineers compare its visibility and glare measurements to those of a hypothetical ideal headlight system and use a scheme of demerits to determine the rating. Results for low beams are weighted more heavily than high beams because they are used more often. The readings on the straightaway are weighted more heavily than those on the curves because more crashes occur on straight sections of road.

Vehicles equipped with high-beam assist, which automatically switches between high beams and low beams depending on the presence of other vehicles, may earn back some points taken off for less-than-ideal low beam visibility. This credit is given only for approaches on which the glare threshold isn’t exceeded and on which the high beams provide additional visibility compared with the low beams.

A vehicle with excessive glare on any of the approaches can’t earn a rating above marginal.

The Prius v earns a good rating when equipped with LED lights and high-beam assist. To get those headlights, consumers must purchase the advanced technology package, which is only available on the highest trim level. When equipped with regular halogen lights and without high-beam assist, the Prius v earns a poor rating.

“The Prius v’s LED low beams should give a driver traveling straight at 70 mph enough time to identify an obstacle on the right side of the road, where the light is best, and brake to a stop,” says Matthew Brumbelow, an IIHS senior research engineer. “In contrast, someone with the halogen lights would need to drive 20 mph slower in order to avoid a crash.”

Among the 44 headlight systems earning a poor rating, the halogen lights on the BMW 3 series are the worst. A driver with those headlights would have to be going 35 mph or slower to stop in time for an obstacle in the travel lane. A better choice for the same car is an LED curve-adaptive system with high-beam assist, a combination that rates marginal.

Curve-adaptive systems don’t always lead to better ratings. The Cadillac ATS, Kia Optima and Mercedes-Benz C-Class all earn poor ratings even when equipped with adaptive low and high beams.

In the case of the Optima, a big problem is glare. Its curve-adaptive system provides better visibility than its non-adaptive lights, but produces excessive glare for oncoming vehicles on all five low beam approaches.

One of the best headlight systems evaluated has none of the new technology. The basic halogen lights on the Honda Accord 4-door earn an acceptable rating, while an LED system with high-beam assist available on the Accord earns only a marginal.
2016 midsize cars
Best available headlight system for each model:

Good

Toyota Prius v

Acceptable

Audi A3
Honda Accord 4-door
Infiniti Q50
Lexus ES
Lexus IS
Mazda 6
Nissan Maxima
Subaru Outback
(built after Nov. 2015)
Volkswagen CC
Volkswagen Jetta
Volvo S60
Marginal
Acura TLX
Audi A4
BMW 2 series
BMW 3 series
Chrysler 200
Ford Fusion
Lincoln MKZ
Subaru Legacy
Toyota Camry

Poor

Buick Verano
Cadillac ATS
Chevrolet Malibu
Chevrolet Malibu Limited
(fleet model)
Hyundai Sonata
Kia Optima
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Mercedes-Benz CLA
Nissan Altima
Volkswagen Passat

The ability to see the road ahead, is an obvious essential for drivers. However, government standards for headlights, based on laboratory tests, allow huge variation in the amount of illumination that headlights provide in actual on-road driving. With about half of traffic deaths occurring either in the dark or in dawn or dusk conditions, improved headlights have the potential to bring about substantial reductions in fatalities.

While the headlights on most cars need improvement, there is one simple thing that drivers can do to improve visibility in any vehicle: use their high beams. A recent study, however, shows that drivers rarely turn them on.

10 Automakers agree to ADAS requested by NHTSA & IIHS

IIHSopeningNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s challenged automakers to make forward collision alert and automatic emergency braking ADAS technology standard on light vehicles. The challenge is supported by ten automobile manufacturers.

The announcement was made at the dedication of IIHS’s newly expanded Vehicle Research Center in Virginia. This is a step toward making crash-prevention technologies more widely available to consumers.

Audi, BMW, Ford , General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo will make the technology standard equipment in all car, truck and SUV models they sell.

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems use on-vehicle sensors such as radar, cameras or lasers to detect an imminent crash, warn the driver and, if the driver does not take sufficient action, engages the brakes.

In June, the National Transportation Safety Board, recommended that the automatic braking systems be made required on all new cars.

AEB systems can reduce auto insurance injury claims by as much as 35%, according IIHS research.

“General Motors supports the call for a voluntary industry safety agreement that would lead to making forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking standard on light vehicles. Both technologies are available today on dozens of 2016 model Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac models,” said Jeff Boyer, GM vice president of global vehicle safety.

Volvo Cars reports that it already has approximately 250,000 vehicles on U.S. roads with these technologies. The company encourages regulators to include these safety systems in the consumer-friendly 5-Star overall crash rating so American consumers can more easily determine the safest available vehicles.

For 2015 models IIHS ranked fourteen new models earn a superior rating and five earn an advanced rating for advanced front collision prevention systems. Earning superior are the 2016 Acura ILX, MDX, RDX and RLX; 2016 BMW X3; 2015 Chrysler 300 and its twin, the 2015 Dodge Charger; 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class (both Collision Prevention Assist Plus and Pre-Safe Brake equipped versions), CLA (both Collision Prevention Assist Plus and Distronic Plus equipped versions) and E-Class; and the 2016 Mazda 6 and CX-5. The 2016 Volkswagen Golf, Golf SportWagen, Jetta and 2015 Volkswagen Touareg are rated advanced for front crash prevention. The X3 earns an advanced rating when equipped with BMW’s camera-only system called City Braking Function and is rated superior when equipped with a camera- and radar-based system.

IIHS reports that although luxury vehicles are more likely to have optional front crash prevention systems, the technology is catching on with more mainstream nameplates. Seven of the 19 superior- or advanced-rated models in this new round are moderately priced: Chrysler 300; Dodge Charger; Mazda 6 and CX-5; and Volkswagen Golf, Golf SportWagen and Jetta.

Forward collision warning is available on half of the 784 2015 models in HLDI’s vehicle features database. Twenty-seven percent of 2015 models offer a front crash prevention system with autobrake, more than twice as many as in the 2012 model year.

Research Center

The $30 million expansion of the Vehicle Research Center was made possible through the support of IIHS member companies. The centerpiece is a 5-acre covered track, one of the largest fabric-covered structures in the United States, which will allow testing to continue rain or shine. Six fabric panels supported by steel trusses arc over the 700-foot-by-300-foot track and are supported by 18 concrete piers, which weigh a total of 7,000 tons and contain more than 39 miles of steel reinforcement bars.

An existing outdoor track was expanded, bringing the total area of track, including the covered section, to 15 acres. A new office and conference space was also part of the project.

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