Aug 21, 2006 11:00 pm US/Eastern
Dim Headlights May Be Hampering Your Night Vision
by Sara Underwood
BOSTON (CBS4) ―
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Despite the state's mandate, we found safety inspectors are not checking the brightness of headlights.
CBS
If you think you can't see at night while you drive, it might not be your fault. A CBS4 investigation reveals your automobile headlights are probably not as bright and reliable as you think they are.
When Chuck Pearson is behind the wheel he finds it very hard to see. "I drive with my high beams on all the time to compensate for the fact the low beams are insufficient."
And he's not alone. Our investigation found a growing number of motorists are hitting the road with headlights that might not meet state or federal safety standards.
It's a problem affecting hundreds of thousands of headlights on virtually every kind of vehicle!
CBS4 examined a set of headlights that were so cloudy they actually cut down the amount of light they put out!
"First of all, the sun will cause the yellowing," said Bill Cahill, who owns an auto shop. "The second thing is the road debris, sand, dirt, rock and pebbles will actually hit the lens and nick the lens as you're driving down the road."
Auto shop owner Bill Cahill believes the majority of cars on the road are operating with aging plastic headlights.
Why?
"Manufacturers are doing it because it's easier to manufacture plastic than glass, it cuts costs," said Cahill.
But those cloudy headlights could potentially cost you your life. That's why the state says headlights must illuminate the road for at least 115 feet.
If they don't..."they're jeopardizing their own safety and the safety of everyone else on the road," said Ann Collins who heads up the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
We asked Patrick Bzdula, who teaches auto mechanics at Mass Bay Community College, to measure how much light "cloudy" and "clear" headlights put out at 64 feet -- a little over half of the state's mandate.
First up... Aging headlights that look frosted. "These are the degraded headlamps on low beams… put the high beams on please," said Bzdula.
You can barely see the two people standing straight ahead.
The comparison is extraordinary when you take a look at how the aging headlights compare to the newer, high intensity lights.
But despite the state's mandate, we found safety inspectors are not checking the brightness of headlights -- they're only checking the aim -- leaving some motorists believing their cars meet state standards when in reality they don't.
We asked Collins why nobody's checking. "Well, brightness is not exactly a simple thing to measure for. If you wanted to do a test at night, you'd make inspections so inconvenient that people wouldn't go and get them and that would be a much bigger problem."
So what can you do about it? Experts tell us faded headlights can be temporarily cleaned up for a year or two by using a Plexiglas cleaner. If that doesn't work, you should replace them… and expect to pay several hundred dollars.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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