Proper headlight adjustment is one of the important safety features and should not be taken lightly. We will tell you why the headlights must be adjusted, who and where the adjustment is and how much it will cost you in the following lines.
Every day we pass cars with poorly adjusted headlights on the roads. This phenomenon is then much more frequent especially in winter when we drive in the dark much more often and we do not use daylight almost at all. Incorrectly adjusted headlights not only cause us to be able to see a bend, fallen tree, pedestrian or cyclist too late, but are also dazzling other road users. "Statistics on the number of people killed at night are alarming. In 2013, 194 people died on Czech roads, ie 33% of the total. The blackest figure is about deceased pedestrians. A total of 80 perished at night," says Martin Farar, Head of BESIP.
At the same time, just go to any station of technical inspection and have the headlights professionally adjusted for fifty to one hundred crowns. We do not recommend adjusting yourself at home. Adjustment to the MOT is carried out at every regular inspection of your car, but the headlamps can move due to road irregularities or carelessness when replacing the bulb, and then shine differently than they should. Drivers then swear at bad headlights, and worse, some try to achieve the original luminance by using stronger and illegal bulbs.
"The light source itself, a car lamp, also has a big influence on the quality and quantity of light emitted from the headlights. High-quality car bulbs direct the beam with sufficient light intensity where they should. The lower-quality cones may have an uneven, irregular cone and often point it away from what is needed," adds Ing. Ellen Benesova from OSRAM.
Ten principles of proper lighting:
1) Safe driving starts with clean windshields, clean headlights and proper glasses for drivers with clean windshields as well.
2) Before driving, always check the functionality of the headlamps, not only the front and directional, but also the end and brake lights. This check should become one of the regular rituals before the ride.
3) We buy high-quality and correct car bulbs into headlights and always replace them in pairs, ie if one of the bulbs stops to light up, we will automatically replace the bulb in the other headlight as well.
4) The headlights should be regularly adjusted, at least once a year, professionally adjusted and checked. Optimally adjusted headlamps should cast a maximum of 40 m of light in front of the car. A clearly defined beam of light should then concentrate light 75 to 100 m in front of the vehicle where it is most needed by the driver to detect obstacles. Range up to 200 m or more is perfectly optimized. Only if you have the headlights properly adjusted can you detect any obstacles on the road, danger, or abnormal traffic in a timely manner? The right lighting will also allow you to see road signs, cyclists and pedestrians well, allowing you to respond safely and on time.
5) If the headlights are equipped with a manual headlight height adjuster, we will use it before every ride in which the load will overload the rear of the car. This will prevent unpleasant dazzling oncoming cars or other road users.
6) Always carry a spare pair of suitable light bulbs with you. A car with only one functional light can act as a motorcycle in the dark.
7) It is mandatory to illuminate while driving. However, the headlights do not light up automatically on all cars, so it is always a good idea to check that you have the lights on. Also, most cars with automatic daytime running lights only illuminate the front, the rear is not illuminated. The vehicle thus becomes invisible from the rear, eg in heavy rain!
8) Always use fog lights when necessary. So in fog, heavy rain or heavy snowfall. If these conditions are over, be sure to turn them off. The light from these headlamps is too sharp under normal visibility and may cause unpleasant glare. Do not misuse these lights to provide stronger luminous flux on the road surface. Instead of using the fog lights incorrectly in good visibility, slow down.
9) Not only cars are obliged to light up, but the cyclist is also obliged to have a headlight with white light illuminating forwards and rear light with red light or flashing red light while the vehicle is driving. A flashing tail light can be seen up to 1000 meters. The driver can see the cyclist in time and adjust the speed to the situation.
10) Pedestrians should also be able to see and think about their safety! A walker in dark clothing is visible to the driver from a distance at which, due to the speed of the vehicle, he can no longer respond in time to avoid a collision or collision with the pedestrian. Reflective elements, reflective clothing, reflective vests, reflective bands, and reflectors are an important element for safety and can greatly increase the visibility of pedestrians and thus protect their health or even life.
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