When the Headlights Must Be Turned On
Your safety while driving a car may depend on the proper use of your car’s headlights. Using headlights properly makes a big difference between driving safely and causing road accidents.
Your dirty, dim, cloudy, or broken headlights and even using the high beam mode in a wrong way may cause that one accident with another driver who has difficulty seeing them on their end.
A study says that half of the accidents happened at nighttime, so it is not a surprising thing if improperly used headlights were one of the causes of those accidents.
What is a headlight and why is it important?
Headlights are just one of the several lights that you can find on your car dashboard. Headlights can be set in different modes: low beam, high beam, fog lights, daytime running lights, parking lights, and replacement.
While headlights are not always on top of your mind, it still best to check them regularly and master how and when to use them.
What are the common applications of headlights?
With the aid of the most popular, energy-efficient, and cost-effective light-emitting diodes or LEDs, the expansion of the range of applications for vehicles has been a success.
- Headlights allow safe driving.
A driver’s safety also depends on the headlights. Especially at night, headlights are undeniably a great help and thus should be the priority to ensure safe driving. - Headlights make driving conditions good.
Whether it is rainy, foggy, hazy, or whatever condition your environment has while you are driving, headlights will always add up to your chances of being safe as headlights will surely increase the road visibility at any circumstance. - Headlights save people around you.
With the proper headlight mode used, you will be able to keep any pedestrian or any driver near you safe.
Of course, you will be able to achieve all of these if your headlights have sufficient light. Securing good-working headlights is one of the factors of being a responsible driver. In fact, 35% of drivers have headlights without good or sufficient lighting. However, the good thing is that LED lights are always available to provide enough and even great lighting for drivers.
When do you turn on the headlights?
Generally, some areas require drivers to turn on their headlights 30 minutes before sunrise, when it’s foggy, and the driver cannot see something that is 100 meters ahead of him. But since headlights can be set in different modes, there are specific situations when each of the headlights must be turned on. So below are some of the information on how to turn on the headlights and when to use them...
1. Dipped headlights
These are the commonly used headlights. Dipped headlights are brighter than sidelights, but not as bright as the full beam headlights. These headlights are angled downwards or towards the road. Usually, the switch for dipped headlights is found on the dashboard dial or twisted indicator stalk.
These headlights must be turned on when you are unable to see something that is 100 meters ahead of you, thus should be used at nighttime or during bad weather.
2. Full beam headlights
This is the brightest type of headlights normal vehicles have. Unlike the dipped headlights, full beam lights are angled higher, so you will see more of the road. The switch for full beam headlights is usually found beside the switch for the dipped headlights.
These lights are used when you need to go along stretches of road without any lighting. On the other hand, these lights must be turned off when approaching a pedestrian or cyclists, driving on left-turning bends, or even following another vehicle as these can lights can be blinding which may cause some accidents.
3. Fog lights
Fog lights have two sets: front and back. These are also color coded. In most cars, you will still need to turn on the dipped headlights before switching on the fog lights.
Apparently, fog lights are used to help you go through fogs and mists or when there is zero visibility. But if you think the visibility is bearable, then there is no need for you to use it. Doing so will avoid having other drivers dazzled by the headlights.
4. Hazard lights
These lights are attached to all corners of your car. These lights are symbolized by a triangle shape on your dashboard.
Use hazard lights when you want to warn other drivers that you are temporarily blocking the road for some reasons like accidents, obstructions, or breaking down.