On September 22nd, Driving Vision News will publish our 25th in-depth technical report, and we humbly consider it our most important yet. It is our analysis on the Contribution of Automotive Lighting to Safety. Nighttime traffic is dangerous, with more than twice the fatality rate than in daytime, and it is obvious that we must each and all cooperate to improve safety of night driving. We’d like everyone in the automotive lighting community to study and consider this evaluation of the safety performance potential of all kinds of automotive lighting.
High-performance, high-technology lighting doesn’t just make cars look good, it saves lives. This report provides comprehensive coverage of lighting and signaling technology and technique in production and under development. Tungsten-halogen, Xenon, and LED light sources are covered, as are reflector optics, all variants of the projector concept, and modular LED optics. Advanced lighting control systems are presented by category and by maker. All of these technologies and systems are evaluated with respect to their safety performance contribution. Concrete suggestions are made for Tier 1 & 2 suppliers to improve and push high-technology lights, and what automakers should do and should request from their suppliers to improve night driving.
We, the professionals of the automotive lighting community, know very well that only high-cost premium cars would benefit from improved safety equipment if the decision were left to the free market. Hence the key importance of wise regulatory policy is covered in this report. It is also explained that while good lighting greatly improves safety, that by itself is not enough. Drivers must be taught what safe night driving means, and pedestrians have to be taught how to use the roads safely at night.