Fewer New Vehicles Produce Headlight Glare Thanks to IIHS Pressure

One annoying aspect of new LED headlights is excessive glare from oncoming vehicles at night. The good news is that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is holding automakers accountable, and that is resulting in fewer offenders. According to a new update by IIHS, testing shows that fewer and fewer new models blind oncoming traffic with glare.

“Driving at night is 3 times as risky as driving during the day,” says IIHS Senior Research Engineer Matthew Brumbelow, who conducted a 2021 study on how headlight effectiveness correlates to crash frequency. “...real-world results show that better scores in our headlight tests translate into safer nighttime driving on the road, which is, of course, what really matters,” says Brumbelow.

IIHS also says that while inadequate visibility is the primary headlight issue known to lead to crashes, excessive glare from other vehicles’ headlights is a common concern. Modern technology allows properly aimed headlights to illuminate the road ahead without blinding other oncoming drivers. 

IIHS began rating headlights as part of its comprehensive safety testing back in 2016. Eight years on, the group will not grant the Top Safety Pick designation to any vehicle with poor headlights. Excessive glare can mean a vehicle loses that coveted rating. 

Manufacturers have improved headlight designs to reduce glare as part of their response to IIHS headlight ratings. Shortly after IIHS started testing headlights, one in five vehicles tested had excessive glare. Now that has dropped to just one in 20.

Glare is not the only way headlights are scored, of course. IIHS has a unique testing facility that allows the group to measure the effectiveness of both high and low beams straight ahead and in turns. Vehicles with automatic high beams earn bonus points, as do those with adaptive, curving headlights. 

If you are shopping for a new vehicle, check out the results of safety testing for that model at the IIHS website. Each model has a headlight score for each vehicle model and even each trim level. 

Since we are discussing headlights you may want to find these headlight-clearing DIY-home-repair steps helpful.

Headlight image courtesy of IIHS.

John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can follow John on Twitter, and connect with him at Linkedin.