Lighting

Two weeks ago, we published the results of tests conducted by ADAC, Germany’s automobile association, showing that Xenon headlights are a huge safety improvement over conventional car headlamps, improving lighting by up to 71%.
The ADAC testers called for the mass introduction of Xenon for safety reasons, considering the better lights cost a reasonable €995 on the Skoda Superb.

We received three kinds of interesting feedback from our members following our publication of the results of these extensive tests.

The first feedback favours the status quo, and is along the lines of “Xenon light is a superior light, ok, but halogen light can be considered satisfactory as far as safety is concerned”.
True, but satisfaction is merely a subjective feeling, depending on drivers’ knowledge and awareness, which might vary from country to country and changes with time. We are tempted to remind the claims of BAST TüV and LRC surveys “Xenon light saves lives “and also the influence of age on drivers’ ability to cope with unforeseen obstacles by night drive ( see “Dynamic Bending Light Put to Test”, DVN June 2009). At speeds of 50km/h, most drivers over 30 years won’t be able to avoid unexpected obstructions on a left curve with halogen light. Bending Headlight is helpful but only Xenon strong light output will give that population of drivers the necessary safety margin required by their braking security distance.