IIHS Tests Small SUV Headlights, Not a Single Model Gets A Good Rating

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced its intention of testing automotive lights last year, and it plans to make the rating achieved in this trial essential for receiving a Top Safety Pick Plus distinction in 2017. Therefore, these tests and their results should not be ignored by automakers.

However, we must note that it will not be compulsory for a carmaker to have headlights that get a “Good” of “Acceptable” rating, unless they target the “Top Safety Pick +” award. This will mean that not all automotive headlamps will improve due to this testing procedure.

The second ever headlight assessment test put 21 small SUVs under the spotlight (pun intended). Between them, the 21 SUVs have 47 different headlamp combinations, so it took engineers some time to test all variations.

Over two-thirds of them were rated poor, which made the group of small crossovers and SUVs more deficient in this area than the midsize cars that were the first to be rated on this subject.

The IIHS notes that approximately half of traffic deaths occur either in the dark or around dawn or dusk in the USA, which makes headlights important as a safety feature.

Like in the case of midsize sedans, tests have shown that expensive models do not necessarily feature the best headlights. Moreover, some High-Intensity Discharge Systems and LED lamps, including some with curve-adaptive systems, are not a guarantee of good performance.

A part from high beam assist, the test does not favor any technology ahead of another. Instead, it focuses on how much usable light can be provided in certain situations.

Five approaches are tested: traveling straight, taking a sharp left, approaching a sharp right curve, a gradual left curve, and a gradual right curve.

The glare generated by low beams is tested in each scenario, and any headlight with excessive glare cannot earn a rating higher than marginal. In the case of small SUVs and crossovers, the IIHS has determined that glare is a significant issue, as the headlights are placed higher than in regular cars, and most of them are aimed poorly, producing excessive glare.

According to the IIHS, 17 headlamp models fell short of an acceptable rating because of glare, a problem that affects all headlight technologies because of the reasons explained above.

The best performing small SUV that was tested by the IIHS was the Mazda CX-3, with its curve-adaptive LED lights with optional high beam assist. It did not get the maximum "Good" rating, though, because performance on the progressive left curve test was not on par with the other results.

The other three models with “Acceptable” headlights were the 2017 Ford Escape, 2016 Honda CR-V, and the 2016 Hyundai Tucson. The last of the three only got this rating in its Limited version, but without the curve-adaptive headlights, which were penalized for excessive glare.

The poorest result in IIHS’ test was obtained by the Honda HR-V, which is also one of 12 small SUVs that cannot be purchased with anything other than poor-rated headlights. In the case of the HR-V, low beams, and high beams provided inadequate illumination on all four curves and in a straight line.