The Dusk Dilemma
Image this scenario, you’re at a car show hanging out with your friends, maybe you even decided to take your significant other, kids, or grandkids. You’ve been having a blast showing off your ride, talking shop, and looking at all the recent upgrades everyone has made to their cars. It’s been a long day and you’re still having fun, but dusk is upon you and your friends ask you to stay and enjoy the nighttime BBQ they have planned and catch the fireworks show and late-night concert from some local bands. You pull out your phone from your pocket and look at the time, check how long it’ll take to get home with current traffic, and then look at them and say “Sorry, I gotta go I have to get up early tomorrow.”. It’s not that it’s too late, it’s really because you don’t want to admit that you can’t see worth a crap at night and are worried you’re going to run over something in the road and jack up your pride and joy. So, you quickly pack up your stuff, hop in your ride and head out so you can make it home before nightfall.
This is an all-too-common experience for may classic car and truck owners, and it’s due to the fact that many of us can’t see at all while driving home due to our classic’s halogen headlights and the extremely bright lights from the new cars and streetlights on the road. Don’t be ashamed, there is nothing wrong with you, it’s just how the human eye works, so let’s look at what’s going on and why you should consider installing high quality LED headlights into your ride.
Understanding Vision: Day vs Night
Our ability to see and identify objects strongly depends on the contrast – the difference in light intensity between an object and its surroundings. During the day, the sun creates shadows and distinct borders around objects, making it easy for our brains to identify the position of objects.
However, as night falls, contrast decreases, and our vision shifts from a Photopic (color and detail-oriented) state to a Mesopic (grey-scale, less detail) state. This change makes it harder for us to distinguish objects and their surroundings, this difficultly is further increased when those objects are dynamic and moving quickly on a road.
The LED Advantage
So how can LED headlights help? By producing a brighter and more focused light, LED headlights can enhance nighttime contrast, helping your brain identify objects quicker, thereby reducing eye strain and improving your reaction time.
Nighttime Glare: A Common Issue
The issue of nighttime glare is an all-to-common concern. Moving your eye’s focus from the brightness of oncoming vehicles or streetlights, to the road in front of you, to your mirrors, to your gauges, and back to the road can cause temporary blindness, making it dangerous. By producing a more uniformly distributed light, LED headlights can significantly reduce this brightness differential, enabling your eyes to adjust more quickly and improving your overall visibility.
LED Headlights and Your Response Time
Another crucial aspect to consider is the response time of your eyes to sudden changes in light. When exposed to a significant brightness differential, it takes some time for our eyes to recover and adjust – a phenomenon known as ‘blinding effect or flash blindness’. By reducing this brightness differential, LED headlights can significantly decrease this recovery time, enhancing your safety on the road.
LED Headlights: A Wise Investment?
So, is it absolutely necessary to upgrade your classic’s headlights to LEDs? Not necessarily. If you never drive your classic at night, or if your vision isn’t compromised by oncoming vehicle’s headlights, you might not feel the need for an upgrade.
However, if you value enhanced visibility, improved safety, modern technology, and a more comfortable driving experience during the night, high quality LED headlights are undoubtedly a worthwhile investment.
Conclusion
With their superior brightness, high quality LED headlights with DOT legal beam patterns can greatly enhance your nighttime visibility, making your classic ride’s driving experience safer and more enjoyable. While the decision ultimately lies with you, the benefits of making this upgrade are certainly compelling.
As classic car and truck enthusiasts and owners ourselves, we understand the importance of maintaining the original aesthetics of these cherished vehicles. That’s why KnightBeam developed an OE-style, 1:1 size, DOT legal LED headlight that blends seamlessly with your classic, offering a perfect balance of vintage style and modern performance.
Through rigorous testing to OE standards and a commitment to quality, we aim to provide you with LED headlights that are not just an upgrade, but a valuable addition to your classic ride.
References
- Burkard Wordenweber, Automotive Lighting and Human Vision (Berlin: Springer, 2007).
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Glare from Headlamps and Other Front Mounted Lamps.” Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 165 (2012): 51682-51706.
- Taek Mu Yi, “Design and evaluation of a new LED headlamp system with low energy consumption for electric vehicles.” Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology Vol. 26, No. 4 (2012): 1015-1021.
