As the UK approaches its darkest time of the year, Vauxhall is trying to raise awareness to the fact that their adaptive, glare-free permanent high-beam lamps could keep you safe this winter.
Interestingly enough, this isn’t just their marketing department talking. According to the Department for Transport, there were over 900 accidents last year during darkness hours which involved roadside hazards. Out of the 900, nearly 400 included an animal that found its way onto the road, and 300 involved different objects.
Of course, if you can see further away than other drivers, that theoretically means that your odds of staying safe increase. By basically driving around with permanent high beam (without annoying other drivers) you’ll notice other vehicles and animals before they would normally appear in the light cone of regular headlights.
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said that “While this is nearly a nine per cent fall on 2010 figures, clearly a significant risk remains so technology such as Vauxhall’s new IntelliLux system that gives drivers more time to react is a major step forward. One and a half seconds, the extra reaction time these headlights allow, might not sound like a lot of time, but when traveling at speed it really could mean the difference between life and death.”
Say what you will about the all-new Astra, but this is one technological innovation that C-segment buyers will surely fall in love with.
Statistically, at speeds of 80 km/h (50 mph) drivers will full LED matrix headlights will see objects located at the side of the road 30 to 40 meters (100 to 130 feet) earlier than drivers in vehicles equipped with halogen or xenon lights. In turn, this gives the driver an additional 1.5 seconds to react, which can certainly make the difference between narrowly avoiding a hazardous situation or getting into a very serious accident.
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