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IIHS Update

October 28, 2016Charlottesville, Virginia

Headlight rating program

Motivation for headlight evaluation program

16,768 annual crash deaths in dark, dawn, dusk light conditions (2013 FARS)

HLDI analyses point to benefits for curve-adaptive headlights (2012 HLDI analyses of Mazda, Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo claims)

Human factors experiments have established link between detection performance and improved lighting

FMVSS 108 produces wide range of on-road visibility– Large variation in allowable intensity

– Performance is not measured when installed, so factors like lamp height and spread are not captured

– Aim is not regulated

Vehicle approaches:

– 150 m radius left and right curves at 65 km/h

– 250 m radius left and right curves at 80 km/h

– Straightaway at 65 km/h

Record illuminance readings for:

– Visibility – edges of road at 25 cm above ground

– Glare – center of oncoming lane (110 cm)

Dynamic headlight test setup

250 m radius

150 m radius

straightaway

direction of travel

Light sensor array

Sample data: straightaway3 different approaches for same vehicle

50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 1500

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

distance (m)

Lux

on ri

ght e

dge

of ro

ad

Visibility metric: distance at which 5 lux illumination is reached

First headlight releaseMarch 30

Midsize moderately priced and luxury/near-luxury cars

31 vehicle models

82 headlight combinations

– 1 good

– 17 acceptable

– 20 marginal

– 44 poor

First ratings release

Toyota Prius v

Website example

BMW 3 series halogen and Toyota Prius v LED Low beams

100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft

BMW 3 series halogen and Toyota Prius v LEDHigh beams

100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft

Toyota Prius v LED and BMW 3 series halogen On-road comparison

2016 headlight test plan

2nd test group: small SUVs

– 20 models

– 43 unique make/model/headlight combinations

0 good

2 acceptable

8 marginal

33 poor

TSP+ candidates

Trucks (resulted released October 25th)

2017 TSP+ will require a good or acceptable headlight rating

Best available headlight for each model

Honda Ridgeline GMC Sierra Nissan TitanRam 1500

Chevrolet SilveradoFord F-150Toyota Tundra

Chevrolet ColoradoGMC CanyonNissan FrontierToyota Tacoma

POORP

GOODG

ACCEPTABLEA

MARGINALM

Large and small pickup trucks

Headlight rating counts148 ratings

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

good

acceptable

marginal

poor

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