Nov 10, 2008

Avoiding Life's Dim Bulbs

If you want to avoid something dangerous, throwing some light on it is a good first step. With the dark days of winter coming on, avoiding dim bulbs can make you safer. As you know, dim bulbs are everywhere, but making an effort to avoid them as you are preparing for winter driving might be a life-saving idea. 

Often a vehicle’s lighting system is one of the last things on the preventive maintenance checklist, if it even makes the list at all. But with more than 200 million registered motorists navigating the roadways in less-than-ideal weather conditions, ensuring the upkeep of your vehicle’s lights should be a top priority. What you can’t see can hurt you. Older, sealed-beam headlights dim over time and should be replaced periodically.

While newer halogen bulbs don’t suffer from this problem -- they either work or they don’t -- replacement bulbs, which can increase lighting performance, are available. Headlight aim is also important. Lights that work but point in the wrong direction will not illuminate the road properly. What’s more, they can cause glare that decreases visibility in snow or fog and presents a hazard to oncoming traffic.

While headlights are the brightest bulbs in your vehicle’s lighting system, they aren’t the only ones to check. With rain and snow on the way, proper functioning of the parking lights, taillights, brake lights, turn signals and side marker lights is imperative. If your vehicle isn’t seen, it could become an unintended target.