HIGH intensity discharge (HID) headlights. That’s what you are going to have to deal with. In contrast to the yellow-tinted light which is produced by ordinary tungsten/halogen filament, the high intensity discharge lamps are xenon gas based and throw a near-perfect white light. The light generated is almost akin to sunlight. It appears brighter and gives the driver a better visual advantage in the dark. The H.I.D. headlights are also referred to as projector headlights. They are more expensive but you get two and a half times more light! In a country where motorists usually drive on high beams, this could be a disaster.

The HID headlight has an unusual design. It has a big round lens inside a shiny module — just like a projector, hence the name. Instead of the normal practice of having one fitment for city driving and another for high beam, there is a single bulb. The reflection behind the bulb changes angle to alter the light focus from low to high beam.

On European luxury cars, they have been the standard fitment for some time. Across the Atlantic, Ford’s Lincoln has them. G.M’s Cadillac will soon have them. In India, Ford’s Mondeo will be the first car to boast of them.

From the humble round headlight which we have seen for about 75 years, headlights have evolved to hi-tech inventions. Today the headlight cluster is a multi-lens facility. One bulb for low beam, one for high beam, one for day-time driving and one even for throwing a beam when a car goes around a corner.

Another electronic gizmo that has been around for some time may show up in cars. Light emitting diode (L.E.D.) Your calculator has been using it for 20 years or more. So have watch manufacturers. It can also be seen in camera view-finders. Scientific and medical instruments use it. The wheel-balancing machine uses it. Computers use it, home appliances use it, so why not cars? Some manufactures used it on the dashboard to flash the normal information of speed, temperature, fuel tank, etc. But for some reason, the old type of dials were preferred. It could also be the unreliability of L.E.D. It was surpassed by liquid crystal display (L.C.D.).

With recent improvement in L.E.D., it came back on the car manufacturers’ menu. Automakers used it as chimsels — or the high mounted tail light. The reason: L.E.D. illuminates about 200 milliseconds faster than a normal light bulb. Says the G.M authorities, "It does not sound like much but it equals a full car length at 65 m.p.h." This ability to light up faster means more notice to the following driver. The other plus points for L.E.D. is it is not fuse-prone, it lasts longer, it uses only 20 per cent of the electricity used by a normal bulb. It emits less heat.

The first car to have L.E.D. tail lights was the Cadillac from the G.M.

With all these properties, L.E.D. tail light could be stuck on fitments. Much like the L.E.D. clock you could buy for Rs 150 to stick on your dashborad.

As the LED finds more favour at the rear end, it may find its way into the headlight clusters.

Traditionally, and quite sensibly, we use lights at night. A number of automakers now provide day-time running lights. Some countries have made them a mandatory fitment. This has led to a decrease in day-time crashes. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the USA found a 3 per cent decline in accidents in states where this law applied.

This shows that lights are beneficial even during daylight. See and be seen. It’s safer. Remember on a foggy or rainy day to drive on low beam. High beam can be distracting even during the day.

And so are tail lights. Soon there will be tail lights with amplified versions or lights with more penetrating wavelength. This means they will be seen sooner in foggy or low visibility conditions by the driver who comes up at speed behind a slower vehicle. No more rear-enders!

Happy motoring!