The New York herald., 1921-02-13
DANGER IN GLARE
OF HEADLIGHTS
Lamps Should Illumine Road
way, but Not Blind
Other Motorists.
BY HI. CLIFFORD BROKAw,


Technical Director West Side Y. M. G. A.
Automobile Schools.
Somewhere 1t is written that we must
let our lights shine and not hide them
under bushel This sage advice must
have been uttered with the automobile in
vley, for certainly there never was a
greater need when driving after dark
than good lights. If ones electric light
plant will not shed light in dark places
locomotion is bound to be slow and un-
certain.
The lights. furnished with every car
are ample to illumne the roadway "a
sufficient distance ahead for safety.
They are designed to give clear view
of ruts. holes or distractions for not
less than fifty feet. and to enable one to
distinguish such things. to pick out
pedestrians or unlighted. vehicles for $50
feet to $50 feet, or perhaps farther
They will do it provided everything is all
right, but one sees many a car to-day
which is all wrong because the lights are
out of adjustment, dim and occasionally
burned out. on the other hand too
often they go TO the other extreme and
emit such a glare as to blind every one
in front of the car.
The lighting system of car Is not
complex. Current Is supplied from the
storage battery by wires leading to the
switch; from the switch other wires lead
to each set of lights, through the fuse
box. designed to prevent an excess cur
rent from passing to the bulbs and burn
Ing them out The component parts Of a
lighting system. therefore, are the bat
terry. switch, fuse box, wires and lamps
III anything goes wrong one Of these
things must be at fault
This naturally implies that there must
be a charged battery, else it cannot give
OFT current enough to be effective. The
battery should be tested at intervals
to see that 1t is charged. The inspection
should go further and see that the wires
attached to the battery terminals are
not corroded and are tight. To continue
the inspection follow the wires from the
battery to the switch, remembering that
II 1t be grounded system one wire
leads to the car frame and only one wire
to the switch. Look for broken wires.
insulation worn so that the naked wire
can rub against metal part, oil soaked
insulation and loose connections at the
terminals 1t Is not wise to take the
switch apart often The proper kind of
switch does not need IL, but once in a
while dirt or corrosion will keep 1t from
working perfectly and II Is well to know
that this is not the case.
II the lights all burn one need not
pay MUCH attention 10 the fuSe box, but
II any set of lights fails il NAV be he
cause one of the fuses is burned out.
An extra set should always be carried in
the car, done up in a package and
Iapelied. Trace the wires from the fuse
pox to each set OF lights, watching for
proken wires worn insulation and a
loose connection at the terminals.
Inc dash light and the tail light are
usually connected in SERIES and If one
is in trouble they both are, and II 4,
necessary to keep good bulbs In each
lr the car is equipped with side lights
and head lights the most likely piace
TOT trouble is with the lattor. Side lights
are usually Of small candle power and
ordinarily give little trouble, but must
be inspected occasionally.
according to law, head lights must be
equipped with non-glare lenses. Now the
sehtienien who framed that law were
mteiiigent and worthy. and had a good
opJect In view, namely. to protect drivers
and pedestrians from being blinded bv
gisring lights. Acting under the law.
state officials decided that certain
lenses fully complied with these law
ana the seal of approval was placed on
their use. Did that end the glare nuis-
ance? Wen. do cot need to answer
tnet question. You and l know that il
did not. But why? The law said nothing
about focusing the lamp behind fine
head light. ''''
Right here want to pay tribute to the
good sense and charity of ninety-nina
per cent OF auto drivers 1t has come 10
ne regular custom to turn down the
mead lights upon approaching another
car. sufficiently far away TO make sure
that he Is not blinded by the glare and
this Is done even though the head lights
fully comply with the non-gare laws. II
is only occasionally that one meets A
driver 80 careless or indifferent as TO
neglect his road manners in this respect
1 say road manners, for I believe there
are only few cases where 1t is sheer
Ignorance.
With every set OF non-gIare lenses
come instructions for installation. In
most cases they tell you 10 set the car
so to 80 feet from the garage door or
some other whll or surface and turn
on tho lights. With all modern head
lights there is an adjustment readily
got at Just back of the bulb. The in
structions viii tell you to adjust the
light so that you have bright circle OF
light about foot in diameter on the
wall. This should not be higher than the
head lights On the contrary, It should
be lower. that the light may be thrown
down upon the roadway and not up 10
the height OF the drivers seat
Now, with the light carefully ad-
1ustcu III dCcOfudnce WITH tho 1nStTuC- |
tons. which may vary-slightly from the |
foregoing, test the lights out on the |
road stop the car and go off ahead of |
II and see how they look to YOU. DO they |
Affn ySn Wien you arc $50 Or 200 feet |
s~ays f-o they throw the light down |
upon the roadway OF mp toward your |
eyes? The lens Is designed so that no |
glare Mould reach your eyes. and IL the |
adjustment Is correct IL will not. Most |
of the glare which we see these nights |
is due to improper focusing of the (
lamp In the headlight. A very dusty |
piece of road Is a good place TO see what |
sort OF a beam the headlights throw. |
They should project parallel shafts OF |
light, which Increase In diameter very |
slightly with distance. II the police |
would study this part of the auto and be |
able to instruct drivers they would les
sen the danger and have fewer arrests
TO make.
The danger, by the way, IL not ali 20
the other fellow. because IL YOU blind |
him he may drive straight into you
because he cannot see what he is doing.