Modern-day vehicles have poor lighting according to Ironman 4×4 Africa Director
Drivers in South Africa are still being left in the dark over vehicle lighting.
Dewald Ranft, Chairman of the Motor Industry Workshop Association (MIWA) and an affiliate association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), said vehicle owners and installers are not clear on what is legally acceptable in terms of vehicle lighting in South Africa.
According to Ranft, this is because there is a lack of adequate lighting in some areas of the country when travelling at night.
“There is much debate in the industry around this issue.
“Vehicle owners are looking for a solution that is within legal requirements,” he said.
Director of Ironman 4×4 Africa Mic van Zyl agreed with Ranft and added that modern-day vehicles have poor lighting.
“We surmise that the lighting is poor in order to prevent the blinding of drivers of oncoming vehicles,” he said
Drivers were previously limited to halogen lighting but with the advent of technology, choices have increased.
HID or Xenon lighting is one such advent but is an expensive option and sensitive to constant dipping of high beams, van Zyl said.
More modern vehicles use LED lighting technology in headlamps as an alternative to traditional lighting and this has filtered through to spotlights.
“The use of LED lighting has enjoyed steady growth on modern vehicles and is mostly used on all lighting applications except for headlights,” he says.
Ranft, however, says LED lights are inferior to HID lights from a distance penetration point of view and struggle to give good light past 400m.
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Van Zyl said wild animals such antelope are a constant and deadly danger to anybody travelling on rural roads at night.
“There is a definite need for bright lights to assist the drivers to spot potential animals next to the road and prevent potential animal strikes,” he said.
Van Zyl noted that the issue is not unique to South Africa because the predicament extends itself to any region that has wild animals.
An example of this is Australia with wild animals such as kangaroos and the lighting issue reaches as far as Europe and North America
Van Zyl says spotlights should always be wired so they can be disabled totally by their own switch as well as switched on and off by the vehicle’s high beam switch.
This is in an effort to avoid blinding oncoming drivers which he says is very dangerous.
However, van Zyl says the road traffic regulations have not kept up with new lighting technology.
This means it would be illegal to use any lighting on a road vehicle that does not comply with the Road Act.
According to a press release from the MIWA, the Act pertaining to vehicle lighting specifically with reference to spotlights includes the following:
• Only an even number of lights may be fitted to the front of a vehicle.
• White headlights, including spotlights, may not exceed six lights in total.
• No light may be fitted across the vertical median of the vehicle.
• No light may be fitted higher than the leading edge of the bonnet.
• No lights may be fitted on the roof of the vehicle.
• Halogen light globes may not exceed 55 watt. This does not equate to LED lights.
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