Are High Beams Illegal in India? Understanding the Rules and Risks of Headlight Misuse

Do you know that 40 percent of accidents in India happen only during nighttime, and many of them happen only due to the wrong use of high beams? Using high beams inside the city is a legal offence due to which you may have to pay a fine of up to Rs 10,000.

The high beam and low beam refer to two distinct settings of a vehicle's headlights designed for different driving conditions. High beams provide a strong, focused light that illuminates a longer and wider distance ahead, making them suitable for poorly lit or rural roads where visibility is critical, and there is minimal oncoming traffic. In contrast, low beams offer a more subdued, downward-focused light pattern that illuminates a shorter distance. Low beams are ideal for city driving, well-lit roads, or when vehicles are nearby, ensuring safety for all road users.

In this article, we will discuss the high beam epidemic in India, its potential dangers, the technology developed by car companies to address this issue, and the proposed solutions to address this problem.

Often, when you drive at night, you will witness other drivers using excessively bright lights from the front throughout the journey. An NGO named Arrive Safe conducted night tests on national and state highways in Punjab and Haryana in 2016, and they found out that about 74 percent of car and SUV drivers in India continuously use high beams. They also found out that less educated truck drivers are more intelligent than educated car drivers because about 77 percent of truck drivers lowered the headlights of their trucks on seeing the vehicle coming from the front.Many people get temporary blindness due to the bright light of high beams, and it takes 20 to 60 seconds for the vision to recover. This time is very crucial because when moving at highway speeds without being able to see, the car can suddenly collide with anything. Many people struggle so much with bright light that they have to park their cars on the side. An estimate suggests that improper use of high beams accounts for 30 percent of nighttime accidents. These accidents can be extremely dangerous, as a driver cannot apply the brakes if they cannot see even 50 meters ahead. If someone behind you is using a high beam at a distance of less than 100 meters, so much glare will enter your ORVM (Outside Rear View Mirror)  that you will not be able to see anything behind you.

If we compare this situation with the USA, we get to know that there is so much sensitivity about the use of high beams that people there have now started driving on low beams permanently. 

Let's now delve into the reasons behind this phenomenon. Many individuals on Indian roads are unaware of the proper use of headlights, often relying on them for their entire journey without realizing the potential risks to others. According to a report, in the last 14 years, twice as many vehicles have been on the roads of India every year, and most of the drivers are those who have never owned a car before.

Our transport authorities also play a significant role, as they often fail to instruct individuals on proper headlight usage during driving tests. Except for the expressways, all highways lack streetlights, resulting in complete road visibility loss and a constant need for drivers to use high beams to maintain highway speeds. The state of street lights on highways is poor. Apart from major cities, numerous cities in India lack adequate street lighting.

The next reason is the improved headlight technology in vehicles, which makes this whole situation even worse. Car companies use LEDs and projector LEDs because they provide good visibility for drivers at night, and they consume significantly less power compared to halogen lights. One factor contributing to this is the growing popularity of SUVs. Full-size SUVs mount their headlights significantly above the hatchback, forcing drivers of low-rise vehicles to confront the intense glare from these LEDs. During winter, fog often leads people to use excessive high beams at night, which is a common mistake. During fog, low beams or fog lights should be used because if you use high beams in fog, due to black dazzle, the road ahead of you can become even more blurred, and the vehicles coming from the front will definitely face problems.

We have already known about all the problems caused by high beams; now let us know what the rules and regulations regarding this are. Your headlights should be on a low beam if the vehicle coming from the front is closer than 200 meters, according to the rules.

The government should work on improving the infrastructure. Despite many drivers' awareness and careful use of high beams, the absence of adequate street lights forces them to continuously rely on high beams. This underscores the pressing need to address the streetlight situation in India.

Toyota has a simple and intelligent solution: their headlights switch to low beam automatically when the approaching car reaches an unsafe distance and switch to high beam after the car passes. These vehicles mount a camera on the top of the windscreen to carry out this operation.

In India, it is our duty to drive safely and responsibly. We should be sensitive towards other drivers while driving. If you are driving on highways without street lights, lower your lights while maintaining proper distance, and if you are driving in the city, do not use high beams.