Despite advances in car technology ranging from backup cameras to warning signals and other electronics technology designed to make travel safer, one heavily-relied-upon piece of equipment has remained, for the most part, unchanged: Automobile headlights.

In the Dark
The St. Louis personal injury lawyers at Hoffman & Gelfman have uncovered lackluster lighting as a common source of driver/pedestrian accidents. Each year, more than 2,500 pedestrians across the U.S. pay the price for this deficiency. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that two-thirds of lighting packages of 21 vehicles within the institute’s small SUV classification, 10 in the mid-size car genre, and 7 pickup models delivered “poor” lighting performance across a range of those commonly sold U.S. makes and models.

What’s the Bright Idea?
Outdated federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rules have blocked automakers from integrating adaptive beam headlamp technology into the U.S. market, though legal and available in Europe and Japan. Worsening issues, allowable headlight systems, paired with today’s modern car designs, are exacerbating lighting performance and glare issues. Since asked to allow the adaptable lighting tech in vehicles by Toyota in 2013, NHTSA has yet to make a decision on technology that could potentially save lives.

Who’s to blame for your pedestrian accident? The truth may be more complicated than you perceive. Unravel your case with the St. Louis personal injury lawyers at Hoffman & Gelfman today.