Headlights in Daylight Save Lives on Some Roads

Auto headlights do more than just light up the road at night. They can be lifesaving in daylight too when used on high-hazard roadways.

The results of a two-year study in which drivers along a 13-mile stretch of Santiago Canyon Road were urged to use headlights during daylight show a 58% drop in the accident rate. What makes the reduction even more dramatic is that the traffic volume on the roadway increased 100% during the same period.

Santiago Canyon is not the only dangerous road to benefit from the use of headlights during daytime hours. The program was launched on a 14-mile portion of Ortega Highway four years ago and, although no official statistics have been compiled, the California Highway Patrol credits the headlight program and radar enforcement for reducing accidents by an estimated 25%. Before those programs, the accident rate was four times the state average for two-lane rural roads. The other daylight program in Orange County is along Laguna Canyon Road. No official statistics have been compiled on results along that road.

The headlight program cannot be used everywhere. But in high-accident areas and along roads with special hazards, the headlights not only make oncoming cars more visible but make drivers more aware of each other and the special hazards the road poses.

Dramatic as the accident-reduction results are, they can be even better. Police say only about six out of every 10 drivers bothers to take part in the voluntary program. Even more needless deaths and injuries could be averted on the dangerous canyon roads if more motorists, and headlights, get turned on to the daylight program.