Driving at night can be quite tricky. Ensuring your vehicle's lights are working correctly is important for your own safety as well as others. Fatal accidents often happen at night as compared to daytime. And most of the accidents occur because of not having proper headlight alignment of the car.  So, it’s very important to keep your car’s headlight clean and properly aligned.

When the headlight alignment goes wrong!

If your car’s headlights are too high, they can create an obstacle for the drivers coming from the opposite side and can cause a severe accident. Whereas if you set your car’s headlight too low, it can limit your visibility, making it difficult for you to see or react in time to unexpected situations on the road. We know “Prevention is better than cure”, but how many of us strictly take preventive safety measures to avoid serious accidents? Just a few! And the rest? Well no matter how many traffic rules are there to keep us safe, it is also our duty to abide by those whenever we step out on the road. 

And one of the major areas to be careful about is to check the headlight alignment which is usually ignored.

But how to do that? Well, follow these simple steps to keep your car’s headlight perfectly aligned before you step out :

How to align your car’s headlights?

It's quite easy to align headlights all by yourself, as you do not need any fancy tools to do this. The main things you'll need are:

• A flat surface
• A garage door 
• Chalk or tape to mark your car’s headlight beams 
• Tape measure

The first thing you need to do is check that your car is at a level and if the tire pressure of your car is correct. Then pull your car up to the wall or garage door and turn the low beam on. Mark three dots on the wall or door to measure the angle both horizontally and vertically. And thus, you are done with the alignment! 

Things to do while you are driving at night!

• Set the angle of your car’s headlight 

If the beams of your car’s headlight are too much tilted down, they will cause you to lose the illuminations you need while driving. Whereas, if they are tilted too high, they can blind the drivers coming from the opposite side. So, you need to make sure that your car’s headlight alignment is done correctly. You can also take help from the car’s manual to set the alignment. Even though there are separate buttons for both High and low beams, still alignment is something that needs to be taken care of regularly.

•  Tweak the car’s inside lights

Cars usually have bright LEDs and large infotainment screens which can create a lot of distractions inside the vehicle that can give you glare while you are driving. So, it’s better to use the dashboard dimmer switch that would remove reflections on the windshield and allow your eyes to better adjust to the darkness ahead, improving night-time visibility.

• Look in the right direction

While driving even if you fix your eyes on the road, it’s obvious for you to gaze and stare at the oncoming headlights. So, when approaching oncoming vehicles, avoid staring at it as you may go blind by its headlights. If, in case this happens, just make sure to shift your eyes down and to the right, and follow the lane markings as a guide to stay on track. 

Also Read: Here’s why Vehicle AC Services are important in UAE?

• Look around as you might encounter animals

While driving at night there’s a greater chance to come across animals, like the Arabian mouse, desert hedgehog etc. They can appear out of nowhere, causing confusion and can make you stop suddenly causing fatal accidents. Having an accurate headlight alignment will help you to spot them from a distance and avoid any danger.

• Check if the headlights of your car are clean!

Are the lenses on your car’s headlights crystal clear, or do you see some fogginess or yellowness? This is caused because most of the manufacturers apply a UV protective film to the exterior of the lens to protect the headlights which over time due to dust and dirt damages the film, making the lenses appear foggy or yellow. This results in creating an obstruction in the visibility while you are driving. So before your car’s headlight alignment goes improper, make sure the lenses of the car are crystal clear.

• Test Your Car’s headlights before you start driving!

Carelessness doesn’t bounce, it shatters! So, you need to have a regular test on all your car’s headlights, including low beams, high beams, daytime running lights, turn signals and brake lights. And make sure to use proper headlight alignment not only in dark but also in adverse weather conditions like rain. As rain makes headlights less effective by filtering away some of the light output while reducing illumination on the road ahead.

You might have a misconception that your car’s headlights are in good shape as long as they power on when you need them. But, even your car needs headlight restoration and maintenance. While searching for headlight restoration near me, you might have come across different service centers that provide you great services for your vehicles, but what if you get everything in one place? Wouldn’t it be more convenient?

Yes, ZDEGREE is a one-stop solution for all the maintenance services you need for your car. From providing you quality tires for your branded cars to a detailed car wash, from giving your car a proper headlight alignment and maintenance to providing you with a new car battery, we have it all. We are a leading automotive maintenance company with service centers spread across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. We offer excellent headlight and fog light alignment services by using the latest technology. We even make sure that your headlights, high-intensity discharge lamps and fog lights are safe and properly aligned so that it does not become an obstacle while you drive. Click here to book an appointment!