One of the most important things you need while driving at night, besides good headlights, is good tail lights.
Having good tail lights means having ones that are bright and well visible. When milliseconds count it is important that you have every advantage possible. This is something that can be found in LED (light emitting diode) bulbs.
LED tail lights have many advantages over the traditional halogen bulbs. To begin with they have a greater reaction time, with a reported 20% faster illumination than standard bulbs. This may seem like an insignificant amount of time, amounting to approximately .03 seconds, but when traveling at even the relatively slow speed of 45 miles per hour this can give you an additional 10 of reaction time. This can be the deciding advantage that keeps you from watching someone hit their brakes quickly behind you, or being slammed deadly hard from behind causing a terrible accident.
In addition to the reaction timing, LED tail lights are also remarkably energy efficient and highly durable. For example, take a 40 watt incandescent bulb. In order to generate the same amount of light equivalent to this bulb, an LED would only need 1.5 watts. They also have extremely long life spans, with the typical household light bulb lasting approximately 750 hours, whereas the LED can last as long as 100,000 hours. Because LED tail lights are constructed without a filament they are also extremely durable and can resist vibration and motion. This makes them the perfect match for the automobile.
What is surprising is that these remarkable bulbs are just now beginning to be popular on the market. They were first introduced in 1962 when they were initially used as an indicator on control panels. Now you are starting to see them used in a wide variety of lighting needs, including replacing traditional household bulbs, recreational vehicle lighting, boat lighting, and there are airports that have began using LED lights for their runways. This is saving one town hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual lighting and maintenance fees.
The benefits of using LED tail lights cannot be over stressed. Not only can it be extremely useful in assisting with a split second decision that could have potentially life threatening consequences, but it can also help your wallet down the road with savings.
