Any car enthusiast knows and understands the importance of sufficient coverage of the roadway. Human psychology is designed in such a way that when we have something, we want more, and as much as possible! That's the same trouble with the headlights. After all, xenon headlights in all respects beat halogen ones.
Traditional
incandescent lamps (halogen) emit more heat than light. This happens due to the glow of the spiral, while the temperature in the lamp rises.
In a gas discharge lamp (xenon), the light flux is obtained by emitting an arc between the electrodes, which occurs in an inert xenon gas and metal salts. The electrodes are in the flask under pressure. At the same power, xenon consumes energy almost half as much as a standard incandescent lamp, and it illuminates the road much better at night, in fog, rain, snowy weather, and this is an important safety indicator! The xenon beam powerfully “breaks through” the weather, illuminating not the raindrops or snow, but the road surface.
So, the main and indisputable advantage of
xenon lamps over halogen ones is a significant increase in the brightness of the light flux. However, the most interesting thing with all this is that many car owners do not even think about the significant advantage of xenon over halogen, they put it exclusively for cosmetic purposes, because nowadays the white-moon or bluish tint of xenon headlights is a rather stylish “touch” of tuning a car.
But the penalty for xenon has not been canceled! What threatens motorists with such a ride?
A xenon penalty exists, but not for everyone. At risk are drivers who have made changes to the design of their car, contrary to the requirements of the manufacturer. What threatens us with “illegal” xenon, is it a fine or merciless deprivation of a driver’s license?
Usually the unlawful use of xenon is justified in violation of Article 12.5.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation: the headlights must strictly comply with the requirements of the vehicle design. In other words, if xenon was installed by default in your vehicle by the manufacturer, then you do not risk anything, but if it is interspersed with barbaric methods in halogen headlights, the risk increases significantly. A fine for xenon in this case deprives the driver of the right to drive a car for a period of six months to a year.
As practice shows, for "illegal" xenon, usually no one fines anyone. At least in Russia. Apparently, we already have many reasons for which they are deprived of their rights. In light of which there is simply no time left for the “xenon drivers” ...
According to some reports, Europe is thinking about the possibility of completely banning xenon headlights. The reason for this is the blindness of the oncoming driver. If the authorities nevertheless get to this measure, then the question will arise about what to do with modern xenon cars? To the landfill? Or make unacceptable corrections to the design of the machine? If so, then on such cars a fine for xenon will be replaced by a fine for its absence!