Why should headlight height be adjusted when you're carrying a heavy load in your car?

Why should you adjust the headlight height when carrying a heavy load? If you’re going on a trip in the next few hours, as well as checking the condition of your tyres, you should adjust the headlight height if you’re carrying a load. Sometimes this isn’t done out of ignorance or simple forgetfulness, but your safety is at stake and, in addition, you can be fined up to 200 euros.

You should know that driving with an empty car is not the same as driving with five passengers and luggage. Depending on the weight, several variables must be taken into account, such as tyre pressure and the increase in braking distance. Likewise, fuel consumption also increases when travelling with a heavy load.

Why should you adjust the headlight height when carrying a heavy load?

When the car is loaded with luggage and passengers, the extra weight at the rear lifts the nose slightly. This causes the headlights to point upwards and not light the road properly, which can lead to dazzling other drivers and reduced visibility.

Adjusting or levelling your headlights is very simple: you only need to adjust the position and the intensity to avoid incidents and follow the lighting motto “see and be seen”. Normally, the headlight levelling controls are located to the left of the driver’s seat, possibly below the air vents and next to the driver’s door. They may have a scale from 0 to 3 or from 0 to 5. The numbers indicate the intensity and the height.

When travelling without luggage, the dial should be set to 0, but it must be increased according to the load the vehicle is carrying at that moment. When you unload the car, the setting should go back to zero. If you visit a workshop or the MOT test centre, you will see they measure the height with a machine, but if you do it yourself before setting off on a trip, we advise you to park the car about 30 cm from a wall, switch on the lights and measure the distance between the centre of the headlight and the ground.

At that height, place a horizontal strip of tape and two vertical strips so that the centres of the headlights form a T. Move the car and position it about ten metres from the wall. Now you can adjust the headlights until the centre of the light beam reaches the horizontal correction line. The main beam should fall between the two vertical lines we have marked.

Did you know that not having your headlights at the correct height, or having a burnt-out bulb, can result in fines of between 80 and 200 euros?