Light test

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The light test is a road safety campaign in Germany . Under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Transport , the initiators Bundesverkehrswacht (today Deutsche Verkehrswacht e.V. ) and Zentralverband des Kraftfahrzeughandwerk e. V. in October 1956 with a week of action. Today in Germany many millions of motorists have their vehicle's lighting system checked free of charge in around 37,500 master workshops of the motor vehicle guilds, monitoring organizations and automobile clubs every October, and a sticker is stuck to the windshield.

history

Light test certificate 1957

The initiators started an action week in October 1956 under the motto “A blinded driver is blind!” The headlights and brake lights of the cars were checked free of charge at selected places in a few cities and at fixed times.

A year later, the road safety organizations of Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany agreed to hold an “International Lighting Week” from October 23 to 29. With the onset of mass motorization in the 1950s, more and more motor vehicles were on the road with obviously defective lighting: glare, headlights that were set too low, light loss or complete light failure in one or even several lights.

In the countries mentioned, drivers were able to check the lighting system of their vehicles in specialist workshops free of charge from October 1, 1957, and have the headlights adjusted correctly if necessary. In Germany this task was carried out by the companies affiliated to the Central Association of the Motor Vehicle Trade. Other organizations and associations also took part. After the test, the drivers received a sticker "with the hand that protects against glare". In old records, "a few hundred drivers" are reported who drove to one of the selected places for the first lighting action.

Other countries were added later, such as the Scandinavian countries, Austria, Switzerland and Spain. Some of these and those mentioned above are performing the light test again today. In Germany there has been the lighting weeks or the light test for more than five decades.

Check points of the light test

The Road Traffic Licensing Regulations ( StVZO ) specify what has to be checked as part of the light test. Eight lighting points on passenger cars are checked in terms of their basic function and setting in the test centers:

  1. High and low beam
  2. Fog lights, search lights and other permitted auxiliary lights
  3. Marker and parking lights
  4. Brake lights
  5. Taillights
  6. Hazard warning lights
  7. Direction indicators
  8. Rear fog light
  9. Headlight cleaning system
  10. Wiper blades
  11. Windshield cleaning system

The light test has also been carried out on commercial vehicles since 2006. The StVZO also specifies here what has to be checked as part of the light test. Ten lighting points on the commercial vehicle are checked for their basic function and setting in the test centers:

  1. High and low beam
  2. Fog lights, search lights and other permitted auxiliary lights
  3. Marker and parking lights
  4. Brake lights
  5. Taillights
  6. Hazard warning lights
  7. Direction indicators
  8. Rear fog light
  9. Reversing lights
  10. Side marker lights

Light test badge

After the test has been carried out, the motorists receive the light test sticker behind the windshield. Every year the Federal Minister of Transport and patron of the campaign, together with the ZDK board, presents the current light test badge to the public. The police are sometimes also informed via the interior ministries of the federal states.

Light test defect statistics

In Germany, around every third vehicle shows at least one fault in the vehicle lighting during the annual inspection in October. At the beginning of the campaign, this was less surprising than the fact that later became apparent that this record has not improved in the course of more than five decades.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Handbook of the German Traffic Guard 1999.