Smart Glass Glimpse, 11/7/16
Smart Glass Glimpse brings you the latest technology news in the glass and glazing industry so you can easily keep updated.
Never Forget... About Headlights
Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) is all the rave right now. Everyone in the automotive industry is trying to win the race to self-driving cars and the safest system of the all. However, a really important feature of vehicles has been forgotten in all the excitement. Ca you guess which on it is? Headlights! The most important feature for visibility as we drive at night, completely forgotten by the industry.
In a report presented on October 25, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave poor ratings most late-model pickup trucks. Only one large pickup, the Honda Ridgeline, is available with good-rated headlights, though all but the most expensive trim levels come with poor-rated headlights.
Pickups are the third vehicle category to have headlights evaluated by the IIHS. Unfortunately, the latest ratings on pickup trucks show the same disappointing pattern as the other two groups, midsize cars and small SUVs. Apparently, the automotive industry has really improved vehicle safety in recent years but completely overlooked an essential equipment to the safety of drivers.
According to IIHS, the Chevrolet Colorado with the worst-visibility headlights. The halogen reflector low beams on the pickup truck's base trim illuminate to only 123 feet on the right side of the straightaway. In contrast, the Honda Ridgeline LED low beams illuminate to 358 feet. So now it's clear why the Ridgeline's headlights are so well-rated, in comparison to the Colorado's headlights, of course.
Due to the lack of attention to headlights in the automotive industry, IIHS is incorporating this feature as a criteria for its highest award, "Top Safety Pick+." To qualify for the 2017 award, vehicles will need good or acceptable headlights. I think it's safe to say that no car manufacturer will forget headlight performance ever again.
Plus, Best Business Practices in the Industry
Industry columnist Richard Voreis regularly adds to his series called "Best Business Practices in the Glass and Glazing Industry." Recently he posted the 20th edition, which we will take a look at here.
Voreis recommends to document leadership effectiveness and employee leadership ratings. This is a way to find out how the leader is performing. Basically, employees get a chance to review their leader. It's a pretty scary concept if you are a leader within your organizations, but Voreis assures that the results are always interesting, informative and beneficial.
Tell us, how would you feel if you were being tested for leadership effectiveness? Would you be open to participating in such a process? Let us know in a comment below.