Hoping to shame the auto industry to do better, the insurance group is setting a de facto safety standard for carmakers to meet.  “That’s how we want to proceed,” Adrian Lund, the insurance group’s president, said. “We don’t go forward with this unless we think we are measuring something that makes a difference in safety.”  The group, which is supported by insurance companies, notes that almost half of United States traffic deaths occur at dusk, night or dawn. And a number of studies have found that many drivers do not even bother to use their high beams. The group is urging carmakers to produce headlights that guarantee the driver will be able to see a certain distance.  The auto industry’s chief regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has the power to update headlight standards. But changing a standard is a cumbersome process that can take years. Four years ago this month, the agency announced it was seeking public comment on changes to the headlight regulation. In a statement, the agency indicated it was at work on updating the headlight rules, without specifying a timetable.  It is easier for the insurance group to take action. And while its ratings are not legally binding, some automakers view them as a public relations mandate.  Starting next January, a vehicle that doesn’t get an “acceptable’’ or “good’’ headlight rating will not be eligible for the group’s coveted Top Safety Pick+ designation, a key selling point in some automakers’ ad campaigns.  Most of the automakers contacted about the headlight issue declined to comment on the test results, but some, including Nissan and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said they would use the information to improve their headlights. Honda said the new rigorous testing would “present a new challenge to all automakers” seeking to earn the group’s top rating in 2017.  This is not the first time the insurance group has pushed automakers to make improvements that exceed federal standards. Several of the group’s crash tests, for example, are more severe than federal tests. That has nudged automakers to revise models to get better ratings from the group.  When the group this week released its headlight ratings for 21 small S.U.V.s, none earned “good’’ ratings. Four — the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, and Mazda CX-3 — were rated “acceptable.”  Five got “marginal’’ ratings and the rest “poor.’’  The S.U.V.s were “even more deficient when it comes to lighting than the midsize cars that were the first to be rated earlier this year,” the group said.  In its tests, engineers measure how far the headlights on a vehicle enable a driver to see down the road on straightaways and curves, and how much glare the headlights produce for oncoming drivers.  That is in contrast with the laboratory-only tests by the N.H.T.S.A. With the federal test, “there’s no way to really know, on the road, how much visibility a driver would have from that headlight,” said Matthew Brumbelow, the insurance group’s senior research engineer.  “You could take that same headlight and put it up high on a pickup truck or down low on a sports car,’’ he said, “and you’ll get very different real-world performance.”  Many headlights performed poorly in the group’s tests because they were not aimed well, Mr. Lund said. The federal standard has no specifications about how headlights should be aimed once they are out of the laboratory and mounted on a vehicle.  And so the group is “requesting a level of precision that has not been required of automakers when it comes to aiming the headlights on their vehicles,’’ Mr. Lund said.  Lighting companies and car companies are concerned because they see the ratings as unfairly negative, said Michael Flannagan, research associate professor in the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.  “It’s not that the lamps are poorly designed, but if you don’t aim them well they will look bad,’’ he said. “Getting aim right isn’t easy; being off by a tenth of a degree can matter.  “But if vehicles are coming out of factories and being sold by dealers with bad aim, well, that’s the reality, and it needs to be dealt with.”  The insurance group is not the only organization critical of how headlights perform. Last year, the AAA motor club released test results suggesting that “halogen headlights, found in over 80 percent of vehicles on the road today, may fail to safely illuminate unlit roadways at speeds as low as 40 m.p.h.”  Halogen headlights, which contain bulbs filled with halogen gas, have been in use since the 1970s, when they replaced incandescent bulbs. But halogens are giving way to headlights equipped with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or high-intensity-discharge (HID) lamps.  And more recently, at least in Europe and Japan, there are new headlights with “adaptive driving beams.” Instead of using high and low beams, these headlights are infinitely variable and reduce glare to oncoming vehicles while providing the equivalent of high-beam visibility everywhere else.  But until there are changes, the insurance group offers drivers of most cars what might seem an obvious tip: Use the high beams as often as possible.  Even the best headlights (often available as an option or on a model’s higher trim levels) on 21 small S.U.V.s tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety seldom received passing grades. (All vehicles tested were 2016 models, except where noted.)  Acceptable Ford Escape (2017), Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson and Mazda CX-3  Marginal BMW X1, Mazda CX-5, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota RAV4 and Volkswagen Tiguan.  Poor Audi Q3; Buick Encore; Chevrolet Trax; Fiat 500X; Honda HR-V; Jeep Patriot, Renegade and Wrangler; Kia Sportage (2017); Mitsubishi Outlander Sport; Nissan Rogue; and Subaru Forester.  When the best headlights were tested on 31 midsize cars this year, the results were somewhat better. But nearly two-thirds of the cars, all 2016 models, were rated ”marginal” or worse.  Acceptable Audi A3; Honda Accord Sedan; Infiniti Q50; Lexus ES and IS; Mazda 6; Nissan Maxima; Subaru Outback (built after November 2015); Volkswagen CC and Jetta; and Volvo S60  Marginal Acura TLX; Audi A4; BMW 2 Series and 3 Series; Chrysler 200; Ford Fusion; Lincoln MKZ; Subaru Legacy; and Toyota Camry.  Poor Buick Verano; Cadillac ATS; Chevrolet Malibu and Malibu Limited (fleet model); Hyundai Sonata; Kia Optima; Mercedes-Benz C-Class and CLA; Nissan Altima; and Volkswagen Passat.  A version of this article appears in print on July 15, 2016, on page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: Road Seems Dark to You? New Tests Blame Your Headlights. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Citing limits to an aging American standard for automobile headlamps, insurers are pushing carmakers to do more to help drivers see in the dark.