LED Snowplow Lights – Evaluation Report

Fogg, Daniel J; Evans, Lane W; Ehmann, Jay D · 2020 · ROSA P / New Hampshire. Dept. of Transportation

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Summary

This evaluation report by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) addresses the operational inefficiencies and safety concerns associated with halogen auxiliary headlights on snowplow trucks. The primary motivation for the study was the excessive vibration during plowing, which caused frequent halogen bulb failures—often requiring four to six replacements per storm—and contributed to operator eye fatigue due to poor visibility and light bounce-back. With no firm policy regarding Light-Emitting Diode (LED) usage, NHDOT sought to determine if converting to LED technology would reduce maintenance costs, extend service life, and improve visibility for safer winter maintenance operations. The study compared standard halogen bulbs against heated LED bulbs (JW Speaker 8910 Evolution 2 with SmartHeat™ technology) installed on 17 plow trucks across NHDOT Districts 1 and 3. The research period covered the 2019–2020 winter season, utilizing a mix of high-volume interstate routes and low-volume rural roads to assess performance under varied weather conditions, including snow, fog, and freezing rain. Data collection relied on surveys completed by vehicle operators, supervisors, and the public. Operators reported on visibility, peripheral vision, and eye fatigue, while supervisors assessed the visibility of the plow trucks to oncoming traffic and potential glare issues. The results demonstrated significant advantages for LED lighting. Among operators, 98.5% reported better or much better forward visibility, 97.8% reported improved peripheral visibility, and 70.4% experienced reduced eye fatigue. Supervisors corroborated these findings, with 91.4% noting better visibility and 72.4% reporting improved peripheral visibility; only three instances of blinding oncoming traffic were recorded. Crucially, regarding maintenance, zero LED headlights required replacement during the project duration, whereas halogen bulbs typically failed one to two times per storm. A cost-benefit analysis estimated that halogen usage cost approximately $1,295.80 per truck per season due to labor and material costs, compared to $206.04 for LEDs, which have a longer service life and warranty. The study concludes that converting the NHDOT snowplow fleet from halogen to LED headlights is highly beneficial. The findings support the recommendation to adopt LED technology for existing fleets and include it in specifications for new vehicle purchases. The transition offers substantial reductions in maintenance requirements and costs, while significantly enhancing operator visibility and reducing fatigue, thereby improving overall safety and morale for winter maintenance crews.

Key finding

Converting snowplow headlights from halogen to LED reduced seasonal maintenance costs from $1,295.80 to $206.04 per truck and resulted in 98.5% of operators reporting improved visibility with no LED replacements required during the test period.

Methodology

field_study

Sample size: 197

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• headlamp performance
• roadway lighting effects