Foggy Headlights Are a Night-Driving Hazard—And They’re Easy to Fix

If you’ve ever felt your stomach drop when the road goes black and your headlights turn the world into a dim gray soup, you already know the problem. Cloudy headlights don’t just look tired. They steal distance, contrast, and reaction time. Night driving punishes small mistakes, and the numbers are ugly: NHTSA’s day-vs-night crash data show nearly half of passenger-vehicle occupant fatalities (age 16+) happened at night even though only about a quarter of travel happens after dark.

Headlight glare gets all the attention lately, but a lot of “headlight problems” come from basic stuff: hazy lenses, bad aim, and lights that aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do. IIHS even notes glare complaints haven’t translated into more glare-related crashes, which is a polite way of saying your biggest enemy is still visibility and setup.

The 15-minute headlight restoration that actually changes the road

Start with a hard yes/no. If the lens has deep cracks, moisture trapped inside, or peeling plastic that looks like it’s failing from the inside, skip the DIY fantasy. That’s replacement territory.

If it’s normal oxidation, you can get real results fast. Wash the lens and the paint around it, then dry it. Tape the edges if you care about your clear coat. Grab a headlight restoration kit or plastic polish and work one lens at a time with steady pressure using a microfiber pad. Wipe it clean, check it from a few angles, then do a second pass if the haze still looks milky.

Protect it or you wasted your time. Oxidation comes back when you leave the lens bare. Use the UV sealant that comes with many kits, or at least put on a solid wax as a short-term shield.

Don’t skip headlight aiming

You can restore your lenses and still hate your headlights if they point low, wide, or crooked. AAA flags headlight aiming as part of basic night-driving safety, and it’s a simple garage-wall check on many cars.

Better headlights also track with fewer crashes. IIHS reports vehicles with good visibility ratings in its headlight test have 19% fewer nighttime single-vehicle crashes and 23% fewer nighttime pedestrian crashes than vehicles with poor-rated headlights.

My Verdict

If you drive at night and your headlights look foggy, you’re driving with the parking brake half on. And other people will pay a price. Do the headlight restoration, protect the lens, and aim the beams. You’ll see farther, spot hazards sooner, and stop clenching the wheel like it owes you money.