There are a lot of safety features to consider when buying a new SUV, but an often overlooked one is headlights. Headlights are important for a variety of reasons, but the biggest of them is [pretty obvious – it’s so that you don’t hit things. While all cars, SUVs, and trucks have headlights, how well they work may be another story. These are the seven SUVs with the worst headlights you can buy in 2022.

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe is a Top Safety Pick+ with poor headlights

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe is the safest midsize SUV with poor headlights. Of course, part of winning the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick+ means that a vehicle must have good headlights, and only one of the Santa Fe trim levels does that. Two other trim levels, the SE and the SEL trim levels have poor headlight ratings.

The 2022 Kia Sorento has great safety ratings – but 1 stands out as poor

The 2022 Kia Sorento is another new sport utility vehicle with poor headlights. There are three trim levels that have poor headlights. These include the 2022 Kia Sorento LX, the S, and the EX trim. Other than that, the Kia Sorento has largely good safety ratings.

The 2022 Ford Edge has two headlight ratings

Like the Santa Fe and the Sorento, the 2022 Ford Edge has two safety ratings. The 2022 Ford Edge SE, SEL, Titanium, and ST trim all have poor headlight ratings. The only other headlight ratings are acceptable.

The 2022 Kia Telluride is a 2022 midsize SUV with poor headlights

The 2022 Kia Telluride has three trim levels that have poor headlight ratings. The Kia Telluride EX with the Tow package, the LX trim, and the S trim each have poor headlight ratings.

The 2022 Chevy Blazer has marginal and poor headlights

The 2022 Chevy Blazer is another SUV with not-so-great headlight ratings. The Chevrolet Blazer only has two headlights available on its trim levels, and neither of them have good ratings. There are only marginal and poor headlights available on the 2022 Blazer.

The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee WK has several headlight ratings

The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee WK is an SUV with some not-so-great safety ratings and the headlights are only part of this. The Jeep Grand Cherokee has both acceptable and poor headlights available on its trim levels, so if you decide to get the Grand Cherokee, make sure you pay attention to which trim level you buy.

The 2022 Jeep Wrangler is lacking good headlights

The 2022 Jeep Wrangler is another sport utility vehicle with questionable headlights. The only headlight ratings available on the Wrangler are marginal and poor.

Half of all deadly car accidents happen at night

Half of all fatal crashes occur in the dark, according to the IIHS, and more than a quarter of those crashes happen on unlit roads. As you might imagine, headlights come in handy on unlit roads, unless you have night vision (and you don’t, unless you’re Count Dracula).

Just the fact that a vehicle has headlights doesn’t mean that they’re any good. Headlights have to be bright enough and even point in the right direction to be optimal. Curve-adaptive headlights are fantastic, and help headlights illuminate the path in front of them even around turns and bends in the road. 

To make matters even more complicated, there’s no consistency surrounding the rules about headlights. That means headlights can vary from poor to good (with marginal and adequate in between). Headlight ratings can keep an otherwise safe vehicle from receiving a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ award. By avoiding these SUVs with poor headlights – or at least the trim levels – you’ll have a better chance of finding a safer SUV.