After lackluster showings among midsize cars and SUVs, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that headlights on several pickup models are also lagging. Only one truck earned a good rating during testing of headlight effectiveness.

IIHS has been evaluating headlights on a variety of vehicles throughout the year. It says a model will have to earn a good or acceptable rating in headlight testing in order to qualify for its highest award, the Top Safety Pick, in 2017.

Researchers analyzed 11 trucks with 23 possible headlight combinations. IIHS engineers looked at how far light was projected from the low beams and high beams on both straightaways and curves, as well as the level of glare the low beams would create for oncoming drivers. Headlights were rated as good, acceptable, marginal, or poor.

All four small pickup truck models and three of the seven large pickup truck models received poor ratings. Two models were rated marginal, one was rated acceptable, and one was rated good.

"These latest ratings follow the same disappointing pattern as the other groups," said Matthew Brumbelow, a senior research engineer at IIHS. "As vehicle safety has improved in recent years, this important equipment has been overlooked."

Excessive glare contributed to the poor ratings in most of the pickups included in the testing. Of the 23 possible combinations, 14 of them had low beams that produced too much glare for oncoming drivers. If a vehicle produces too much glare in any of the five scenarios run by IIHS, it cannot earn a rating higher than marginal.

The 2017 Honda Ridgeline was the only pickup to earn a good rating, although its less expensive trim levels earned poor ratings. IIHS says the more expensive RTL-E and Black Edition trim levels included LED projector low beams which offered good visibility in most scenarios, as well as high beam assist, which automatically turns on the high beams when no other vehicles are present on the road.

The GMC Sierra received an acceptable rating on some trim levels. However, headlights on other versions were rated poor or marginal.

IIHS introduced its headlight rating system to assess how well they can illuminate a road in real world driving. The institute says headlights must meet government standards, but that these standards are based on laboratory tests which allow for a significant variation in design and performance.

In March, IIHS announced that only one midsize car had earned a good rating in its headlight testing. Eleven models earned acceptable ratings, nine were deemed marginal, and 10 received a rating of poor.

IIHS followed up these results with headlight testing for SUVs, announcing these results in July. None of the models tested received a good rating, and four were rated acceptable. Five models received a marginal rating, and 12 received a poor rating.