The 2011 Kia Sorento has such poor low beam headlamps that visibility is limited to just 30 or 40 feet in front of the vehicle. I have tried higher wattage bulbs and LEDs. These vehicles are dangerous at night and should be recalled to be corrected at Kia’s expense. NHTSA is asleep on this one?
Check your plastic headlight housings. If they are cloudy, they can be cleared up using buffing kits for this purpose sold at Auto parts store. Any auto shop can do it also. Makes a significant difference. And have your headlights checked for alignment.
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NHTSA depends on car buyers filing complaints with them. If there are few filings, not much happens.
To answer your question - Yes, NHTSA has been asleep on the topic of headlights. Need proof? This story will suffice. NHTSA is the junior varsity of American safety testing. IIHS is a private group that pretty much everyone recognizes as the most respected safety testing group now. IIHS started to test for headlight effectiveness in 2016. To validate your feelings that yours are not great - The Sorento scored “Poor” in that year. You can find the results here. I think tcmichnorth hits the nail on the head here though. Here is how IIHS tests headlights if interested.