Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

US approves new headlights that won’t blind oncoming drivers
fox13 ^

Posted on 02/16/2022 8:27:57 AM PST by algore

DETROIT – Anyone who has ever been temporarily blinded by high-beam headlights from an oncoming car will be happy to hear this.

U.S. highway safety regulators are about to allow new high-tech headlights that can automatically tailor beams so they focus on dark areas of the road and don't create glare for oncoming drivers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it issued a final rule allowing what's called “adaptive driving beam headlights” on new vehicles. It will go into effect when published in the Federal Register in the next few days.

The headlights, commonly used in Europe, have LED lamps that can focus beams on darkness such as the driver's lane and areas along the roadside. They also lower the intensity of the light beams if there's oncoming traffic. Camera sensors and computers help determine where the light should go.

"This final rule will improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists by making them more visible at night, and will help prevent crashes by better illuminating animals and objects in and along the road,” the agency said in a news release on Tuesday.

The new rule, which was supported by the auto industry, comes as the safety agency grapples with a dramatic rise in traffic deaths nationwide.

(Excerpt) Read more at fox13news.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: headlights; highway
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081 next last
To: algore

Get the mf-ing government OUT of our lives!! Enough of their interference and meddling! Just look at what those retards did to our gas cans!!


41 posted on 02/16/2022 8:54:00 AM PST by Howie66 (Let's Go Brandon!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Don W
I used to buy Cibie’ lenses for my cars, then install 55/85 halogen bulbs. Perfectly aimed and bright.

Yep, loved the pencil beams, they were like plane landing lights.

42 posted on 02/16/2022 8:55:09 AM PST by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Parmy

They’re going at it all wrong. Mandating design rather than performance. In the 1960s we had the European Cibie halogen headlights which were FAR superior to the Guide type sealedbeams, but were illegal under DOT rules. We used them anyway, but where I lived then we had to swap back to sealed-beams to pass mandatory vehicle inspection every six months. Still stuck on stupid, is the DOT.


43 posted on 02/16/2022 8:58:57 AM PST by Chad C. Mulligan (qd4)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: meyer
There are simple methods of aiming headlights, but people fail to do so. And they’ll hitch up a trailer or put 1000 pounds of wood in the bed of the truck, but fail to re-aim the headlights after doing so. The result- blinding oncoming traffic.

Adaptive headlights also usually include a self-levelling function that would resolve this issue.

44 posted on 02/16/2022 9:02:24 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: algore

Just one more thing the government shouldn’t be involved. Of course, it is in the name of public safety. I’m old enough to see the entire government mandated seatbelt safety measures. That goes back to a time when my father bought a car with a seatbelt and demanded that us kids wore them. That was before any government mandate. You see, people can make the correct decisions on their own and the free market will provide solutions. I trust my decisions over lazy ass government employee decisions every day time and I am willing to live with the consequences when I choose poorly. I’ll call that a learning experience.


45 posted on 02/16/2022 9:02:52 AM PST by ConservativeInPA (Scratch a leftist and you'll find a fascist )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dr. Sivana

“... better at lighting up objects that are falling from the sky in front of you.”

Like when it gets cold, and iguanas start falling from the trees?


46 posted on 02/16/2022 9:03:10 AM PST by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: algore

Can they be aligned to the targeting lasers?


47 posted on 02/16/2022 9:03:48 AM PST by pa_dweller (Let's all go out for ice cream.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MercyFlush
Like the red and blue ones you always see in your rearview mirror?

I know you're making a funny, but LEDs in the rear view can be annoying. I was in front of a newer Tacoma last week, and i was getting a strobe effect from the LED headlights in my rear view. If I looked straight at the light, no strobe, but if I focused away from the light, strobes from both. Very irritating.

48 posted on 02/16/2022 9:04:26 AM PST by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Chad C. Mulligan

Me too but they didn’t check that for inspection- just to see if they work. And they were much better halogens 👍🏻


49 posted on 02/16/2022 9:05:51 AM PST by NWFree (Somebody has to say it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Chad C. Mulligan

I think they were Hella brand


50 posted on 02/16/2022 9:06:48 AM PST by NWFree (Somebody has to say it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Yo-Yo

It would be a simple mechanism, to self-level headlights. A hinge, dampers of some sort, and a weight hanging at the appropriate position to keep them level.

Dampers so that if you’re driving up and down hills, they don’t make a drastic, sudden shift to a new position.

Of course, they wouldn’t use something so simple - anything that can be done mechanically can be done for a larger profit using sophisticated electronics.

I agree, and especially on load-carrying vehicles that tow, carry a load sometimes, that are prone to having their level changed drastically in normal use, self-leveling would be very helpful.


51 posted on 02/16/2022 9:06:48 AM PST by meyer (Everything woke turns to poo.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: algore

Maybe they should revert back to candles in a glass lamp. /s


52 posted on 02/16/2022 9:09:09 AM PST by lgjhn23 (Pray for America....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: algore

Mercedes has had these, or something similar for years.


53 posted on 02/16/2022 9:10:17 AM PST by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NWFree

And they would check the aim.


54 posted on 02/16/2022 9:10:46 AM PST by NWFree (Somebody has to say it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: meyer

Self levelling headlights, and headlight washers are mandatory in Europe.

All that I know of are motor driven, not dampened plumb-bobs.


55 posted on 02/16/2022 9:11:49 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: algore

Slightly off topic but reminds me...

Seems a lot more often these days If I am behind someone who is going slow they will pull over to let me pass....Dont think
I am riding their butt, but yet it still happens....is it my cologne?


56 posted on 02/16/2022 9:15:36 AM PST by FreshPrince
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RayChuang88

2013 bought retirement car early(2014 Benz suv). Great car 150k mi! Made in Alabama. Headlights were selling point. Old Tahoe had poor headlights. These not only dim automatically but turn left and right and even up and down ( great when cresting a hill). Yeah expensive, but still working, and learning from wifey,” you get what you pay for.”


57 posted on 02/16/2022 9:16:58 AM PST by conductor john (from jersey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: algore

I had a pair of Cibie Z-Beam halogen headlights back in the late ‘70s on a 1972 Porsche 911T. On low-beam, they produced a bright white pattern that shown straight in front, but with bias toward the right hand side of the road so oncoming drivers weren’t blinded.

The Z-beam pattern only applied to the low beams. On high-beams you could see into the next state, and they vaporized small animals that crossed in front of the car.


58 posted on 02/16/2022 9:18:50 AM PST by Roadrunner383 (;)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 1Old Pro

“Yep, loved the pencil beams, they were like plane landing lights. “

A narrower vertical beam spread is what’s needed. Older headlights had larger reflectors which allow for narrower beams.

Also, the incandescent headlamp bulbs have a straight filament which, if oriented horizontally, permits a very narrow vertical beam spread.


59 posted on 02/16/2022 9:19:22 AM PST by cymbeline
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: algore
Anyone who has ever been temporarily blinded by high-beam headlights from an oncoming car will be happy to hear this.

It's not even high-beams. It's the regular-beam lights that are so bright that they hurt your eyes in daylight.

60 posted on 02/16/2022 9:21:48 AM PST by TankerKC (Be first with the truth. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson