“We should be focused on what we can do to improve visibility,” said Matt Brumbelow, a senior research engineer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “We know that low visibility causes crashes and what ADB does is maximize visibility, seeing light, while still preventing glare.”
The US regulations also limit the amount of light the headlights could put out while also not allowing them to reduce lighting as much they could in other situations, said Brumbelow.
Yet another ‘First World Problem’ that’ll need a lot of tax dollars thrown at it to fix. ;)
In Bulgaria, it used to be illegal to drive with your headlights on - dimmers only- the reason was to do with maintaining night vision.
I can no longer drive at night due to such brilliant headlights. If I have to go out for something after dark I take the back roads.
I just drive with my NODs at night now....
LED headlights have an insurmountable problem in that the light-emitting surface ia much too large to be focused by any lens. This is why "low beams" still blind you.
I lived in Germany for 19 yrs. Even some older cars had a mechanical system you could operate by hand with a lever to change the angle of your lights. Newer models, of course, had more convenient electronic methods. Today’s big trucks (Ford 150’s, etc.) are jacked up so high their low beams are right in your face. I have to pull the sun visor down to help block their lights as it does no good to flash your high beams at the driver. It is a problem that creates unsafe driving situations..
Gawd how I hate automatic high beams.
They never, Never, NEVER, revert to low beams in time to stop from blinding me on oncoming vehicles.
And as a frequent night-time pedestrian, I hate the Euro-style ADB systems too. Absolutely blinding if you’re on a sidewalk. Yes, it lets the vehicle driver see you sooner, but if I’m walking on a shoulder or sidewalk I’m not worried about the vehicle hitting me in the first place*, so please don’t f***ing blind me so you can feel better.
*Unless they’re intoxicated, in which case I don’t think the damn headlights are making much of a difference anyway...
My cataracts are pretty bad, having them checked again next month. I get pretty halos from headlights at night but it’s no big deal. If the doc wants to do them I’m good with that too, I’ll probably like the result.
Use LIDAR with night-vision capabilities to produce a virtual image on the windshield in low-light or foggy conditions.
-PJ
1. People drive 100% of the time with their brights on (city driving, even in residential areas).
2. People modify their lighting. I saw a truck last night with red, blue, and extremely bright yellow lights on the front and no lights on the back.
3. Some cars are designed with an option to have running lights on in the front and none in the back. I often see this on the freeway at night. Why would that ever be an option? What setting produces that?
4. "Low Beams" are so bright they will blind you in the daylight.
LED headlights are already a ridiculous $500 or so to replace. I wonder what exorbitant price these carry?
Otherwise, normal headlights are perfectly fine for moving through the dark.
Lots of people buy LED bulbs without realizing that the bulb length is different from the original length and this changes where the light is thrown.
If there is an accident caused by meeting one of these vehicles at night, I wonder if it would make a difference in a possible court case?
I like big lights, I can not lie.
This is indeed a problem, and it’s mostly why I rarely drive during the evening hours anymore. And what really ticks me off is when you try to point out how bright their lights are, they flash their high beams to you and blind you even more!
The new headlights are intense. I walk the dog every night, and I have to shield my eyes when a car with the new lights approaches. They light up the road ahead three blocks.
LED lights of all kinds seem to produce blinding light when looked at, but do not seem to illuminate the surrounding area very well.