
Why is America stuck with bad headlights? - jbredeche
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/columns/a33447381/why-is-america-stuck-with-bad-headlights/
======
serf
groups like Audi/Porsche/BMW have trouble bringing their fancy LED setups to
America due to laws pertaining to high / low beams -- meanwhile every Jack and
Jill on the road has glaringly illegal aftermarket Xenon bulb setups in
refractor headlight housings rather than proper projectors, blinding the hell
out of everyone on the road, and the police seem to do nothing about it.

I mean, hey -- i'm usually happy about automotive modifications that the
police leave me alone about, but this aftermarket headlight trend is many
times worse than a nuisance loud exhaust -- it can literally blind you for
seconds during night driving.

~~~
lvspiff
The worst thing to happen to America was Autozone and Fast and Furious. Cheap
aftermarket modifications to your car being sold to people with no knowledge
of what they were doing but wanted it too look cool cause they saw it in the
movie. Its led to years of teenagers with no training putting things on their
cars that turn them into obnoxious spectacles on the road.

I know I sound like an old coot but frankly I'm glad my dad showed me how to
install/aim headlights and along with explaining the benefits of a working
unmodified exhaust system and how it should sound.

~~~
mschuster91
> but frankly I'm glad my dad showed me how to install/aim headlights and
> along with explaining the benefits of a working unmodified exhaust system
> and how it should sound

In Germany, headlight aim is checked at the 2-yea mandatory inspection, dito
for exhaust stuff. Is that not a part of US checks?

~~~
flyinghamster
The joke is that in the US, vehicle registration is handled by the states, and
while some states have strict inspection requirements, many states have none
whatsoever, or only check emissions. You can still get ticketed for unsafe
equipment, though.

------
mcv
I know very little about headlights, but I do know that too many cars have a
certain kind of extra bright, blue-white headlights which hurt my eyes. I
don't know why they are allowed, but I'd love to see them banned.

They may be great for the driver, but getting blinded isn't much fun for
oncoming traffic.

> _" When a car approaches in the oncoming lane, the 911's headlights dim
> around it while leaving the rest of the pattern bright."_

And what if it's a bike in the incoming lane? Or on the separate bike path on
either side of the road? Will it detect that?

Because too often, clever car technologies don't properly account for other
traffic than cars.

~~~
globular-toast
It's practically impossible to cycle at night on roads without street lighting
due to cars. Has been for many, many years. The people who would want to do it
(generally people into the sport and out for training) just accept this.
Nobody else cares.

~~~
mcv
Why ignore people who ride a bike for transportation?

When I was a teen, I rode 10 km each way to school next to a very busy road.
In winter, it was still dark. The combination of rain and oncoming cars would
make me completely blind.

~~~
globular-toast
Because you're a minority and most people haven't been on a bike since they
were a child. For most people, their first experience on the road is in a car.
They are completely out of touch with what it means to use the road outside of
a car. The roads are owned by cars, even though everyone pays for them. This
is the way it's been for years and it won't be changing unless we have a
serious reform.

~~~
mcv
That really depends on where you live. Over here, most people ride bikes
regularly. Car headlights that can blind cyclists should be considered a
serious issue.

~~~
u801e
> Car headlights that can blind cyclists should be considered a serious issue.

Even people who design bicycle facilities don't consider this. They'll happily
install a bidirectional bike lane where contra flow cyclists are effectively
riding against motor vehicle traffic. This puts cyclists on the wrong side of
the headlamp beam.

------
gautamcgoel
So, basically the same reason we have bad _everything_. Our institutions and
regulations are outdated relative to the rest of the world, so we get stuck
with shitty stuff.

~~~
bsimpson
For instance: payments. Europe and Asia got chip cards and tap-to-pay decades
before we did, even though Mastercard and Visa took part in their invention.
America had credit card infrastructure first, so our payment networks were
stuck with it, while other countries could start off with better stuff.

Without the consumer demand that Google/Apple Pay (and later coronavirus)
created, we still probably wouldn't have widespread tap-to-pay.

~~~
csomar
This gets thrown a lot but I think the reason the U.S. didn't move from the
swipe system to the PIN is the speed of processing your card. With the swipe,
the cashier just swipe your card and you're done. With the chip, I have to
wait and then enter my PIN and then wait. It's just a hustle.

~~~
phinnaeus
Why would we move to chip when it's already obviated by tap?

~~~
galvin
For security reasons, contactless card payments are limited to small
transactions and can only be used a certain number of times between chip and
pin transactions.

Since it lacks a second authentication factor the compromise is to limit how
much can be spent if the card is stolen.

The US could skip chip and pin if it switched directly to contactless mobile
payments.

~~~
pas
It's tap and PIN for higher amounts. The same thing, just wirelessly.

------
Reason077
Lack of matrix headlights is a _glaring_ omission on Teslas sold in Europe,
too. Pretty much any other high-end car in Europe has them, at least as an
option.

~~~
TheSpiceIsLife
What are matrix headlights?

~~~
squidlogic
Sometimes known as pixel lighting, matrix systems are based around a high-beam
unit consisting of a cluster of LEDs (the Audi matrix system consists of up to
25 LEDs per high-beam unit), rather than a single high-beam bulb that you
might find in a conventional headlight.

This allows you to block out certain portions of the beam so you don't blind
other drivers as they approach.

~~~
vidanay
On this type of lighting, what is the purpose of having high and low beams? It
seems like you should be able to leave it on high all the time.

~~~
pandaman
You will blind yourself with your own high beams in heavy rain/snow/fog.

~~~
luma
Interestingly, a similar version of these systems was demonstrated back in
2012 which could track individual snow flakes or rain drops. They would avoid
illuminating the drops so they wouldn’t reflect back at you, thus reducing
glare and allowing you to see much further.

[https://youtu.be/4jwhQM6aDS8](https://youtu.be/4jwhQM6aDS8)

~~~
pandaman
Such system could work in moderate conditions, though it's doubtful. As soon
as you get water "dust" in front of the headlight the only thing this tracking
can do is to shut off the light entirely, there is no way isolating separate
droplets and the cloud of "dust" will disperse the light further into the
medium.

~~~
nullc
Well, if you don't mind the driver having to watch via a HUD there is range-
gated imaging which does exactly the thing you're assuming is impossible. :P

~~~
pandaman
I assume you either don't understand what range-gated imaging is or how the
headlights work.

~~~
nullc
My comment didn't have anything to do with the headlights except pointing out
that the 'impossibility' of not illuminating the drops in the air isn't
actually an impossibility with sufficiently crazy hardware. -- A fact I
expected other readers to find interesting.

My apologies if it sounded to you as something I was saying could
realistically be done with projector headlights.

------
rawland
So, I'm riding to work by bike and in winter times I came to hate these
lights.

They destroy any natural darkness adaptation, which takes some time to set in
again and then already comes the next car.

These super fancy lights don't give a shit about the sidewalk or wild life. To
me they increase no security whatsoever and contribute mainly to the ongoing
light pollution.

Probably they even decrease safety overall by randomly blinding
humans/animals.

Studies/Exp needed.

------
tannhaeuser
It's not just a problem in US. Ever since Xenon headlights became the norm in
upper mid-class cars and up (2003?), I'm having trouble driving at night (here
in Germany). I have no data to back this up, but I'd say subjectively glaring
is much less of an issue since LED became standard (2010?).

------
partiallypro
I get the criticism, want, and need...but comparing a $120K+ Porsche to a $20K
average car isn't exactly a fair comparison, even when it comes to headlights.
The replacement cost on that headlight is probably astronomical, where I can
replace a bulb for $40. I don't even know if the Boxster which is around ~$60K
comes with these headlights. A quick lookup and those Porsche headlights cost
~$2K EACH.

~~~
bArray
As with all automotive parts, eventually the price will come down. Currently
they are luxury, in some years they will be commodity.

~~~
taneq
They're also from a luxury brand that commands a premium price above and
beyond its actual cost of supply. Give it five years and an entry level
Hyundai will come with equivalent headlights and they'll only cost $100 to
replace.

~~~
BoorishBears
Brands like Hyundai and Toyota have been coming out with sealed LED units for
years, and they cost thousands to replace

The headlights are not that cheap. Expensive optics, expensive LEDs with
carefully selected emission spectrums, cooling solutions.

~~~
oblio
But do they break down as often? If it's about physical breakage (car crash),
you're going to change more than just the light bulb for either tech. And it
will cost more with traditional bulbs, too.

------
knorker
Also terrible blinkers:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1lZ9n2bxWA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1lZ9n2bxWA)

------
CivBase
> Each of the 911's lighting units includes 84 individually controlled LEDs
> that allow the car to continuously morph the pattern of its beams. When a
> car approaches in the oncoming lane, the 911's headlights dim around it
> while leaving the rest of the pattern bright. [...] Porsche would also dim
> the right side if road signs on the shoulder were overly reflective.

The article never mentions, but how does the Porsche detect oncoming cars and
overly reflective signs?

If it involves a computer doing real-time image processing, I can certainly
see why the US government might be cautious considering headlights are an
important safety feature for a car.

I also assume a system like that would probably be very expensive. Is this
just a luxury feature or are matrix lights actually common in European cars?

~~~
efficax
my 2020 honda civic has lane detection and cruise control that keeps pace with
the car in front of you... this isn't much different

~~~
narag
Last car I owned detected lanes and cars approaching from behind.

I had to disable the sound alerts. If someone had told me how many exceptions
make the alerts bogus, I wouldn't have believed it. Not a single time the
alerts responded to a real danger. On the contrary, I was alarmed for nothing,
creating danger as I nervously looked around trying to understand what was
wrong.

Sensor that switched lights on or off was nice though.

~~~
jacquesm
I got rid of a Mercedes C class that autobraked twice at random causing near
accidents each time. The area where I live has a lot of narrow bridges and the
autobrake would get triggered by the bridge posts. Traction on those bridges
can be pretty uneven, especially when moist. First time came pretty close,
second time I was prepared. There never was a third time. Stuff like that
should work or be fitted to some test vehicle. That's not exactly an edge
case.

~~~
dx034
Are you sure they got triggered by the bridge posts? These systems tend to
exclude any non moving objects. I've driven several cars with emergency
braking installed and it never reacted to a static object, even if I was
headed for it. The only time I found it can mis-trigger is for cyclists that
you'd be able to pass easily.

~~~
jacquesm
Yes, 100% sure. Bridge posts come within 8" of the car and when you approach
the bridge the return of the two (steel) posts is enough to trigger the radar
based collision detector. Pretty dumb really, if there is nothing in front of
the car and you're going forward you can't possibly collide with it and hard
braking in a situation like that is much more dangerous than simply rolling
through. I figure with the cars' GPS and a list of exceptions they could fix
that sort of thing in a band-aid style fashion but they were not interested.
I'm not going to wait to see what other edge cases aren't covered.

------
csours
FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) are prescriptive, not
descriptive; they're also really really slow to update them.

The difference between between FMVSS and UN/EU regulations could also be
considered a regulatory moat. In today's globalized world, I can't imagine
that the moat is worth it anymore.

(Disclaimer, I work for General Motors, this is strictly my own opinion)

------
boring_twenties
I installed the (OEM) European headlights on my car.

It's, well, a night and day difference. It's been 8 years and no one has
noticed.

~~~
anchpop
I didn't know this was possible! Something to keep in mind if I ever buy a
nice car.

~~~
leviathant
My first 'new' car was a 2001 Hyundai Elantra, and while they're economy
compact cars with minimal features in the US, they have a lot of upgraded
features in Korea. One of the silly things I did in my early 20s was to swap
out US parts for Korean parts - and I was able to sell my US parts for more
than it cost to import their Korean upgrades.

So, for no good reason, I had an econobox with OEM wood-look dash and trim,
chrome handles, OEM gauges for oil pressure, voltage, and fuel economy,
upgraded stereo and suspension, leather trim, etc. It's silly what kind of
hobbies spring up when you're living in central Pennsylvania and maybe aren't
using your free time as productively as you could be.

Point is, definitely check out the factory options available in your car's
country of origin - but also make sure you know they'll definitely be
compatible with the increasingly computerized systems you're swapping them in
to, and make sure you're not doing anything that's going to end up failing
annual inspection.

------
oblib
I was not aware there were headlights that had a light pattern like that.
Looks pretty cool.

Years ago (`70s-90`s) when I built custom cars it was a pretty huge deal when
the rectangular headlamps were approved. It created new ways to style the
front end of a car, but we all were jealous of what they were doing in Europe
with headlamp designs.

The new LED headlamps offer way more styling opportunities and better
lighting, but it's not surprising to learn we're still behind Europeans in
regards to this.

------
mzs
It's because the autronic eye in the '50s was so bad that regulations were
created that prevent automatic dipping of the headlights.

[https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/great-info-on-
th...](https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/great-info-on-the-autronic-
eye-guide-matic-lots-of-pics.580437/)

~~~
nhooyr
What does autronic mean?

~~~
kolinko
Click on the link that parent gave

------
dominotw
I really hate led headlights here in USA, They are too bright and need to be
banned. People using these should be jailed for endangering lives. I don't
know why but This seems to be particularly common here on big pickup trucks,
which is even worse because they hit you right in your eyes if you are driving
a regular car due to height difference.

Also, I've had adaptive headlights on my subaru forever.

~~~
aaomidi
what is with Americans and jumping up at just jailing people?

jesus christ you don't need to jail people because they used bright lights.

~~~
dominotw
shows basic lack of concern for other people's lives on the road, same as
drunk driving.

> because they used bright lights.

Why are people doing this in the first place. I don't understand.

~~~
aaomidi
what does jailing someone achieve here? what is with this gross
authoritarianism? most of these people using these bright LEDs dont realize
how bright it is for the other drivers - it's probably just to make the roads
brighter because driving in America is extremely different than the rest of
the world (very very rural highways - with essentially no extra lighting)

~~~
acituan
> what is with this gross authoritarianism? most of these people using these
> bright LEDs dont realize how bright it is for the other drivers

There are wishes for gross authoritarianism because US has problems with
lesser, appropriate regulations. The way other countries handle this is
periodic vehicle inspections - just like smog checks but with more points -
which also measure from the lumens and angle of your headlights to whether
your wipers work properly, failure of which bars your car off the public
roads. If this was suggested in the US eyes would roll, heads would turn,
nanny state arguments would be invoked. In the absence of reifying such
moderate measures, people let go of their pent up frustrations of failing to
be a cooperating society in the form of wishing imprisonment or worse onto
each other.

~~~
vonmoltke
> If this was suggested in the US eyes would roll, heads would turn, nanny
> state arguments would be invoked.

Yet several states do this, including Texas of all places.

------
DubiousPusher
I tend away from nationalistic exceptionalism and inferiorism. I tend to find
one nation that seems very well together in one area is often all fouled up
somewhere else. But I've just seen so many examples of America's inability to
build working beaurocracy lately that I begin to wonder. This of course is a
fairly trivial example but others are not.

I'm sure I'm consuming cherry-picked media and if I went looking I could find
the U.K. government with its pants down over here or Japan up to something
silly but I have been wondering of late.

~~~
Symbiote
The UK seems to have made a mess of their Coronavirus response (fewer cases
but even more deaths than the USA). That accounts for most of the current
news. Johnson has recently continued the trend of nominating far too many
people to the House of Lords (the unelected upper chamber of Parliament),
which is a severe weakness in British democracy, second only to the terrible
voting system for the Commons (lower house) in my opinion.

"Boring" bureaucracy like the headlights is rarely a significant problem. The
idea that the government is fundamentally incompetent and shouldn't be trusted
even to tie its own shoelaces seems uniquely American -- in Britain, if part
of the government isn't working the people look for a politician to blame,
usually either for interfering or cutting the budget.

[https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news)
(centre-left, free to read)

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/) (centre-right,
parts behind a paywall)

------
coding123
Even more idiotic is my truck. I put a camper on it. I can't drive it at night
because the weight of the camper tilts the entire truck back just a bit so
that the head lights are aimed right at driver's eyes even on the lowbeams.
Everyone flashes me and gets pissed off. Hopefully Adaptive headlights account
for things like this.

~~~
chrisseaton
I would say there is almost certainly a little wheel somewhere on your
dashboard to adjust them. My Land Rover has this.

~~~
kube-system
A vehicle in the US that would be colloquially referred to as a 'truck' almost
certainly does _not_. Headlight level controls are extremely rare in the US.

~~~
spanhandler
Been driving about 20 years in the US, owned eight or nine cars (mostly small
to mid-sized sedans and minivans) over the years between me & the wife, and I
can't recall ever seeing headlight level controls.

~~~
kube-system
I'm an enthusiast who has owned dozens of vehicles and driven around a
hundred. I have only seen this feature on a couple of euro luxury cars.

~~~
Gravityloss
Interesting! In Europe you not only have cockpit adjustable lights but auto
leveling very common. Of course the consumer ends up paying for that, and they
do cause maintenance issues.

~~~
hans_castorp
> In Europe you not only have cockpit adjustable lights but auto leveling very
> common

Cockpit adjustable lights have been required by law in Europe for about 20
years. When Xenon lamps arrived, auto-leveling was added as a requirement for
them.

~~~
Gravityloss
Bit the bullet and read the Wikipedia part, which was excellent. Cockpit
adjustable headlights since 1948!

[https://wiki.relexsolutions.com/display/MOR/Isengard+High+Le...](https://wiki.relexsolutions.com/display/MOR/Isengard+High+Level+Design+Principles)

------
throwaway29102
Because we elect garbage politicians who engage in wholesale bribery and are
more interested in maintaining power than doing the job they were elected to
do. We're getting exactly what we deserve, and honestly, I think that's too
much.

~~~
lmilcin
We all know that. It was always true.

The point of _real_ democracy (versus what I call model/book democracy) is to
extract useful value from fallible individuals while preventing them to do too
much harm (like seizing too much power).

The better questions are then:

* Is it getting worse?

* Are politicians more preoccupied with their interests than in the past?

* Is it because it is easier now to manufacture misinformation?

* Is it because people vote for parties and not for individual politicians?

* Is having less focus on individual character an inevitable result of polarization of society?

* Would more truthful and unbiased news coverage help?

* Would more education on the principles of civic life help people make better voting decisions?

* Is technology causing general disease of attention deficit and focus problem on the scale of entire society causing it to make worse decisions overall?

------
ttsda
A lot of those "adaptive" LED light suck! Loads of times I'm stuck with some
guy behind me with flickery, colour-changing lights pointing right at my face
through the mirrors.

~~~
dx034
Are you sure those are matrix LED? They might just be standard LED on an
uneven road.

------
kevin_thibedeau
I wish someone would do something about the excessively bright LED taillights
people are installing. I can't stand having my eyes burned out behind these
fools.

------
peterwwillis
The American market has had "adaptive headlights" for nearly 20 years. They
tilt up and down, side to side, depending on the orientation of the car. My
2004 Lexus IS300 had them. And they were HIDs, so they were plenty bright. (My
base model 2012 Toyota's headlights completely suck in comparison...)

But our headlight market and rules are pretty ridiculous. Most "fancy" non-HID
bulbs are a ripoff and actually make visibility worse, and it's also illegal
to convert a halogen setup to HID. Combine this with the fact that some
designs are just crap no matter what the bulb type, and we have a general
market failure to understand the real performance of headlights. People think
they can generalize headlight types, but it doesn't bear out in practice.
[https://www.consumerreports.org/headlights/are-hid-and-
led-h...](https://www.consumerreports.org/headlights/are-hid-and-led-
headlights-worth-buying/)

------
pkaye
Is this a standard feature in all European cars? It seems like a premium
feature that might eventually trickle down to the average cars.

~~~
trzeci
This is not a standard feature of new cars, but it's pretty affordable
addition for middle segment cars (In my MPV it was an extra 700$). Premium
cars getting this more and more frequently, not LED, but lasers in case of
Audi (and VAG).

------
justin66
I am grimly curious how many Americans would view a primitive combination of
high beam/low beam/fog lamps/accent lights as being preferable to a
sophisticated headlight that can do it all, simply because they get off on
dazzling people with their absurd headlights.

~~~
ReptileMan
I am european and still prefer the simple system. As a software developer -
knowing what kind of bunch we are - the less software for critical systems the
better.

Clicking a button or switching a lever with tactile feedback, immediate
response that does exactly what is expected is vastly preferable to any smart
system.

~~~
nwah1
But it is a gradient. There are simple "adaptive headlights" that try not to
do anything too fancy. Just aim at the road, adjust for elevation, and the
direction you are turning. Could imagine a hinge and a gyroscope controlling
that, in theory.

These matrix ones that add in adjustments for other cars and for signs are
maybe a little too far on the curve for me as well. Anything using computer
vision is not something I'd be excited about.

~~~
ReptileMan
I am all for innovation. But having some behavior of the car being a black box
to the driver is recipe for trouble. And of course there are always edge cases
that the developers didn't forsee.

The more complicated a car is - the more training will the driver need. So
standard drivers license at some point may not be enough.

------
silexia
The biggest problem with government regulations is that they are often written
in a reactionary or temporary way, but then become enshrined either by
bureaucracy or entrenched interests.

------
projektfu
How well do they work for pedestrians and cyclists?

~~~
thrill
In the video at TFA the lights appear to self adjust for pedestrians on the
right side of the road.

------
mirimir
> Each of the 911's lighting units includes 84 individually controlled LEDs
> that allow the car to continuously morph the pattern of its beams. When a
> car approaches in the oncoming lane, the 911's headlights dim around it
> while leaving the rest of the pattern bright. The other driver doesn't get
> blinded, but you still have blazing lights on your side.

That _is_ amazing. And I suspect that one could incorporate more autopilot
technology. Perhaps to better illuminate pedestrians, bicyclists,
motorcyclists, and wildlife. Also perhaps police vehicles, identified through
markings and/or tag number.

------
ggm
I complained to my state authority about halogen and xenon. The glare
aggressive bad. Seriously bad. It should be in the roadworthy testing: does
this blind oncoming drivers.

Blue led are equally vile. Really destructive of my night vision

------
PinguTS
Here is the paper by a Porsche engineer from 2015 on how this headlights work:
[https://can-cia.org/s/eH8uD](https://can-cia.org/s/eH8uD)

------
fomine3
Upper middle class cars in Japan like Mazda3, Harrier also supports adaptive
headlights. Possibly Koito is the supplier of LED systems.

[https://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/technology/safety/active...](https://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/technology/safety/active_safety/alh/)

[https://www.koito.co.jp/technology/koito/system.html](https://www.koito.co.jp/technology/koito/system.html)

------
acd
Some European cars are sold with laser head lights as an optional extra. As a
driver meeting usch a vehicle I ponder if that is safe for my eyesight? After
recent scandals I don’t fully trust the car industry to self regulate as they
have mislead consumers before for example Dieselgate. Thus I think it’s good
that there is car safety regulations but that led lights probably should be
allowed. I think too many consumer decisions are made on the basis of ego what
is good for me/self as a consumer and not necessarily what is good for others.

~~~
drglitch
The laserlights, like ones marketed by BMW, are not shining the laser outward
into the world - they use them to warm up phosphor which in turn produces
“regular” light. In a sense, it’s somewhat akin to an old school incandescent
bulb, but using much less energy. In US, laserlights are reduced power due to
regulations

~~~
kube-system
I think you mean fluorescent, not incandescent.

------
yason
This is a classical case of regulating at the completely wrong level.

Forget low beams and high beams. All that needs to be regulated is that the
headlights can't point to other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians at a too
great intensity above N inches/centimeters from ground.

Set those intensity limits to safe levels, make NIST (or some equivalent
organisation) come up with a national standard test to enforce them, and let
car makers use whatever technology to make headlights as long as they pass
that test.

------
cbg0
A friend of mine has this type of headlights on his BMW, and while they are
very cool at night with the adaptive beams that light the road without
blinding other drivers, I can't say that I find them to be a must-have, and
I'd be hard-pressed to pay the premium to get them on my car compared to my
current xenon lights that can only corner as I turn the wheel.

Unless you're frequently driving at night, you'll be just fine with halogen or
xenon lights.

~~~
01100011
I think if you asked the other drivers they might say that you having adaptive
lights is a must have.

~~~
alkonaut
Is blinding that big a problem? Assuming the lowbeams are well adjusted, they
should never blind anyone. The number of times each winter that I forget to
switch off my high beams for an oncoming driver and blind him is between zero
and one.

~~~
01100011
It is to me, but my vision at night isn't the greatest. I see quite a few
people with HID/LED lights now and the blue shifted spectrum and poor aiming
have caused me problems.

------
Simulacra
I wish we had the lights they turned with the steering wheel as a standard
option. Is there any reasonably priced car with this feature, or is it only in
Europe?

~~~
spdustin
That exists now with a number of models here in the U.S., and is sometimes
called "cornering lights." The original article refers to what this Motor
Trend article [0] calls, "Adaptive Driving Beams."

[0]: [https://www.motortrend.com/news/get-lit-adaptive-
headlights-...](https://www.motortrend.com/news/get-lit-adaptive-headlights-
tech-work/)

~~~
Simulacra
Have a look at this advertisement for the Citroen from the 60s. Why did it
take so long to get "adaptive" headlights?

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=rRHogyYXFiQ&...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=rRHogyYXFiQ&feature=emb_logo)

~~~
kube-system
Cornering lights were a thing on US cars in the 60's too.

[https://jalopnik.com/a-tribute-to-the-most-un-appreciated-
li...](https://jalopnik.com/a-tribute-to-the-most-un-appreciated-light-the-
corneri-1625241633)

------
causality0
Are LED matrix headlights something Europeans can get in a 20,000 Euro car or
is this limit something that's only significant for luxury cars?

~~~
AnssiH
I don't think they are too common in 20000 EUR cars yet, but they are
continuously trickling down.

A quick look shows that they are an option in Opel Astras that start at 21390€
(inc. 24% VAT plus 2000€ car tax) in Finland and under 20000€ in e.g. Germany,
though.

The median price of new cars is around 30000€ here. The most common models are
Skoda Octavia, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Qashqai (all three start at around
24000€), of which Skoda Octavia is available with matrix headlights and the
two others are not, if I looked correctly.

Most people buy used, though - ~85% of car purchases are used cars.

A quick look through used cars market at nettiauto.com seems to show that
there are many Opel Astras with matrix headlights for sale starting at around
14000€, but not many others at those prices.

~~~
randunel
Seat Leon with matrix led sells at €20.470,59 in Germany.

------
hirundo
If it can detect cars and de-illuminate, it shouldn't be too hard to detect
and spot-light other things for safety, like people, animals, debris.

~~~
drglitch
Mercedes has a good demo video about current state of this tech (EU only) -
when you drive a car with it, it’s literally magical. Alternative tech uses a
projector-like screen with 4K resolution, allowing for very precise light
control.

Here is a demo:
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0OJjvYPV3oc](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0OJjvYPV3oc)

~~~
dx034
Are they actually developed by Mercedes? Or do they have exclusive contracts
with a supplier like Bosch?

------
heipei
Even more importantly: Why is America still stuck with cars that honk when
they're locked and that have indicator lights flashing in the same color as
the tail-lights? One is a nuisance, the other one a straight-up safety issue.

~~~
bstar77
When I lived in Canada we had to turn on the honk mode because there were too
many people using devices that block remote vehicle locking. The honk is an
obvious indicator that the car did, indeed, lock.

~~~
detaro
Too annoying to look at the car for the 2 seconds it takes to see the
indicators flash, which seems to be the common alternative?

~~~
glxxyz
My car flashes lights on the first click and honks on the second, which is a
pretty good compromise and handy when I lose it in car parks.

------
j_m_b
Not sure how truly effective the Porsche solution really is. I have a hard
time believing that computer controlled sensors can effectively direct beams
of light. What about conditions which scatter light? None of the interesting
problems are addressed in this article, instead we are left with a clickbait
title.

------
doitLP
Not only that, but the extreme brightness and blue spectrum cause macular
degeneration. Especially in children

[https://health.clevelandclinic.org/are-led-lights-
damaging-y...](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/are-led-lights-damaging-
your-retina/)

------
vidanay
This thread just made me realize that it's probably been almost six months
since I have driven at night.

~~~
dencodev
I also just avoid driving at night these days. Even on road trips I
deliberately start at sunrise and end at sunset. Among the reasons is awful
headlights. I don't drive at night unless I have to.

------
OliverJones
Yeah. In 1964 my family returned to the US from the middle east where my dad
worked. We brought the family Peugeot car with us. It had yellow antifog
headlights, then popular in Europe. Dad couldn't register it in the US until
he changed the headlights.

This stuff isn't new.

------
kvgr
I have a 4 years old Passat that has them, the visibility is incredible.
Especially on the sides of the road, where normal lights go kind of dim. This
kind of bureaucracy is very funny in US, cause I thought that one think US is
build on is progress.

~~~
oblio
> This kind of bureaucracy is very funny in US, cause I thought that one think
> US is build on is progress.

No, it's built on money. Sometimes that leads to progress, sometimes it
doesn't.

------
Havoc
I recall arguing about European specs vs American specs a couple years back on
reddit. Very strong insistence that the American route is superior. Don't
think that legislation is getting updated any time soon.

------
farseer
I feel that night driving has become more tedious since the advent of LED
lights and moronic drivers wielding them in high beam mode. Reading this
thread, it seems this is a world wide problem.

------
peatmoss
Reminds me of motorcycle helmet standards in the United States, where “DOT” is
the minimum legal requirement. For people who want to live, ECE, Snell, or the
new FIM standards are a must.

~~~
u801e
What's even worse are the standards for bicycle helmets which are governed by
the CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Commission). At least there are better
standards out there like Snell.

------
VLM
I'm glad we don't have these because the mfgrs and dealers would just use it
to screw over the buyers.

It would be full of ongoing software bugs that can only be fixed if you pay
for a $75 oil change at the dealership. Sometimes the headlight firmware will
crash while you're driving down the road and somehow the owner will be 100%
liable not the mfgr kinda like self driving car crashes. The module will be
designed to crack the first time a piece of road gravel touches it and the
module will cost at least $1000 and require disassembling the entire front end
of the car to replace.

I'm just not looking forward to it.

~~~
organsnyder
Defects like those would be subject to mandatory recalls. New vehicles are
already full of software-controlled features. My 2017 vehicle has had three
recalls that were purely software patches.

------
cbsmith
Wow, not one reference to Preston Tucker in this whole article. I searched for
"Tucker" and the only match was C. Delores Tucker. Not what I expected.

------
thrownaway954
ok... i'll admit, that was awesome!!! i think everyone on the planet has
wanted something like this for awhile now. when driving at night, i'm
constantly blinded by people who keep their high beams on. it's gotten even
worst over the years with leds and raised trucks and cars where the beams are
at eye level. this could really help make night driving safe all around.

------
mschuster91
So, uh, you can get entirely self-built cars onto US roads, cars with fully
autonomous experimental AIs, but not with intelligent headlights? WTF?

------
throwaway0a5e
All these people stroking it to fancy new LED or projector lights clearly have
never had to service (pro-tip: you usually can't) or replace them. The
projectors in particular have a bunch of asinine failure modes as they age.
Good luck finding a complete assembly for less than half a grand. Screw that.

Give me sealed beam lights that cost $20 and if they're not bright enough then
give me more of them (e.g. 2013 Ford E-series).

------
Shorel
Also: awfully designed signal lights.

They should be yellow, not red. And work independently of the brake lights.

~~~
u801e
The reason that they're permitted in FMVSS 108 was to allow automakers to save
money. Hence the reason luxury brand cars with LED tail lamp have them in the
USA.

------
yk
Porsche should publish an api for the blinkenlights, so that we can play pong
while driving.

------
stormdennis
Do these clever headlights also take care not to dazzle approaching
pedestrians?

------
sedatk
more importantly, why is America stuck with narrow angle side mirrors?

------
meddlepal
I just leased a car after a decade of car-free living (not doing crowded
public transport again until we have a vaccine) ... the headlight situation is
10x worse than I remember. Driving at night is a brutal.

------
WWLink
I would ask why America is stuck with bad tail lights.

------
mdoms
I'd give those 911 lights about 7 or 8 years before they become a $6,000
problem.

------
vkn255
LED headlights are not good for eyes, probably will result in long term
damage. Is there a study that they are safe ?

