US comes out of the dark ages with new head light policy

[davidmash]

Vehicles on U.S. roads will now be allowed to use advanced headlights known as "adaptive driving beams" that could help prevent nighttime crashes, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Tuesday.

The agency acted in response to a petition filed by Toyota Motor Corp in 2013 to allow the lights. They automatically adjust the beams using additional sensors so they can provide more illumination without a glare to oncoming motorists.

The headlights have been permitted in Europe for more than a decade and are also allowed in Japan, Canada and other countries. Volkswagen AG and BMW AG also later filed petitions to use the lights on U.S. vehicles.

https://news.yahoo.com/u-allow-advanced-headlights-toyota-161946385.html

About bloody time. Not sure why the US has to be on the tail end of so much tech that is beneficial. I remember the big stink about the Euro lights on my 190. Better and stronger lights than those crap sealed beams.

Thank you Toyota.

[Dubyagee]

Ive always wondered why they never updated headlights. Ive replaced my silverado and yukon with E code lights years ago due to the horrible output. My wife drives my 87 300D because the euro lights are way brighter and focused then her Denali. Its pretty dumb to let it go this far.

[Autoputzer]

The "safety lobby" (Nader, Claybrook, et al) prevented modernization of headlights for years, arguing that non-standardized headlights (anything other than US sealed-beam headlights) would increase repair costs to consumers.

My 2002 BMW had the optional Xenon headlights that self-adjusted vertically. There was a sensor that measured rear suspension travel and that data was used to level the headlights. The Xenons was bright but highly focused. Pointing the car at a wall, there was a distinct horizontal line where the light mostly stopped. That didn't stop people from flashing their high-beams at me in anger, though. They'd get really pissed when I flashed mine back at them.

[engatwork]

increase repair costs to consumers.

They must have quit worrying about consumer repair cost.

[Autoputzer]

Originally Posted by engatwork

They must have quit worrying about consumer repair cost.

They never worried about increasing the purchase cost of a new car, though.

[davidmash]

One of the issues with the new headlights is cost. The cost to replace one MB head light assembly can be as high as $3k. Since there are no bulbs to replace, the lens is integrated into the rest of the assembly, there is very little that can be replaced/repaired. If the lens cracks, you have to replace the whole thing.

With the old Euro MB head lights, if the glass lens cracked, pop a few clips, removed the old lens and put a new one in. Bulb goes out, open the rear, and simply replace the H4 bulb. Done. The Euros were miles ahead of the old sealed beam lights and yet easier to repair/work on.

The new stuff, while pretty...are far to costly and not justified in my opinion.

[INSIDIOUS]

Originally Posted by Autoputzer

The "safety lobby" (Nader, Claybrook, et al) prevented modernization of headlights for years, arguing that non-standardized headlights (anything other than US sealed-beam headlights) would increase repair costs to consumers.

My 2002 BMW had the optional Xenon headlights that self-adjusted vertically. There was a sensor that measured rear suspension travel and that data was used to level the headlights. The Xenons was bright but highly focused. Pointing the car at a wall, there was a distinct horizontal line where the light mostly stopped. That didn't stop people from flashing their high-beams at me in anger, though. They'd get really pissed when I flashed mine back at them.

That means your low beams were adjusted too high, ya prick.

[Autoputzer]

Originally Posted by INSIDIOUS

That means your low beams were adjusted too high, ya prick.

Nope, I checked them. Billy Bob mistook the white light for bright light. With the optional headlights, Xenon or LED, there's a distinct line where the intense light stops, but you can still see thewhite light of the lense.

As Xenons became common Billy Bob stopped flashing his lights at me.

[engatwork]

Does anyone know if you could take the headlights from a European GLK and put in a US GLK and get the better results. This is assuming the European vehicle has been getting the better headlights already.