About Those Headlights ...

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The other day the topic of headlights came up, specifically LED versus halogen. I too have noticed in recent days that the percentage of headlamps in Little Rhody, whose sole purpose seems to be to burn out my retinas, is much higher than it has been in the past.

LEDs provide a driver with much better visibility at night, it's something I noticed immediately when I went from driving a 2005 Honda Element to a 2020 Honda Pilot. However, those bright lights can present a problem for other drivers, depending on a number of factors.

One of the most obvious is where the headlights are pointed, misaligned headlights can be a big problem. But even if they are properly aligned, they can be a problem. Most headlights are fixed in position, if they're pointing directly at you, you're going to be blinded, halogen sure, but LED definitely.

Gentle reader boron's comment on the aforementioned post inspired today's post -

Before continuing, I'm not a big fan of adaptive optics ("glass" if you will). Back in the day when they first came out with that for eyeglasses, I had a pair of spectacles which would adjust the tint of lenses based on the amount of ambient light, if you're outside in the sun, the lenses darken, when you go inside, they lighten up. Problem was, while they worked, they worked slowly.

The Missus Herself has those lenses in her new spectacles, they seem to work rather well, far better than the did forty years ago. Advances in technology tend to make things better. Still not a fan of using adaptive glass though,

Whilst mulling this over I came across this article ...

Adaptive Headlights
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My first thought was, "Damn, that's awesome." Have the headlights illuminate where they should be illuminating. You can adjust for curves (see around the corner, kinda sorta), you can adjust for elevation, I am continually blinded by oncoming cars when they go over a slight rise, sending those LED beams straight into my Mark One Mod Zero eyeballs.

Adaptive headlights are far more than automatically killing the high beams when oncoming traffic is detected. Too bad that Federal law prohibits true adaptive headlights -

“2 Regulatory limitations to allowing advanced headlamp systems in the U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) developed by NHTSA specify technical requirements for all vehicles sold in the United States. Automotive headlamps are regulated by FMVSS 108. This regulation clearly defines headlamp performance, installed position, luminescence, considerations for glare, and aiming for both low beams and high beams. Although FMVSS 108 does not specifically address or prohibit the use of ADB lighting systems, certain technical requirements have been interpreted to rule out their use. Two relevant sections of FMVSS 108: • §9.4: Low and high beam headlight beams cannot be energized at the same time. This is a fundamental obstacle to allowing ADB headlamp systems in the U.S. • §6.1.5.2.1 to §6.1.5.2.3: These sections detail scenarios where high and low beams are allowed to be used simultaneously, but they do not include the basic function of ADB systems. FMVSS 108 also outlines detailed photometric requirements for both low and high beams. ADB headlamps use a combination of low and high beams at the same time, and deactivate the lights in specific areas to prevent glare. Unfortunately, this dynamic lighting control makes ADB headlamps unable to meet all of the requirements specified in the FMVSS standard. 2.1 Canadian Regulatory Requirements Canadian regulations for vehicle headlamps (CMVSS - Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) are very similar to those in the U.S. However, CMVSS 108, the Canadian counterpart to FMVSS 108, was amended in March 2018 to permit the use of European-style headlamps equipped with ADB capability (Canada, 2018). The regulation states that headlamps may be used, provided they comply with either the requirements detailed in the relevant United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)1 headlamp regulations as described below or the ADB test procedure described by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Recommended Practice J3069 201606.” (Source)

I'm not saying that the Gubmint is why we can't have nice things ...

No, that's exactly what I'm saying.

Maybe there was a reason why they wrote the law that way (probably at the behest of certain business interests) maybe there wasn't. But this is what happens when you hire 535 people to "make laws." Sure the Senate has other responsibilities (treaties, confirmation for certain appointments) so take a hundred off, still 435 people who we pay to "make law."

What if all the law we have is all the law we'll ever need? Then what do they do? We're seeing that now.

Anyhoo, here's another good article about adaptive headlights, the adaptive driving beam (ADB) is the bit I've been on about in this post.

As to headlights, Little Rhody seems to have the most burnt out headlights in any place I've ever lived. Even late model cars!

Here's a question for you: How many states check headlight alignment periodically?

I couldn't readily find that answer. What surprised me is the number of states which do no safety inspection at all. It's not many but it's more than one. You can read about that here.

Mind-boggling, truly mind-boggling.

The headlight thing is an issue, the technology to fix it is available and apparently that Infrastructure Bill (H.R. 3684) passed by the current administration removes that restriction mentioned above concerning the use of low and high beam elements at the same time. Among the many other things that bill claims will mean a new day in America, pork for everyone.

Except probably the taxpayer.

We shall see, but apparently there are motor vehicles sold in the U.S. of A. which have ADB available now. Seems a much more valuable thing than making more charging stations for vehicles which most people can't afford. (No, I'm not a fan of EVs, unless they're built for little kids to play in the yard with ...)

Stay tuned, pay attention ...

And damn it, dim your high beams!