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NHTSA Finally Sees the Light....Literally (Advanced headlights Ok'd)


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https://www.autoblog.com/2018/10/11/nhtsa-oks-advanced-headlights-safety/

 

 

 

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday said it was moving to allow advanced headlights known as "adaptive driving beams" to be used in vehicles on U.S. roads, a technology that could help prevent nighttime crashes.

The agency said it was acting in response to a petition filed by Toyota in 2013 to allow the lights, which provide more illumination than existing lights without a glare to oncoming motorists by using additional sensors to automatically adjust lights.

NHTSA said the lights offer "potentially significant safety benefits in avoiding collisions with pedestrians, cyclists, animals, and roadside objects."

The headlights have been permitted in Europe for more than a decade and are also allowed in Japan and other countries.

Volkswagen AG also petitioned the agency in 2016 to allow the lights on its Audi A7 luxury cars, while BMW AG filed a similar petition in October 2017.

The problem is the lights ran afoul of U.S. rules setting maximum levels for lower beams.

The agency noted that a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that pedestrian deaths in dark conditions jumped 56 percent from 2009 to 2016.

At the direction of Congress, NHTSA began extensive research into the impact of nighttime glare in 2005.

Unlike some automatic headlight switch systems from high to low beams, adaptive headlights use sensors, cameras, data-processing software, and headlamp hardware to detect oncoming and preceding vehicles and automatically adjust the headlamp beams.

NHTSA said it was proposing to amend current safety rules that bar the advanced lights but will still need to take final action after receiving public comment before it can the allow the new lights. The agency is also proposing new test measures to ensure the systems work as planned.

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Yep, another reason why you won't be able to afford to buy a new car in the first place, insure that new car, or pay to repair that new car! There's already too many different headlights, including various colors. I saw a Toyota Camry that must have been the owner's doing, with 4 blue headlights. And with these new headlights, if you're going down a hill, just before you level out, the lights go down into the blacktop offering you no light ahead of you UNTIL you level out!! Where is the NHTSA about that? And on a side note, these new motorcycle headlights are a joke! I see the bike before i see the headlight!

Edited by Joe771476
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Well Lincoln usually has been in the forefront of lighting. I remember the '97 Mark 8 I had had a neon brake light which was a new concept back then and HID headlights. Then they migrated to headlights that move along with the steering wheel, etc.etc. then you have the cute puddle lamps as well with the Lincoln star and such, so it wouldn't surprise me to see Lincoln be an early adopter of such.

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My parents had a 98 Mark VIII LSC that was one of the first vehicles the US to have HIDs. Ford and Lincoln were also using neon lighting for the rear lights (CHMSL in Explorer). The Neon fixture in the Mark VIII is still one of the coolest lighting effects ever put on a car. Lincoln went on 'cool lighting tech' hiatus after the Mark VIII was dropped. I had HIDs in my 2005 LS and Aviator, the 2007 MKX had the LED light pipes in the rear, even though they didn't have HIDs or LEDs anywhere else. It was quite a mixed bag. The interior of Lincolns started adopting some other lighting effects in 2013 like GM and other luxury makes.

 

Lincoln doesn't have any global assets ready to go so it's going to take some investment to adapt Ford's EU lighting tech for their cars, the Germans already have it. But it shouldn't take more than 3-5 years.

Edited by Assimilator
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Well Lincoln usually has been in the forefront of lighting. I remember the '97 Mark 8 I had had a neon brake light which was a new concept back then and HID headlights. Then they migrated to headlights that move along with the steering wheel, etc.etc. then you have the cute puddle lamps as well with the Lincoln star and such, so it wouldn't surprise me to see Lincoln be an early adopter of such.

Well being that the MKX headlights can already do this on overseas models, I'd suspect it is programming that is turned off on the LED units.

 

Canada just allowed them and Porsche/BMW are checking with the government if they can reprogram existing cars with headlights that can do this with the new functionality. They also included some language for vehicles that drive with DRL's and have the dash illuminated at all times, at night the dash much automatic turnoff or alert the driver they need to turn on the headlights

 

The US was on a path to adopt the UN lighting standards. However I don't see this happing for a while if ever now, now NHTSA is moving to get things changed to improve safety with out Congress approval.

Edited by jasonj80
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