The long wait is over. A law that had prohibited the use of adaptive lighting has been lifted. It comes after President Biden signed the US Infrastructure Bill in November 2021. The bill had proposed changes to Section 108 of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS). It is a culmination of several decades of petitioning by automakers. The Infrastructure bill mandated the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to roll out the changes to lighting regulations within two years. Luckily, NHTSA has managed to approve the changes in six months. It means that American car owners can begin driving around with adaptive headlights.
Previously, FMVSS Section 108 dictated that all car headlights be fitted with dedicated high beam and low beam lights. It was illegal for anyone to drive on US roads with adaptive headlights. These regulations locked the country from the innovative technology popular with European car models. Countries outside the USA have been using adaptive lighting since 2006. Companies dealing with European car brands like Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz had to deactivate this feature for their vehicles to be sold and used in the US. The latest development means that car owners can activate this integrated feature. It also ends years of petitions and negotiations between government agencies and automakers to permit driving with adaptive lighting.
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For American car drivers, driving in the dark requires frequent flipping between low and high beams depending on oncoming traffic or terrain. A pretty tedious task, and sometimes people forget, ending up with a high beam that blinds oncoming drivers. While the US drivers flip low and high beam lights, their European, even global counterparts use an intelligent lighting system. The adaptive lighting. It is a technology that utilizes several sensors to monitor traffic, slope and terrain and accordingly adjusts the brightness of headlights.
Unlike the traditional headlights synonymous with American vehicles, adaptive headlights emit illumination in different directions. Light from the former comes from a fixed angle. Adaptive headlights automatically adjust in response to course changes and oncoming traffic density.
Adaptive lighting has a quicker response to the steering. Turning the steering causes the headlamps to shift by a specific angle in the direction of the steering wheel. That way, keeping the road ahead well-lit. The lights can move horizontally or vertically in response to the driving course, allowing drivers to track the path and see ahead clearly. These lights can also tilt upwards or downwards to improve illumination when driving up or down a slope.
Adaptive lighting proves beneficial for nighttime driving. These headlights use arrays of advanced light-emitting diodes (LED), which are more durable and brighter than conventional headlight bulbs. The lights are connected to a computerized control module that increases their responsiveness to driving conditions. The technology has advanced in the rest of the world, while it lagged in America due to restrictive regulations.
Modern adaptive lighting systems can focus a beam of light on road safety symbols, surface markings, obstacles and vehicles ahead. Typical adaptive lighting systems contain:
When driving in the dark, the sensors analyze lighting from oncoming vehicles. The adaptive lights identify illuminated and dimly lit sections of the road. The electronic control unit converts this information into a signal that controls the operation of the matrix manager, switching controllers and LED drivers. The headlights will lower beam intensity and focus on the dimly-lit road sections, providing optimum visibility.
The use of adaptive lighting will, without a doubt, improve driving safety on US roads.
NHTSA affirms that the use of adaptive lighting will improve road safety. The approval of these innovative lights will boost the visibility of cyclists, pedestrians, animals and obstacles on the road and minimize road crashes. While acknowledging these benefits, the administration has put some restrictions on the standards of these headlights. That means that the American system will use a slightly different adaptive lighting standard from the rest of the world. Automakers will have to modify the headlights to meet federal requirements.
Moving forward, adaptive lights for use in the US must adhere to Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standards. As a result, vehicles can be equipped with headlights that automatically reshape high beams, but the light intensity must be within limits established in the 1970s. NHTSA also notes that certification regimes for Europe and the US vary. European carmakers rely on type-approved certification, while the US requires original car manufacturers to self-certify that their lighting products meet the minimum requirements for use. The testing standards for adaptive lights in the US are also different from established practices around the globe. SAE standards recommend that although the lighting is optimum, it should ensure drivers are not subjected to glare when driving on curved roads.
Irrespective of the differences in standards and regulations, the pronouncement that adaptive headlights are road-legal in the US is welcome among automakers and dealers. Car industry experts will now retreat and evaluate their products to verify whether they comply with the desired US standards. The news comes when the automotive industry is invested heavily in improving the autonomy of vehicles to optimize road safety.
American drivers could soon activate the adaptive lighting feature on most of their European car brands. Local manufacturers will gradually offer vehicles using innovative technology as they strive to enhance road safety. With the US approving the changes to lighting technology, the adoptive light market segment is bound to enjoy more growth. There will be increased research into LED technology and computerized control in different car brands. The country will now be at par with the rest of the world in matters of innovative lighting technology.
