Feds get ready to rewrite car headlight rules
Reducing glare and allowing modern light technologies will be two goals.
Reducing glare and allowing modern light technologies will be two goals.
The short version
- When Ars started covering cars, automakers like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, and Volvo were trying to import adaptive headlight technology.
- At the time, the FMVSS only allowed for “dumb” high- and low-beams, nothing else.
- Meanwhile, lighting technology evolved , adopting first lasers and then LEDs with addressable pixels that can block out those that would otherwise illuminate oncoming cars.
What happened
In 2013, in response to Toyota’s petition, NHTSA said it would start the rulemaking process. Since then, cars with active beam matrix LED headlights have gone on sale in the US; Audi’s big new SUVs are a good example , although they are limited in functionality compared with the same technology fitted to European-spec cars.
Why it matters
Ars Technica has been separating the signal from the noise for over 25 years.
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