If these are for being able to drive at 80mph (which is illegal in most places) then what's keeping them from going further, then, and modulating the brightness based on the current ground speed?
Illegal? TX and OK have multiple highways/turnpikes with those speeds. However, as to your question I'm sure they could certainly get to that point, but the adaptive headlights currently in use in Europe and other countries essentially do the same thing by using sensors to detect oncoming cars and reduce output in that spot until the object has cleared.
"Most places"
People can't manage high vs low right now, lol. My wife's Caddy with the auto-high beams can be a bit annoying when it picks up street lights and whatnot that cause it to turn off high beams erroneously.
Aren't there a number of cars that fix this, not with brightness, but by leading the lights into a turn? For instance, in my friend's X5 when he goes into a turn the lights point toward where he's beginning to go so your path is plenty lit. That seems like a better solution than an omnidirectional increase in brightness? At least I would think...
TX just eliminated state-mandated veh inspections, though individual counties can still levy their own requirements.
Even in a straight line, the faster your speed, the more room you need to either stop or take evasive action safely, so the farther your lights need to illuminate the road in front of you to avoid "outdriving the headlights".
Huh, interesting... I guess I personally have never had an issue driving 80mph on a straight away with things not being lit enough.
Yes: There are reasons why there's not a nightly catastrophe of cars speeding into collisions on the highways. For the most part, headlights provide adequate illumination. Also, it's relatively uncommon for hard-to-see obstacles to suddenly appear on highways. Thus, most people have never had an issue with driving at highway speeds on straight roads.
My wife's caddy has headlights that follow the steering wheel as you turn which is a great feature. The difference with adaptive headlights in Europe is that the lights have active shutters/diodes that can quickly blank out the light from shining on an oncoming vehicle. It doesn't reduce brightness, it just essentially blocks the light from being directed into the driver's area, then unblocks it when the vehicle has passed. It's cool tech, but as mentioned previously it's been held back by NHTSA in the US for god knows what reason.Aren't there a number of cars that fix this, not with brightness, but by leading the lights into a turn? For instance, in my friend's X5 when he goes into a turn the lights point toward where he's beginning to go so your path is plenty lit. That seems like a better solution than an omnidirectional increase in brightness? At least I would think...
As a Hyundai sedan driver neither adaptive lights, fancy leading lights, or a ridiculous lift kit to get higher up/out of the way of truck/suv lights are in the realm of possibility. So if I want more brightness the best I can achieve is holding a maglite flashlight out my window and pointing it to where I intend to look. But that ghetto approach would look like poverty on wheels, so I'm relegated to just using my pleb headlights + brights for now and suffering through the ridiculous lights of others
I don’t own a car so I only drive the occasional courtesy car or rental.
I drive a 2008 rav4, not exactly a tiny, low to the ground sports car. The amount I get blinded by people driving in their overcompensation-mobiles is insane. Their headlights are basically at my eye level.
