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Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

caranddriver.com

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Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#271

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

xondono wrote: post #97
heipei wrote: post #28

Even more importantly: Why is America still stuck with cars that honk when they're locked and that have indicator lights flashing in the same color as the tail-lights? One is a nuisance, the other one a straight-up safety issue.

That’s one of the things I miss the most of driving through america. Being able to make your car honk from your remote is magic to someone like my that always forgets where the car was parked. I’ve tried to see if I could turn that feature on on cars in Europe but so far, no luck.

Yeah, especially the couple times I forgot which floor of a parking garage my car was on.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#272

Post by nwah1 »

ReptileMan wrote: post #223
justin66 wrote: post #68

I am grimly curious how many Americans would view a primitive combination of high beam/low beam/fog lamps/accent lights as being preferable to a sophisticated headlight that can do it all, simply because they get off on dazzling people with their absurd headlights.

I am european and still prefer the simple system. As a software developer - knowing what kind of bunch we are - the less software for critical systems the better. Clicking a button or switching a lever with tactile feedback, immediate response that does exactly what is expected is vastly preferable to any smart system.

But it is a gradient. There are simple "adaptive headlights" that try not to do anything too fancy. Just aim at the road, adjust for elevation, and the direction you are turning. Could imagine a hinge and a gyroscope controlling that, in theory.

These matrix ones that add in adjustments for other cars and for signs are maybe a little too far on the curve for me as well. Anything using computer vision is not something I'd be excited about.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#273

Post by hef19898 »

serf wrote: post #14

groups like Audi/Porsche/BMW have trouble bringing their fancy LED setups to America due to laws pertaining to high / low beams -- meanwhile every Jack and Jill on the road has glaringly illegal aftermarket Xenon bulb setups in refractor headlight housings rather than proper projectors, blinding the hell out of everyone on the road, and the police seem to do nothing about it. I mean, hey -- i'm usually happy about au…

The funny thing is, German tuners complain the other way. Why are factory cars allowed to have a certain noise level (or something else) and I am not allowed to do the same thing with after market parts.

But then we have TÜV and all kinds of laws around that.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#274

Post by hef19898 »

browningstreet wrote: post #116
lvspiff wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst thing to happen to America was Autozone and Fast and Furious. Cheap aftermarket modifications to your car being sold to people with no knowledge of what they were doing but wanted it too look cool cause they saw it in the movie. Its led to years of teenagers with no training putting things on their cars that turn them into obnoxious spectacles on the road. I know I sound like an old coot but frankly I'm gla…

I guess I'm really old. Before Fast and Furious, I lived through the slammed mini truck / monster car stereo (speakers, speakers, speakers) craze of the late 80s. And before that there were many, many trends, like muscle cars, etc. It's always been like this...

What struck me back then, was how Fast and Furious and Need for Speed influenced each other.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#275

Post by resist_futility »

partiallypro wrote: post #138

I get the criticism, want, and need...but comparing a $120K+ Porsche to a $20K average car isn't exactly a fair comparison, even when it comes to headlights. The replacement cost on that headlight is probably astronomical, where I can replace a bulb for $40. I don't even know if the Boxster which is around ~$60K comes with these headlights. A quick lookup and those Porsche headlights cost ~$2K EACH.

What a bargain! The Ferrari ones are $2600. /s

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#277

Post by totetsu »

BoorishBears wrote: post #263
ARandomerDude wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure temporarily blinding someone coming toward you in a vehicle is a wise tantrum to throw?

Eh, as someone who rides a road bike pretty often, this is par for the course for the "community" We should be glad the kind of person who would go out of their way to endanger themselves and others with something as useless and petty as... retaliatory light flashing is on a bicycle instead of a 2 ton vehicle. The people who give cyclists a bad name are never self-aware

I'm not trying to be petty, or throw a tantrum. I'm not talking a 10000s of lumens here. It's just the only sure fire way to educate the driver about the problem fast enough. It usually works out that we both stop shining lights in each others eyes, and and pass safer and wiser.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#278

Post by seer »

ramenmeal wrote: post #109
notacoward wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the came-with-the-car headlights are often dangerously bright, no need to assume they're aftermarket.

I've noticed newer Toyota headlights's are really bright and angled too high up. That or Toyota drivers leave their brights on more.

Isn’t there a knob to control the angle of the projectors? So that if you have heavy cargo at the back you can adjust the angle?

In the country I live in you’ll get honked to oblivion if you mess with that and blind the other drivers.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#279

Post by globular-toast »

mcv wrote: post #92

I know very little about headlights, but I do know that too many cars have a certain kind of extra bright, blue-white headlights which hurt my eyes. I don't know why they are allowed, but I'd love to see them banned. They may be great for the driver, but getting blinded isn't much fun for oncoming traffic. > "When a car approaches in the oncoming lane, the 911's headlights dim around it while leaving the rest of the…

It's practically impossible to cycle at night on roads without street lighting due to cars. Has been for many, many years. The people who would want to do it (generally people into the sport and out for training) just accept this. Nobody else cares.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#280

Post by FractalParadigm »

bsimpson wrote: post #253
gautamcgoel wrote: post #238

So, basically the same reason we have bad everything . Our institutions and regulations are outdated relative to the rest of the world, so we get stuck with shitty stuff.

For instance: payments. Europe and Asia got chip cards and tap-to-pay decades before we did, even though Mastercard and Visa took part in their invention. America had credit card infrastructure first, so our payment networks were stuck with it, while other countries could start off with better stuff. Without the consumer demand that Google/Apple Pay (and later coronavirus) created, we still probably wouldn't have wid…

As a Canadian it's almost incredible to see how far ahead even we are compared to the US in terms of payment options. A lot of the debit machines were tap-compatible over 10 years ago, and even then it took banks several years to implement and supply cards. In fact I remember getting my first tap-capable card in high school and had to go to the bank to activate the feature, and it wasn't long after that when my friends and I were running hacked Android Pay apk's to enable NFC payments here. Even with regards to "chip and PIN," I'd wager most machines built in the last 10 years have never had a card swiped through them, and even if they have, the payment will almost never go through until you try again with the chip.

I honestly can't remember the last time I actually used my debit card to buy anything. With tap limits of $100 per transaction and $200 per day, 99% of my regular purchases can be made through my phone. It's very rare I take my wallet out of the car.

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