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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?

#311

Post by globular-toast »

mcv wrote: post #283
globular-toast wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Why ignore people who ride a bike for transportation? When I was a teen, I rode 10 km each way to school next to a very busy road. In winter, it was still dark. The combination of rain and oncoming cars would make me completely blind.

Because you're a minority and most people haven't been on a bike since they were a child. For most people, their first experience on the road is in a car. They are completely out of touch with what it means to use the road outside of a car. The roads are owned by cars, even though everyone pays for them. This is the way it's been for years and it won't be changing unless we have a serious reform.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#312

Post by [deleted] »

globular-toast wrote: post #279
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.

[deleted]

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#314

Post by jacobolus »

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…

The blue headlights are absolutely atrocious for everyone: pedestrians, other cars, people living in nearby houses, ...

They aren’t even good for the drivers themselves. The blue light kills your night vision and makes it impossible to see into shadows.

Car headlights (and road lighting) should have a limit on the maximum power at each wavelength, with very strict low limits in the blue part of the spectrum.

The marketing of blue headlights is based on almost fraudulently misleading claims about the visibility and power efficiency they’ll provide. They should be banned.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#315

Post by 0x138d5 »

mschuster91 wrote: post #296
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…

> but frankly I'm glad my dad showed me how to install/aim headlights and along with explaining the benefits of a working unmodified exhaust system and how it should sound In Germany, headlight aim is checked at the 2-yea mandatory inspection, dito for exhaust stuff. Is that not a part of US checks?

Most states do not have the equivalent to TÜV or MOT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_Unit...

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#316

Post by mcv »

globular-toast wrote: post #281
kube-system wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, if you have line of sight. If you don't, sound has the advantage of going around corners. I have encountered situations where I might need to operate the locks without being immediately in line-of-sight, like when I leave the vehicle before other passengers, someone else needs to get something out of the vehicle, etc.

Just walk back to the car to get line of sight. Even if my car did make an obnoxious sound I wouldn't lock it when I can't even see it.

Yeah, locking/unlocking the car out of sight sounds like a bad idea. It doesn't sound like a sufficiently important use case to justify obnoxious sounds.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#317

Post by 082349872349872 »

mcv wrote: post #284
PhantomGremlin wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what if it's a bike in the incoming lane? Or on the separate bike path on either side of the road? Will it detect that? Does the oncoming bike have a headlight? My car doesn't have matrix headlights (since I'm in USA) but it does have a necessary tool. It has a camera which detects oncoming vehicles. In my experience the camera works quite well. It dims my headlights more quickly than I can react manually. It als…

> "Around here, riding a bicycle after dark is a dangerous thing to do." And that's the exact thing that needs to change.

The dutch often separate vehicle and bicycle traffic (physically, not just with paint).

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#318

Post by kvgr »

I have a 4 years old Passat that has them, the visibility is incredible. Especially on the sides of the road, where normal lights go kind of dim. This kind of bureaucracy is very funny in US, cause I thought that one think US is build on is progress.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#319

Post by ReptileMan »

nwah1 wrote: post #272
ReptileMan wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 am all for innovation. But having some behavior of the car being a black box to the driver is recipe for trouble. And of course there are always edge cases that the developers didn't forsee.

The more complicated a car is - the more training will the driver need. So standard drivers license at some point may not be enough.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#320

Post by formerly_proven »

taneq wrote: post #149
bArray wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As with all automotive parts, eventually the price will come down. Currently they are luxury, in some years they will be commodity.

They're also from a luxury brand that commands a premium price above and beyond its actual cost of supply. Give it five years and an entry level Hyundai will come with equivalent headlights and they'll only cost $100 to replace.

Why would you want to replace LED headlights? LEDs themselves are typically specified for 50k hours, a much longer useful life than car engines (~10k hours / 180000 km). Also, because these are individually dimmed array lights, even if a single element dies, it's not a big problem and wouldn't require replacing the unit.
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