Why is America stuck with bad headlights? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#341

Post by Symbiote » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:32 AM UTC

DubiousPusher wrote: post #248

I tend away from nationalistic exceptionalism and inferiorism. I tend to find one nation that seems very well together in one area is often all fouled up somewhere else. But I've just seen so many examples of America's inability to build working beaurocracy lately that I begin to wonder. This of course is a fairly trivial example but others are not. I'm sure I'm consuming cherry-picked media and if I went looking I c…

The UK seems to have made a mess of their Coronavirus response (fewer cases but even more deaths than the USA). That accounts for most of the current news. Johnson has recently continued the trend of nominating far too many people to the House of Lords (the unelected upper chamber of Parliament), which is a severe weakness in British democracy, second only to the terrible voting system for the Commons (lower house) in my opinion.

"Boring" bureaucracy like the headlights is rarely a significant problem. The idea that the government is fundamentally incompetent and shouldn't be trusted even to tie its own shoelaces seems uniquely American -- in Britain, if part of the government isn't working the people look for a politician to blame, usually either for interfering or cutting the budget.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news (centre-left, free to read)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ (centre-right, parts behind a paywall)

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#342

Post by oblio » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:34 AM UTC

BoorishBears wrote: post #249

taneq wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Brands like Hyundai and Toyota have been coming out with sealed LED units for years, and they cost thousands to replace The headlights are not that cheap. Expensive optics, expensive LEDs with carefully selected emission spectrums, cooling solutions.

But do they break down as often? If it's about physical breakage (car crash), you're going to change more than just the light bulb for either tech. And it will cost more with traditional bulbs, too.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#343

Post by AnssiH » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:37 AM UTC

csomar wrote: post #310

bsimpson wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This gets thrown a lot but I think the reason the U.S. didn't move from the swipe system to the PIN is the speed of processing your card. With the swipe, the cashier just swipe your card and you're done. With the chip, I have to wait and then enter my PIN and then wait. It's just a hustle.

Don't you need to sign after a swipe?

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#344

Post by huffmsa » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:37 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #302

encom wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>every subsystem is DRM'd and only licensed professionals were allowed to touch it Kind of like how smartphones are right now.

BMW is doing it right now - some of their US cars will come with features locked behind a subscription model. Want heated seats? They are $99 a year, you get a free 14 day trial to see if you like the feature. Same with adaptive cruise, with more advanced media features etc etc. Their argument is that vast majority of new BMWs in US are leased, so it's "better" for customers to lease a basic model for less, and then…

Because they're physical features already installed, it'll probably be okay. Will void your warranty, but nothing the MFG can do. Same way retuning your ECU to make more power works.

Versus something like hacking a subscription for satellite radio, where the feature in question is the content the service is providing, which is easier to frame as illegal.

Then there's the case of hacking hour Tesla to enable autopilot. The hardware is there (like the seats) but the functionality is continually updated via subscription.

I look forward to the lawsuits, with the hope that the consumer prevails.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#345

Post by oblio » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:39 AM UTC

kvgr wrote: post #318

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.

> This kind of bureaucracy is very funny in US, cause I thought that one think US is build on is progress.

No, it's built on money. Sometimes that leads to progress, sometimes it doesn't.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#346

Post by mirimir » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:42 AM UTC

> Each of the 911's lighting units includes 84 individually controlled LEDs that allow the car to continuously morph the pattern of its beams. When a car approaches in the oncoming lane, the 911's headlights dim around it while leaving the rest of the pattern bright. The other driver doesn't get blinded, but you still have blazing lights on your side.

That is amazing. And I suspect that one could incorporate more autopilot technology. Perhaps to better illuminate pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and wildlife. Also perhaps police vehicles, identified through markings and/or tag number.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#347

Post by richthegeek » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:44 AM UTC

TomMarius wrote: post #222

jdietrich wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the European Audi and BMW range is equipped with adaptive LED or laser headlights that selectively dip for oncoming traffic; self-levelling headlights are mandatory on new cars in the EU.

Not just "new cars" - a 2001 car that I drove had xeons with the leveling already mandatory. And it's checked at the bi-yearly technical inspection, and the police can forbid you to drive the car further if it's not working and they catch you (not sure if all around EU, definitely in Czechia and Germany).

From experience in Cyprus, they don't care even a little bit over there.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#348

Post by belorn » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:44 AM UTC

totetsu wrote: post #199

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…

When I am cycling at night, I sometimes carry a flashlight to shine at the windscreen of people who can't not blind me.

I would start with lobbying politicians to change the traffic laws and driving license exams that explicitly tells drivers (at least in my country) to not turn of the headlights for cyclists and pedestrians.

Disobeying traffic laws in order to be nice is tricky, especially if doing so has an remote possibility to cause an accident. The blame will always be on the driver.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#349

Post by switch007 » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:49 AM UTC

growlist wrote: post #333

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…

Here in the UK Top Gear has a lot to answer for in promoting an utterly moronic car culture (and I like cars).

How so?

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#350

Post by amelius » Tue, Aug 04, 2020, 9:49 AM UTC

paganel wrote: post #269

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…

>groups like Audi/Porsche/BMW have trouble bringing their fancy LED setups Unfortunately those fancy LED setups are a headache for the rest of us drivers sharing the roads with those models, because they're also bright as hell from the factory. Fortunately the tacky way Audi had implemented its rear-lights signalling wasn't adopted by the wider industry, and I think the VW group itself is having second thoughts about…

> Unfortunately those fancy LED setups are a headache for the rest of us drivers sharing the roads with those models, because they're also bright as hell from the factory.

People don't realize that with these lights, they put their own safety at risk.