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The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

arstechnica.com

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Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#101

Post by saiya-jin »

saurik wrote: post #86

Part of me feels like we need to just make cars much much much more reflective (being careful to not have hard corners or flat surfaces that could create glare during the day). First of all, that would make them much more easily visible at night (which would be great, and is something everyone should want)... but it would also mean that if you are an asshole and use your high beams or otherwise shine a light at a car…

That matrix mirror won't work in ie dirty cars, and as something seemingly complex and expensive, no manufacturer would put it willingly and most buyers wouldn't pay up for it neither. You would have to enforce this via regulators. Good luck pushing such thing in nimby-ridden US (for lack of better expression).

How about other approach - trying to foster a culture amongst people of not being an a-hole to others, especially on the roads? Rather than playing whack-a-mole with all possible variants how assholism can be manifested. It generally works quite well in western Europe, I can't remember the last time somebody blinded me (if I don't count split-second situations of popping up suddenly from behind some tight curve).

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#102

Post by voltagex_ »

SuperQue wrote: post #89
rswail wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not drunk drivers but incapacitated drivers, whether due to alcohol, drugs, lack of sleep, distractions (mobile phones), etc. The fix is not arbitrary alcohol blood levels, or extending the "War on Drugs", but with standardized, enforced, in-vehicle continuous testing that ensures that the driver is awake, responsive, and in control of the vehicle. That is something where R&D in AI/ML/software to analy…

The fix is to make it so you aren't left stranded in life without a car. Car dependency is just as bad a disease as any. Cars give you the freedom to go anywhere, but take away the freedom to do anything without them.

Hi. I'm a wheelchair user. It's only reasonably recently that the buses here had a restraint system that can lock my chair in place added, before that I needed to hold on to a bar next to me, which destroyed my shoulders.

Uber decimated the taxi industry, the pandemic finished them off, and now taxis need to be sent from one town over, and those drivers don't accept my government subsidy card.

At my fittest, I could push my chair about 10km per day.

I need a car.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#103

Post by midoridensha »

karlshea wrote: post #75
CorrectHorseBat wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that make sense? Flat mirrors don't make things look further away than they are.

The passenger side is curved, the driver’s side isn’t. But the passenger side curved mirror isn’t the same type of curve as Euro cars so there are still bigger blind spots, and the driver’s side blind spots are huge.

Exactly; I should have been more specific: EU mirrors are aspherical, so the curvature isn't consistent. The US government believes, rightly or wrongly, that American drivers are simply too stupid to properly comprehend the view from an aspherical mirror, so therefore they are banned in the US.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#104

Post by saiya-jin »

bdamm wrote: post #45
bb88 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may find it interesting the NHTSA is pushing for breathalizers in cars starting in 2026. Personally I'm more in favor of smart road like technologies where a highway has a mechanical or physical properties to assist self-driving vehicles stay in line with the road. Mostly because a 100% software solution will likely not work, particularly in the midwest and great lakes states during the wintertime. It need not be…

Quality steel nails are expensive, roads are very plentiful, and sensors have noise. Also, staying in a lane is not the problem. Teslas and pretty much all other quality brands sold today do it already. The problem is complex behavior like merging and routing around obstacles (like a person changing their tire.) Cheaper and easier would be surveying and improving road markings. As for snow, well, my Tesla maintains l…

What a surreal read... where are all the cases of Tesla hitting stuff it clearly shouldn't, that no real sane driver would ever do? Also, 'maintaining position fairly well' is too low bar in situation where mistakes can and do cost lives.

I am all up for people willingly do beta testing for Tesla they even have to pay for, but it should be clearly marked and explained as so in contracts. The thing is, most folks are not aware of this at all. As things are now, Tesla's and Musk's lies (this and auto drive) cast a pretty bad picture on morals of that company.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#105

Post by kalleboo »

Maursault wrote: post #35

I'd be happy if local and state police just started issuing citations in earnest for misaligned headlights on pickup trucks. 99% of the pickups I come across at night have their low beams pointing straight instead of down at the road. It's so common that it can't be a coincidence that nearly every pickup truck has an illegal headlight configuration. And it isn't due to higher ground clearance, that's just their lame…

That's something that should be caught in mandatory periodic vehicle safety inspections. I always thought it was weird that in large parts of the US that is simply not a thing (compared to places I'm used to in the rest of the world where it seems totally normal)

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#106

Post by saiya-jin »

autoexec wrote: post #94
KerrAvon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US auto regulations are extremely conservative on the lights/signals front, have been for a long time. Some European car designs in the late 20th century were compromised when brought to the US because the headlights had to be made worse (in an aesthetic sense) even though there was no safety reason to do so — Citroen DS was one of these. And maybe they should be conservative, but I don’t see how anyone can argue tha…

I agree the NHTSA is way too slow, but damn am I glad they're doing the work! I love that they're checking everything carefully and doing the research before approving new designs.

They are not doing their work, their work is to allow highest available safety standards to be implemented, not to block progress. Their inability to allow curved rear mirrors killed god knows how many US people. You have decades of statistics form ie Europe to back it up, same as for this topic (OK decade and a half for lights).

I suspect its rather a typical lazy government bureaucratic hell case.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#107

Post by alkonaut »

throwaway019254 wrote: post #13

Can anybody tell me why all my US cars have enormous side-mirror blind spot? And my European cars have none? Are European cars using curved mirrors to prevent this? Edit: I just googled it. That’s exactly what’s happening - EU side mirrors are curved to prevent blind spots.

Luckily most new cars from the last 5-10 years should have blind spot warnings (even as standard on premium cars) so should be a problem that's at least slowly being solved.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#108

Post by Schroedingersat »

albert180 wrote: post #17
vanilla_nut wrote: post #6

Does anybody know if these lights detect and "un-bright" for pedestrians and bicyclists? I know many cars automatically turn the brights off at low speeds where you're more likely to see peds and bikes... but as someone who frequently walks and cycles on or along 40+ MPH roads, I worry what will happen to me when these vehicles start to show up.

Yes, Matrix-LED carves out a little hole in the high beam for you so you won't get blinded but the rest is still bright. See this 8 year old video for explanation https://youtu.be/F4-iwuzAey4

None of that even acknowledged the existence of non-car road users, let alone provided any confidence that they'd be reliable in a world where teslas regularly try to swerve into cyclists or onto railways.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#109

Post by mnw21cam »

saurik wrote: post #86

Part of me feels like we need to just make cars much much much more reflective (being careful to not have hard corners or flat surfaces that could create glare during the day). First of all, that would make them much more easily visible at night (which would be great, and is something everyone should want)... but it would also mean that if you are an asshole and use your high beams or otherwise shine a light at a car…

There are quite a lot of lorries, trucks, and vans on the road right now with exactly this, with diagonal red and yellow stripes. Do a google image search for "rear reflective chevron" for examples. I think it's a great idea, and would love to see it on more vehicles.

The main disadvantage is that the road by contrast may become harder to see. But I'd argue that the road also needs to become way more reflective, on the painted lines. The paint itself has some amount of retroreflective material, but it rapidly gets dirty. Cats-eyes are fabulous, but they also need to be regularly maintained and replaced, and that has definitely been slipping in many places.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#110

Post by Schroedingersat »

puffoflogic wrote: post #33

Ah fsck. I had been telling myself I might never get a new car because of the anti-features (owner-hostile features) which are being pushed for, such as ignition interlocks and bad driving detection. But this is one technology which really matters and is useful not only to the owner but also to everyone else - which is a much better paradigm no matter what you prioritize, surely!

Yes. I super look forward to these things blinding me on purpose if I dare to not be in a car https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5fl7r-E9WY

That's on top of being 24/7 surveillance of every public space that will be used to try and hawk garbage to me.

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