3 ms·

This feels like the real story. Why are European headlights deemed unacceptable in the US?

by keane 2y ago

_yb2s 2y ago
The answer is constantly changing, but there is a general trend of the USA being slower to make improved lighting technology legal, and USA car companies having no interest in adopting improved lighting technology, often even after it is legal. In general car headlights in the USA have to be DOT compliant, meeting a strict set of regulations... and the new and innovative or unusual designs on high end foreign cars can fall outside those for one reason or another. For example, back in the 70s and 80s the only compliant lights were extremely dim disposable sealed beam light bulbs with an integrated lens and reflector. European cars had high end optics with large glass lenses and mirrors that used a replaceable H4 style bulb, but the American versions had to swap that entire system for something with a low quality disposable bulb. Car enthusiasts would often buy the better lights from overseas and swap them in. While technically illegal, not cop is going to ticket you for not blinding them enough. Nowadays at least American cars do have replaceable lights and not sealed beams. A more modern example, is that European cars have long used dynamic/adaptive lights that actively detect and block the light going towards oncoming vehicles by dynamically reshaping the beam- a much more effective system than just having low beams that point lower. They also have steerable headlights that point away from oncoming traffic into turns, and automatically point the lights down if the vehicle suspension squats in the rear from a heavy load or bump. While they've long been legal and widely used in Europe, they are now legal in the USA as of 2 years ago- for example you can now order a new VW with "Dynamic Light Assist" option, which actively reshapes the beam.... but this is so recently legal almost no vehicles on the road have it yet.

This feels like the real story. Why are European headlights deemed unacceptable in the US?

by keane 2y ago

This feels like the real story. Why are European headlights deemed unacceptable in the US?

The answer is constantly changing, but there is a general trend of the USA being slower to make improved lighting technology legal, and USA car companies having no interest in adopting improved lighting technology, often even after it is legal. In general car headlights in the USA have to be DOT compliant, meeting a strict set of regulations... and the new and innovative or unusual designs on high end foreign cars can fall outside those for one reason or another. For example, back in the 70s and 80s the only compliant lights were extremely dim disposable sealed beam light bulbs with an integrated lens and reflector. European cars had high end optics with large glass lenses and mirrors that used a replaceable H4 style bulb, but the American versions had to swap that entire system for something with a low quality disposable bulb. Car enthusiasts would often buy the better lights from overseas and swap them in. While technically illegal, not cop is going to ticket you for not blinding them enough. Nowadays at least American cars do have replaceable lights and not sealed beams. A more modern example, is that European cars have long used dynamic/adaptive lights that actively detect and block the light going towards oncoming vehicles by dynamically reshaping the beam- a much more effective system than just having low beams that point lower. They also have steerable headlights that point away from oncoming traffic into turns, and automatically point the lights down if the vehicle suspension squats in the rear from a heavy load or bump. While they've long been legal and widely used in Europe, they are now legal in the USA as of 2 years ago- for example you can now order a new VW with "Dynamic Light Assist" option, which actively reshapes the beam.... but this is so recently legal almost no vehicles on the road have it yet.