I know there have been several posts on whether Porsche can and will turn on full matrix functionality on existing headlights in the USA. It seems (according to the attached CNN story) that this will never happen with the current hardware design even if a software change would allow the hardware to work.

Adaptive headlights are improving night vision in many countries around the world while at the same time reducing glare for other drivers. Could they be better? Sure, but does that mean what is currently designed isn't better than standard head lights?

I know as a Canadian on a US forum, it is bad form to criticize American regulators, but this just seems like dysfunction. It's as if the NHTSA is saying "if we didn't think of the standard first it isn't good enough".

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/15/cars/...ars/index.html

 

Considering it took them over 50 years to update the vehicle lighting regulations at all, it is more that the US is lazy, but at the same time doesn't want to just implement regulations that are similar to the EU (even if they are objectively better). It is both exasperating and annoying that we don't get nice things here because of the slow walk of adjusting regulations, or even writing them in the first place.

 

good read. it seems like the reasonable approach would be to get an approved standard in place that allows existing lights to be enabled while having the new strict std. apply to some future date. this is a case where the regulators again are missing the spirit of what they are supposed to be doing, and who knows how to fix that. it is probably somewhere between bad elected politicians and bad civil servants in the bureaucracy.

incidentally i had a guy make a bunch of exaggerated arm movements and facial expressions in the costco parking lot this week trying to indicate my lights were too bright. i didn’t see him but my girlfriend did. she told me and i simply had a chuckle and said life’s hard for some people. i have another car that is low and sometimes lights in higher vehicle can be bright. it is the cost of living life and driving a low vehicle. avert your eyes, it isn’t the end of the world. i don’t wave my arms and act dramatically. if your eyes don’t do well in night time driving conditions consider not driving at night.

 

I'm reluctant to say anything in defense of the NHTSA but their caution may be warranted since there are at least some poorly designed adaptive beam headlight systems in use that cause significant glare for road users.

Bjørn Nyland has posted a fairly large number of adaptive beam headlight reviews on his YouTube channel which is at https://www.youtube.com/@bjornnyland/videos

Nyland found that some of the adaptive headlights he evaluated caused so much glare that a very high percentage of oncoming drivers flashed their high beams in irritation.

All adaptive beam headlight systems aren't created equal. The Hella/Porsche adaptive beam systems may be above average in the low amount of glare they create. Not one single driver has flashed their high beams in irritation at me in the nearly 6 months it's been since 9xx re-coded my Cayenne's LED-matrix headlights.

Another potential problem is that vehicle inspections in the U.S. have become increasingly rare. There are no annual inspections where I live. If a headlight gets out of adjustment and the owner doesn't correct the problem, it will stay out of adjustment "forever". It's different in many European countries where there are stringent annual inspections including headlight aim.

 

I think that NHTSA should be supported by EU regulations in their decisions. There are no more restrictive car regulations in the world than those in force in the EU. European cars have many "muzzles" on them that limit the car's parameters and aim to increase safety. Some of them even become absurd.
IMO, if Matrix headlights from a given manufacturer are approved in the EU, they will certainly meet the standards in force in USA or Canada.

 

Maybe we should all write to our representatives to hassle the NHTSA into doing the smart thing and KISS this problem using EU regulations to start and adjust as necessary in the future rather than reinventing the wheel. It's a real bad thing that the US is taking a back seat to rest of world progress in areas like this. This isn't plagiarism...

 

i heard if you write about something to send a paper letter i guess they weight it more significantly that an email by quite a bit.

 

I think the US regulations are more restrictive than in the EU. The proof is that adaptive headlights are allowed in the EU and not in the USA.

 

Adaptive headlights were approved 2 years ago in the US. I have no idea what the hang up is now.

 

nhtsa wants to re-invent the wheels and write up their requirements, such that this will last the next 50 yrs 😄

 

From the CNN report, it looks like the NHTSA doesn't object to adaptive headlights but they want a different spec for that technology for US roadways. So, I guess Porsche will continue to supply ROW adaptive headlight units to the US, but deactivated. I wonder what the adaptive headlight rules are in China? If they are the same as Europe and the Cayenne is selling well in the US without the adaptive feature enabled, why would Porsche develop a new system just for the US? As was posted above, I don't know why the NHTSA doesn't accept the current technology and advise manufacturers they have 5 years to meet the new US standard? I mean the current adaptive technology must be better than standard headlights.

 

China has long cooperated with U.N. vehicle regulations: https://unece.org/transport/news/une...le-regulations

From what I can tell, the U.S is the only remaining major outlier.

Don't underestimate the political ramifications resulting from conforming to U.N. standards for headlights or anything else. The quite large lunatic fringe might expect that black U.N. helicopters would soon land in their yards to confiscate their steak knives.

 

I think that the delay in introducing Matrix headlights in USA may be due to the fact that both Europe and most countries of the world have an asymmetrical headlight system. In USA, the system is symmetrical. It is therefore possible that car manufacturers must develop and test new Matrix headlight software so to meet the US standards. This may take some time.

 

consider this too - the way the US often works is private companies & organizations have lobbyists. it is possible a company in the U.S. hold patents that coincidentally match the new specification. if that were the case then anyone making headlights for the U.S. spec would have to pay someone in the U.S. for every headlight they sell. whenever things seem whacky, there are probably some politics. And the U.S. (and I don’t like that I feel this way) essentially owns the U.N., so I would not consider that end much of an influence on what the U.S. regulation is. Shoot, it could even been a chinese owned company in america that holds the patent that underlays the U.S. regulation. The chinese could be the ones to benefit.

 

This is so dumb.

Unfortunately I don't have Matrix LED's on my Cayenne...because Porsche decided I wasn't worthy of them (although they did try to make it up to me later). But that's another story.

In any event, I have a BMW M3 with adaptive Laser lights and have enabled the ROW matrix anti-dazzle adaptive highbeam pattern. They are stunning. They activate in all kinds of conditions I never would think, including when following behind multiple cars AND oncoming traffic. They illuminate the sides of the road, road signs, shoulders, past cars in front of me into the oncoming lane (when no cars oncoming of course), etc. Given the fact that I am in the suburbs and it's well lit, I didn't expect them to be this active. But to my surprise they are.

But I have yet to be flashed by oncoming traffic even ONCE.

It's so ridiculous that we're required to turn this functionality off.