August 9, 2017 Vol. 14 No. 16

A few months ago I wrote a couple of times about headlights, complaining that the standard lamps offered in most vehicles — from cars to heavy trucks — are insufficient. Meaning, it’s too easy to over-drive your lights at what are pretty ordinary speeds nowadays. The light just isn’t thrown far enough down the road, reducing the ability of a driver to see far enough ahead to avoid an obstruction and maybe a catastrophic accident.

The problem isn’t with truck-makers or light manufacturers. Every one of them has the better product on offer. The problem lies with laws and regulations that make the lowest common denominator way too low.

Responses to my bleating were many, most folks agreeing with me and saying they routinely upgrade their stock lighting, some going the LED route with success despite the added expense.

Well, there may soon be a dramatically capable alternative: a dazzle-free main beam in HD quality by digital means. ‘Smart’ headlights that can change the quality, intensity, and direction of the headlamp’s beam according to what sensors ‘see’ on the road ahead. It’s being developed by Mercedes-Benz for its cars but there’s no reason to think the technology won’t reach the truck market.

Yahoo, I say.

And get this: the new generation of HD headlamps from Mercedes can project high-resolution images onto the road surface. They can warn other road users and communicate with them. For instance, if the vehicle identifies pedestrians at the side of the road, the vehicle can project a zebra crossing onto the road surface as a signal to safely cross.