Headlamp tech that doesn’t blind oncoming drivers—where is it?

Enlarge / No one likes being dazzled by an oncoming car at night. (credit: Getty Images)

Magna provided flights from Washington, DC, to Detroit and accommodation so Ars could attend its tech day. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

TROY, Mich.—Despite US dominance in so many different areas of technology, we’re sadly somewhat of a backwater when it comes to car headlamps. It’s been this way for many decades, a result of restrictive federal vehicle regulations that get updated rarely. The latest lights to try to work their way through red tape and onto the road are active-matrix LED lamps, which can shape their beams to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.

From the 1960s, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards allowed for only sealed high- and low-beam headlamps, and as a result, automakers like Mercedes-Benz would sell cars with less capable lighting in North America than it offered to European customers.