United States Department of Transportation
i
Adaptive driving beam headlights : visibility, glare and measurement considerations.
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2016-06-01
[PDF-1.79 MB]
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Alternative Title:Visual performance and safety benefits of adaptive driving beam headlighting systems.
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Abstract:Recent developments in solid-state lighting, sensor and control technologies are making new
configurations for vehicle forward lighting feasible. Building on systems that automatically switch from
high- to low-beam headlights in the presence of oncoming vehicles, adaptive driving beam (ADB) systems
can detect both oncoming headlights and preceding taillights and reduce their intensity only in the
direction of the other lights while maintaining higher levels of illumination throughout the remainder of
the field of view. The nominal benefit of ADB systems is the provision of high-beam levels of illumination
in the forward scene while reducing glare to oncoming and preceding drivers, who perceive low-beam
illumination levels. Two dynamic field experiments were conducted; one experiment measured the ability
of observers to identify the walking direction of roadside pedestrian targets with and without using the
ADB system, and the other experiment evaluated the discomfort glare elicited by the ADB system in
comparison to conventional low- and high-beam headlights. The findings from both experiments are
consistent with previous analytical and static field tests and suggest that ADB systems can offer safety
benefits compared to conventional headlight systems. Despite these potential benefits, ADB systems are
not presently defined in North American headlighting standards. Field measurements of the photometric
performance of an adaptive driving bean system were made in response to simulated headlight and tail
light conditions. Roadway geometries were varied and multiple measurements for many conditions were
made to assess repeatability of measurements. The results of the testing are summarized in the context of
validating the likely safety impacts of these systems and of providing recommendations for standardized
measurement conditions to ensure reliability
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