http://autos.yahoo.com/news/audi-wan...221547172.html



The headlights on the forthcoming Audi A8 sedan can illuminate around corners and throw brighter-than-average beams. They’re also smarter, adjusting automatically to traffic, pedestrians, and road conditions. “Extremely trick,” admired Car and Driver magazine. Audi plans to put the sedans into showrooms around the world this year. U.S. drivers likely will have to wait longer for models equipped with the headlights. That’s because a 1968 regulation requires that headlights switch between two settings: high and low.

Audi’s so-called matrix-beam headlights, an optional feature, are more complex than that. They’re made up of numerous LED bulbs that dim or brighten individually based on what cameras and sensors in the car see ahead. The system allows drivers to ride with some high beams on at all times without blinding others on the road. Say there’s a pickup truck in front of the Audi; one or several of the Audi’s bulbs flip off, while other high-beam bulbs continue to light up the lower areas in the Audi driver’s line of sight.

Luxury car consumers like having new headlight options, says Jeremy Anwyl, vice chairman of auto researcher Edmunds.com. “They’re considered jewelry, so if you can create a sexier design, they can help with sales,” he says. LED lighting may improve fuel economy, too, he adds—“Just a sliver, but every sliver counts.” Audi plans to charge about $3,000 for the option. (A8s start at $72,000 and go up to $134,500.)

The company is gearing up along with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and General Motors to lobby federal lawmakers to update the headlight rule so it allows for automated features. “Lighting technology changed dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years,” says Stephan Berlitz, Audi’s head of lighting innovations. “It’s difficult to do all these innovative things in this regulation from 1968.”

In an e-mail, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland says he’ll hear out the carmakers’ requests. But Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator, says the agency doesn’t generally change a regulation unless manufacturers show a proven safety benefit backed up by studies. The lobbying push could be even tougher at a time of budget cuts due to the sequester, she says. “A lighting system that dims, I’m not sure that’s going to be No. 1 on their list.”

The bottom line: A 1968 U.S. rule requiring beams to switch from high to low means that Audi can’t sell cars with its new automated headlights.

 

Damn you 1968 rule!! Repeal!!

 

While they're at it, please get rid of the stupid rule to have Amber colored reflectors in the front. Whats wrong with clear?

 

^^^
Valid point

But worse than that imo would be this:


Red turn signals = extremely retarded

Rest of the world uses amber/orange..........so why the hell is there a need to use red for rear turn signals???

 

many many cars/truck use amber here in the US.

 

This certainly sounds pretty awesome. I hope Audi is successful. I'd love to see what Lexus could offer with less restrictions on headlights!

 

This pretty much sums up Audi for the past decade.

 

That rule needs to go as well! It really messes with the look of some cars.

 

I see.

Question is: Are there still some brand new cars in the US that use these retarded red turn signal lights?

I.e. I remember that some new BMW 3 series and Honda Civics had them.........and where I'm from, you could really tell which cars were sold locally by an official distributor or via some grey market parallel importer that brought the vehicle in from the USA.

 

Ralph Nader, like with most of the 60s era auto-safety legislation, was the one who persuaded Congress to pass that rule.....and President Johnson to sign it.


Nader and Claybrook are old friends that go back decades together......the two of them are almost like peas in a pod. However, as I understand it, Nader has never actually owned a car, while Claybrook (as you would expect) drove Volvos for years.

I do agree with Nader, though, on the 1Gen Corvair from the early 60s....and a few (but not many) of the other points that he argued about the industry in his famous book. That early Corvair, in a number of ways, was not only potentialy dangerous but, IMO, a POS as well. Marked improvements came later in the 60s, but by then the car's image (and fate) was sealed.

I don't want to get too far off-topic, though. As far as the thread-topic (the headlight regulation), I agree with Audi that it should be updated......the regs that were in place in 1968 simply could not forsee the advancements we have today. On the other hand, this new Audi system, though sophisticated, looks like it's going to be quite expensive, especially if it fails out of warranty and the owner will be responsible for replacing any parts.

 

the feds need to get over it. With the new tech and innovations their laws need to change as well

 

All need to go away. Audi is onto something, technology has changed. This isn't the 1960s.

 

Car makers are actually going back to red turn signals, particularly if they have LED elements in them. It seems to be cheaper to produce.

See any current Audi, any BMW with LED tail lights outside of the 7-series, any Mercedes with LED tails outside of the S-class, Ford Fusion sedan.

 

100% agree!!!

I'd also like to see the HID kit craze stifled -- not fun driving in front of a stupid lifted F250 with HID fogs and headlites in reflector housings.

 

Yeah our headlight rules have been pretty retarded over the years. The only headlights you could put on US cars for decades were those "sealed beam" round ones, they finally allowed "square sealed beam" lights in the mid 70's, then finally in the early 80's allowed "composite" headlights(ie headlight shape designed by the manufacturer with replaceable bulbs). Useless trivia, but the 1984 Lincoln Mark VII was the first car sold in the US with new composite headlights. It was Ford that petitioned the US government to finally change the regulations.