Finally: America's getting modern headlights

The U.S. is laughably behind the rest of the world when it comes to headlight technology. It’s not because the technology didn’t exist, but rather because outdated U.S. laws have prevented automakers from bringing these modern technological marvels to U.S. roads. Until now. New laws that were finally enacted years ago are finally allowing automakers to bring adaptive headlights to the U.S. with a handful of automakers now launching the modern tech in America. The Drive's Director Of Content And Product Joel Feder, Head of Exterior Lighting for Audi AG, Michael Kruppa, and vehicle lighting and regulation subject matter expert Daniel Stern break down the differences in these upcoming modern headlight technologies and why it took so long for the U.S. to catch up to the rest of the world. Stories mentioned in today's episode: Audi’s Matrix LED Headlights Are Finally Coming to America Audi’s New Q9 Will Project Your Turn Signals Onto the Road Here’s Why Modern Headlights Are So Unbelievably Annoying It’s Not Just You: Six of 10 Drivers Say Headlight Glare Is a Problem See Audi’s New Micro LED Digital Matrix Headlights in Action. Yes, They’re Still Illegal in America Adaptive Headlights Will Finally Come to the US, Thanks to the Infrastructure Bill 00:00 Intro 04:58 Laws had to change to enable modern headlight tech 09:21 Addressing headlight glare 13:48 Adding communication to lighting 15:06 Rivian's adaptive lighting system vs. Audi's 21:56 Retrofitting adaptive lighting to cars on the road 25:22 One lighting regulation for the world 28:12 What took so long for America to get into this century? 28:40 One world headlight 30:42 Different implementations of the tech 33:26 Safety, light pollution, and blinding people 36:58 Audi vs. Rivian's system 38:35 Lighting tunnels: U.S. vs. The World 40:40 Is this a safety item? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices