[ptaffs]

Was discussing at home (USA) this same idea that vehicle lights are brighter and drivers are less inclined to be bothered to dip. I rented a car in the UK several years ago which auto-dimmed the beam and was fascinated by the technology which would allow it to differentiate light sources and identify oncoming vehicles.

[arjie]

This feature must be old. My Subaru Forester 2018 has it. What non-US cars have are those new zone dimmable lamps.

Regardless I keep my auto dim off and just down. I don’t usually need the headlamps in high beam mode.

What would be useful is a taller median between both sides on a highway since often the blinding is because of a difference in the direction facing due to the grade of the highway. Facing people who are looking up a hill is awful.

It is true, that many drivers drive with the high beam on. My cabin is frequently illuminated by their lamps. My lamps never illuminate the cabin of a car I follow by comparison. This strange asymmetry does annoy me and I am certain I’m in the right but it’s usually resolvable by allowing them to pass.

[manwe150]

If you are using low-beams and driving more than about 45 mph, you can hit something (or someone) before you had time to see it (or them). Granted, that doesn't matter if you're following someone else, since they'll hit it first. Which is why you need high-beams on when there isn't someone else around to light up the distant part of the road for you--and which depends on how often you drive remote roads.

[arjie]

If my comment was interpreted as some advocacy for the removal of high-beams, please allow me to correct the record: I think they're a good feature to have.

[manwe150]

Good. I’ve driven with people who learned to drive in a city and so were not taught to use high beams ever, out of fear of accidentally annoying on coming drivers

[soperj]

> resolvable by allowing them to pass

How do they ever find out that they're wrong if you don't turn your highbeams on after they pass?

[zerobees]

This has been available in the US for a long time. I had it on the car I bought in 2016, and on another I bought in 2023. It's just not mandatory, so it usually comes as a part of some safety / driver assistance package. And even if you have it, you need to enable it.

[schmookeeg]

A looooooong time! :)

https://www.underhoodservice.com/gms-autronic-eye-1952/

[silisili]

I think most if not all US cars do this now. My current one doesn't even have a way to keep the brights on permanently. Now to wait 8 or so years for all the old ones to cycle out :(.

[Schiendelman]

Double that. I think the average lifespan of a car in the US is ~16 years.

[bluGill]

The average car in the US is 12 years old, so the average lifespan is obviously longer. Though average includes some collectors car that nobody drives daily.