The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the relative benefits of the current U.S. and European/Japanese high-beam maxima. However, in the analysis of this problem it has become evident that the minimum allowed high- beam intensity is at least as important for visibility and safety. Present high-beam regulations are presented and compared. Also the problems of high-beams at lower or higher intensity is discussed, as well as the questions why and when high-beams are useful. The maximum intensity of ECE high beams is almost twice as high (140 kcd) as the maximum intensity of U.S. high beams (75 kcd) at 12.8 V. In this study, the advantages and disadvantages of these two levels of high beam intensity are analyzed and evaluated. The effects of the two intensities are compared in nine factors: visibility without opposing headlights, glare from opposing and following vehicles, dimming distance, sensitivity of degradation, priority between high and low beams and within the high beam, driver eye fixations, difference between high- and low-beam intensity, range of high-beam intensities in traffic, and high-beam usage. The results of this analysis show that the higher intensity of the ECE high beams is superior from visibility and safety points of view.
Intensity of high-beam headlights
Intensität von Fernlicht-Scheinwerfern
2001
20 Seiten, 3 Bilder, 2 Tabellen, 25 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Intensity of High-Beam Headlights
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2001
|SAE Technical Papers | 1925
|Engineering Index Backfile | 1921
|NTIS | 1987
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