Assessment of an Adaptive Driving Beam Headlighting System: Visibility and Glare

Recent developments in solid-state lighting, sensor, and control technologies make new configurations for vehicle forward lighting feasible. Adaptive driving beam (ADB) systems build on systems that automatically switch from high- to low-beam headlights in the presence of oncoming vehicles. ADB systems can detect oncoming headlights and preceding taillights and reduce their intensity only in the direction of the other lights, while they maintain 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 glare is reduced to oncoming and preceding drivers, who perceive low-beam illumination levels. In this study, 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 the use of the ADB system; the other experiment evaluated the discomfort glare elicited by the ADB system compared with the glare from conventional low- and high-beam headlights. The findings from both experiments were consistent with previous analytical and static field tests and suggested that ADB systems can offer safety benefits beyond those offered by conventional headlight systems.