February 12, 2013 - Have you ever experienced being blinded by an oncoming car’s high beams by a driver who has failed to realize you are approaching? Or have you ever been in front of blinding lights belonging to the car behind you who has yet to turn their high beams off?
One of the auto industry’s newest and most valuable technological innovations are automatically controlled high beam lights. This new technology is designed to allow the driver to concentrate on the road and not have to worry about alternating between low and high beams. The new SmartBeam® by the Gentex Corporation promises to significantly reduce, if not completely eliminate, night blindness and headlight glare. The new lights use a small camera on a chip discretely located on the back of an auto- dimming rear view mirror to detect exactly how much light is needed for the driver to continue safely. The sensor acts as a brain and sends a message to the lights to increase or decrease the intensity and brightness of the light. The automatic functionality allows drivers to concentrate on the road without having to manually switch the lights from low to high and not hindering the visibility of other motorists. This automatic high beam technology optimizes the vehicle’s headlights and has the ability to create “block-out” regions around an approaching car that has its high beams engaged.
Thanks to this new automotive technology, motorists have the added value of yet another feature to make our roads safer.
