Sometimes I have to drive after dark in my city, and it never fails that if I drive any appreciable distance that I always see at least one person (often more) driving with their lights off. I do not need to tell y’all why this is dangerous. We’re a community of enthusiasts. We know. Plenty of us are driving older cars that predate the tech.
It’s not like they don’t mandate lots of shit already. Seatbelts, head restraints, airbags, and backup cameras are some of the most sensible things ever required for cars to have. Why are automatic headlights not on this list? There also needs to exist a mandate whereby the lights turn on if the driver turns on the wipers. Because if you need your wipers, you need your lights too. It’s common freaking sense.
Your headlights aren’t just for seeing, but for being seen. Ambient light sensors are so cheap that they end up in midrange TVs all the time. I blame the backlit gauges and myriad other interior lights. Ergo, it’s time to mandate automatic headlights. There’s no reason not to.
I’ll get off my soapbox now.
Auto highbeams can be amazing, or absolute ass. In my RAM 2500 they’re awful. They often blind people (which is already bad enough for a RAM 2500, I don’t need to make it worse). However in my AMG they’re amazing. They turn on in a Hollywood light pattern and sweep across the road as I’m driving and they’re super quick and sensitive to react. The same headlights in Europe can even be configured to leave highbeams on and black out areas where it detects people and cars.
I have a 2021 Seat Leon Hatchback, unfortunately I don’t have those LED matrix headlights, I would love to try them, but the automatic headlight feature is awesome.