And consumers may notice a difference even before a single new car is sold stateside. Audi has been selling cars in America with adaptive headlights for years, with the previously forbidden technology locked behind a software wall to keep its cars federally legal. With the systems now allowed, a software patch can be applied to use this already integrated feature without a single bolt touched or retrofit required.
While the change was an inevitability, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden on Nov. 15th of last year, mandated a two-year timeframe to finalize the new rule, so the new mandate is here sooner than it was required.
That’s not to say it’s been an easy path to legalization, however. Toyota initially requested that NHTSA change the headlight regulations as early as 2013 and NHTSA formally proposed allowing adaptive high beams in 2018, but no formal federal pressure was applied until the infrastructure bill became law. Now, almost a decade after the initial proposal (and 16 years after Europeans were allowed to have them), American drivers will finally be able to enjoy LED headlights that don’t blind oncoming drivers. The highways of America might just have a less-bright future, and my eyes are thankful for it.
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