Article Abstracts | December 2006
The complete article appears in the December 2006 issue of Photonics Spectra. If you do not have a copy of this issue,
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Adaptive Headlights Aim to Ease Nighttime Driving Hazards
First steps are taken to design systems that adapt lighting to conditions.
by Detlef Decker, Hella KGaA Hueck & Co.
Despite the fact that the optical performance of novel headlight systems for motor vehicles has increased impressively in recent years, nighttime driving is still loaded with risks. In Europe, for example, 47 percent of all fatalities happen at night, even though only 25 percent of all driving is done then.
For pedestrians, the risk of being killed in an accident at night is even higher. A study conducted at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in 2001 showed that the probability of pedestrian accidents occurring in the dark was a factor of 4.14 higher than it was in daylight...
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