Let’s begin with mentioning headlight types used in all cars that we usually see during the day. The first one, and still the most popular are:
Halogen headlights – The cheapest ones and obviously the least effective. Basically, it’s just a bulb placed in a reflector.
Xenon headlights – One step higher over halogen system. The traditional bulb is replaced with a xenon filament which transfers the light through a glass lens. Unlike Halogen lights, xenons emit a different, colder colour.
LED/Laser headlights – Currently the best and most advanced solution. The filament is replaced with a LED light. This creates new possibilities in upgrading headlights with new features.
But back to the topic. After the new type of headlight was released (xenon lights), engineers realized that the beam is too strong. The government found that out quickly as well, so changes had to be done in order not to blind other drivers while driving the car. From that moment no car could be produced with xenon lights without the changes in the car imposed by the government. The changes are simple, yet for a car manufacturer, it’s a challenge because cars are designed to be as cheap in production as it’s possible.
So let’s begin with the first change – Headlight washers. Because of the dirt that is building up on the headlight during driving the light beam is beginning to distract. This can lead to blinding other road users, so in case of xenon lights headlight washers are mandatory to clean the lights and prevent them from blinding others
Second change – Automatic headlight levelling. I’ll give an example: You want to go for holidays, you pack your car with everything you need and the result is, that due to heavy load on the rear axle the back of the car is lower than the front of the car. Since the headlights are fixed to the car, when they aim higher, they blind others. The automatic headlight levelling system is responsible for adjusting headlights automatically