Ford develops glare-free high beam 21 | 03 | 2016

FORD HAS DEVELOPED new glare-free high beam technology which is now available on the S-Max, and will be offered on the new Edge SUV when it enters Scottish showrooms in May.

The new system — which is expected to be rolled out to smaller car in the Ford range in the future — enables drivers to take full advantage of their headlights’ capability without affecting oncoming vehicles.

Featuring a camera mounted to the windscreen that senses the headlights and rear lights of other vehicles on the road, the new headlight technology can also sense cyclists up to 800 metres away. Once the system detects the vehicles of cyclists, it angles the light away in order to avoid temporarily blinding other road users.

The system was developed by a global team of Ford engineers and supplier partners, and the technology works alongside Ford’s adaptive LED headlights and its auto high beam system.

This system adjusts headlight beam angle and intensity according to speed, ambient light, steering angle, distance to the vehicle in front and windscreen wiper activation.

“Ask any driver what the most annoying habits of other drivers are and sooner or later the subject of people who don’t dip their headlights will come up,” Michael Koherr, research engineer, Lighting Systems, Ford of Europe, said. “Ford’s new Glare-Free Highbeam helps maximise the use of high beam and means drivers can see significantly more of the road ahead, without causing any distraction to other road users.

“We found that some drivers are so concerned about dazzling other road users that they don’t use high beam at all. “Ford’s Glare-Free Highbeam technology can remove that stress for drivers, and softly transitioning between settings also helps the driver’s eyes adjust faster to changing quantities of light.”

Related: Exclusive — Ford Edge SUV

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Jim McGill