Dirt on glare-free high beam systems can reduce the driver’s visibility and at the same time, cause increased glare for other road users. A field test was carried out at the Laboratory of Lighting Technology of the Technical University of Darmstadt that investigates the influence of dirt on glare-free high beam systems. By comparing the dirty and cleaned headlamps, it is possible to draw conclusions about the influence of pollution on the glare for other road users, as well as the detection of objects.
MOTIVATION
Since the introduction of xenon headlamps, the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) prescribes in Regulation No 48 a Headlamp Cleaning Device (HCD) for low beam headlamps with a light source or LED modules for generating the main low beam, whose nominal luminous flux exceeds 2,000 lm [1]. The underlying idea behind this regulation is that with increasing soiling, there is an increase in luminance above the cut-off line and a reduction below it [2]. This can reduce the driver’s visibility and at the same time, cause increased glare for other road users.
The use of an HCD can counteract this, but according to the legislator, it has to cover only the low beam range of the light distribution. As a result, the high beam area is not cleaned, even if glare-free high beam systems are used, whose vertical cut-off lines are very close to the opposite traffic flow. Consequently, the question arises to what extent road safety is influenced and how dirt influences the light distribution of glare-free high beam systems in reality.
In order to answer these questions, the laboratory of Lighting Technology of the Technical University (TU) of Darmstadt carried out a series of investigations in recent years in the laboratory and on public roads [3, 4]. The experience gained was then used in a field test to investigate the influence of dirt on the light distribution, conducted in a closed-off area under real-life conditions. First results were presented in [2]. The second part of the results, focusing on driver’s visibility and glare on other road users, are presented in this article.
TEST SET-UP
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