It’s been a very eventful week.
– There are significant new changes to Canada’s vehicle lighting standard—the biggest news is that AFS and ADB according to UN Regulations 123 and 48 (or SAE J3069) are now allowed, even though there’s been no action yet from NHTSA on the U.S. side. Read all about it; we’ve got an in-depth interview with superstar lighting regulation expert Marcin Gorzkowski.
– Everyone’s talking about the Uber autonomous Volvo XC90 that killed a pedestrian in the United States last week, and there’s new evidence of what happened. Could better headlamps have prevented the crash? We take a close look and crunch some numbers.
– Our DVN Report on the Geneva Motor Show is now live. Download it and take a look at the trends and developments we saw; this week’s news looks at four main takeaway points.
– Last week we reported on Hella’s new NightDrive smartphone app. We’re still tickled with it; for a decade now, we have been urging the DVN community to make educational efforts like this to end users. With this app, Hella have opened an engaging, exciting communication channel directly with people who will eventually decide how to equip their next car.
Vehicle lighting has changed so much, so fast, and there’s so much other technology competing for buyers’ attention that an app like this is a fantastic lever, well supported by the corresponding You tube examples accessible from within.
Now: what could be the next step? For Hella it is a lever to improve their brand image and to emphasise their strength, but now how will they get the app in front of the eyes of the relevant people? And how can the lighting community benefit from this new development? Hella’s NightDrive app is a very solid, well-done piece of work that sets a benchmark, but its ilk can’t really succeed without effort from the whole lighting community, as with LSS and other cooperative programs. We must all row in the same direction!
Sincerely yours
DVN President