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The headlamps on 2010 through 2017-model GMC Terrain SUVs put out too much upward stray light on low beam, and NHTSA have denied GM’s petition to consider the noncompliance inconsequential. That denial means GM will have to recall and repair the cars.The headlamps are Stanley items, and the problem stems from light bouncing around in…
Analysis by Daniel Stern, DVN Chief Editor At great long last, NHTSA are publishing a Final Rule amending Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard № 108 to permit ADB. The agency, ordered by the U.S. Congress to get a move-on about it, chose a 2013 Toyota petition as the nominal basis for the amendment; the final…
Analysis by Daniel Stern, DVN Chief EditorLast week’s article about regulatory lag in the U.S. pointed to a finding that at least 13 auto safety regulations are badly behind schedule. Now, there are new official findings that NHTSA doesn’t work.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the U.S. Government’s Department of Transportation.…
Analysis by Daniel Stern, DVN Chief EditorIt’s been more than a decade since the ADB discussion with NHTSA began, and at this point anyone seeing a light at the end of the tunnel would be on solid ground dismissing it as a hallucination (and if there really is a light at the end of that…
By Daniel Stern, DVN Chief EditorPretty much everyone in the vehicle lighting world is well aware of what veteran expert Marcin Gorzkowski accurately calls the North American “regulatory island”: the world’s only major market (or quite possibly of any size) not to recognise, one way or another, the UN Regulations that define the requirements, prohibitions,…
Analysis by Daniel Stern
VW will recall over 160,000 vehicles in the U.S. market because their headlamps can be aim-adjusted horizontally as well as vertically: a horizontal adjuster screw blockoff cap may not have been installed on one or both headlights,
Nothing to do but wait on ADB in the USA—even if NHTSA will eventually react favourably to industry and analysts’ strong consensus against their proposal, it won’t happen till sometime after the US Government resumes functioning. At the DVN US
from Daniel Stern, DVN
Time’s up! Last Tuesday, 11 December, was the official end of the public comment period for NHTSA’s NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) regarding ADB. In weeks past, we’ve scrutinised and analysed the proposal as well as some of the general public’s replies while we waited for automakers, suppliers, industry associations, and safety outfits to weigh in. The timeframe has been very compressed given the scope and magnitude of the contemplated changes; substantive responses from stakeholders had to be crafted and drafted with great deliberation in a very big hurry, and even so, most of them were submitted and posted to the docket on the last possible day.
In perusing major players’ comments, straight away we notice something very encouraging: the high level of consensus among them. Consensus, we say, and not unanimity; each of the respondents gave their own unique voice to their own particular perspectives and concerns. That’s probably to the good; it shows that this feedback to NHTSA is the product of thought and effort, not merely a flurry of reflexive me-tooing—which is also available in the docket, serving as an effective backdrop against which the substantive consensus looks even better, thanks to alarmed owners of movie theatres. Drive-in cinemas, specifically, which are reportedly increasing in popularity lately in accord with retro-trends. The owner of such a drive-in got word of the proposal to allow ADB, thoroughly misunderstood it as a proposal to take away any driver control and have all the car’s lights permanently lit, wrote in begging NHTSA not to ruin his business, and set about very effectively instigating a letter-writing campaign amongst his fellows, as it seems. Perhaps it goes to emphasise the need for effective consumer education about what ADB is (and what it is not).
By Daniel Stern • DVN Chief EditorFirst in a series11 days ago, the US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking to allow ADB in the world’s largest developed market not yet allowing the technology. And six days ago, the SAE Lighting Systems Group ADB Task Force held their first meeting…
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