By Daniel Stern, DVN General Editor

As frequently covered and discussed in DVN, the American lighting regulations contained in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 (Lamps and Reflective Devices) have not kept pace with technological and technical developments in automotive lighting, and new technologies being effectively deployed in Europe and elsewhere are banned in America by the old rules. Perhaps there is hope; big changes have been proposed by NHTSA; the article presented in pertinent part below (edited for length) was printed in Road & Track, a popular American motoring magazine. Comments contained within the quoted paragraphs are those of Road & Track; Driving Vision News’ analysis and discussion follows the article text:

“At long last the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a proposed new safety standard affecting a neglected area: making accidents less likely to occur. It’s the new lighting standard, which we’ve eagerly awaited, and—with minor exceptions—it appears to be an astute, well-considered set of rules.

“At this point it’s only a Proposed Rule; this means there’s now a time period during which interested parties may make comments to NHTSA and suggest changes before it is finalized into a working rule. Our comments here will be forwarded to the agency for their consideration.

“The proposed standard is the result of years of work by the agency and research groups under contract. Nearly all aspects of car lighting are covered: headlights, front and rear position lights, stop lights, directional signals, auxiliary lights, light controls, and indicators for the driver. It takes into account recent lighting technology, which the old standard ignored, and instead of requiring car lights to conform exactly to a set of specifications, in the main it sets down minimum performance requirements and leaves the means to the designers.

“One aspect of the standard will be disappointing to many: its effective date. It would come into effect in two stages, the first beginning a year and a half from the date the rule is adopted, and the second beginning three years after that. That seems a long time, but the realities of getting new equipment into production and designing cars to accept it require time. Remember also that because of the comment period and final rulemaking process, it’ll be at least a year from now before the actual standard is issued.