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Headlamps should illuminate the traffic scene ahead of the vehicle in such a way that the driver can operate the vehicle safely and in a relaxed manner. At the same time, negative effects on drivers of other vehicles, pedestrians and other people should be minimized. Various technical parameters such as beam pattern, mounting height, headlamp aiming, and source spectrum can be tuned to find the necessary compromise. The physiology of the vision system under specific nighttime conditions strongly influences these factors and how headlamps can be best optimized for visibility and comfort. The SAE Improved Roadway Illumination task force collected and reviewed relevant research on these topics. This document is a comprehensive summary of this information. The goal is to enable lighting experts, advocacy groups, and non-experts (journalists, consumer organizations, car drivers) to better understand the benefits and tradeoffs of improved roadway lighting with modern headlamp technology.

This SAE Recommended Practice is intended as a guide toward standard practice and is subject to change to keep pace with experience and technical advances. This document establishes additional performance requirements specifically for road illumination devices using light emitting diode (LED) sources.

This SAE Recommended Practice provides dimensional specifications for the 41/2 and 53/4 inch general service sealed lighting units, intended for use in such applications as motorcycle headlamps, military headlamps, industrial machinery headlamps, fog lamps, spot lamps, etc. See Figures 1 and 2 and Tables 1 and 2.

Headlamps should illuminate the traffic scene ahead of the vehicle in such a way that the driver can operate the vehicle safely and in a relaxed manner. At the same time, negative effects on drivers of other vehicles, pedestrians and other people should be minimized. Various technical parameters such as beam pattern, mounting height, headlamp aiming, and source spectrum can be tuned to find the necessary compromise. The physiology of the vision system under specific night time conditions strongly influences these factors and how headlamps can be best optimized for visibility and comfort. The SAE Improved Roadway Illumination task force collected and reviewed relevant research on these topics. This document is a comprehensive summary of this information. The goal is to enable lighting experts, advocacy groups, and non-experts (journalists, consumer organizations, car drivers) to better understand the benefits and tradeoffs of improved roadway lighting with modern headlamp technology.

The primary purpose of vehicle forward lighting is not to see the world but to see the road! In their simplest form, headlights help drivers negotiate a safe path on the road. They do this by lighting the roadway according to (a multitude of) specific standards. For decades, discussions concerning the niceties of illuminating potential obstacles in the roadway were little more than an academic pursuit as there simply were not sufficient lumens available from filament light sources to achieve all of the desired tasks no matter how worthy they might be. Not unexpectedly, the technology has evolved with the introduction of high output metal-halide sources, multi-task standards combined with multilevel lighting devices and discrete LED sources offering high luminous efficiencies and the means to deliver the light where it can be most useful. The question now becomes one of determining where the available light should be directed.

The SAE International task force on headlamp mounting height has considered the ramifications of reducing the maximum mounting height of headlamps on highway vehicles. The task force has concluded that it is in the best interest of the driving public to make a substantial reduction in the recommended maximum height at which headlamps, particularly low-beam headlamps, may be mounted. Heights as low as 36 to 40 in (90 to 100 cm) have been considered. New tractor vehicles are in fact being designed with headlamps mounted in this range. Further recommendations were withheld in anticipation of tests to demonstrate the effect of mounting height on the legibility of certain overhead signs.

Headlamps should illuminate the traffic scene ahead of the vehicle in such a way that the driver can operate the vehicle safely and in a relaxed manner. At the same time, negative effects on drivers of other vehicles, pedestrians and other people should be minimized. Various technical parameters such as beam pattern, mounting height, headlamp aiming, and source spectrum can be tuned to find the necessary compromise. The physiology of the vision system under specific night time conditions strongly influences these factors and how headlamps can be best optimized for visibility and comfort. The SAE Improved Roadway Illumination task force collected and reviewed relevant research on these topics. This document is a comprehensive summary of this information. The goal is to enable lighting experts, advocacy groups, and non-experts (journalists, consumer organizations, car drivers) to better understand the benefits and tradeoffs of improved roadway lighting with modern headlamp technology.