Laser Headlights Promise More Intense, Controllable Beams

cartechboy writes "Soon, your new car's headlights will be powered by lasers. The 2015 BMW i8 is entering production, and it's the first vehicle to offer laser headlights. These new beams offer a handful of advantages over LED lighting, including greater lighting intensity and extending the beams' reach as far as 600 meters down the road (nearly double the range of LEDs). The beam pattern also can be controlled very precisely. Plus, laser lights consumer about 30 percent less energy than the already-efficient LED lights. Audi is among the short list of other auto manufacturers to promise laser lights in the near future. But the coolest part of all this? When you turn on a set of these new headlights, you'll be able to scream, 'fire the lasers!'"

brighter?

[lecoupdejarnac]

I can't be the only one who thinks that the headlights on certain luxury cars are already annoyingly bright to other drivers. Now we get to be blinded by lasers, great...

Oh and beta sucks.

Re:brighter?

[Fusselwurm]

My take on it as well.

There is a lights arms race on the streets. I wonder if we already passed the point of "more is safer".

Re:brighter?

[ArsenneLupin]

A headlight, through the use of dispersing phosphors and or lenses is designed to spread out and cover much more area.

What if you get into an accident that destroys the outer housing of the light (containing the dispersin phosphors and/or the lenses) while leaving the source intact?

So you've got a "deathray" shooting out from the accident scene wanting to involve more cars, until somebody turns it off...

Re:brighter?

[GameboyRMH]

Well we're already deep into an impact safety arms race...

I wonder if part of it is that BMW/Merc drivers simply enjoy blinding the poors they drive past, forcing them to slow down and pull to the side to avoid an accident. It must inflate their sense of superiority for their car to inconvenience so many other people.

Re:brighter?

[LoRdTAW]

This.
The bright headlamp race has to stop. I drive on the highway daily for a total of a 50 mile(~80km) commute. I cant tell you the number of times I have been blinded by HID's and other overly bright headlamps. My coworker` even tinted the windows on his car...for night driving! Its that bad.

You want my take? Idiotically bright headlamps are most always found on luxury vehicles. Its a way for the driver to tell everyone on the road "Look at me, I'm rich!" Automakers have no reason to justify such intense light other than entering into a pissing match with each other. You also have the tools who leave the high beams on because, why not they paid for them? And its next to impossible to drive in front of such an asshole with HID's.

My thought: Fuck all of you luxury car makers and you're sick headlamp arms race. No one needs them - PERIOD.