ADAS - Adaptive front lighting system

In most cars, only the daytime running lights light up when you start the engine. These are automatically switched to passing beams when it gets dark enough. Passing and driving beams always turn on together with the rear lights, but with daytime running lights, the rear lights do not necessarily need to be on. Whether the rear lights turn on with daytime running lights depends on the make of the car.

In many cars, switching between passing beams and driving beams happens automatically based on lighting, traffic and weather conditions and the speed of the vehicle.

With adaptive front lighting systems (AFS), the passing and driving beams adapt automatically to different traffic situations, the contours of the road and the movement of other vehicles, with the system adjusting not only the distance of the headlights, but also their alignment. As a result, cars driving ahead of you and oncoming cars will have a darker area around them, but the surface of the road will be illuminated brightly, without blinding the driver in the car ahead of you or the drivers of oncoming cars. 

If your car is equipped with high beam control or AFS-controlled driving beams, you do not need to control the driving beams separately while driving. This allows you to focus on monitoring traffic and the environment instead.

Adaptive front lighting system

The automatic headlight control sensor detects how bright it is outside. The sensor is usually mounted on the windshield and controls when the headlights turn on and off. 

The automatic headlight control system will turn on the headlights when the amount of light picked up by the sensor falls below a specific threshold. The headlights will turn on automatically whenever the switch is in the Auto position and it is dark enough outside the car.

Adaptive front lighting systems adjust the headlights based on the road and traffic conditions to provide optimal illumination. They are useful on twisting and undulating roads in particular.

For automatic and adaptive driving beams, there is usually a camera in the upper corner of the windshield, which detects the headlights of oncoming vehicles and rear lights of vehicles driving ahead of you in order to switch from driving beams to passing beams. The system can also take street lighting into account. Some systems will also dim the driving beams upon detecting pedestrians or traffic signs. 

Automatic driving beam control does not usually work when driving at built-up area speeds. 

Familiarise yourself with your vehicle’s manual. The manual will tell you where the automatic headlight control sensors are located and which lights the system will turn on automatically. 

The manual will also provide you with the manufacturer’s detailed instructions on how to use your car’s automatic headlight control and tell you what to do in situations where the system might not function correctly or at all.

For example, sometimes the headlights might not activate in rain or fog if it is relatively bright outside. Since headlights should always be kept on in rain or fog, you may have to turn them on manually in such a situation. 

Automatic and adaptive driving beams may not react to other traffic quickly enough or at all if the road is very windy or undulating. When this is the case, use the manual driving beam switch. Cars equipped with these systems are usually quick to detect situations where the windshield wipers cannot clean the camera quickly enough, in which case the system will switch to manual mode.

The operating logic of automatic headlights can often be adjusted via the car’s operating system. Always keep your car’s sensors, cameras and radars clean to ensure that the system functions correctly.