By Bob Katzen

The House gave initial approval to a bill that would require all new automobiles sold in the state after January 1, 2026 to be equipped with adaptive beam headlight technology which is currently used in other parts of the world including Europe, China and Canada.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Adaptive Driving Beam Headlight Systems (ADBs) use automatic headlight beam switching technology to shine less light on occupied areas of the road and more light on unoccupied areas. The adaptive beam is particularly useful for distance illumination of pedestrians, animals and objects without reducing the visibility of drivers in other vehicles.

As a CNN report noted, “Imagine if you could drive at night with your high beams on all the time, bathing the road ahead in bright light but without ever blinding other drivers.’ That’s what ADB accomplishes.”

“The legislation seeks to address the problem with overly bright headlights,” said sponsor Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (D-Northampton).” There are no shortage of news articles that speak to the growing problem of overly bright headlights on the highways of Massachusetts. While they improve driver safety in some respects, they also blind oncoming traffic, which does not help with road safety. A solution is adaptive headlight technology or smart headlights.

“The American Automobile Association research found ADBs illuminate the road 86 percent better than current headlight technology but without the glare,” continued Sabadosa. “Smart headlights make about 5,000 adjustments per second to curve light around the part of the road already lit up by an oncoming car. So, there’s no direct beam in the other driver’s face.”