On 9/17/05, Jeff Oxroad <Oxroad@aol.com> wrote:
> 
> Yeah I'm all for the slow down a little for some of us slower folks, and
> even slower for me. I've rented cars in Europe with the adjustable 
> headlights,
> but can't quite remember the deal. The lights or reflectors can be 
> adjusted to
> do what? They allow you to focus more light on the road right in front of 
> you
> or down the road a bit, is that ?

Vertical adjustment screw in the headlight frame is motorized. Lets you 
fine-tune the distance, rather than just giving you a choice between too 
short and too far.

What's the downside: You have the potential to blind on-coming drivers if
> you're not conscientious?
> 
> Why are the illegal in the USA?

US DOT headlight regs were written back in the stone age and are 
ridiculously proscriptive. Never mind that most of the rest of the world 
uses the much better E-DOT euro spec for lights, we got our own spec in the 
US and by golly we're sticking to it! And so will "America Junior" (Canada)!

And Why are the hella H4 without sealed beams illegal? What could the beam
> being sealed possibly matter?? I've gotta say my H4s are far less 
> offensive
> than a Benz with halogens or whatever the bluish beam is, as the Benz pops 
> over
> a speed bump blinding every on-coming driver for 100 miles. Although I 
> think
> my H4s are only 55w/65w.

Same idiotic DOT regs enforced by bureaucrats. Supposedly they're finally 
under review. I expect the regs will change, oh, in another TEN YEARS. We 
couldn't just adopt the E-DOT spec, no. That'd be admitting those filthy 
cheese eaters and sausage stuffers know better!

And while we're on it, seems to me yellow headlights were all the rage in
> europe about 20 years ago. What happened to them and why was yellow better 
> than
> "white".

Dunno what current regs there are, but I believe Paris required yellow 
headlights on all cars in order to maintain a "rustic" look to the city. 
Tourism thing, in that case.