During nighttime driving, SmartBeam's camera acquires images directly ahead of the vehicle. If it's dark enough and no other vehicles are present, the system automatically turns on your high beams. When it detects other vehicles' headlamps or taillamps, SmartBeam returns the headlamps to their low-beam state. Gentex believes this can go a long way toward making nighttime driving safer.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately half of all traffic accident fatalities and more than 65 percent of pedestrian fatalities occur at night, despite substantially less traffic volume. Because low beams point downward onto the road, by the time your headlights illuminate a potential road hazard, it will be too late to react. High beams allow you to identify potential road hazards at more than twice the distance as low beams.
