Night driving: Ford headlights to warn of obstacles

This way, drivers do not have to notice upcoming turning situations, roundabouts, crosswalks, narrow sections, or speed limits only by glancing sideways at the navigation display. Ford developers are testing headlights with special projection technology. Similar to today's head-up displays, they are intended to project warning and turning cues into the driver's line of sight, but for nighttime driving, they will be displayed on the roadway. This is intended to reduce distraction for drivers.

The developers can envision making faded crosswalks visible to approaching pedestrians in this way or projecting a driving line for overtaking a cyclist with sufficient safety distance onto the road. If the vehicle has an online connection, warnings of icy conditions, fog, or snowfall can also be displayed. The projected width on the street could show at narrow points or when parking whether the vehicle would fit through or if it would bump into something.

How far the technology is still from production and in which vehicle series it could be used first is not yet revealed by the press release.

What does that mean?

The headlight systems are becoming increasingly complex, communicative, and important: They can provide more safety at night by even projecting crosswalks for pedestrians onto the street. However, this would again bring a considerable legal follow-up with it.