Patent ID: 7501767

Claim:
A vehicle headlamp comprising: a lamp body; a lamp unit, arranged so that an irradiation direction of the lamp unit is controlled in accordance with a traveling condition of the vehicle; a first actuator to control the irradiation direction of the lamp unit within a horizontal plane; a second actuator to control the irradiation direction of the lamp unit within a vertical plane; a driving unit, within the lamp body, in which the first and second actuators are integrated; a controller outside the lamp body; a communication unit to transmit and receive a signal between the first and second actuators and the controller via a communication line; and a glare preventing unit within the lamp body, to directly detect an occurrence of an abnormality at either one or both of the first and second actuators without using the communication unit, to detect whether or not a failure occurs at the controller or the communication line, and to change an irradiation direction of the lamp unit or a lighting state including extinction or fading in accordance with whether an abnormality or a failure is detected or whether neither an abnormality nor a failure occurs thereby to prevent an occurrence of glare.