Patent ID: 8866387

Claim:
A vehicular headlight apparatus comprising: a headlight for illuminating ahead of a vehicle; means for changing a light illumination area of the headlight; means for recognizing ahead of the vehicle; means for detecting a predetermined target object based on data outputted from the recognizing means, and calculating positions in a vertical direction and in a lateral direction of the target object; means for controlling the changing means; means for determining a reference direction with respect to a direction of light emission of the headlight when the target object is detected; means for calculating a shift angle of the target object with respect to the reference direction based on an installed position of the headlight; means for storing a maximum following angle set to a maximum limit of the shift angle to follow the target object; and the controlling means being configured to, when the target object is detected, change the light illumination area for purpose of following the target object based on results of the means for detecting the predetermined target until the shift angle exceeds the maximum following angle; wherein the vehicular headlight apparatus further comprises: means for detecting a speed of the vehicle; and means for storing a small following angle smaller than the maximum following angle, the controlling means being configured to, if a detection value of the means detecting the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined threshold value, set the maximum limit of the shift angle to the small following angle, and change the light illumination area to a low-beam light illumination area if the shift angle calculated by the calculating means exceeds the small following angle.