Patent ID: 8183991

Claim:
A vehicle lighting device comprising: an infrared sensor comprising: an infrared light emitting portion configured to emit infrared light; and a light receiving portion configured to detect an object that is present in a vehicle forward area, using the infrared light; a visible light source configured to illuminate visible light; a reflection mirror configured to reflect the infrared light and the visible light to the vehicle forward area; an actuator configured to change light paths of the infrared light and the visible light by rotating the reflection mirror, wherein the actuator scans the vehicle forward area using the infrared light by changing the light path of the infrared light so as to detect the object; and a memory configured to store position information of the object when the infrared sensor detects the object by scanning operation of the actuator, wherein the actuator irradiates the visible light to the object by changing the light path of the visible light in accordance with the position information stored in the memory.