Weird as it might sound, Volvo has developed a headlight system that allows you to drive on full beam all the time – even when there is another car approaching.

Active High Beam isn’t a pipe dream – it’s already fitted to various Volvos, including the XC60 we’re driving this week.

How does it work? Well, the headlights stay on high beam even when another car is approaching but the system prevents dazzle by only shading out as much of your beam as necessary.

It also recognises pedestrians and cyclists, so they aren’t blinded either (although it doesn’t always work for those on foot, or cyclists without lights in our experience!).

The system takes a little getting used to because you instantly want to dip when another vehicle approaches and you can still see ‘high beam’ all around their car. However, I soon got used to it.

The perfect lighting solution? Hmm, the only bugger is that you can’t easily flash oncoming drivers who haven’t dipped their headlights and blind you. Solve that one Volvo!