You are correct, lighting laws for the US are extremely archaic. It wasn't till the early 2000's that "Sealed Beam" style headlights were no longer mandatory. The major issue is that there is the law still on the books which require High and Low Beam headlights to be on a separate circuit. It's left the US very behind in lighting technology. Well in general the US is 10 plus years behind for safety and lightning because it's more important that we fit airbags in 80's Hondas right now opposed to keeping up with the Europe which has safer lighting laws.Yeah, very cool tech. Unfortunately (and correct me if I'm wrong) the US has seriously antiquated headlight laws. The best tech like they get in Europe is unavailable or disabled here. Case in point, my Dad's Tesla has matrix headlights that can actually spell out the word TESLA on the garage wall! They have hundreds? of tiny LEDs which can selectively light up the road where its needed and around curves etc. That being said, they are in a "dumb mode" and act as pretty standard lights until the US laws get changed. I've heard this change is just around the corner, but who knows.
Self leveling headlights are becoming common and the US has now caught up in just under 20 years of what Europe has for lights that adjust via steering to shine around corners as you drive on curves or turn on city streets etc... 14'-22' Grand Cherokees with LED/HID headlights are self leveling which when off the lenses dip down, when activated shift up and level out.
WAY before 2000 - Sealed beams stopped being mandatory in ?1983? with the introduction of composite housings. Continental Mark VII was the first US vehicle with composite headlights (and 4 channel antilock brakes!).
VW calls it Dynamic (adaptive) headlights. If the vehicle is equipped with it (usually the higher trims, like Lariat equivalent) upon initial start up the headlight move up down and left right for calibration depending on any load you may have (like hooked to a trailer) as there are angle sensors in the rear. At night when driving, yes the headlights do turn when you make turns. Some VW's also have a function where either a "side light" (in the headlight itself) or fog light comes on to aid in lighting your path in a turn. Most of the current lineup all have some form of LED lighting, but the higher trims have the Dynamic or adaptive versions.
