Automatic headlamp control

An automatic headlamp control system for controlling the beam illumination state of a pair of headlamps of a vehicle, said automatic headlamp control system comprising:

• an image sensor having a field of view forwardly of the vehicle, said image sensor being operable to capture an image of a scene forwardly of the vehicle and
• a control operable to process said image to determine if a light source within the scene is indicative of a headlamp of an approaching vehicle or a taillight of a leading vehicle, said control being operable to independently adjust the beam illumination state of each of the headlamps of the controlled vehicle between a high beam state and a lower beam state in response to said image processing, said control being occasionally operable to independently adjust one of thc headlamps to the lower beam state, and the other of the headlamps to the high beam state in response to said image processing, said control being operable to adjust one of the headlamps to lower beam state in response to a determination that a detected light source in the captured image is indicative of a headlamp of an approaching vehicle or a taillight of a leading vehicle, said control being operable to adjust the other of the headlamps to a high beam state in response to a determination, that a detected light source in the captured image is a reflection of at least one of the headlamps of the controlled vehicle, wherein said control is operable to determine that the detected light source is a reflection of at least one of the headlamps of the controlled vehicle via recognition of at least one a signature, a code and a pattern superimposed on the light output of the headlamps of the controlled vehicle.