The many facets of automotive lighting, from the design of light pipe systems for interior display applications to the design of nonimaging reflector and projector headlamp systems, present numerous challenges and opportunities for lighting designers and optical engineers. The optical requirements for automotive illumination applications are constantly evolving in correlation with new technologies and an everincreasing focus on visual performance and safety. This paper presents a review of the current research being performed in automotive lighting, optical design, and human performance and discusses how this research is impacting optical design.