Auto-Headlights

Are you being patient and waiting to see if the headlights turn off? We've had a number of Toyota/Lexus vehicles with auto headlights and found that they do not react instantly. I've assumed that the reason for the delay is so they don't continually turn on and off as one drives in early morning, early evening or in and out of heavily forested areas.

 

The way I look at it, I would rather have the headlights on in marginal conditions - particularly on a U.S. spec Prius v that did not come with Daytime Running Lights (DRL). I drove with headlights on during the day from the 1960's until DRL was introduced on cars sold in the U.S. I was completely stunned that our 2012 Prius v Five came without DRL since I thought all Toyotas since 1999 came with DRL. I'm not "in" to modifying cars but the first thing I did was to install a DRL kit on our Prius v.

By all means, adjust the auto headlight sensitivity to your liking.

 

I have a 2011 Prius 2 without headlights always on. I intend to buy a 2015 Prius 2 in the Spring. I hope this car will have no headlights on. In my opinion, if you can't see a car without headlights off on a beautiful day, you shouldn't be driving. It is too bad the bean counters don't have statistics on how many accidents occur with those that use headlights and those that don't. (I understand you would have to go by percentage, not numbers because their are far more with lights on) I'm sure there are more people with headlights on percentage wise that have accidents than those that don't have their headlights on. I agree that you should always have headlights on in inclement weather. Motorcycles should always have headlights on when using them. I believe smart driving is the key to safe driving, the bulb between your ears is better than headlights. I understand in Canada headlights on are mandatory. If you have a brand new car battery in zero weather it is only half charged. This could determine whether your car will start or not. Please battery sellers no comments.

 

It sounds like you are relatively young and have excellent vision and reaction times - or at least you think you do. The thing is ... people still drive when they get older and after their vision and reaction times decline. My father drives and will turn 92 in May. My mother drives at 89 and has been blind in one eye since birth. My cousin Floyd still drives and his 97th birthday is tomorrow. I have lots of other relatives in their 80's and 90's still driving although car keys are surrendered at 100 - Floyd might be an exception. I'm about to turn 65 and can tell that I'm not as alert a driver as I used to be.

There actually are statistics regarding the effectiveness of DRL although the European Union seems to have done a far better job of tracking this than in the U.S. The EU now has very stringent DRL requirements.

I suggest that you "lighten up". If you are fortunate and don't "do a Darwin" and become "DRT" (an humorous accident investigator term meaning "dead right there") you too may find yourself at a ripe old age and appreciating the benefit of DRL and headlights-on during the day.

 

Offline, I am much older now than before! I have long since supped from the fountain of youth. I am 81 years old and will be 82 in October. In the nifty fifties in NJ insurance was not mandatory. In the sexy sixties I purchased car insurance. As of today, I have only collected $10 from my insurance company for a broken antenna some child broke off a long time ago. All of this without using headlights except inclement weather or night time. Also, my visual acuity is 20/200.

Ofline, what kind of food does your loved ones eat and what kind of food do you and your love ones avoid?

 

I thought enough of DRLs that I had them added at considerable expense. I want that guy pulling out on the rural highway just after dawn or at dusk or with the sun in certain positions to be able to see me. Sadly, I knew friends where that didn't happen.

 

If you are asking because you are think food choices have something to do with my relatives living so long, I doubt that is the reason unless fried food is the fountain of youth. (I'm rather fond of fried squid!) Unusual longevity seems to run in my ancestral lines. I never thought much about it until I reached my 60's and realized that I was one of few whose parents and all his aunts and uncles including their spouses were still alive.

My wife has been wondering if her 2012 Prius v could last until 2032, at which point she would be 84, since her 98 Camry was in wonderful condition after driving it 14 years. At the rate she drives, her Prius would reach 100,000 miles in 2032.

 

DRL's are more a middle of the day thing. Dawn or dusk, just keep the headlights on.

 

U

I think it is ancestral lines with a little help from food believed to be good for you. Until I was 40 you name the things that are considered not good for your health, I did. Three packs of cigarettes a day, drank beer till I was stoned, ate at fast food places, seldom exercised and seldom ate vegetables or fruit. One day a doctor had my blood tested and it was at dangerous levels. When I heard about the triglycerides in my blood I decide things will have to be changed. Ever since, I will only eat food that are considered healthy. Since 40 I have never smoked, drank beer or did anything considered negative to your health. After 40 I would jog 5 miles a week and walk about 20 miles a week. At 70 I stopped jogging and only walked 20 miles a week. I would never park at the shopping mall near the stores. I would park furthest from the mall stores. This forced me to carry stuff to my car. I believe my mental acuity is at about the level of a 35 to 40 year old man.

 

I have a new Prius v Five with ATP and I find the LED headlights to be fantastic. I was previously driving an '06 Prius and the '15 LED lights are significantly better.

The only other car that I have with automatic high beams in an '05 Jeep Grand Cherokee. From what I can tell so far, the '15 Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) automatic headlights are at least as good as those in the Jeep.

/Jim

 

My '87 Thunderbird has automatic high beams that work quite well, I think that technology is pretty mature.

 

I am sure that the technology has changed a lot since your '87. Older automatic headlights used photocell technology which simply integrated aggregate light. New automatic headlights use digital camera technology with digital signal processing to actually "look" for cars and distinguish them from other light sources. It also uses your vehicle speed to determine if you even need high beams or not.

If you look in the documentation you will see the following:

The Automatic High Beam uses an in-vehicle camera sensor to assess the brightness of streetlights, the lights of oncoming and preceding vehicles, etc., and automatically turns high beam on or off as necessary.

When all of the following conditions are fulfilled, high beam will be automatically turned on (after approximately 1 second):

● Vehicle speed is above approximately 21 mph (34 km/h).
● The area ahead of the vehicle is dark.
● There are no oncoming or preceding vehicles with headlights or tail lights turned on.
● There are few streetlights on the road ahead.
​

If any of the following conditions are fulfilled, high beam will be automatically turned off:

● Vehicle speed drops below approximately 17 mph (27 km/h).
● The area ahead of the vehicle is not dark.
● Oncoming or preceding vehicles have headlights or tail lights turned on.
● There are many streetlights on the road ahead. ​

There are many other disclaimers such as use in bad weather, ice on the windshield, two wheeled vehicles, vehicles with a burnt out headlight, vehicles with the lights off or using fog lights... etc.

In any case, the new vehicles are using digital imaging and digital processing technology instead of the older photocell/light integration technology.

/Jim

 

That is quite a bit of progress!

 

flynz4,
thanks for that info!