2010 Prius, RDS? DRL? Fog lights?

I'll respond more later this week, but here's another fun site that we have used internally when studying whether or not to add DRLs to models. As hill says, not everyone is on board and as I mentioned, everything has a price. For Prius, our research didn't show it was something the market demanded at the time the decision was made.

Association of Drivers Against Daytime Running Lights

More to come.
Erica

 

Erica,

While I understand diverse opinions on this topic - I don't understand the highlighted phrase below from the link you had included:

"The Association of Drivers Against Daytime Running Lights - DADRL - is actively working to stop governments and manufacturers from installing Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) on motor vehicles. There is no conclusive evidence to show that DRLs are effective at reducing crashes. Rather, there are a number of safety-negative side effects of DRLs on automobiles, including emitting excessive glare to other drivers, masking of other vulnerable road users, and increased energy consumption. Please browse our pages to learn more about how DRLs are an ill-conceived safety gimmick and how you can help us to combat them."

GLARE??? Can anyone really state they were annoyed by DRLs 'excessive glare'. IMO this is a huge stretch. So - does that mean that any local / federal requirement for motorcycles and semis to use (full strength) headlights during daylight hours should be repealed?

But - I do understand the Prius team's decision, especially if it was based on potential savings of energy/fuel...as minimal as that may be. What I don't understand is (if) DRLs are of no substantial benefit - why does Toyota include them as standard, and has done so for many years. on many of their family of vehicles?

I'm a relatively new member on this forum. I understand from another post that the DRL topic has been beat to death here before. I (really) don't want to resurrect it, but would appreciate your views on the pragraph above.... Thanks.

 

guys, any electrician can create drl's for you... takes like $15 worth of relays.

 

Thanks to all the Prius chat members for their extraordinary helpfulness. As a newcomer to this forum, I could not have learned so much anywhere else.

Three questions:
1. Can DRLs be "enabled" in a car purchased in the US? If not, can this modification be made at the dealer level? Toyota please note: count me in for wanting DRLs. I have had them for over 15 yr in other cars, and prefer what I personally see as a safety advantage, especially on a two lane road. Most cars in this area, and all cars in nearby Ontario, have DRLs.

2. Does the Prius have automatic headlights (i.e. on at dusk; off at around sunrise)?

3. A final question which does not really belong on this thread (but I don't know where to put it): do the body side moldings in the Prius shop fit the 2010 Prius?

Thanks in advance!

(Prius IV with nav, on order. Thanks to this forum, I switched from 2009 to 2010 Gen 3).

 

And in Europe!

 

As I'm sure you know, it's always difficult to determine what the majority of shoppers will want and what safety features are more important than others to the broad market. Prius/Toyota focussed on different standard features than Insight (for ex Vehicle Stability), DRL's just weren't in the cards for Prius this year. As always, we will note your feedback and continue to study it for future models.

Thanks,
Erica

A couple of non-DRL questions, Erica. My wife can't look at an LCD screen for more than a couple of seconds...some kind of eye thing. Is it possible to drive a Prius with the LCD screen covered? Do the newer models have LCD speedometers, etc? (That's one question, believe it or not.)

We liked the slant of the rear window on the early models...the newer ones are so severely slanted that vision to the rear is reduced to a slot. Do you think that the company will ever revisit this decision?

We love our Corolla.

Bob Gardner

 

What you mean is L.E.D's. . . . Light Emitting Diodes. The Prius V. (only) gets these.

BTW ... I won't try and convert you ... but most all organization's (except those profiting from DRL's) statistics now show that there's little, if any benefit from DRL's ... unless it's just for some 'cool' look. I know some will still fight & die over that point, and even if you think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread, well ... you're still ok w/ me.

http://www.motorists.org/drl/drlstudy08.pdf



.

 

Now that we have a few 2010's on the ground, does anyone know if the non-nav radio supports RDS?

Thanks
Brian

 

Since I'm getting a Winter Gray PIII, enhanced visibility is very important to me. I'll probably consider driving with my low beams on all the time until I find a DRL solution. Hmmmm... mental note ... gotta check if that's legal in Arizona.

 

Now that I have one, I can answer my own question. The answer is no.

Brian

 

How about making a DRL plug in module option available here from Prius Chat?

 

I was told by my insurance company that the lack of DRL's will add about $40 to my bill. Over the anticipated 10 year life of the car, that's a lot of money. I would be interested in any work-around.

 

But not in the uk!