Heavy rain today and slightly foggy. I keep my headlight control on "auto". In the auto possition the daytime running lights (DRL), are always on while the car is on. Toyota has decided that the DRL lights comply with the law requireing your lights be on when the wipers are in use, except for the one sweep function. This is fine, as the DRL are quite bright and easily seen in all condidions, making it unnecessary for the headlights to come on when using the wipers.BUT......this means when conditions are poor as I described above, you will find yourself driving without TAILLIGHTS. The stop lights will come on, as usual, if you touch the brake pedal, but during normal driving you will not have taillights, as you would with the headlights on. Today after I realized this, I moved the control to the "headlights on" possition which lit the taillights as normal. Toyota should do one of two things, Change the system to turn on the headlights when the wipers are activated except in the "one sweep" setting, or at least change the system to have the taillights come on when the wipers are activated. This is a safety problem and I thought I would pass on this information for those that may not be aware of this. By the way....I tried driving in the "DRL OFF" setting, and nothing happens in this mode. The headlights do not come on and it doesn't react to the wipers being on. I hope this is helpful.

 

It has one added twist. If the DRL/Auto configuation senses that it is dark outside, and it thinks headlights and taillights are needed, the taillights DO come on, so make sure that you check this in bright enough light to convince the sensor that it is in the DRL mode.

RFB

 

We just cannot expect a car to do everything for us. But certainly, we think we are ok because of the DRLs. Does anyone know if the law says anything about taillights? I suspect not.

How ever did we survive in the past without this law??

I do think turning the headlights/taillights on and off with the wipers is putting unneeded stress on system because there are plenty of times when I use the wipers for a little mist or something and it would get distracting having the headlights/taillights turning on and off all the time (of course this mist requires more than the one swipe -- but only a few swipes really.)

 

I wasn't thinking of the law. I was thinking about safety. If conditions are such that the headlights should be on, I think the tail lights should also be on. I assumed they were, until I found out differently.The mist cycle would not affect the lights. The wipers have to be on for about 30 seconds before the "auto lights on" feature works in most cars. Again, this post was just in case some may think ,"ok the wipers are on, so the headlights and taillights are on".This is not so, unless it is dark enough out for the system to want the lights on for darkness reasons. Just trying to be helpful.

 

/tongue in cheek on/ Just imagine the complications if the car had rain-sensing wiper blades. /tongue in cheek off/

 

lol.................

 

acco20....Did you know that the sensitivity of the auto on headlights can be adjusted? (by the dealer) Perhaps to a "lighter" setting to allow the lights to come on when in the fog/rain conditions you mentioned. This, of course, would also include the tail lights.

 

acco, I think the current settings is what I would intuitively expect from the "auto" setting. I wouldn't expect my rear lights to come on automatically. If your windshield wiper controls your rear lights, people might think you're braking. I personally never use the momentary "one sweep" wiper but instead leave it on slow for 2-3 wipes then turn it off and then I repeat when necessary.

 

Understood. It is something everyone should be aware of. The reason why I brought the law into it is because it should be something all of do anyhow -- if the conditions require headlights, they should be one, even if that switch is manual. Honestly, need headlights whenever it is raining is a bit excessive in my opinion. I do obey the law though and did in my 1997 Ranger that did not have DRLs.

 

This already exists. It might be on some higher-end cars but the Hyundai's (maybe it was Kia??) now have it.