Annoying auto headlights system

So I have a 2022 Tacoma OR now, the previous third gen I had had the option to switch the tail lights off and just drive with DRL’s, now the on I have doesn’t have that option, only Auto.
My problem is that this Auto function is so annoying when driving under bridges/beside a semi (getting shade onto the sensors), the car automatically changes the brightness on my screen and turns on my headlights (which is the obvious function of auto). But even on the brightest of the days this thing will turn on from the smallest shade.
Now, I was wondering if theres a way to maybe add a toggle switch/ to be able to turn that option off, I thought about removing a fuse but I dont want any error codes on my dash.
Any suggestions how to bypass this Auto option and just have it simple like older Tacoma's were?
In addition to that I used to be able to turn off headlights and taillights completely when putting the handbrake and setting the light to off when I was parked up and didn’t wanna have my lights on. This option is also unavailable.

 

I am confused you don’t have parking lights on your switch? There are 4 settings on my 2018 OFF (DRL On and tail lights OFF) - Auto - Parking lights (DRL ON and tail lights ON) - ON

 

All new Toyotas have Auto-Marker-Headlight.

Owners are too stupid to turn lights on.

 

They aren’t wrong tho, the amount of people I see without headlights at night is astonishing. I can only hope more people buy cars with those features

 

Auto headlights aren’t a new thing. My old 2000’s Toyota has em. Can it be annoying? Yes. If the car feels the lights should be on, they are on (except if you start the car with the e-brake pulled)

Is there a way to re-wire the lights to be able to turn off auto? Probably. But not worth the effort/liability on a new vehicle. Not a great answer, but Toyota did pretty good if this is the biggest complaint. Just live with it?

 

Ya odd the new ones only have auto headlights. My ‘20 has the parking light option which runs the LED DRL’s and tail lights like Norilsk said.

There is a setting in your menu screen that limits the sensitivity of the DRL lights, I’ve got it at the lowest sensing and seems a bit better when using AUTO Headlights while going under bridges.
Give that a try.

 

There is no longer an ‘OFF’ switch on new vehicles being sold. Because people are stupid.
https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transp...r-seats/using-your-vehicle-lights-see-be-seen

 

Does this mean they can't be turned off at a drive-in?

 

There’s a way you can keep the car/truck running and have all the lights off by using the handbrake (on an MT anyway) - but I forgot the sequence I did cause I can’t get it to happen again.
It’s annoying as hell not being able to fully turn off the lights. The little LED DRL ‘parking lights’ are extremely bright as well.

 

This is actually a problem caused by automotive designers, not by stupid drivers. With dashes that illuminate at all times, we lost the traditional feedback mechanism for drivers in urban areas that their lights aren’t on. Add in DRLs and you have no “alert” to the driver that anything is wrong.

 

I think the best option is to turn the parking lights on. I get the annoyance for sure though, but people are literally not smart enough to turn the lights on themselves, so Toyota made it so there’s no possible way to drive around in the dark without at least having your taillights on.
Their system is also waaaay too sensitive. I have mine on the lowest setting and it turns the lights on in lower light situations than my wife’s CX-5 does on the most sensitive setting.
As for the screen dimming, I think the only option is to turn the dial all the way up for the instrument cluster/radio/HVAC lights, which prevents the screen from ever going dim. Pretty sure I read that in the manual anyway.

 

On my '21 (US version) it has an option to configure the sensitivity of the auto light function. IIRC it's in the head unit menu somewhere. I turned my sensitivity down since I tinted my entire windshield and the sensor is in the passenger tweeter cover.

 

I agree somewhat, but they tried to fix this by putting an indicator on the instrument cluster. In the US, I believe you get a light telling you when the headlights are on, in Canada we get a light telling you the taillights are on.

 

Not having an off switch on any light switch. Sounds counter productive to any form of energy conservation.

Do you also have auto high beams?

Can you select between headlights on, and automatic?

Is there a way to turn off auto high beam?


I hope once adaptive headlights become standard equipment. There is a way to run low beams only, an off switch for people who have the cognitive ability to operate an automotive lighting system.

I would also like to have the ability to disable the cluster lighting when there are no exterior lights activated. I don't know why anyone would need the ability to read the gages, in the dark while the headlights are off.

This might also solve the problem of people driving with the lights off in the dark. Since they wouldn't be able to read the gages.

 

Neither of which really gives you sufficient feedback. A light that is on when situations are normal is terrible human interaction design, because humans are terrible at noticing when something that should be there isnt.

 

Nah, people are stupid. It’s why we have instructions on shampoo and have to be told not to drink or smell random fluids we encounter.
You could over design the most perfect lighting system in the world, with haptic feedback and whatever else you want to put into it — there will be people who will still find ways not to use it properly or as intended.
As a traffic example - rural stop signs with a grated roadway that rattles the hell out the car to warn of an intersection ahead - people still blow by the sign.
Roadwork ahead/accident lighting and barricades - people still plow into the scene or directly into the signs/barricades/lighting.
People are not that bright and most need their hands held. No amount of design can mitigate stupidity (or distraction).

 

My Tacoma is old enough that it doesn't have automatic lights, but both my 2014 F150 and 2020 Explorer do. I don't like them. Fortunately, I have the option of using them manually on those vehicles.

When I bought the F150 the salesman recommended just leaving the setting on automatic, which I did for a while. But a few weeks after buying the truck I met up with several other guys before sunup to drive somewhere in convoy. Since we started in the dark my lights were on, but after the sun came up there was enough light for mine to automatically turn off. But it was EXTREMELY foggy. I didn't realize my lights were not on when they should have been. My friends pointed out how hard it was for them to see my truck in the fog after we arrived at the destination. I haven't used them since.

The Explorer, when set on the automatic mode on will automatically go between high and low beam when it thinks I need to. Often, they are only on high beam for 1-2 seconds before going back to low making other drivers think I'm flashing them.

 

Okay, guess all my time studying human factors design, including under a GM interior design engineer, was for nothing.

People are fallible, it’s true. We are, too. We interpret information poorly, fill in gaps, and fail to recognize things we should. Designers need to adapt to that and consider it, not throw their hands up and just declare that people are stupid.

but I’m glad we are so very above average so we never make the mistakes other people do. True children of Wobegon are we.

 

Don’t be obtuse. I never said any of that.

 

I’m sitting here trying to explain why a problem exists now as a result of well intentioned but poorly considered design, and am met with “nah that’s wrong people are just stupid.” But people always say this about other people, never including themselves as fallible