Idiot Things The Yaris Does

[bronsin]

When you turn the "headlights" on in the dark nothing apparent happens because the "safety" DRL are already on. So...if you are driving from lit to unlit conditions its EASY to forget to turn your headlights on. Which means you have no parking lights!

NOW we have a REAL problem folks!

As a motorcyclist for 300,000 miles and 35 years without an accident I know safety. Accidents are caused by incredibly brain dead moments. Usually on the part of the other motorist. (in my case)

It is impossible to make a car react to the brain dead motorist. The driver has to do it. Safety comes from the driver NOT the car.

If you ride a motorcycle and think ABS, traction control, headlites on in the day etc etc are going to "save" you from an accident you are in for a rude awakening.

Of course the excuse is "Well it might help."

No...it will NOT help! It will only make trouble like DRLs.

[Betrivent]

DRLs arent' for the driver though, they're for other cars to see that they are in fact, running cars and not parked ones. The issue is that the instrument pabnels is always lit. If they linked the cluster to the headlight switch people SHOULD NOT forget to turn them on.

[MUSKOKA800]

My dash lights only illuminate when the headlights are turned on. No insturment lighting in DRL mode here in Canada. There is also a dash light which illuminates when the headlights are switched on. Same with the fogs.

[WeeYari]

^ incorrect. My dash lights are on in DRL mode, and dim when headlights are switched on.

[MadMax]

No DRLs, but I just have gotten into the habit of always driving with my lights on.

Unfortunately, since I've removed the door chimes in the Jeep (so I can run without doors! :thumbsup:), it is up to me to remember that my lights are on. A few times I've forgotten! :cry: Now I've gotten into the habit of always walking in front of the Jeep after parking it to make sure I've turned off the headlights!

I am becoming a creature of habit! :biggrin:

Oh, and yes, I ride as well. I've got two Hondas parked in the garage, been riding for about as long as you have; but in this country and throughout Europe. :w00t:

Cheers! M2

[bronsin]

DRLs arent' for the driver though, they're for other cars to see that they are in fact, running cars and not parked ones. The issue is that the instrument pabnels is always lit. If they linked the cluster to the headlight switch people SHOULD NOT forget to turn them on.

Ah but the fact is THEY DO! I used to work second shift and come home at midnight. It was very common to see people driving without parking lights on. They start the car, the headlights are on, and they dont think to turn them all the way on.

If there were not DRLs then they would have to turn their headlites (and so the tail lights) on.

[bronsin]

Oh, and yes, I ride as well. I've got two Hondas parked in the garage, been riding for about as long as you have; but in this country and throughout Europe. :w00t:

Cheers! M2

Awesome to ride in Europe.

Are there deserted places there to ride in like here?

[eTiMaGo]

Hatch owners, look at your climate control knobs for a reminder if the headlights are on or not :)

[The Limo]

In my 2007 Canadian sedan when the car is running only the rectangle with the fuel gauge, odometer and clock has a light on. The speedometer light is off. When the light stalk turns the lights on, then the speedometer light and a little light above the rectangle comes on as well as the rectangle dims somewhat. On my car it is impossible to drive at night and not know the headlights and tail lights are off (only running on DRLs) as the speedometer light is off.
Roy

[eTiMaGo]

the sedan has "traditional" gauges but the hatch has fancy "optitron" gauges, meaning they are always lit, or you would not see anything!

[MadMax]

Awesome to ride in Europe.

Are there deserted places there to ride in like here?

You don't have to find places away from traffic, Europeans know how to drive and respect motorcycles. I never feared for my life like I do in traffic in this country. I have lanesplit at triple-digit speeds during rush-hour traffic out of Brussels, or rode across Germany on the autobahns at 120+ MPH for hours on end and felt safer than I do riding here.

It is one of the reasons I don't commute to work on the bikes anymore, it's just to damn dangerous the way people drive. They're too busy texting, eating, putting on make-up or simply not paying attention.

These days if I get the bikes out at all, it is to the Texas Hill Country where the only things you have to worry about is deer or armadillos strolling out into the road!

Cheers! M2

[bronsin]

Huh interesting.

My defense mechanisms are so honed that I could never trust ANYONE anytime anywhere while riding a motorcycle.

Just the other day I was going to work and was on a divided six lane unlimited access strech of road. I was in the left lane passing a line of cars when one of them changed lanes into my path. He was looking at his lap (texting?) I have a rule. When you see someone do something stupid they will do ANOTHER thing stupid. Rather than speed up and edge around him I slowed down and changed lanes stage right. About another 200 yards down the road stupid drifted right into the dividing wall between the spilt highway. I was 100 yards behind him and to the right when he came to a stop sideways in the middle of traffic. About half a dozen cars either hit him or one another as they tried to avoid numbnuts.

If I did anything other than what I did I would have been in that mess.

People respecting motorcycles...

That would take all the fun out of it!





You don't have to find places away from traffic, Europeans know how to drive and respect motorcycles. I never feared for my life like I do in traffic in this country. I have lanesplit at triple-digit speeds during rush-hour traffic out of Brussels, or rode across Germany on the autobahns at 120+ MPH for hours on end and felt safer than I do riding here.

It is one of the reasons I don't commute to work on the bikes anymore, it's just to damn dangerous the way people drive. They're too busy texting, eating, putting on make-up or simply not paying attention.

These days if I get the bikes out at all, it is to the Texas Hill Country where the only things you have to worry about is deer or armadillos strolling out into the road!

Cheers! M2

[bronsin]

In my 2007 Canadian sedan when the car is running only the rectangle with the fuel gauge, odometer and clock has a light on. The speedometer light is off. When the light stalk turns the lights on, then the speedometer light and a little light above the rectangle comes on as well as the rectangle dims somewhat. On my car it is impossible to drive at night and not know the headlights and tail lights are off (only running on DRLs) as the speedometer light is off.
Roy

Hmm good point. The only flaw I can find in your argument is these people driving without their headlights turned on are MORONS amd hence immune to the laws of common sense.

My 2009 US 3 door hatchback has the speedo lit up at max brightness without the headlights switched on. When I switch the headlights on the brightness go to the full dim setting I have them on.

[eTiMaGo]

Huh interesting.

My defense mechanisms are so honed that I could never trust ANYONE anytime anywhere while riding a motorcycle.

Just the other day I was going to work and was on a divided six lane unlimited access strech of road. I was in the left lane passing a line of cars when one of them changed lanes into my path. He was looking at his lap (texting?) I have a rule. When you see someone do something stupid they will do ANOTHER thing stupid. Rather than speed up and edge around him I slowed down and changed lanes stage right. About another 200 yards down the road stupid drifted right into the dividing wall between the spilt highway. I was 100 yards behind him and to the right when he came to a stop sideways in the middle of traffic. About half a dozen cars either hit him or one another as they tried to avoid numbnuts.



Yeah it's the only way to survive here too, especially on two wheels, gotta keep asking yourself, what is the most insane thing each other driver could do, and expect it to actually happen... Just last week I had a motorcyclist come out of a side road without even looking and cutting right across into the inner lane, into my path... Luckily he reacted to the horn and stuck to the outer lane!

[bronsin]

I hope his life insurance is paid up.

[ilikerice]

bottom line:

Always defensive driving and alert for others.

and stay off your cell phones.

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

Yeah it's the only way to survive here too, especially on two wheels, gotta keep asking yourself, what is the most insane thing each other driver could do, and expect it to actually happen... Just last week I had a motorcyclist come out of a side road without even looking and cutting right across into the inner lane, into my path... Luckily he reacted to the horn and stuck to the outer lane!

each and every time getting out on the bike, remember... everyone else's
sole purpose, is to get you and squash you. that's how you must ride a bike

[thebarber]

Rainy and foggy here this morning....only half the people have their headlights ON....easy to spot the idiots as they don't have tail lights

[MadMax]

Huh interesting.

My defense mechanisms are so honed that I could never trust ANYONE anytime anywhere while riding a motorcycle.

Just the other day I was going to work and was on a divided six lane unlimited access strech of road. I was in the left lane passing a line of cars when one of them changed lanes into my path. He was looking at his lap (texting?) I have a rule. When you see someone do something stupid they will do ANOTHER thing stupid. Rather than speed up and edge around him I slowed down and changed lanes stage right. About another 200 yards down the road stupid drifted right into the dividing wall between the spilt highway. I was 100 yards behind him and to the right when he came to a stop sideways in the middle of traffic. About half a dozen cars either hit him or one another as they tried to avoid numbnuts.

If I did anything other than what I did I would have been in that mess.

People respecting motorcycles...

That would take all the fun out of it!

You wold be surprised at how different (and enjoyable) it is! In Europe, when you come up behind a car, they will move over to give you room to pass. Traffic coming in the opposite direction will also move to their right to give you room to pass down the middle on two-way roads. It's nice because it lets you know they are aware you are there. It did take some getting used to at first, especially since I had previously been riding in the States; but it doesn't take long to adapt and honestly, it is considerably more pleasant to ride when drivers recognize and respect your presence on the road. :thumbsup:

The horror comes when you return to the States and have to resort to the necessary self-preservation tactics required with the brain-dead drivers in this country :eek: (those on this board being the exception, of course! :biggrin:)

Needless to say, I miss riding in Europe considerably! :cry:

Cheers! M2

[tk1971]

My 08 hatch has a headlight on indicator on the cluster (looks like a little light bulb), so I always know if my headlights are on. But I don't have DRL's, so no problem here.

As for motoring on 2 wheels, I take notice of what I perceive other riders are doing "right" (IMO) while driving, ie: head/brake light modulators (annoying, but gets me noticed), wearing a yellow Aerostich suit, very defensive riding, and absolutely NO LANESPLITTING. Of course, there are no guarantees in life because at any given moment, any one of our lives could end for whatever reason (drunk driver, blue ice from the sky, rapture, etc).

[Spidermandud]

Idiot things the Yaris does:

Forces me to ooh and aah at Micro Image shit i can't afford for hours on end.

[fnkngrv]

bottom line:

Always defensive driving and alert for others.

and stay off your cell phones.

Here is an interesting fact that I learned while I was station in Korea: There are roughly, at least there was at the turn of the century, 12 million folks residing in Seoul. On their New Year's Eve the statistics, not sure how they came up with them, estimated that over 10 million of the folks were on the roads driving while intoxicated. Not necessarily drunk, but still inebriated. Even with this they have less issues with accidents then we have in our cities in the US even when folks are sober. The primary reason for this? They are raised to drive offensively rather than defensively. I lean more towards driving offensively personally and it has served me well in the 20 years I have been driving. This is both in autos and on motorcycles as I tested for my motorcycle license 6 months after my auto license (15 yrs old and then right after turning 16).

I completely agree with you on the mobile phone part. I have attempted to reduce my guilt on this one by using Voice-to-Text functionality.


As for the headlights part I trained myself years ago to always turn my headlights on as soon as my motor has been started and then off just as I exit.

I wish that I could think of an idiot thing that our car does, but right now coming up empty. :iono:

Then again I have the sedan. I can say something that I am entirely perplexed on which would be why the sedan doesn't have a driver's side glove box and the hatch does? I can only hazard to guess that it was an engineering thing, but one of the folks over at MI just cut into his dash to reveal plenty of space in front of the steering wheel on the sedan to accommodate another glove box.

[jpmck03]

Forces me to ooh and aah at Micro Image shit i can't afford for hours on end.

I don't know if that's the Yaris's fault...





...but...





I do the same thing... :redface:

[ilikerice]

Idiot things the Yaris does:

Forces me to ooh and aah at Micro Image shit i can't afford for hours on end.
I am with you on that one :thumbsup:

I don't know if that's the Yaris's fault...

If toyota didnt make the yaris to begin with, I wouldnt be in this dream state! :mad:

[bronsin]

Here is an interesting fact that I learned while I was station in Korea: There are roughly, at least there was at the turn of the century, 12 million folks residing in Seoul. On their New Year's Eve the statistics, not sure how they came up with them, estimated that over 10 million of the folks were on the roads driving while intoxicated. Not necessarily drunk, but still inebriated. Even with this they have less issues with accidents then we have in our cities in the US even when folks are sober. The primary reason for this? They are raised to drive offensively rather than defensively. I lean more towards driving offensively personally and it has served me well in the 20 years I have been driving. This is both in autos and on motorcycles as I tested for my motorcycle license 6 months after my auto license (15 yrs old and then right after turning 16).

I completely agree with you on the mobile phone part. I have attempted to reduce my guilt on this one by using Voice-to-Text functionality.


As for the headlights part I trained myself years ago to always turn my headlights on as soon as my motor has been started and then off just as I exit.

I wish that I could think of an idiot thing that our car does, but right now coming up empty. :iono:

Then again I have the sedan. I can say something that I am entirely perplexed on which would be why the sedan doesn't have a driver's side glove box and the hatch does? I can only hazard to guess that it was an engineering thing, but one of the folks over at MI just cut into his dash to reveal plenty of space in front of the steering wheel on the sedan to accommodate another glove box.

Do you think a defensive driver was the cause of this accident?

Id be willing to bet it was an offensive one.

www.documentingreality.com/forum/f10/motorcyclist-cut-half-9664/

[fnkngrv]

Do you think a defensive driver was the cause of this accident?

Id be willing to bet it was an offensive one.

www.documentingreality.com/forum/f10/motorcyclist-cut-half-9664/

Both offensive and defensive driving techniques can be the cause of accidents. I am just raising the point that offensive style has netted far less accidents in many cultures over ours. Also to raise a point it would appears that either the loose laws in regards to requiring driver's education or not as well as quite possibly poor DE schools is prevalent in many states at least to my recollection compared to 20 years ago when I first began driving. It cannot be denied either that there are much more distractions compared to then as well so I will give today's society that much. Back then you might only be distracted by fumbling through cassette tapes to find the right 2 Live Crew or Aerosmith album or checkin out the sweetness walking down the sidewalk.

[ilikerice]

[QUOTE=fnkngrv;626494]Here is an interesting fact that I learned while I was station in Korea: There are roughly, at least there was at the turn of the century, 12 million folks residing in Seoul. On their New Year's Eve the statistics, not sure how they came up with them, estimated that over 10 million of the folks were on the roads driving while intoxicated. Not necessarily drunk, but still inebriated. Even with this they have less issues with accidents then we have in our cities in the US even when folks are sober. The primary reason for this? They are raised to drive offensively rather than defensively. I lean more towards driving offensively personally and it has served me well in the 20 years I have been driving. This is both in autos and on motorcycles as I tested for my motorcycle license 6 months after my auto license (15 yrs old and then right after turning 16).
QUOTE]

That is very interesting stats. I visited Seoul and Ho Chi Min for a couple weeks, and I can probably say that is correct. There are more scooters then people and cars on the streets. When I took a taxi, if the guy in front of you hasnt let off the brakes withing .0001 of a sec when the light turns green, people will lay on the horn to wake you up. There was also no lanes either. very intersting.. although, this was about 6 years ago, things may have changed.

My teen years I was an agressive driver, but I now am completely defensive. I keep my aggressivness at the track and autocross.

[fnkngrv]

I keep my aggressivness at the track and autocross.


You would have to agree however there is a difference between offensive and aggressive driving no?


But, anyway, I digress as this is kind of hijacking the thread now.

[ilikerice]

point made. There is a line between the two.

Agreed, on the Off topic.. sorrys

[FrankM]

is there a way to have the rear lights on all the time when the car is running .

[fnkngrv]

Oh yes...another idiot thing kinda of...love the cup holders on the dash, but terrible that they do not accept today's cup size standards (reference Tim Horton's new cup sizes for example) and therefore for me anyway tend to dump too easy.

[daf62757]

I have gotten very used to people flagging me down to tell me my tail lights are broken. Well, they aren't broken....I am just too stupid to remember to turn on the headlights. So while this is a problem, it is a driver interface malfunction!

[bronsin]

I have gotten very used to people flagging me down to tell me my tail lights are broken. Well, they aren't broken....I am just too stupid to remember to turn on the headlights. So while this is a problem, it is a driver interface malfunction!


The headlights are already on. They never go off once the engine is running.
So at night the drivers thinks all the lights are on because the HLs are on.

They arent.

[why?]

Oh yes...another idiot thing kinda of...love the cup holders on the dash, but terrible that they do not accept today's cup size standards (reference Tim Horton's new cup sizes for example) and therefore for me anyway tend to dump too easy.

That must be a gigantic cup, the only cup I've found the Yaris couldn't hold is the largest 7-11 cup, which i think was more a function of the design of the cup rather than the cupholder.

The first mod I did to my car was to take out the box that enabled DRL's. So if my lights are on, I turned them on. I don't need a piece of garbage lawyer telling me how to drive.

And foreign drivers drive better, they also have multiple choices for never owning a car at all. The second you choose to spend the trillions in creating a fully functional reliable national transportation system in the US, then you will see less accidents as the people that don't want to drove won't need to. Although trillions probably won't be enough.

As it is now, to live in the US you must own a vehicle, hence the dirt cheap driver training and licensing costs.

[matthewai]

As it is now, to live in the US you must own a vehicle, hence the dirt cheap driver training and licensing costs.

ummm this is not true what about all the people who live in large citys ? they dont nessacaraly need a car