7 On Your Side: Potential safety hazard in popular vehicle
Potential safety hazard in popular car
It’s an issue federal regulators say doesn’t show up to be a safety issue. But numerous people who say they’ve experienced the problem very first palm, strongly disagree.
Amit Rawlani of Fremont is worried for the safety of his family.
“I have a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old. I don’t take them out in this car at night,” said Rawlani.
So is Jason Reinstedler of Orinda. He avoids driving at night if at all possible.
“I’ve been actually leaving work early in some cases,” said Reinstedler.
Both own a two thousand twelve Toyota Prius and both say their vision through the windshield at night makes driving unsafe. This is movie of the view through Rawlani’s windshield that he posted on YouTube. Rawlani and Reinstedler say tail lights, street lights, oncoming headlights and traffic lights emerge blurry, seem larger than normal and can be seen in triplicate. Reinstedler recalls the day he almost hit a pedestrian because he was blinded by the numerous pics of light.
“I was just kind of freaked out. I didn’t understand what was going on,” said Reinstedler.
Rawlani told me the so-called ghosting effect is best seen on dark streets from a distance of about fifty feet.
Finney: “Will we see it when we go driving around right now?”
Rawlani: “Yeah, we will see it right now.”
Finney: “Let’s go, let’s see it.”
The problem he has with his windshield is not always evident. Rawlani says it usually can’t be seen on well-lit streets or from closer distances.
Rawlani: “Now look at the crimson arrow up front. You can see three arrows actually.”
Finney: “I see the one below it. I don’t see the one above.”
Rawlani: “There’s one above as well.”
Finney: “I’m watching it now.”
Then as we get closer to the light, the ghosting effect seems to vanish and the numerous arrows we eyed merge into one. Reinstedler and Rawlani aren’t the only ones complaining about this.
A forum on the website PriusChat includes postings by forty Prius owners who say they have the same problem.
Prius four Possessor wrote: “On the stop light I can see three pictures of the crimson light — in the middle the real one, and two ghost pictures below and above it.”
John Hoskins posted: “Dealer denies any warranty coverage and says the problem was caused by the environment.”
And eventually from Mike: “Hopefully there will be a recall and get these defective windshields substituted.”
Finney: “Some people are going to say it just isn’t that big of a deal. It’s just lights.”
Rawlani: “I think it’s a big distraction while driving. And I just don’t feel safe enough. 2nd thing is this is a brand fresh car and I don’t expect to have these kind of issues.”
We found a dozen formal complaints submitted since January two thousand twelve to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA. NHTSA told us, “Based on its review of available data, the agency has found no evidence of a safety defect trend in these vehicles. NHTSA will proceed to monitor the issue and will take suitable act as warranted.”
Toyota agrees with that assessment and told seven On Your Side by email, “Toyota is aware of a puny number of complaints on the NHTSA website regarding windshield visibility for two thousand ten through 2012. Where customers have contacted us directly, we have made arrangements to evaluate some of their vehicles.”
AGC, the Asahi Glass Company in Tokyo, manufactured the windshields. A U.S. spokesman for AGC did not get back to us with answers to our questions.
Toyota has substituted Reinstedler’s windshield. But his attorney Mark Anderson said that didn’t improve the situation enough.
“They substituted the windshield once but it didn’t help much so they don’t have a fix,” said Anderson.
Our investigation has caught the attention of industry experts. Herb Yudenfriend is a former member of the Society of Automotive Engineers auto glazing standards committee and after witnessing the YouTube movies, plans to bring this up at the next meeting.
“I want them to investigate the cause of the distortion and to indicate what kind of testing might be required,” said Yudenfirend.
“I would undoubtedly urge Toyota to please fix this issue,” said Rawlani.
Meantime, Reinstedler has sued Toyota under the lemon law and is requesting a total refund. Toyota declined to comment on the suit.
