Stoplight visibility?

Yes, keep the hood well polished and use it as a mirror to watch the status of the overhead traffic lights. That's what I used to have to do in my Saabs of years past (my tallness is also mostly above the waist).

I just got my Prius a few days ago. I suspect I'll have the same problem with this car as you're experiencing. Look on the bright side though, you'll be able to set your seating position to use the top of the window as your sun visor while those other folks will be having to screw around with those irritating visor flaps every time the sun decides to do its morning or evening automobile intrusion.

 

In the early fiftys some cars that had the external sun visor had a prism that sat on the dash up under the windshield. The driver would look into the prism and the refracted light would allow him to see the color of the stop light.
I don't know where you could get one of these today. Possibly could be used in the trucking industry.

 

Yes, I have the same problem, However, lowering the seat is NOT the answer. I really like the SUV type seating as opposed to trying to lift myself out of the low slung sports car seats. Wouldn't it be better to just increase the windshield depth at the top?
As it is, I find that I have to stop a bit further back from a light to see it.

I am 6'2" and also have the seat all the way back - Wouldn't it be nice if the steering wheel telescoped rather than the rather minimal tilt?

 

I had similar issues with my 96 Saturn, and as a few people pointed out, the easiest thing to do is stop a little further back from the light.

It can be annoying when you pull up too far and you're contorting your head to try to see the light though.

 

i say we ask coastaletech to create a periscope for the top of the car to wire into the display. we can voice command the camera to look at whatever we'd like. "show traffic light."
easy.
-r

 

"Showing Mexican Restaurants"

 

Can you actually SEE the hood of the car when you're inside? I can't.

 

Okay, after I suggested watching the stoplight reflection off a well polished hood, I realized, after rockluvr pointed it out, that we can't even see the hood on this car.

So, I've taken Montana HYBRID's suggestion and ordered a couple of prisms from Indigo Instruments:

http://www.indigo.com/science-supplies/gla...nice person-prisms.html

Total price with shipping is a little over $11 for two 1" x 3" prisms (bought two to meet the $10 minimum).

I'll post again when I get them and test them out to see if they work for monitoring high mounted stoplights. If nothing else, they'll be fun to have around as a couple of new geek toys.

 

Ken

I believe the equallateral prisms you have ordered have too sharp of angles to work very well.

The Prisms used in the fifties were round , about 2 1/2" in diameter,and tapered fom about 1" thick to about 1/2" thick. The prism was mounted to the dash on a post about 2" long and the post attached to the thickest edge of the prism. I believe that there was a ball socket at the end of the post that connected to the prism for adjustment purposes.

 

You can't see the hood from the driver's seat, and the seats are already too low. I use a cushion to support my thighs. You might be able to position a small mirror with an adhesive backing, on the dash somewhere. You can get them at auto parts stores; they usually stick onto the edges of your side mirrors to give you more of a wraparound view. They are curved, so they will distort what you are looking at, but you won't care if all you need is to see the traffic lights.
Bob

 

I've never had a problem with traffic lights, and I find the seats to be perfect. I think my stature (5' 6.5", 143 lbs) is very close to the average Japanese. Way to go, Toyota!

Useless information: In Spain the traffic lights are mounted on the near corner, rather than the far corner. This means that nobody in the first few cars in the line can see the light. So there is a secondary light mounted half-way down the post and facing inward. The driver must turn his head 90 degrees to the right to see this secondary light. Crosswalks are some 20 or 30 feet (I'm not a good judge of distances) back from the corner, rather than right at the corner as they are here.

 

More Useless Info: That is for the number of motorcycles/bicycles out on the road. It is easier for them to see if they are mounted that way.