NHTSA Complaint #10157579 — 2006 TOYOTA CAMRY

THE 2006 TOYOTA CAMRY USES THE HIGH BEAM HEADLAMPS FOR DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS. THE CONFIGURATION OF THE LAMP ASSEMBLY PLACES THE TURN SIGNALS IMMEDIATELY INBOARD OF THE DRLS. ACCORDING TO FMVSS 108, S 5.5.11(A).4: "IF NOT OPTICALLY COMBINED WITH A TURN SIGNAL LAMP, IS LOCATED SO THAT THE DISTANCE FROM ITS LIGHTED EDGE TO THE OPTICAL CENTER OF THE NEAREST TURN SIGNAL LAMP IS NOT LESS THAN 100 MM" THE DRL IMPLEMENTATION ON THE 2006 CAMRY APPEARS TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THIS STANDARD. A QUALITATIVE OBSERVATION OF THE CAMRY AT AN INTERSECTION SHOWS THAT THE TURN SIGNAL IS SIGNIFICANTLY MASKED BY THE ADJACENT HIGH BEAM DRLS. NHTSA ISSUED A RECALL FOR A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH THE TOYOTA CELICA A FEW YEARS AGO: NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER : 04V566000 RECALL DATE : NOV 23, 2004 RECOMMENDED ACTION OF NHTSA: INVESTIGATE COMPLIANCE OF 2006 CAMRY DRLS WITH SPEC IN NO. 108 AND ISSUE RECALL IF CAMRY IS NON-COMPLIANT. RECOMMENDED ACTION OF TOYOTA: IF DEFECTIVE, DISABLE ALL DRL FUNCTIONALITY. THE BENEFITS OF DRLS ARE NOT PROVEN, AND DRLS ARE NOT REQUIRED IN THE US. *NM