Information center (odometer, etc.)

[cptrain]

The information center LED (odometer, etc)on my 07 MKX, is hard to see in the day light especially on a bright sunny day. Can the dealer increase the intensity of the LED? Have other owners found this to be a problem?

Edited April 8, 2008 by cptrain

[Phoenix]

Dumb bunny question, sorry, but the inside lights are adjustable. Have you turned yours all the way up, but not to the point of turning on the inside lights?

 

(says Phoenix, in Phoenix with the roof open on a bright sunny day ) I figure if I can see mine, you can see yours.

[cptrain]

Dumb bunny question, sorry, but the inside lights are adjustable. Have you turned yours all the way up, but not to the point of turning on the inside lights?

 

(says Phoenix, in Phoenix with the roof open on a bright sunny day ) I figure if I can see mine, you can see yours.

 

Yes, I have done that, don't have sun roof.

[phoneguy55]

I find that I can see it OK with the brightness turned all the way up , but only when my driving lights are off. I like to have my fog / driving lights on most of the time , even during the day ..and this dims the display automatically. Then I have to turn off the lights for a second to see the display which is a pain ....plus the guy in front of me thinks I am flashing my lights when all I am really doing is looking at the display.

 

Maybe a future model year will only dim the display when it is dark out ( using the daylight sensor that the speedometer lighting uses ) instead of when the lights are turned on.

 

???

[akirby]

Maybe a future model year will only dim the display when it is dark out ( using the daylight sensor that the speedometer lighting uses ) instead of when the lights are turned on.

 

Or you could just stop turning on the lights in the daytime. It really doesn't help, despite popular opinion to the contrary.

[phoneguy55]

Or you could just stop turning on the lights in the daytime. It really doesn't help, despite popular opinion to the contrary.

 

 

Well, I guess we each have our opinions on the value of daytime lights, and I know that I feel safer with mine on. In congested city driving on narrow streets , with cars trying to pull out from cross streets, I feel that they can detect my approach better with my lights on. If seeing the dash display is limited by their use, then I guess I'll deal with the dimmed display.

 

From what I have read on the subject, the benefit of their use is not overwhelming, but statistics do show an overall benefit. Here is a quote from a web site of The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety...( for what it is worth)...

 

How effective are DRLs? (daytime running lights)

 

Nearly all published reports indicate DRLs reduce multiple-vehicle daytime crashes. Evidence about DRL effects on crashes comes from studies conducted in Scandinavia, Canada, and the United States. A study examining the effect of Norway's DRL law from 1980 to 1990 found a 10 percent decline in daytime multiple-vehicle crashes. A Danish study reported a 7 percent reduction in DRL-relevant crashes in the first 15 months after DRL use was required and a 37 percent decline in left-turn crashes. In a second study covering 2 years and 9 months of Denmark's law, there was a 6 percent reduction in daytime multiple-vehicle crashes and a 34 percent reduction in left-turn crashes. A 1994 Transport Canada study comparing 1990 model year vehicles with DRLs to 1989 vehicles without them found that DRLs reduced relevant daytime multiple-vehicle crashes by 11 percent.

 

In the United States, a 1985 Institute study determined that commercial fleet passenger vehicles modified to operate with DRLs were involved in 7 percent fewer daytime multiple-vehicle crashes than similar vehicles without DRLs. A small-scale fleet study conducted in the 1960s found an 18 percent lower daytime multiple-vehicle crash rate for DRL-equipped vehicles. Multiple-vehicle daytime crashes account for about half of all police-reported crashes in the United States. A 2002 Institute study reported a 3 percent decline in daytime multiple-vehicle crash risk in nine US states concurrent with the introduction of DRLs. Federal researchers, using data collected nationwide, concluded that there was a 5 percent decline in daytime, two-vehicle, opposite-direction crashes and a 12 percent decline in fatal crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists.

 

 

Since the "fog" lights on the Edge are not too great in the fog....I guess I'll just use them as daytime running lights. Even a small benefit is worth it to me, but freedom of choice is a great thing.....

[druck52]

You can have your DRL's turned on at a dealership and then you won't have to worry about the display dimming.

Edited April 25, 2008 by druck52