Tesla S non-compliant with lighting regulations in USA

[Big Earl]

Yes, i can reach back in to center console and turn switch to Parking and they will stay on after shutting the door. Kinda gymnastics to do it because you can't touch -put weight on- the driver's seat.

But doing the two-step with the car like this is really a work-around IMHO.

You'll have to test this, but I believe that you can actually sit down in the driver's seat to do it after the car has been powered off, since the car won't power back on until you press the brake pedal. If you could test this theory, that would be helpful.

 

[mongo]

Washington is just one example... check your state too.

It's not like I care that Tesla is compliant or not, I just think it's dumb choices they made for lighting control.

They're non-compliant for at least WA.. so fix the damn car.

First off, I understand the issue you are having and the annoyance associated.

However, you are conflating vehicle regulatory compliance (FMVSS/ CMVSS) with state/ local operating laws. If a vehicle has no way of activating the parking lights when not occupied, one cannot park it on the side of road at night as stated in the WA law. Similarly, if a car did not have tire chains, it would not be legally allowed to transit certain mountain roads in winter. Or the inability to drive a car on public roads without insurance and registration. Different realms entirely.

Canadian regulations also have no requirement for parking light modes of operation, only when they and other lights must be active in relation to each other.

 

[Zarwin]

The behavior of the parking lights changed at some point over a year ago in software. On my 2014 S, I distinctly remember it being a pain to leave the parking lights on. I forget the specifics, but do remember they would turn off when closing the door after getting out no matter what I did. At some point that changed and now they stay on after I get out and lock the car without issue.

 

[David29]

It bothers me that my S won't keep the parking lights on when I turn the switch to parking lights, and I leave the car. As soon as I open the door to get out... they go off. Tsk! tsk! tsk!... this right here is Tesla's error.

Sometimes I just want my car to be marked at dusk, because, you know, safety. I stop to get the mail on a rural road in the dead of winter, and it's dark, and no matter what position I select on the light switch... all lights go off when I open the door. I am standing there on the road in the dark. My car is dark. This is stupid.

It's a real concern of mine, and I figured this must be a safety hazard... and sure enough some quick random google searches point out this is non-compliant behavior...

Here's the state of Washington, for example. The underlined part is mine.

RCW 46.37.150
Lamps on vehicles—Parked or stopped vehicles, lighting requirements.
(1) Every vehicle shall be equipped with one or more lamps, which, when lighted, shall display a white or amber light visible from a distance of one thousand feet to the front of the vehicle, and a red light visible from a distance of one thousand feet to the rear of the vehicle. The location of said lamp or lamps shall always be such that at least one lamp or combination of lamps meeting the requirements of this section is installed as near as practicable to the side of the vehicle which is closest to passing traffic.
(2) Whenever a vehicle is lawfully parked upon a street or highway during the hours between a half hour after sunset and a half hour before sunrise and in the event there is sufficient light to reveal any person or object within a distance of one thousand feet upon such street or highway, no lights need be displayed upon such parked vehicle.
(3) Whenever a vehicle is parked or stopped upon a roadway or shoulder adjacent thereto, outside an incorporated city or town, whether attended or unattended, during the hours between a half hour after sunset and a half hour before sunrise and there is insufficient light to reveal any person or object within a distance of one thousand feet upon such highway, such vehicle so parked or stopped shall be equipped with and shall display lamps meeting the requirements of subsection (1) of this section.
(4) Any lighted head lamps upon a parked vehicle shall be depressed or dimmed.


This is public plea to get Tesla to make it right.

And before you tell me... NO, I don't think it's reasonable to expect a person to roll down the window, get out, shut door, reach in through the window over to the console and move lighting switch to "parking" position. (Yes, this will cause the parking lights to come on and is the only way I have found to get them on when the car is parked and nobody is in it.)

If you too are concerned about this situation you can do what I do as a work around... turn on the hazard flashers. These aren't parking lights but can save you from getting hit.

What is this "lighting switch" of which you speak?

My car has no such thing....
(Sorry, being literal.)

 

[scottm]

What is this "lighting switch" of which you speak?

My car has no such thing....
(Sorry, being literal.)

the slider on the console... the thing you use to turn headlights on

 

[nico180]

Fasten the seatbelt behind you before you get out. The car will stay on.

And open...

 

[Canuck]

This drives me nuts too because I need the headlights to see the combination lock on my gate at my cabin. No matter what I did, the headlights would go out before I got there, so I have to grab my cell phone before getting out. Like you say, it doesn't even give you a minute.

 

[mrElbe]

...

By the way, didn't the switch position for Parking lights used to say the word Park? I just noticed now it is a symbol of Parking lights and not a word .. maybe I just imagined that.

When they finally made French available as a screen language for Canadians, they changed the switch wording to international symbols.

 

[Brass Guy]

There are a few ways I can think of to do this, either mental or physical "gymnastics" still required though.
1) As stated above, get out and reach in (or get back in) and turn on lights.
2) Open door, lift butt for ~2 seconds (car turns off), sit, turn on lights, exit. (I use this method to turn off often.)
3) Turn the car off using the screen, touch screen to activate it, turn lights on, exit.

I suppose it might be nice if Tesla added a "Keep on" similar to the climate menu. No gymnastics, just a bit more complicated menu.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Guys and gals, OP is talking about PARKING LIGHTS, not about headlights. Switch the setting to PARKING and you should be able to leave the car, lock it, and the parking lights (front DRLs and rear red lights) will stay on indefinitely until you return to the vehicle. That's how mine works, I confirmed that on page 1. I suspect OP is doing something different or a Canadian regulation car may behave in a different manner.

 

[brkaus]

Guys and gals, OP is talking about PARKING LIGHTS, not about headlights. Switch the setting to PARKING and you should be able to leave the car, lock it, and the parking lights (front DRLs and rear red lights) will stay on indefinitely until you return to the vehicle. That's how mine works, I confirmed that on page 1. I suspect OP is doing something different or a Canadian regulation car may behave in a different manner.

I did recreate the concern.

I drove into my driveway. Put the car in park. Hit the parking light button. Got out of car. Parking lights turned off when I closed the door.

If I let the car go into “off” prior to hitting the parking light button then the parking lights stayed on when I closed the door.


Personally, I don’t really care either way. But they did turn off on me.

 

[f-stop]

I did recreate the concern.

I drove into my driveway. Put the car in park. Hit the parking light button. Got out of car. Parking lights turned off when I closed the door.

If I let the car go into “off” prior to hitting the parking light button then the parking lights stayed on when I closed the door.

update from my earlier post: I confirm my 2015 Canadian 70D behaves as the OP and others reported, as summarized by brkaus above

a side note: last year, after one of the firmware updates Tesla messed up how the Off and Auto settings in the headlights section of the control panel worked - IIRC it might have just been Canadian cars. Everything used to work fine, but then after one of the updates, you could no longer turn manually OFF the headlights via the control panel if you were to park the car, but stay in the car (e.g. if you're dropping off somebody and waiting for them to come back from a quick errand). At that time, pressing OFF would do nothing, and headlights blinked but stayed on, unless you physically got out of the car. It took several firmware versions before they finally restored the correct behaviour.

Looks like they maybe made a mess of it again with the parking lights... You would think the logic behind how to control a couple On and Off switches should be quite trivial....

 

[scottm]

I remember and lived the headlights won't switch off thing too... it was "hilarious" that as you moved the lights slider to off position the headlights actually switched on. Just bizarre they don't test this stuff.