Driver Monitor

[AlbertHall]

Picked my bZ4x Premier up last week. I noticed the driver monitor seems not to be operational, no flashing lights. I checked the settings and it is set to ON. Am I missing a trick, do I need to do something to activate it?

 

[Mister Mike]

8 minutes ago, AlbertHall said:

Picked my bZ4x Premier up last week. I noticed the driver monitor seems not to be operational, no flashing lights. I checked the settings and it is set to ON. Am I missing a trick, do I need to do something to activate it?

 

I wish I could turn mine off! No flashing lights but it nags me quite often with a chime and dashboard message. Mostly because my one handed driving upsets the camera. Or if I look out the side window too much it complains about driver inattention and asks me to sit up. It’s quite wearisome. One day, a bong from the display will try to tell me something important and I will miss the message. That’s where crying wolf too often gets you.

[bZ4X]

1 hour ago, Mister Mike said:

I wish I could turn mine off! No flashing lights but it nags me quite often with a chime and dashboard message. Mostly because my one handed driving upsets the camera. Or if I look out the side window too much it complains about driver inattention and asks me to sit up. It’s quite wearisome. One day, a bong from the display will try to tell me something important and I will miss the message. That’s where crying wolf too often gets you.

Agree with you... It is killing me. What an awful spot to locate the camera! 

 

I would definately put them at right and left corners of the dashboard screen. 

[bZ4X]

1 hour ago, AlbertHall said:

Picked my bZ4x Premier up last week. I noticed the driver monitor seems not to be operational, no flashing lights. I checked the settings and it is set to ON. Am I missing a trick, do I need to do something to activate it?

 

Try using phones camera, you will see IR led flickering on the phone screen. If not contact your dealer. 

[AlbertHall]

Thanks bZ4X - I checked with my iPhone camera and it is flickering and the monitor is working normally. I had not realised the lights I'd seen on YouTube videos of the monitor were IR and not visible.  It appears the driver monitor is not installed on the two US versions of the bZ4X.

[BZ4X Driver]

Bing!  "Driver Monitor Unavailable.  See Owner's Manual"

This is driving me insane.  I had the message 27 times during a 10 minute journey.  This 'safety' system is a massive distraction whilst driving, which surely defeats the purpose.  The system seems to have been implemented so badly, it's difficult to see how this left the test lab as being fit for purpose.  Yes, it's entirely 'my fault' because my driving style obscures the ludicrously-located camera.  That's fine, but there should be a way to turn this off.  Turning off Driver Monitor in the settings only changes the message - it doesn't make the distracting beeps and warnings go away.  The dealer ran a full set of diagnostics during a quick journey and confirmed it's all 'working correctly'.  Nevertheless, they have logged a support call with Toyota tech support so maybe something will materialise.

I've only had the car four weeks but I hate absolutely everything about it - I long to have my Prius Plug-in back.  Oh and the icing on the cake is that about one time in four, the message disconnects Android Auto completely, meaning I lose navigation and music until I disconnect and reconnect my phone.  I'm not sure this safety system is making my journeys any safer. Quite the opposite.  If they can't find a fix, the car is going back and I'll get my first ever non-Toyota car.

If they manage to fix this I'll report back...

[philip42h]

8 hours ago, BZ4X Driver said:

Yes, it's entirely 'my fault' because my driving style obscures the camera - there should be a way to turn this off.

Your simplest solution would be to adapt your driving style. The only alternative would be to change the car for an older model.

The driver attention stuff is part of the overall package of safety aids mandated for all new models from 2022 and for all new cars from 2024. So, basically, we are stuck with it. If you wish to complain about the "nanny state" I'll join you, but it won't do us any good. 😉

There's little point in having "driver attention" safety aid if the [inattentive] driver can simply switch it off. At the very least it will come back on next time you start the car.

[JonathanP]

1 hour ago, philip42h said:

Your simplest solution would be to adapt your driving style. The only alternative would be to change the car for an older model.

The driver attention stuff is part of the overall package of safety aids mandated for all new models from 2022 and for all new cars from 2024. So, basically, we are stuck with it. If you wish to complain about the "nanny state" I'll join you, but it won't do us any good. 😉

There's little point in having "driver attention" safety aid if the [inattentive] driver can simply switch it off. At the very least it will come back on next time you start the car.

Yes, just this. Only older models are likely to not have this feature. Personally I've only seen a message on the screen a few times and wondered if it was even working.
Make sure your seat (and wheel) are adjusted in a way that the monitor can see you and you can see the speedo. A lot of people forget that the wheel can be moved.

Unfortunately as mentioned we are stuck with this technology being introduced, but if you look back it will usually cancel the alert.

Not sure about the Android Auto being linked to the driver monitor, I suspect it's more down to Googles sloppy implementation of Android Auto which has been full of bugs for the last couple of years. Unfortunately Andriod Auto feels like another product that Google aren't really bothered about. (It probably doesn't make Google any money)

[Stephen Leighton]

On 4/3/2024 at 1:47 AM, BZ4X Driver said:

Bing!  "Driver Monitor Unavailable.  See Owner's Manual"

This is driving me insane.  I had the message 27 times during a 10 minute journey.  This 'safety' system is a massive distraction whilst driving, which surely defeats the purpose.  The system seems to have been implemented so badly, it's difficult to see how this left the test lab as being fit for purpose.  Yes, it's entirely 'my fault' because my driving style obscures the ludicrously-located camera.  That's fine, but there should be a way to turn this off.  Turning off Driver Monitor in the settings only changes the message - it doesn't make the distracting beeps and warnings go away.  The dealer ran a full set of diagnostics during a quick journey and confirmed it's all 'working correctly'.  Nevertheless, they have logged a support call with Toyota tech support so maybe something will materialise.

I've only had the car four weeks but I hate absolutely everything about it - I long to have my Prius Plug-in back.  Oh and the icing on the cake is that about one time in four, the message disconnects Android Auto completely, meaning I lose navigation and music until I disconnect and reconnect my phone.  I'm not sure this safety system is making my journeys any safer. Quite the opposite.  If they can't find a fix, the car is going back and I'll get my first ever non-Toyota car.

If they manage to fix this I'll report back...

You can switch it off, my dealer did it for me.  There's a hidden menu you get to in driver assists via the steering wheel, you have to hold the ok button rather than press it to get to it. 

[Mister Mike]

22 hours ago, Stephen Leighton said:

You can switch it off, my dealer did it for me.  There's a hidden menu you get to in driver assists via the steering wheel, you have to hold the ok button rather than press it to get to it. 

I can find no such hidden menu 😞

It's easy enough to get to the menu option where you can turn off the driver monitor alert. But that setting has no effect on the car complaining that it cannot get a view of the driver.