this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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Sounds reasonable. Personally I just want front turn signals to be visible from the opposite side again.
And also like, used at all.
Here's an idea. How about we zap the drivers after they make a turn if they didn't use a turn signal beforehand? 😀
Can we do this in the same bill as the popup spikes that take out your tires if you stop across the crosswalk? The guided RPGs replacing red light cams can wait a little longer.
Cars with lane-keep assist with vibrate the steering wheel and beep at you. It's at least something but I think most people turn it off if it gets annoying
Anyone complaining about lane keep not letting them change lanes or make turns is telling on themselves
There are a couple situations where it's annoying and I turn it off. My truck has the "steer back into lane" style assist, but it's tried to push me off the road before while I was towing a trailer on some narrow 1-lane roads. Some of the corners it's just not possible to get around without touching the center line.
The vast majority of the time it stays on though and is quite helpful.
Not sure if I read that correctly, but I don't think this has ever been the case?
I mean when a car is coming at me from a cross street, I want to be able to tell if they're turning or just an asshole not using their signal. On some cars, the turn signal is mounted so far to the side that if they're approaching from my right and turning right onto the same street as me, I can't see that turn signal. Sometimes combined with the roundness of the nose exacerbating the problem.
I think what he wants is the front turn signal to wrap around the front, so I can see the left signal from the right quarter.
I'm not aware that this is not the case, but I don't know that I would have noticed if it was not.
Isn't that the case for pretty much everything? Newer cars alternate blinking their headlights and the signal indicator, and even cars w/ the turn signal on the side will have some light bleed through since it's all one assembly. In the majority of cars, I can see their turn signals when they're perpendicular to me. The larger issue is that most people in my area don't bother to use their signals in the first place.
Theres a saying in computer stuff that applies nicely here. PEBKAC, problem exists between keyboard and computer...turn signals have to be turned on, no amount of engineering can fix bad driving.
Heads up, it’s actually keyboard and chair, not keyboard and computer
Dang it, sometimes I just type stuff and dont think about what I typed (the irony of what I was writing out)
I've always heard it as "PICNIC"
Problem In Chair, Not In Computer
And never forget about the I-D ten T error.
ID10T for those who didn't get it.
Layer 0 obfuscation error.
How would you do that so it isn't ugly as hell and isn't prone to misunderstanding?
same way we do with lights now, design them attractively. It is not always successful and that's on the manufacturers.
what about it is confusing? green = not coming at you so it's okay to turn left (or whatever).
< and > for turns. X for brakes.
Honestly, we should focus on functionality rather than aesthetic.
That doesn't answer the question. The question is how you would design it so you can look at the left side of a car, know that it's turning right and isn't prone to misunderstandings.
Up and down arrows? Up is away from you and down is towards you.
sliding light or arrows
How would that work? If you look from the side you suddenly don't see anything again, or an arrow point forwards or backwards?
If you look from the front, current turn signals work for that already.
sliding lights: it depends on the bulb but i imagine it would easy to see move
arrows: i dont know why you think they would point fowards or backwards they would just towards the side youre on or not
If you're looking at the side of the car, you don't see them the same way as from the front. Which this whole discussion is about.
If you can see both turn signals from your point of view, current design works well enough.
i found a video to help you picture it better (https://youtube.com/shorts/ZD_34DxW_uI)
it really isnt that difficult
I know how flow lights work. But they still don't help you see better that a car is turning away from you, which is what this discussion is about.
Imagine a crossroad where a car is coming from your right side. You have no way of knowing whether they turn right or go straight, regardless of the way the lights work, because you won't see them.
we can put the lights on the bottom of the mirror so you can see from that angle then
And then they'd flash no matter which direction they'd turn?
So basically hazard lights all the time? Not sure if you still don't understand what this discussion is about and how I could make it any more clear.
I've seen newer cars turn the headlight off while the turn indicator is on, so you get a sort of double-blink effect.
I don't see any reason why we can't just have the whole headlight blink yellow as well with the turn indicator. LEDs are everywhere and can handle changing colors really easily, so it's not hard to require that for all new cars.
Absolutely, but that doesn't solve the problem that's talked about here (seeing the turn signal from the other side of the vehicle). It might be clearer what the turn signal is, but if you look at the right side of a vehicle, you won't be able to see the left headlight, even when it's massive.
When am I ever looking at the side and needing to see the other side's turn signal? The best I can think of is (using right side driving) a car turning right into my lane of travel as I'm going straight, but I'll be a bit offset to the left and should be able to see the right headlight. If I can't, that means the car is angled to the right, making it obvious that they're turning.
Because this is what the discussion is about?
And I'm saying I can see them most of the time, and when I can't, I don't need to because their intention is obvious.
Some of the new Kias have the rear indicators in the bumper. Why are they hiding them?
Because the designers and marketers were given priority over the safety engineers.
And anyone that drives cars ever, apparently.
So it sounds like you're checking to see when the light turns off, to know that the car is going.
Sounds like what we actually need is a green accelerator light on the front of the car.