this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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[–] [email protected] 209 points 1 week ago (6 children)

By signaling to oncoming traffic and vehicles approaching from the side, a front brake light provides an essential visual cue that a car is slowing down or preparing to stop. When the light is extinguished, it indicates that a stationary vehicle might initiate movement. According to Tomasch, this visual feedback can significantly truncate the reaction time for other road users, leading to shorter stopping distances and consequently diminishing the likelihood of accidents.

Sounds reasonable. Personally I just want front turn signals to be visible from the opposite side again.

[–] [email protected] 127 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Here's an idea. How about we zap the drivers after they make a turn if they didn't use a turn signal beforehand? 😀

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Anyone complaining about lane keep not letting them change lanes or make turns is telling on themselves

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

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.

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[–] ThePantser 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Couldn't we just use the point system from 5th element? The car noticed you did something illegal and dedicated from your point pool.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Personally I just want front turn signals to be visible from the opposite side again

Not sure if I read that correctly, but I don't think this has ever been the case?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (3 children)

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.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Yea, that's part of why I don't know for sure if they make cars the way the guy at the top of this thread is describing.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

i don't think that was ever required in the US. it is elsewhere though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Can't speak to "required." But I know it used to be done.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure most cars have a turn signal near the headlights, and one on the mirror or on the side for that use case, no?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Actually I think I remember watching a technology connections video about how card in the US can use the headlights as a turn signal, or something like that. I don't think that's allowed in Europe or the EU or whatever.

Found it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1lZ9n2bxWA

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (8 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Heads up, it’s actually keyboard and chair, not keyboard and computer

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Dang it, sometimes I just type stuff and dont think about what I typed (the irony of what I was writing out)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I've always heard it as "PICNIC"

Problem In Chair, Not In Computer

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

And never forget about the I-D ten T error.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 5 points 1 week ago

ID10T for those who didn't get it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Layer 0 obfuscation error.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Oh, you think I need a new chair? Will the Internet come back then?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (6 children)

How would you do that so it isn't ugly as hell and isn't prone to misunderstanding?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

How would you do that so it isn’t ugly as hell

same way we do with lights now, design them attractively. It is not always successful and that's on the manufacturers.

and isn’t prone to misunderstanding?

what about it is confusing? green = not coming at you so it's okay to turn left (or whatever).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

This wouldn’t really be helpful to those who are colorblind.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Somebody better tell traffic light designers

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Red is always on top (at least in Europe) so even color blind people know what the signal is.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Same here in the US, though I’ll say as someone actually colorblind, it’s not the easiest to decipher the red/yellow when at speed until you’re somewhat close. Normally not an issue since anything resembling red=start slowing down, but there are situations where a standard light may start acting as a single flashing red or yellow, and that can be tough to figure out at speed. Flashing reds are supposed to have stops signs here as far as I know, but there’s been at least one intersection that hasn’t had them, which certainly gives me some anxiety about taking that as a rule. The system works alright enough, but it’s definitely frustrating that we settled on red/green for things when that’s the most common color blindness. I have some strong opinions on bathroom indicators, particularly in airport bathrooms where the lighting is often sub par too

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

okay, pick a different color then. it's a solvable problem.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

It's not that easy I think (and you had by far the best idea in this thread now).

Can't make them red or orange, they'd be just turn signals.

Can't make them green, that wouldn't work for color blind people, and since you actually need the color for understanding what signal you get (unlike traffic lights) you actually have to make it work

And arguably you can't really make them white, because you can't see a white blinking light inside a headlight and couldn't differentiate it from the back light. Same with light blue.

Which leaves darker shades of blue, which are really hard to see in daylight.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (6 children)

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.

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[–] sugar_in_your_tea 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I've seen newer cars turn the headlight off while the turn indicator is on, so you get a sort of double-blink effect

Those are typically DRLs. Chrysler did this for a while in the 2000s-2010s (maybe still, idk), where the high beam - in DRL mode - turns off while the turn signal is doing it's thing. Other manufacturers do this with dedicated DRLs, sometimes integrating the DRLs and turn signals into one multicolored unit (Kia Telluride, for example).

No manufacturer shuts off a headlight for a turn signal when the headlights are intentionally turned on (whether by light sensors at night, or by the driver).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (3 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Some of the new Kias have the rear indicators in the bumper. Why are they hiding them?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Because the designers and marketers were given priority over the safety engineers.

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