The concept of a front brake light has been floating around the automotive industry for some time now. However, no vehicle manufacturer has yet embraced the idea and turned it into a reality on the
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.
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
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.
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.
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).
How would you do that so it isn’t ugly as hell and isn’t prone to misunderstanding?
< 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.
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).
This wouldn’t really be helpful to those who are colorblind.
Somebody better tell traffic light designers
Red is always on top (at least in Europe) so even color blind people know what the signal is.
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
okay, pick a different color then. it’s a solvable problem.
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.
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’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.
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).