Car winkers

Guitar_Slinger

Indicators, that is - the flashing orange lights on the front corners.

After spending four months riding* to work in bright sunshine, this morning was dull and cloudy.  I noticed a lot of cars had their lights on, which in some modern cars come on automatically in poor light.

What I also noticed were a few cars' front indicators blinking instead of the headlight/sidelight. Then once the indicator stopped, the light would come on again.  I'm assuming it is only for sidelights, as a headlight switching off every time you turn wouldn't be a good move at night.

Does this happen on your car, or is it the kind of thing none of us would know, because we're too busy driving?

* middle aged man on a motorbike alert!  

Teyeplayer

Mine have additional side-headlights that light as you turn in that direction and go off automatically when you've stopped turning, not sure about additional blinking indicators though. What I am increasingly aware of is people either not seeing that I'm indicating or simply they have stopped observing indicators all together -particularly at roundabouts.

not_the_dj

Mine does that (Ford Focus, Titanium X spec).

It has "daytime LED running lights" which are always on, but when the indicator comes on the LEDs dim a bit to make the indicator more visible.

markslade07

Yep, mine does this too....66 plate Kia Sportage. Assume it's just to make them a bit more obvious, but not entirely sure it''s ever really been an issue in the past!

ESBlonde

I find the 'combined' headlight and indicator to be hard to make out in daylight and tend to wait for the vehicle to pass rather than guess what the intention might be.
I've also seen a small number of cars recently with rear indicators that progress outwards like they used to on the late 60s americam T'birds and such. I guess modern LEDs and chips mean this kind of thing will be the next trend.

Bygone_Tones

Teyeplayer said:

What I am increasingly aware of is people either not seeing that I'm indicating or simply they have stopped observing indicators all together -particularly at roundabouts.

What car is it? Some car lights are very badly designed, and you cant see the indicators in daylight. People will definitely be looking for indicators at roundabouts, it's one of the top driving annoyances (people not indicating at roundabouts).

Often its the combined headlight and indicator design as ESBlonde mentioned. Because they appear white like the headlight covering, instead of orange. They can also just be too small to see.

RandallFlagg

My new C4 Picasso has daytime running lights at the front that become the indicators when activated.

This car has the brightest lights of any car I've owned, when the wife back up the drive and puts the brakes on my guitar room lights up like Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Teyeplayer

Bygone_Tones said:

Teyeplayer said:

What I am increasingly aware of is people either not seeing that I'm indicating or simply they have stopped observing indicators all together -particularly at roundabouts.

What car is it? Some car lights are very badly designed, and you cant see the indicators in daylight. People will definitely be looking for indicators at roundabouts, it's one of the top driving annoyances (people not indicating at roundabouts).

Often its the combined headlight and indicator design as ESBlonde mentioned. Because they appear white like the headlight covering, instead of orange. They can also just be too small to see.

Hyundai I20 (2015 spec) I imagine it is a design flaw tbh, as I've had a number of people start to pull out into me as I'm signalling to come off and I've checked the indicators are working as a result of the regularity of this.

crunchman

Teyeplayer said:

Bygone_Tones said:

Teyeplayer said:

What I am increasingly aware of is people either not seeing that I'm indicating or simply they have stopped observing indicators all together -particularly at roundabouts.

What car is it? Some car lights are very badly designed, and you cant see the indicators in daylight. People will definitely be looking for indicators at roundabouts, it's one of the top driving annoyances (people not indicating at roundabouts).

Often its the combined headlight and indicator design as ESBlonde mentioned. Because they appear white like the headlight covering, instead of orange. They can also just be too small to see.

Hyundai I20 (2015 spec) I imagine it is a design flaw tbh, as I've had a number of people start to pull out into me as I'm signalling to come off and I've checked the indicators are working as a result of the regularity of this.

Should drive an Audi then people won't expect you to indicate.

Guitar_Slinger

^^ might explain a couple of differences I noticed this morning.  

One car had only one headlight lit when the indicator was flashing, which looked like it had a headlight out.  Another car had one headlight that alternated between white and orange light, but IMHO wasn't obvious as a standalone indicator for the first three or four flashes.  

The second car might have been a Hyundai, although it was stopped directly behind me at traffic lights and as soon as the lights changed, I went thundering into the distance.  Off I went, shaking the windows of anybody who lived within a mile of the big Tesco in Pinner.  I then did a couple of trips up and down the High St, throwing empty beer cans at old people, before arriving punctually to open up my dental practice/solicitor's office/posh burger van/teach Geography to Year 7  (delete as applicable).  

axisus

I've noticed some pretty annoying designs recently. The two I dislike a lot are - an indicator that is a long strip of orange lights, and they run along like a 'moving' light. Bloody annoying and distracting. The other is an indicator in the middle of white lights, pointless as you often can't see it when it is flashing

strtdv

I think most cars with LED daytime running lights do this, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if it's a requirement of having them (in the same way headlight washers and auto-leveling are for HID headlights)

oaf

@axisus said:

I've noticed some pretty annoying designs recently. The two I dislike a lot are - an indicator that is a long strip of orange lights, and they run along like a 'moving' light. Bloody annoying and distracting. The other is an indicator in the middle of white lights, pointless as you often can't see it when it is flashing

You really hate this then



My car has "moving" indicators which animate and has running lights that dim slightly when indicating but they're not too OTT. Its matrix lights are very good indeed though. I'd recommend matrix headlights if you're buying a new car and they're available.

bingefeller

I don't drive mate.

Guitar_Slinger

Lol.  That looks like Windows 98 media player.

I wonder if the different styles are like VHS/Betamx, or phones chargers before everyone settled on a standard USB charger.

57Deluxe

the audible noise ion my winkers n my Vitara 4x4 has slowly dimmed to that of  akin to having it delivered in sign language...

Guitar_Slinger

Now that the nights are getting darker, I've noticed something about "daytime running lights". I've seen one or two cars driving in the dark with only daytime running lights on at the front and no lights at the back. Genius!

fields5069

Guitar_Slinger said:

Now that the nights are getting darker, I've noticed something about "daytime running lights". I've seen one or two cars driving in the dark with only daytime running lights on at the front and no lights at the back. Genius!

Yes my 65 plate stupid Merc does this. It's the opposite of what you need IMO. I presume that if I actively put the sidelights on, instead of leaving it on "auto", this will solve things.

57Deluxe

dunno why they had to change...

aord43

axisus said:

I've noticed some pretty annoying designs recently. The two I dislike a lot are - an indicator that is a long strip of orange lights, and they run along like a 'moving' light. Bloody annoying and distracting. 

This.  It's too slow too, in my view.

FX_Munkee

aord43 said:

axisus said:

I've noticed some pretty annoying designs recently. The two I dislike a lot are - an indicator that is a long strip of orange lights, and they run along like a 'moving' light. Bloody annoying and distracting. 

This.  It's too slow too, in my view.

I mainly hate these because they are attached to Audis.