Poor indicator lights.

[fungus]

Has any one else noticed how difficult it can be to see the front indicators on many modern cars. One in particular is the VW Golf.

Crossing the road near a small roundabout in the village a couple of days ago with a VW Golf approaching ahead of me, (I was crossing the road to the drivers left, his first exit,). It wasn't until I had almost completed crossing that I noticed the Golfs left indicator.

[Improving driver]

What's an indicator? Seems to me few drivers around my part of East Surrey have heard of them as they seldom give any info as to their intentions to other road users especially pedestrians.

[waremark]

Noticed the front indicator on a Jag XF today. The first thing I noticed was that the LED running light on one side was much dimmer than on the other. Then I worked out that it dims the running light on the side where an indicator is flashing, so that you can see the indicator better.

[onlinegenie]

I find the indicators difficult to see on many modern cars. I used to laugh when I saw an old car with indicators that popped out of the side of the car - now I think they were a good idea that should probably never have been abolished.

My first post since February - I'm no longer a lurker!

[Angus]

Noticed the front indicator on a Jag XF today. The first thing I noticed was that the LED running light on one side was much dimmer than on the other. Then I worked out that it dims the running light on the side where an indicator is flashing, so that you can see the indicator better.

Audis do this too

Think the front indicator of a golf is hard to see? One generation of the golf surrounded the rear indicator with the brake light

[GJD]

Think the front indicator of a golf is hard to see? One generation of the golf surrounded the rear indicator with the brake light

Quite. It surprises me that the people who regulate so much other stuff about car design have let indicator obfuscation slip through the cracks.

I don't have a car with daytime fairly lights like waremark does, but I've noticed the light on the indicating side get dimmed on other cars. Once you've worked out that's what's going on I think it's quite helpful - the lopsided running lights are maybe more obvious than the indicator itself.

As a pedestrian in the vicinity of people whose indicators seem to be broken, the one-sided fog light thing can be helpful sometimes too.

[michael769]

Audis do this too

It is a requirement of the EU rules. If the indicator is within a certain distance of the DLR (I forget what the distance is. EDIT: It's 40mm) the DLR must be dimmed or turned off whilst the indicator is on.

I have never had difficulty seeing rear indicators, but quite a few cars have somewhat indistinct indicators - even with DLR.

[Silk]

Has any one else noticed how difficult it can be to see the front indicators on many modern cars. One in particular is the VW Golf.

Crossing the road near a small roundabout in the village a couple of days ago with a VW Golf approaching ahead of me, (I was crossing the road to the drivers left, his first exit,). It wasn't until I had almost completed crossing that I noticed the Golfs left indicator.

I don't trust them, so I don't care if I can't see them.

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

There did used to be regulations about the size, colour and distance between lights, particularly in the U.S. where British cars kept having to be modified to meet them. Somehow those seem to have gone by the wayside in recent years. The indicator in the middle of the brake light on the back of Golfs and Passats was one of my pet hates but recently I notice front indicators have overtaken rear ones as shining (or not) examples of poor design. I saw one the other day - I think it was a new Renault Clio - where the indicator was somehow buried in the headlight. It was daytime and the headlights were on. The indicator could just about be discerned once the car was nearly on top of me. Prior to that, no chance.

[TheInsanity1234]

I must say, I think I'd very much like to see these indicators coming into normal use:



(NOTE: Could an admin help me out by embedding the videos in here? Ta!)

Just in case the blinking amber lights are hard enough to misunderstand, we now have them telling us, twice, which way the driver intends to go

On the indicator lights being difficult to see, I must say the 2008-09 VW Passat is the worst offender in my eyes, as it had LED indicators in the same ring that the brake lights were, meaning if the car braked, the indicator would be covered up unless it was really dark then the alternating colours were easy to see, but in bright conditions, you had to look for the slight blinking, as it was impossible to differentiate between the colours.

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

What stops you embedding them yourself? [ youtube ]id[ /youtube ] (without the spaces)

[superplum]

Just in case the blinking amber lights are hard enough to misunderstand, we now have them telling us, twice, which way the driver intends to go

On the indicator lights being difficult to see, I must say the 2008-09 VW Passat is the worst offender in my eyes, as it had LED indicators in the same ring that the brake lights were, meaning if the car braked, the indicator would be covered up unless it was really dark then the alternating colours were easy to see, but in bright conditions, you had to look for the slight blinking, as it was impossible to differentiate between the colours.

Not quite sure if you're using "blinking" as a polite profanity here but telling us twice is no bad thing, however, I find each flash and every flash tells me that already!


As for brake-lights masking the indicator, does it matter? The fact that the car is braking is more important to us than the direction it intends to take.

[TheInsanity1234]

What stops you embedding them yourself? [ youtube ]id[ /youtube ] (without the spaces)

I tried and it just came up as links, rather than the videos >.>
One suspects the gremlins are messing with me again

Just in case the blinking amber lights are hard enough to misunderstand, we now have them telling us, twice, which way the driver intends to go

On the indicator lights being difficult to see, I must say the 2008-09 VW Passat is the worst offender in my eyes, as it had LED indicators in the same ring that the brake lights were, meaning if the car braked, the indicator would be covered up unless it was really dark then the alternating colours were easy to see, but in bright conditions, you had to look for the slight blinking, as it was impossible to differentiate between the colours.

Not quite sure if you're using "blinking" as a polite profanity here but telling us twice is no bad thing, however, I find each flash and every flash tells me that already!


As for brake-lights masking the indicator, does it matter? The fact that the car is braking is more important to us than the direction it intends to take.

I do mean blinking, as in the light switching on and off, not as profanity!
Well, I see what you mean, but if you were driving on the motorway and someone was overtaking you then suddenly started braking, it'd be nice to see the indicator to clarify whether the car intended to pull in front of you so you could adjust your following distance accordingly, or whether the driver just noticed that he was going a bit too fast and was over-enthusiastic on the brakes.

[lyndon]

Has any one else noticed how difficult it can be to see the front indicators on many modern cars. One in particular is the VW Golf.

Crossing the road near a small roundabout in the village a couple of days ago with a VW Golf approaching ahead of me, (I was crossing the road to the drivers left, his first exit,). It wasn't until I had almost completed crossing that I noticed the Golfs left indicator.

Don't see the point in them myself. Don't they just mean "I'm driving my wife's car, and want to switch the windscreen wipers on"?

The rear indicators can be useful: "My offside wheels have crossed the lane markings, and the nearside may follow shortly" or the other way round if it's the other indicators.

[TheInsanity1234]

Don't see the point in them myself. Don't they just mean "I'm driving my wife's car, and want to switch the windscreen wipers on"?

The rear indicators can be useful: "My offside wheels have crossed the lane markings, and the nearside may follow shortly" or the other way round if it's the other indicators.

The second point is indeed very common in Essex, where I lived until about a year ago. I must admit, one has a suspicion that the majority of Essex drivers thought those lovely twinkling orange lights were nothing more than a spot of decoration.