Are rear red turn signals planned for Yaris as well ?

[advocate]

This is a very very critical issue.

[Yarrris-Wench]

Im not one to complain but I think the orange/yellow turn signals are easier to distinguish than the red on red/ shared. Leave it to some person on their cell phone or talking or eating a midnight snack to "not see" your turn signal when it's shared & see where that gets you.

If it comes down to it, we'll all just have to be more careful, or scavenge some orange/yellow Macguyver turn signals. lol

[slothman86]

Originally Posted by PK198105

i wish people would get ticketed for other stuff than just speeding, would make the roads safer and teach people how to drive (failure to yield, changing lanes without signaling, changing lanes on a solid line, etc)

how about giving up your right-of-way...It only causes more confusion!

[BuildCode]

Originally Posted by supmet

Hey Skippy, he IS looking straight ahead, that's why its out of the CORNER of his eye. By the way, when driving you should look around you, and check your mirrors, because there's a whole world outside of your lane...

lol exactly right. And too many people ONLY look straight ahead!

[Black Yaris]

This is the most important thread YW has ever had

[eht13]

I've always hated rear red turn signals. It seems like lazy design to use the same color for both functions, and when braking and turning are very different things there is just no way that they can be statistically just as safe as yellow turn signals. Also, while many rear red turn signals may use different bulbs than the brakes, some do share the bulb, which negates the argument for simply changing the light cover to an aftermarket one in that case.

[eTiMaGo]

I thought red turn signals were something that got phased out years ago for safety concerns... which is why it really confused me when some of the previous-generation mitsubishi lancers were introduced here with red rear turn signals, struck me as very dangerous, the human brain is good at associating colors with meaning... Red = react now!, orange = pay attention. So what's next, traffic lights will have 3 red lights, you gotta pay attention to which one turns on?

Oh and one thing you guys don't have to deal with, a lot of the cool kids here with modded scooters think it's awesome to tint their HEADLIGHTS red...

[Yarrris-Wench]

Originally Posted by eTiMaGo

Oh and one thing you guys don't have to deal with, a lot of the cool kids here with modded scooters think it's awesome to tint their HEADLIGHTS red...

wow.. thats really stupid.

[supmet]

Originally Posted by eTiMaGo

struck me as very dangerous, the human brain is good at associating colors with meaning..

exactly... especially since most people drive on "auto pilot" - how many times have you seen someone go at a green that isn't for their lane? Because in their auto pilot brain, green means go.

[xtremesniper]

Originally Posted by PK198105

wow really wow...you really think rear red turn signals are unsafe.... seriously i don't think it changes anything 90% of the people don't even use turn signals. just pay attention to your driving and stop thinking expecting the car to do everything for you

Haha dude, you live in Montreal. No offense, but nobody in Montreal drives by the rules. Of course no one signals!

Regardless, I completely agree with the fact that I would avoid buying cars with red turn signals. I cannot stand them and they are a safety hazard.

When I'm passing by someone through their blind spot (this is just an example) I can't see both of their rear lights so I rely on the one closest to me to determine if they are going to make a lane change onto me because they aren't checking their blind spot. But when people brake as if they're braking to a beat, it looks like a turn signal and I slow down to let them make the change only to find out that they were simply braking.

Honestly it's kind of funny that you brought this up because I have always fumed about American cars having no yellow turn signals... I really do hope Toyota doesn't cheap out. If not, I'll have to change the lights myself.

[kimona]

Here's a good review of the topic at hand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_signal#Turn_signals

Should you not want to read the review, this was copied from it:

Turn signal colour

Until the early 1960s, most front turn signals worldwide emitted white light and most rear turn signals emitted red. Amber front turn signals were voluntarily adopted by the auto industry in the USA for most vehicles beginning in the 1963 model year, though front turn signals were still permitted to emit white light until FMVSS 108 took effect for the 1968 model year, whereupon amber became the only permissible colour for front turn signals. Presently, almost all countries outside North America require that all front, side and rear turn signals produce amber light. In North America the rear signals may be amber or red. International proponents of amber rear signals say they are more easily discernible as turn signals. U.S. studies in the early 1990s demonstrated improvements in the speed and accuracy of following drivers' reaction to brake lamps when the turn signals were amber rather than red.[36][37][38][39][40] American regulators and other proponents of red rear turn signals have historically asserted there is no proven benefit to amber signals. However, a 2008 U.S. study by NHTSA (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) suggests vehicles with amber rear signals rather than red ones are up to 28% less likely to be involved in certain kinds of collisions,[41] and a 2009 NHTSA study determined there is a significant overall safety benefit to amber rather than red rear turn signals.[42]

There is some evidence that turn signals with colourless clear lenses and amber bulbs may be less conspicuous in bright sunlight than those with amber lenses and colourless bulbs.[43]

[eht13]

Interesting article, thanks. I think that amber bulbs with colorless lenses (like on the Yaris) is the best way to go.

If cost savings are the supposed reason for making turn signals and brakes the same color, that seems odd given that in Europe, Asia, and Australia amber rear turn signals are required, and most of these cars (especially Hondas and Toyotas) are made for all those markets too. It just seems that making them the same would be simpler and cheaper overall. It's also ironic that North America is the only place that doesn't require amber now, since the center third brake light requirement started in North America and then spread to most of the rest of the world.

"In North America since 1986, in Australia and New Zealand since 1990, and in Europe since 1998, a central brake lamp, mounted higher than the vehicle's left and right brake lamps and called a Centre High Mount Stop Lamp (CHMSL), is also required. The CHMSL (pronounced /ˈtʃɪmzəl/) is also sometimes referred to as the centre brake lamp, the third brake light, the eye-level brake lamp, the safety brake lamp, the high-level brake lamp, or the Liddy Light (for Elizabeth Dole, who as U.S. Secretary of Transportation presided over its introduction in the United States[50]). The CHMSL may produce light by means of a single central filament bulb, a row or cluster of filament bulbs or LEDs, or a strip of Neon tube.

The CHMSL is intended to provide a deceleration warning to following drivers whose view of the vehicle's left and right stop lamps is blocked by interceding vehicles. It also helps to disambiguate brake vs. turn signal messages in North America, where red rear turn signals identical in appearance to brake lamps are permitted, and also can provide a redundant brake signal in the event of a brake lamp malfunction."

[GeneralDon7]

I have to agree that the red turn signal is harder to distinguish from the actual brake light. I do agree with the fact that hardly anyone uses there turn signal anyway(apparently we use telepathy today), which i know so many friends who fail there driving tests cause of this fact. I was behind this mustang whose turn signal, brake and rear light, it was harder to distinguish what the car was going to do, not that to say that I couldnt, but it took longer to. I think its a very dumb idea.

[devinlamothe]

Originally Posted by GeneralDon7

I have to agree that the red turn signal is harder to distinguish from the actual brake light. I do agree with the fact that hardly anyone uses there turn signal anyway(apparently we use telepathy today), which i know so many friends who fail there driving tests cause of this fact. I was behind this mustang whose turn signal, brake and rear light, it was harder to distinguish what the car was going to do, not that to say that I couldnt, but it took longer to. I think its a very dumb idea.

Ya the new mustangs are dumb, they have 7 lights on the back and they are ALL red (3 for each side, 1 centre brake light). Plus some of them do that weird fade when you brake, AND when you put the turn signal on. And while it does look cool, how do you know WTF they are doing?

[GeneralDon7]

Originally Posted by devinlamothe

Ya the new mustangs are dumb, they have 7 lights on the back and they are ALL red (3 for each side, 1 centre brake light). Plus some of them do that weird fade when you brake, AND when you put the turn signal on. And while it does look cool, how do you know WTF they are doing?

exactly and they actually give my gf siezures

[rwyu]

Originally Posted by devinlamothe

Actually last night I saw a brand new BMW 2010, forget which model, but it had all LED lights. The front & side turn signals were yellow, but the back lights were red. Annoyed me to no end.

And I do find it not safe to have brake/turn lights the same colour. If you quickly glance its hard to distinguish what's going on, where as if I see a yellow flashing light I know immediately something is going on so pay attention. Just my opinion but it bugs me too.

It is probably the 3 series. Are you sure it was all LED's including the sides? I know that the 2010 has LED in the backlights since I have a 3 series.

I tried to avoid the ones with red turn signals, especially dealing with So Cal traffic. Then again, So Cal rule of thumb in driving is turn signals are optional...

-Richard

[joey666701]

sadly that is true here... very few cars even use turn signals... even a few big rigs dont use them... that woke me up on the freeway... but yea i do like the yellow turn lights better then the red... it doesnt take that important few seconds to figure out whats going on in front of u

[eht13]

Originally Posted by eht13

I've always hated rear red turn signals. It seems like lazy design to use the same color for both functions, and when braking and turning are very different things there is just no way that they can be statistically just as safe as yellow turn signals. Also, while many rear red turn signals may use different bulbs than the brakes, some do share the bulb, which negates the argument for simply changing the light cover to an aftermarket one in that case.

Just an observation... since reading and posting in this thread, I've been paying more attention to the colors of other cars' rear turn signals as I drive. I've been surprised how many different makes and models have red ones now. Many of them look better than I would have thought they would, and none actually took me by surprise from a safety perspective the way I thought they might (especially because of center/third brake lights). So maybe I just haven't been paying attention over the last few years, and maybe I don't actually hate rear red turn signals anymore after all.