LED Taillights or Indicators - Curse Or Blessing?

"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll) 05/17/2015 at 15:19 • Filed to: None

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Is it just me, or do some LED taillights actually make it harder to tell whether the car in front is using its indicators or is braking?

And don’t get me wrong! This is not a “Get off my lawn!” thing. I for one applaud this new technology. Less energy consumption and lights that should last the lifetime of the vehicle, meaning no more burnt out tail or brake lights. What’s not to love about that?

My only complaint is that in some cases designers seem to have taken over from the engineers, resulting in tail lights that sometimes look drop dead gorgeous on the showroom floor but are often quite hard to make sense of on a sunny day. This of course, also applies to DRLs doubling as indicators. In modern traffic, there often are situations in which you have to predict what 5 or 10 cars around you are going to do in a split second. Having to double check to see whether an indicator is on or not doesn’t help here.

I find the ‘ring within a ring’ assemblies used on some Minis and VWs especially offending, but they are by far not the only culprits here. If sunlight hits them in the right angle, the mixture of pretty small areas that are supposed to light up and chrome accents for that pretense of luxury can make it hard to tell which lights are actually on.

I am not saying that I want to go back to the days of multi-coloured Lego (TM) bricks on the backs of our cars, but you could at least tell what the lights were were trying to tell you at a quick glance.

So do I simply have to accept that “people are getting on my lawn” and move on, or are there others who also find some modern assemblies too tricked out and complicated for their own good?

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Klaus Schmoll 05/17/2015 at 15:23

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I’ll say the same, Although the new lighting is slick, i sometimes have problems with knowing what the car in front is doing.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 05/17/2015 at 15:29

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Agreed. I do like the cars and bikes whose brakelights either pulse or flash upon first press of the pedal.

Slant6 > Klaus Schmoll 05/17/2015 at 15:30

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It’s really annoying when people neglect to change their cyclops (colloquial term for the 3rd brake light or the one on top). I really can’t tell when people are braking. I’ve followed people that go to my school that have broken ones and let them know. They’re usually thankful and change it right away.

AM > Klaus Schmoll 05/17/2015 at 15:39

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I really like how Audi does turn indicators, almost never mistake theirs for anything else (skip to 1:42)

lonestranger > Klaus Schmoll 05/17/2015 at 15:46

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I think that North America should get with (most of?) the rest of the world and make turn signals amber only, not red.

Cé hé sin > Klaus Schmoll 05/17/2015 at 15:50

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Some VWs are a particular menace as the brake light is too big and the indicator too small. It’s not just LED ones too. Take the MkV Golf. The indicator is a tiny circle surrounded by brake/tail light so when braking the large brake light almost overpowers the indicator:

Audi often use a narrow slit for the indicator which has the same problem.

boxrocket > Klaus Schmoll 05/17/2015 at 22:48

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I think there needs to be greater distance between the amber and red indicators so there is less chance for confusion, and brighter oranges used for the amber sections so they’re less likely to be obscured (like the Mini’s and some VWs). Also, there needs to be a universal ban on combination brake and turn signals: separate red brake lights and amber turn signals only.

boxrocket > Slant6 05/17/2015 at 22:51

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I’ve never heard it called Cyclops, but I agree. A bit more of an approachable term than CHMSL or high-mount.