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Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

jalopnik.com

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Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#221

Post by davewritescode »

pomian wrote: post #202

Looking at the images from article It's obvious. They put the led's, into the lenses, on the wrong side. Someone had a great idea, with the arrows. But by the time it got into production, the insides were reversed. Maybe a drawing was mirror imaged, maybe the layout at the factory was upside down? D6one simple little thing.

I’d agree with you but they’ve had union jacks in the headlights forever in this exact configuration. The only difference this time is they’ve tweaked what parts of the Union Jack is lit which makes it look more like an arrow.

It’s not a good headlight design but it’s certainly not the worst either. There’s a zillion examples of really shitty tail light design on American cars in particular.

This is a pretty clickbait article and I usually like Jalopnik.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#222

Post by pfortuny »

jdavis703 wrote: post #87
dzonga wrote: post #20

someone sat down, designed those tail-lights. and got all the subordinates to nod, in agreement. then they later went to their husband / wife and little kids with a smug on their face like they did a good job.

Do you know this for a fact? Because it could’ve been some executive told the designer to make a Union Jack blinker. And the designer dutifully did their job, even though they thought it was stupid.

sorry but honesty is a big part of your duty.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#223

Post by jakeinspace »

chrisseaton wrote: post #77
roamerz wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to just laugh at your comment. It’s either brilliant sarcasm or you just might be the guy that designed this.

No not joking. They seem to follow the same predictable pattern as every other turn signal I've ever seen. Not sure what the fuss is.

I agree! In fact, I’m sick of red meaning stop, and green meaning go for traffic lights. After all, this is redundant information, we all know the arrangement. Why not swap up the colors for fun?

This idea is only slightly worse than using wrong-pointing arrows for turn signals.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#224

Post by bcraven »

WaitWaitWha wrote: post #199
mthoms wrote: post #181

Mini’s statement only highlights the absurdity (emphasis mine): >With regard to the turn indicator light pattern, there should be no trouble at all for a driver to understand, when seeing the full rear of the car , which direction is being indicated So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST usef…

Or at night, in the dark, unlit two-lane roads of most of Europe?

As the article states, the euro-models light up the middle bar of the lamp. This appears to be US-centric issue due to the fact turn signals are not required to be amber.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#225

Post by afavour »

thiht wrote: post #216
mthoms wrote: post #181

Mini’s statement only highlights the absurdity (emphasis mine): >With regard to the turn indicator light pattern, there should be no trouble at all for a driver to understand, when seeing the full rear of the car , which direction is being indicated So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST usef…

> So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST useful? You either see which side of the car you're seeing, or you don't and the shape of the light doesn't matter. When you drive, you don't interpret the light of the turn signal, you interpret where it is. For me that's one thing that looks stupid o…

What about when it’s dark?

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#226

Post by diarrhea »

mthoms wrote: post #181

Mini’s statement only highlights the absurdity (emphasis mine): >With regard to the turn indicator light pattern, there should be no trouble at all for a driver to understand, when seeing the full rear of the car , which direction is being indicated So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST usef…

> So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST useful?

I don't understand how this is different with any other indicators.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#227

Post by MerelyMortal »

japhyr wrote: post #144
sircastor wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got really frustrated when I started to see 3 rapid flashes when a Toyota or Kia driver put on the brakes on the Highway. What had been a common signal for “you’re a little too close” was now shown every time the driver pressed the brake pedal. I guess I could’ve complained to one of the manufacturers, but what do they care? I’m not buying their cars.

This is the Pulse[0] "safety system". I was trying to buy a new truck this spring, and going through the back-and-forth of talking to a number of dealers. I had a vehicle specced out, and ready to commit to, and I asked to review the final paperwork. There was a $400 charge listed that hadn't been disclosed earlier. I was frustrated because I'd asked numerous times, "Am I going to see any additional charges on the fi…

It's extremely distracting while driving, and if more cars adopt that, then everyone will be worse off. I wish they were illegal (and I wonder if they technically are, because flashing means that for a brief second the light is off while the pedal is being pressed, and I have to imagine the law is written that the brake light must be lit when the brake pedal is pressed).

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#228

Post by seandoe »

Are there no regulatory agencies that review new car designs? Like if a car is to be imported into country X, besides meeting all established regulations (emissions, safety, etc), there isn't anybody who gives it even a once over? This will undoubtedly cause an accident at some point. It'd be interesting to know how a design like this made it from whoever's idea all the way to production.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#229

Post by frutiger »

thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #214
frutiger wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The comment above is clearly controversial, I can't think of driving at night behind a car and not seeing both rear lights, and usually illuminated license plate and illumination coming from the rear window pane. Overall that gives me a full sense of the width of the car. The indicator light would be relatively to the left/right of the car, and typically would look like a single bulb due to distance and diffraction.

>> I can't think of driving at night behind a car and not seeing both rear lights, and usually illuminated license plate and illumination coming from the rear window pane. Have you ever driven in a snowstorm at night? (I am not being facetious, there are terrible snowstorms in the winter where I live due to lake-effect snow. Your mileage may vary depending on where you live.) Visibility is terrible in a nighttime sno…

> Have you ever driven in a snowstorm at night? (I am not being facetious, there are terrible snowstorms in the winter where I live due to lake-effect snow. Your mileage may vary depending on where you live.)

Yes, once or twice. The general recommendation is NOT to drive during a snow storm. For those that must drive during a snow storm probably aren't driving these Minis.

After all, most cars are not designed for every possible climate/severe weather scenario, I don't see why Minis should be held to a higher regard.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#230

Post by p49k »

diarrhea wrote: post #226
mthoms wrote: post #181

Mini’s statement only highlights the absurdity (emphasis mine): >With regard to the turn indicator light pattern, there should be no trouble at all for a driver to understand, when seeing the full rear of the car , which direction is being indicated So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST usef…

> So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST useful? I don't understand how this is different with any other indicators.

With other indicators, if you lack context your brain is aware that you don’t have enough info to deduce what’s happening. With the MINI, they are providing additional (incorrect) context to reassure you of the (wrong) result.
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