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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

#341

Post by krick »

I don't find it surprising some designer thought it was cool. And too everybody, calling this "idiotic" (the journalist included — well, especially him): I'm sure you are making decisions as idiotic as this in your professional work once in a while, and even manage to think that they were good. It's normal.

I am surprised, though, if this car passed certification. If there's no rule that makes it possible to forbid driving this, there should be. There shouldn't be much room left for guesswork to decide if it's dangerous or not, tired people behind the wheel do all kinds of stupid shit, you shouldn't push them further.

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

#342

Post by scotty79 »

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…

I think in Europe in case of emergency breaking all turnsignals blink automatically for a moment (not the break lights). You can make all the turnsignals blink manually when you toggle "emergency lights" switch.

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

#343

Post by regnull »

nimbius wrote: post #335

Mini has always struck me as a gimmick on wheels. In the US The cars sole purpose is an ego stroke for insufferable anglophiles... the kind who refer to every bar as a pub and flog the premier league like some sort of religious talisman. Its built in mexico, owned by BMW and speaking as someone who makes a living working on cars, is a piece of garbage in ways only BMW could aspire to achieve. Agonizing turbo location…

> Its built in mexico

???

MINI’s manufacturing home is in Oxford, England, on the same site where cars have been produced for over 100 years. In addition to Plant Oxford, some MINI vehicles are assembled at the VDL NedCar plant in the city of Born in the Netherlands, and at the Magna Steyr facility in Graz, Austria.

https://www.miniusa.com/footer-navigation/faq/faq-slide-8.ht...

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

#344

Post by rconti »

u801e wrote: post #331
rconti wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a fair number of vehicles on the road already with enhanced emergency brake lights; BMW in particular comes to mind. If you REALLY romp on it, another set of segments will light up, I think it might be the rear fogs that come on, along with a single additional flash. Not the godawful strobing every time you brush the brakes like with these "pulse" systems. (which thankfully seem incredibly rare on the west…

> There are a fair number of vehicles on the road already with enhanced emergency brake lights; BMW in particular comes to mind. FMVSS 108 still requires steady illumination of the stop lamps (including the center high mounted one). I found one article[1] staying that the NHTSA granted a temporary exception to that requirement for Mercedes in 2006. Was that exemption expanded and is it still in effect? [1] https://ww…

Interesting. I suspect the way it works, since the vehicles I'm thinking of have an additional set of stop lamps that illuminate, is that a 2nd set comes on and one or the other set flashes, but the others stay illuminate the whole time.

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

#345

Post by bagels »

cratermoon wrote: post #297
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 when it's dark. I'm imagining a cyclist or pedestrian seeing only the blinking light and maybe a vague outline of the vehicle at best, seeing the 1 https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2019/04/08/whats-a-right-...

If it's dark, I would assume it is likely that the taillights are also on.

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

#346

Post by dunco »

Lenovo have committed a similar crime with their camera shutter design that includes the red dot from the thinkpad logo, totally ignoring that a red dot/light in the context of a camera has been used to indicate a recording state for a long time. Lenovo's Camera is in the off/disabled/shuttered position when the red dot is visible.

Although of little consequence in reality, the idea that some exec thought this would help the brand blows my mind. It definitely detracts from Lenovo's image in my mind and indicates that they care more about advertising to me than good design.

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

#347

Post by Reason077 »

bagels wrote: post #345
cratermoon wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or when it's dark. I'm imagining a cyclist or pedestrian seeing only the blinking light and maybe a vague outline of the vehicle at best, seeing the 1 https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2019/04/08/whats-a-right-...

If it's dark, I would assume it is likely that the taillights are also on.

Usually yes. But in urban areas (where there are lots of street lights, and lots of cyclists), people often forget to turn their lights on. I guess it's becoming less of a problem now that most cars have auto lights, but I still see cars driving around without lights pretty regularly.

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

#348

Post by mNovak »

The gif at the top of the article seems plausibly understandable, but seeing it in context in the video further down, having a blinking right facing arrow and a solid illuminated left facing arrow, I really had no idea which direction was being indicated and could only infer based on the road lines.

I don't think I'm substantially dumber than average, but asked my wife, without any context, "which way is this car turning?" -- She also got it wrong. Seems like a bad idea.

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

#349

Post by OneLeggedCat »

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…

Have you ever driven in rural areas at night before?
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