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Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

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431–440 of 448 posts

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

#431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a car branded for being small, that is now 3x heavier than the original sensational design I would not call this absolute idiocy . It is consistent idiocy .

Cost of compliance but in pounds instead of dollars.

Given Mini's British origins, this is brilliant

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

#432
post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Story time!

Last year saw a revival of drive-in cinemas in my area (for ... obvious reasons).

Apparently drivers are getting so used to the automation, that the staff was doing rounds telling the audience to turn off their automatic lights.

Then, on the way out, at least the driver in front of us completely forgot to turn on the lights again. This was not in a well lit area, but on cross country roads. I honestly have no idea how the driver did not notice that she couldn't see the road well.

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

#433
post #382
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just check my lights in either glass window reflections or paint reflections from parked cars depending on how and where I’m parked. The only car that needed the engine oil checked regularly was our second car, a 12 year old Opel Corsa. All other cars kept their fluid and just needed the oil changed at the regular intervals.

My 2000 model Audi actually has a indicator light on the dash that only comes in when the stop lamp is not coming on, but only when the brake pedal is pressed.

[deleted]

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

#434
I am not sure I buy into the idea there is a problem here. The light is on the right side of the car. The light is flashing. Ergo the car is turning right.

If it were turning left (as per the "arrow" direction) then the light would also need to be on the left hand side, and I would have to be imagining a whole car exists to the right of it. Which means either:

- I cannot move into where said phantom car is, ie where the real car is going

- upon observation of the lack of car it is obvious that the turn signal is to the right

I have seen a few of these, and I haven't suffered a moment of confusion because I am not looking for arrows to indicate direction. Indeed I have never seen an arrow light indicating direction of turn! It is simply a point in reference to the position of the vehicle.

Side note - this is why hazard lights suck. If you can only see one side of the car they're indistinguishable from an indicator and a source of regular confusion in the real world (for me, at least)

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

#435
post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if I could see the full back of the car I think I'd still risk a brain-fart. It's like a driving Stroop Test (where words like "blue" are shown but you have to say what colour they are shown in, not what colour they say).

The designers screwed up many obvious things, not just these signals. Mini Mk 1 (2000) was a beautiful minimal design by Frank Stephenson. Things started going downhill with Mk 2 (2006) and further models. He left, and I guess designers suffered from non-invented here syndrome. I own a Mk 1 and I've leased or driven all other models. Aside from being uglier, many subtle things in the dashboard were tweaked making it…

That makes me sad. I learnt to drive in the Mk 1, it was a really nice car. The current crop are just plain fugly.

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

#436
post #345

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.

Are those two lights a car or two motorcycles? Or a motorcycle and a car with one taillight out?

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

#437
post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Story time! Last year saw a revival of drive-in cinemas in my area (for ... obvious reasons). Apparently drivers are getting so used to the automation, that the staff was doing rounds telling the audience to turn off their automatic lights. Then, on the way out, at least the driver in front of us completely forgot to turn on the lights again. This was not in a well lit area, but on cross country roads. I honestly hav…

Same here! I went to a drive-in just a couple of weeks ago, for the first time in .. decades? .. and that happened. The other thing was all the people in big SUVs parking backwards and opening up their tailgates, thus blocking the view of people behind them. The house rules said that open tailgates should not extend higher than the vehicle itself, meaning some folk had them tied partly closed, but I think enforcement was mostly complaint-based.

If the drive-in theater became a real thing again, I imagine it would have to adapt to these realities.

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

#438
post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The designers screwed up many obvious things, not just these signals. Mini Mk 1 (2000) was a beautiful minimal design by Frank Stephenson. Things started going downhill with Mk 2 (2006) and further models. He left, and I guess designers suffered from non-invented here syndrome. I own a Mk 1 and I've leased or driven all other models. Aside from being uglier, many subtle things in the dashboard were tweaked making it…

That makes me sad. I learnt to drive in the Mk 1, it was a really nice car. The current crop are just plain fugly.

Yes, they morphed classic shapes into something odd.

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

#439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Mini indicators don't look like arrows to me. How do you draw an arrow?

They don't look like one as they're not in the context of one.

Arrows point in a direction. So do turn signals. These arrows point in the opposite direction of the turn signal.

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

#440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah I’m astonished at how often people drive with headlights off. Why is it even an option for lights to be off when in drive? I can understand wanting to turn them off sometimes, but not while moving.

A fun thing I've noticed, those driving with no headlights in nighttime often lean towards windshield to, presumably, see better)
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