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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

#81

Post by thesuperbigfrog »

argomo wrote: post #54

> 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. This response from Mini presumes drivers have the luxury of using "system 2" logical/analytical reasoning in a hectic realtime environment where they must most rely on "system 1" intuitive reasoning. There needs to be a name for this type design fallacy, because it's not the first…

>> when seeing the full rear of the car,

I suppose the Mini designers have never driven in fog, poor lighting, storms, or at night? (When you might not see the full rear of the car)

Imagine if you can only see the car's taillights and you see a blinking arrow move the opposite way it points. What would you think you saw?

Or better yet, if one of the taillights is out, what would a driver behind the Mini think?

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

#82

Post by nemetroid »

WelcomeShorty wrote: post #5

Hmm, I would not be distracted by this. There are so many different indicators in Europe (we have laxer rule than the US on blinkers) that the "direction" or whatever does not phase me at all.

The turn signals in this article would be illegal in the EU.

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

#83

Post by jdavis703 »

Hamuko wrote: post #34
knolan wrote: post #8

Flashing the red brake light is a North American thing. Over in Europe you would have a dedicated amber light and I expect there is a different light than the Union Jack which would be reserved for combined rear and brake lights only. I’ve seen a mini with these lights recently here in Ireland and I’d expect the driver may find their car burnt out sooner rather than later.

I find it crazy that Americans allow turn signals to use the same red lights as brakes considering how many different safety rules they have. Like how all cars have to have amber reflectors on the front bumpers, which almost all European cars have to add almost as an afterthought [1], or how the door lock pins can't be flush with the door (at least I assume this is regulation since I never see non-flush door lock pin…

America has the highest per capita traffic deaths among OECD countries. Our traffic / vehicle regulations aren’t that strong and are rarely enforced on after-market modifications.

This is getting downvotes, but it’s literally legal to drive a jacked up, high center of gravity pickup trucks in the US. Meanwhile in Europe such a modification would be illegal because it reduces front-facing visibility.

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

#84

Post by wly_cdgr »

Absolutely horrid design that is going to fucking kill people. Like, so bad that it deserves to in the next edition of DoET as an example of what not to do. Whoever worked on this should be demoted and the senior person who signed off on it should be fired

Also, Mini's flippant and patronizing cluelessness in response to the OP's concern is appalling. This is 2021 are companies really still thinking "no one else has complained" is a valid defense when it comes to design?

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

#85

Post by sbarre »

kalleboo wrote: post #67
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.

> What had been a common signal for “you’re a little too close” I've never seen or heard of this. But seeing cars that flash their brake light under heavy/emergency braking is common (typically high-end European brands)

I've commonly seen people just throw on their hazard blinkers in case of drastic braking on the highway... especially in bad weather.

I've done it myself when going from regular speed to unexpected traffic, in the hope that the person behind me is paying attention...

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

#86

Post by Toutouxc »

codeduck wrote: post #69
hardlianotion wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if one tail light is slightly defective and you're in the dark. Driving is done with the subconscious and this potentially lethal in the wrong circumstance.

If it is so dark that your headlights are not able to illuminate the car ahead's reflectors and numberplate adequately for you to see them, even if it has defective lights, and react in time, then you are traveling too fast for the conditions. The correct response to something weird or potentially hazardous ahead is to slow down and try to determine what is going on.

> then you are traveling too fast for the conditions

Oh, yes, absolutely. But you've already made the mistake and there's nothing to be done anymore. We can either make you and everyone around you pay for your mistakes, or try to make the whole environment as forgiving and as safe as possible. Just like in aviation, navy, software development, or most other industries.

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

#87

Post by jdavis703 »

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.

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

#88

Post by jowsie »

fredoralive wrote: post #61
knolan wrote: post #8

Flashing the red brake light is a North American thing. Over in Europe you would have a dedicated amber light and I expect there is a different light than the Union Jack which would be reserved for combined rear and brake lights only. I’ve seen a mini with these lights recently here in Ireland and I’d expect the driver may find their car burnt out sooner rather than later.

European Minis have those stupid looking Union Jack light clusters, but IIRC it’s just the horizontal bar that flashes yellow on those, not the extra diagonal bits that make them into reverse arrows.

Can confirm this is how UK spec Mini's behave.
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