As someone who lives and drives (professionally) in North America I can say sadly this argument is only valid if drivers USED their turn signals…

Fun fact: Despite the separate amber turn signal, the 2002 Odyssey still does not meet European lighting requirements due to the lack of rear fog lights.

Also the amber light is useful for pedestrians crossing the road, knowing which direction a car is turning is something I look out for all the time.

I literally had a car dealership salesman while he was selling me my car, reassure me that "hey you can turn off the lane assist so that it doesn't beep cause, you know some people don't like to use turn signals with switching lanes" and I was dumbfounded....

This is too advanced for the internet. There are plenty of people around the world that still doesn’t know they HAVE to use the turning lights.

This guy is a master at turning 3 sentences into a 20 page essay

As someone who immigrated to Canada after all my life spent in Europe, I cannot tell you how I hate red turning signals. How many tricky situations I had with those car, especially in the traffic jam where you see only half of the car and they push brakes every second. I will never buy such a car for myself.

The US has really weird lighting regulations. The car's most important blinkers can be any color, while the front has to have these 90's looking orange reflector thingies on the headlights, making US-spec cars look 10 years older than they are.

The turn signal is best used randomly. This creates a fog of misinformation which will confuse the enemies surrounding you. This in turn makes it more difficult for them to foil your efforts.

"Turn signals. They're a good invention. Use them." thank you for coming to my TED talk

Having lived in the US my whole life, I never even noticed this! To clarify, I’ve noticed that some cars used specific amber lights to indicate turning, but I never thought that this was anything other than a stylistic choice, let alone something that ought to be standardized! After having watched this, it totally makes sense why it should be. But as so many others have pointed out, we’re just happy if people use turning signals at all, let alone consistently...

Lol NHTSA just released their research findings and might be soon requiring manufacturers to implement amber turn signals since it has apparently resulted in reduced crashes.

"Are you so concerned with saving a few dollars per car" You're talking about the industry that has a formula they use to determine if recalling a flawed car is more expensive than the lawsuits they'd face

"Are you so concerned with saving a few dollars per car?" Yes. Yes, they are.

As a former police officer, we were taught to always use our amber rear light bar lights because they can be seen from further away and in bad weather. This alone should be why all rear turn signals are amber.

I keep having to come back to this video every time crappy turn signals almost get me killed.

Also: "Signal your intentions, not your actions." Would appreciate it, people who don't signal until they're already half way into the next lane, or until _after_ they've already moved completely into a turn-only lane where the signal may or may not become redundant.

While this has always bugged me, I think the biggest issue of design over safety is with headlights. Driving around at night I've seen several newer cars with stylized LED strips for headlights. They look really cool but on some models they wrap around the front turn signals. I once almost hit someone head on at a 4-way stop because I couldn't see the right turn signal that was overpowered by the head light. Great example of "Just because you can doesn't mean you should".

I love the Doug DeMuro car review intro “THIS is a Honda Odyssey”

The headlight thing is so true. I can’t believe the countless amounts of people driving modern vehicles without headlights

"THISSSSSS Is a 2002 Honda Odyssey" love the reference my man

I love how they combined two lights into one… only to still have it _look_ like two separate lights.

My favorite are the turn signals that move from left to right or right to left like a neon sign. They're called sequential turn signals. They're distracting, completely unnecessary, and, yes, usually Red when I see them.

Australia mandates amber turn signals on the rear. For US imports, this is usually achieved by recolouring part of the rear light cluster, but on '59 Chevys they actually underhung little bullet lights from the horizontal fins. Australia's problem was that for many years, the rear amber turn signals doubled as reversing lights. It was Japanese cars in the mid to late seventies that introduced us to separate white reversing lights. Oh, and my parents' 1971 XY Falcon had a "Stop Lamp Outage Telltale" as one of the warning lights on the panel. Nothing new.

That Doug DeMuro "This" was PERFECT!!!

damn i better never tick this guy off, he might make an extremely well researched, specific, and nuanced video about me

This practice began as a cost saving when turn signals were introduced and became common practice. German cars being retrofit with combo lights has to do with the size a turn signal must be as a percentage of brake light size. A lot of cars use a small amber LED strip for the turn signal which while functional, doesn’t satisfy US highway laws due to insufficient size.

I love that you introduced the Honda like you were Doug.😭

On modern cars in Europe the hazard lights will come on when you press hard on the brake pedal. This means that you can distinguish between a gentle braking (three lights) and a hard braking/panic braking (FIVE lights). A fantastic invention when things comes to a sudden halt on the highway due to traffic jam.

I never fully understood how important indicators are until I started driving myself. I’ve also began to understand why my dad gets so annoyed when other drivers don’t indicate.

In my country( EU country) all cars have separate amber indicators and brake lights and once when I was driving behind a car that was brought by a non-EU country, I was so confused and didn't realise that they were indicating to turn( and turned and cut infront of me) and just thought that they were playing with the brakes.. It is literally so stupid to have the rear lights serve both functions! It's overcomplicated and requires you time to think to realise what other cars are doing!

Oh God yes!!! I always argued with my friends - fans of the American automobile industry - on this topic!! In my entire life I have not found anyone who would agree with me on this issue! And here is your video!! Thank you very much, Author!! Now I know that I am not alone in this opinion!!

"Turn Signals. They're a good invention. Use them" I'm stealing that bit and using it

“hey Phil? Is my right indicator working?” “yeah, no, yeah, no, yeah, no”

Not to mention in some cars, when the headlights are on, the rear lights turn on red. Breaking or turning simply increases the brightness. It's terrible.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE ELSE SO MUCH AS THOUGHT OF THIS! Truly made my day that you made a video about it!

1:03 now it's time to look at the qUiRks aNd fEaTuReS

Car in front of me: >breaks >slow down >makes a right turn >turn on blinker >finishes turn Me: *Facepalm* What's the point of the turn signal if you are already turning?

As someone who lives and drives in North America we have zero problems discerning the difference even when a taillight is out.

Amber lights prevent amberguity

I remember watching this video a year or two ago and thinking that this video essay had no pragmatic implications. However, over the course of the past year I have run into various instances where this sort of thing has become relevant. This guy actually makes some legit points.

"People don't care about their own safety." Boy this aged like a fine wine.

I'm from the former USSR. In the last few years we got a lot of American cars. And that's a real problem. I just wanted to say thank you for what you're doing.

For a country so keen on suing each other, and being picky about absolute rules, this is just crazy.

"Are you so concerned with saving a few dollars per car?" GM's ignition switch problem (where people died) could have been solved for 57 cents. So yeah.

when i've heard "This is a 2002 Honda Odyssey" I couldn't think of anyone but Doug Demuro Edit: now zztthisss is my most liked comment ever, thanks guys!

As an American, I operate on the assumption that drivers either won't use their turn signals or will use them incorrectly. If you drive in North America, you cannot trust lights on cars for anything other than visibility. The studies and evidence pointed to seem sound, but this should not be a priority until people use turn signals properly and consistently.

Even in the case of visual impairment (i.e., not being able to distinguish red from amber), the presence of separate bulbs for braking and signaling helps convey different meanings. Another point of discussion related to these lights is the ambiguity of tail lights and brake lights. In my experience, most vehicles use the same bulb for tail lights and brake lights. The only difference in meaning is how bright the light is, which one really can't determine unless one can safely assume the tail lights aren't already illuminated or sees illuminated tail lights get brighter. I think a solution to this would be to standardize tail lights to illuminate the outside border of a light assembly (i.e., the outline of a square/rectangle) and for brake lights to illuminate the rest of the light assembly (i.e., everything but the outline).

they turn red when they running low but they turn amber once you fill them up with blinker fluid

_”Turn signals. They’re a good invention. Use them.”_ *YOU HEARD THAT BMW AND TESLA OWNERS?!*

As an individual in North America, I’d just like to thank you, TC, for the existence of this video.

Any time your designer relies on a "good defensive driver", you are inviting a crash. Also surprised the brake light circuit monitor isn't standard yet.

driving tips: - ALWAYS use your turn signal even if no one is around and you're in the middle of nowhere. This will condition an automatic response and make you less likely to forget in the future. - turn on your turn signal BEFORE you brake - if you and the driver across from you in a 4-way stop are both going straight YOU CAN BOTH GO AT THE SAME TIME

Stupid design for definite. Another thing I've thought of is the fact that someone might be expecting the amber signals on some cars and never see them thanks to the fact that it isn't unified.

Here in Germany (well, it's probably the case everywhere else too) I've noticed that there are newer cars with LED daylight driving lights that double as indicator lights. To me, this is not looking better and it is also irritating. I can't imagine that the manufacturer saves that much money with this.

In Iran all heavy vehicles have a brake light in the front, and once I got used to it, it helped to figure out whether it would be safe to do a left turn in sight of an oncoming truck, more generally helped to anticipate the truck's trajectory

Now that I've seen how much thought you put into turn signals, I must know your opinion on the "lobster claws" design trend.

As a North American, I’m proud to drive a vehicle with dedicated rear amber turn signals.

1:03 mans did the Doug DeMuro "this"

I recently learned a bit more about this, and was reminded of this video. 1) A big reason why some cars that have amber rear turn signals in Europe don't in the US is that the US requires the lights to be a minimum size (I have seen 50 square cm and 2200 square mm quoted). That is, if the car has separate brake and tail lights, they must both be that size, but if there is only one light it still only needs to be that size: having separate turn signals and brake lights doubles the amount of space you need for lights. Also, about 4 years ago Mazda spokespeople explained to members of the automotive press that the US versions of their cars didn't get the cool sequential arrow turn signals used in the rest of the world because US law said each of the sequential lamps had to meet that minimum size. 2) you will be pleased (or annoyed) to know that there IS data to support your hunches: a 2009 NHTSA study shows cars with amber rear turn signals are 5.3% less likely to be hit, compared with the 1986 study that showed cars with third brake lights were 4.3% less likely to be hit. And a study by the University of Michigan showed people react faster to the brake lights on cars with amber rear turn signals. And not only is there no scientific evidence to support the idea that bigger lights are better (the US standard was developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers in the 50's, mostly arbitrarily), but a 1993 study by the NHTSA found bigger lights made no difference. www.acarplace.com/2018/01/index/ That article is sprinkled with pictures of the export versions of classic US cars showing off their amber rear turn signals.

"THIS is a Honda Odyssey [...]" Reminded me of Doug DeMuro there

What really pisses me off is when people slow down before turning on their signal. The signal is an indication that you are about to slow down. Slowing down is not an indication that you're about to signal. 😤

Also I’ve encountered cars with all red tail lights and they press the brake periodically and it has perfectly lined up with the normal repetition of a blinker, so then I think they are trying to change lanes into me, but they are just braking weirdly

I’d love to start at just getting people to use their turn signals in general. One of my top 3 pet peeves on the road

"are you so concerned with making a few dollars per car" : car manufacters: "yes"

In fact, in Europe a flashing red light can also indicate turning. That is, when you have the imported vehicle of an American soldier in front of you.

Even as a child of 15 watching American movies in the U.K., I couldn’t get my head around this style of indicating.

I'm living in Europe and saw that type of signals in some US cars and didn't understand why it's designed like that. So thank you for explaining, even if I'm not sure why they did this, I know how they did this 😅👍

I feel like people have been trying to get the manufacturers to STOP this for years, but they keep mistaking it as left turn.

>15k dislikes in what UNIVERSE is ANY of this disagreeable ????

Thank you! This is my biggest pet peeve on vehicles. I have actually NOT purchased a vehicle because it didn't have separate yellow turn signals.

“Turn signals, their a good invention. Use them” BMW drivers: imma pretend I didn’t hear that

BMW drivers: "I have absolutely no idea what this video is all about"

thank you so much. so many times have i been annoyed by red turning signal when i thought it was braking because i could only see them from a side for a split second

The solution for this here in California is just incredibly simple; no one uses turn signals, ever. No ambiguity at all. Problem solved.

GM : spend around 2000$ in ads for each sold vehicles Also GM : we won’t add 2 light bulbs because to expensive smh

British guy here, had no idea this is what it's like on US cars and I'm kind of shocked.

It's stupidity, and a compulsion to save… maybe 50¢… that drives American auto designers to do this. I drove a '95 Neon for 15 years and just short of 250,000 miles without a crash, and wondered the whole time why, given the very large size of the taillight bezel, Chrysler couldn't have added an amber turn signal. A few years after I donated the car (no more new ECUs were available when mine went bad), I came across a photo online of a '95 Neon in Japan. That taillight bezel had both a red AND an amber lens, with separate bulbs for each, and both were sufficiently sized, so the lack of an amber turn signal on Neons for the American market was sheer short-sightedness.

I remember seeing this "feature" in a Doug DeMuro video and thinking, "Wow, that's really cool, wonder why I've never seen this here in Europe?". That's why. It kills people.

Whenever you're feeling completely useless, just remember that it's somebody's job to install turn signals on a BMW

It's so bizzare because regulations and manufacturing does all this.... for motorcycles. Motorcycles always have amber turn signals and DRL (including the brakelight)

And this is why I installed the “export” lamps on my Cadillac STS (2008) in export models you get amber signals with a clear lens and even an extra row of LEDs to supplement the original two rows of LEDs. Much safer design and 100% plug and play. Oh and also added the OEM rear fog lamps which also should be a thing here.

Amber feels so natural in turn signals that to me the american all red design looks a little strange. And a combined stop/turn signal is an outright atrocity that is a real safety hazard. I hope manufacturers and insurance agencies will pay attention to your videos. Thank you for drawing attention to this problem!

Haha, he just straight Doug DeMuored that odyssey intro.

In most European countries it's mandatory for amber & red lights to be fitted to all vehicles by car manufacturers. Certainly here in the UK.

I thought no one was ever gonna address this issue. In north America most turn signals are red. Which is so confusing

Nobody would know if a BMW had amber turn signals or not, since their drivers never seem to use them.

Alec: to manufacturers who are continuing to use this lighting setup, I have two words... Me: fu... Alec: STOP IT! Me: STOP IT!

I've been told there is a special place in hell for people who never use their turn signals.

I basically live on the road and I can surely say that lately lesser and lesser people are using their turn signals, people became so self important that they think when they put a turn signal they're doing someone a favor

I'm satisfied if the driver in front of me uses the turn signal at ALL.

I like it when mirrors have an amber turn signal on them.

got stuck behind someone who had a broken tail light and thought they were turning so i came back here

To my eyes, red turn signals sometimes get washed out in bright sunlight, where as the amber doesn't

Here in Germany it's encouraged to use your hazard lights at the end of a traffic jam on the Autobahn. It is known to save lifes. Also don't your indicator lights on the dash don't blink faster when a indicator is out.

Having amber turn signals is also consistent in the sense that red means stop, amber means 'pay attention, caution', just like on traffic lights. In Europe at least, it's also the rule for emergency vehicles, where motorway breakdown and maintenance use flashing amber lights up top (blue is reserved for police, ambulance, fire).

I see more of an issue with turn signals being low on the bumper than the bulb being orange.

three hazards' twinkles on the move in Eastern Europe is a gesture of gratitude.

Plus, a common feature on European cars: flashing braking lights on hard braking, is impossible with this setup.