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-   -   Turn Signals + Headlamps : A dangerous combo? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/223576-turn-signals-headlamps-dangerous-combo.html)

One of the most dangerous situation I have faced while driving during early mornings and at nights is when driving down a 2 lane highway, suddenly the car coming from opposite direction turns towards my direction. Suddenly I jam the brakes, thinking the other person made a sudden decision to turn. Both of us stop in panic and the other person shouts "Can't you see I have put the turn signal ?".
Well thats where things get complicated. Actually he had put the turn signal, but since the turn indicator is just next to the headlight housing due to the brightness of the headlamps the turn signals cant even be seen ! The problem is even worse when the opposite person is on his high beam. As per them since the turn signal is ON they think the car coming from the opposite direction will stop. But in reality it is a serious design flaw. This has happened multiple times to me. Especially since I am living at a place where most of the state highways are mere 2 lane roads. Luckily there are few cars like the Innova Crysta, the Jeep Compass, the new Ecosport and the Tata Harrier that have the turn signal separated from the headlight housing. Newer cars with LED turn signals are better where the LED is pretty bright and can be seen even with the headlights ON.

The Good.
Innova Crysta has a tun indicator as a separate housing. Image Source: Team-BHP


The Jeep Compass too have a similar setup. Image Source: Team-BHP


The Tata Harrier is the best design when it comes to this. The LED turn signals are very bright and are away from the headlamps making them easily visible. Image Source: Team-BHP


The Top Trims on the Kia Seltos has the turn signals in LED. They are super bright and can be seen even with the headlamps ON. Image Source: Team-BHP


The BAD

The headlight in the older Innova is one clear example. Since they are a common sight on our highways. Image Source: Team-BHP


The Suzuki Swift


The Hyundai i10



Have car manufacturers been looking into this as a safety concern ? Do you think many of the accidents that happen at night may be due to this reason ?

If you are unable to differentiate between a blinking turn signal and a headlight beam within the same housing on a 2 lane road, chances are you were travelling faster than the speed limit on that road. That or some kind of colorblindness.

Is there no wing mirror lights or front fender lights you could spot?

I am also of the opinion that turn indicators should be separate from headlights because I myself have missed them many times. My own car, pre facelift ecosport, have the turn indicators integrated in main headlights, thereby decreasing their efficacy. The saving grace for me is that I am a very sedate driver. Moreover the blinking indicators on ORVMs are visible from all sides and thereby minimsing the chance of missing them.

From 2006 - 2016 nearly all cars came with turn signals integrated in the headlamp unit. My own sx4 has this setup, I'm not sure if people have issues seeing my turn signal.

Even if we go by the basic VIBGYOR then I don’t think orange light will have a major issue. If high beams are on then you are going to anyway get blinded. I agree the separate turn signals make a strong point but the integrated ones weren’t a deal breaker IMHO.

I think High - Beams are the cause of this issue most of the times.
If the car is on low beams we can notice the turn indicator, unless if the headlights are misaligned.

And I personally feel when manufacturers place indicators at the level of fog lamps, we might not be able to see them if there's a medium height divider or those cement barricades.

Used to be worse but recent models have headlight designs with clean cut low beams. High beam is a trouble yes.

Once upon a time, turn signal lights used to stick out of car body to differentiate/better visibility. I don't know what happened in later designs, cost cutting or whatever they got integrated with head and tail lamp assembly.

Many cars today particularly the top variants have indicators on orvm and also on fenders. That should help a bit. Anyhow, these mishaps usually happen in a four cross or signal, where I guess we need traffic regulations such as in US, first come first served basis just to avoid confusion.

There are turn indicators on the OVRM or the Fender as well.
If they are not working then it is a serious issue.
Also, invariably when a person lines up for a turn there are tell tale signs, such as , slowing down the speed they were at and gradual movement towards the direction they intend to go.
In your case since the other car had to cut across a lane on an undivided road the other person would be more circumspect and watchful, as you had the right of way.

Which car did you face such a problem with btw?


Also could you please test yourself at this link for color vision?
https://www.essilor.com/en/vision-te...t-your-vision/


Regards,

This is also a case of solving the symptom and not the problem. As a practice, the vehicle trying to take a turn should keep the headlamps on low beam and wait till the oncoming traffic is clear.

I have seen the the headlight automatically goes off when the turn signal is on. This is a common safety feature in many cars abroad as early as 2015.
An example can be seen here here.

Hi Nithesh and Hsekark, One thing I missed to mention is on these State Highways we have a speed limit of 80 kmph, and I adhere to that most of the time. There are lots of by lanes are small junctions on these roads so its never a good idea to be above the speed limit since I always fear someone might jump out of nowhere. Most older cars didnt have the wing mirror lights or front fender lights. Also this is not something that happens all the time. Happened a very few times mostly at times when the car was in High beam (sadly people think, if they put high beam the opposite person will notice their car better). And yeah about colour blindness, I too got concerned after reading your reply. But after checking out the eye test link posted by HsekarK, that was a pass !clap:

Yeah most of the times it was when the opposite vehicle was in High beam. But since many drivers drive all the time with High beam ON this could be a more serious issue. Also most low end cars come with no turn signals on the ORVM. I wish there was a technology which switched the specific headlight automatically to DIM while the turn signal was ON.

I can't imaging driving in unknown roads (Indian bad roads) at night just to have my lights go out when cornering. In fact we have cornering lamps in our cars (XUV500, Polo, etc.) to help out in this regard.

This happens only when the DRLs are on. Not when the headlamps are on

Its hard to pick indicators (or road signs or road markings or pretty much anything) if the vehicle coming against you have high beams on. It will be good if there are some regulations brought in with regards to indicator placement and visibility in all conditions.

Driving older cars with wiper marks in windscreen makes it all the more tricky.

The 2017 facelift Honda City has a similar issue in my experience. The issue here is not headlights but a very bright DRL(when not in park/pilot light mode) that outshines the halogen indicators in day time. To make matters worse, the DRLs are brightest at the outer most edge with is near the indicators, and they do not switch off when indicator is on. I have found a few >2017 model Honda Citys with DRL substituting headlamps in dark places like basement parking. They are unpleasantly bright.

Another gripe I have are with rear fog lamp usage in slow city traffic. For some reason, its the polo/vento twins that I notice the most. The fog lamps are housed in tail lamp cluster, not as a separate unit like in most other cars. They too pretty much outshine other lamps in cluster which might otherwise have conveyed valuable information to vehicle behind.

Since many drivers don't use high beam judiciously, it's pertinent to have auto dipping feature in all cars.