Morris Minor Owners Club

Following on from here:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=74244&p=674096#p674096

MCYorks wrote: ↑Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:28 pm
I agree it's not great driving at night now. Vehicle lighting appears to have become a bit of a 'free for all' over the last few years, despite all the regulations. Some people just seem fit whatever they want. Too bright, too dim, wrong colour, etc. Sequential and alternating direction indicators! With modern technology like LED's, all lighting and signals should be much easier to see day or night. However, that doesn't seem to be the case with some modern vehicles

I remember as a child in the late 60s seeing a Tomorrow's World, with I think James Burke, telling us about new technology that would give us indicators that flashed across in the direction the vehicle was going to move, but he caveated the report by saying they would be illegal under the then current lighting regulations.
Now, as you say, it's a ruddy free-for-all with designers being more concerned about a 'feature' than the practicalities and function of their lighting.
Factory fit rear lights can have indicators ranging in size from a 50p coin to the length of a 12" Ruler or more, with some cars having larger lights than HGVs; while front DRLs can be all manner of shapes and sizes, seemingly a contest to make the most bizarre shape possible.


I recently stumbled across Mazda instructions on line for how to disable the DRLs on a CX5, though why they would provide this facility is beyond me....
but it makes resetting the typical 'Service Due' indicator on a modern car seem like child's play... edited to correct a typo, I'm picky like that....

We've noticed several times that the flash of a front indicator on a modern car might be visible from our passenger seat whilst being invisible from the driver's seat; and vice versa. This seems to be due to the design of LEDs giving only an almost continuous arc of illumination - moving one's head slightly to change the angle of viewing instantly makes the offending indicator change status. We don't need jokes about "is it on?" "Yes...no...yes...no...".

The 50p sized indicators seem to be hidden in the centre of circular brake lights, the latter completely overpowering the former; and the colour separation being so poor that they merge into one light.

There's one make of delivery van favoured by supermarkets that has rear light clusters where the indicator is shaped like an arrow head. That's good, except the left hand one points to the right and the right hand one points to the left.
I just don't understand how the designers can come up with such ridiculous ideas.

I quite like the long indicators where the segments illuminate progressively; but does it really add anything to the function? Just because one can do somethinkg, doesn't mean that one should do it

Bring back trafficators!

Nah, this is what's needed:-

But with an LED implanted on the wrist so that it can be seen at night

Nah, this is what's needed:-

But how will that work with driverless cars?...................
Best wishes,
Mike.

Easy - make it the passenger's responsibility; give 'em something to do!

simmitc wrote: ↑Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:15 pm I just don't understand how the designers can come up with such ridiculous ideas.

I quite like the long indicators where the segments illuminate progressively; but does it really add anything to the function? Just because one can do somethinkg, doesn't mean that one should do it

Maybe the designers found inspiration from years gone by

Like the Wilcot Robot Direction Indicators below, as fitted to Morris cars in 1933. Who doesn't need 3 colour lamps and an 8 position indicator switch to signal their intentions?

I have never seen or heard of that before.
It's fascinating and you're now responsible for me looking into it further, as I disappear down a rabbit hole, I love you and hate you equally!

As for the Utility Lights, I'm also thinking 1930s Batman ....

And the story of the 'Wilcot Robot Direction Indicators'.... courtesy of the Jult 2021 edition of Australian publication 'Wolseley Hornet', the monthly magazine of the Wolesley Car Club Inc.

Part of an article covering Trafficators on page 11 of this link.
Seems they came about because Mr Morris objected to paying Royalties to use Trafficators....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... xkJ5Brpph5

Saw a new car recently, what I thought were foglights lit depending on the way it turned, turned left, the left-hand foglight came on...

Ideal for Range Rover/Audi/BMW driver's.

POMMReg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 17, 2021 9:56 am Saw a new car recently, what I thought were foglights lit depending on the way it turned, turned left, the left-hand foglight came on...

Ideal for Range Rover/Audi/BMW driver's.

Yep, the really annoying 'turning a corner lights'; on some cars they seem to operate even on a slight turn of the steering, for example, to change lanes, or simply pull into a parking space.
What this BMW video.
Why do you need Front Cornering Lights if in Reverse....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKsTfFs8-NE

MCYorks wrote: ↑Wed Dec 08, 2021 12:03 am

simmitc wrote: ↑Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:15 pm I just don't understand how the designers can come up with such ridiculous ideas.

I quite like the long indicators where the segments illuminate progressively; but does it really add anything to the function? Just because one can do somethinkg, doesn't mean that one should do it

Maybe the designers found inspiration from years gone by

Like the Wilcot Robot Direction Indicators below, as fitted to Morris cars in 1933. Who doesn't need 3 colour lamps and an 8 position indicator switch to signal their intentions?

To anyone in the marine world this is recognizable as an engine room telegraph as seen on ships… STOP, HALF ASTERN, FULL ASTERN etc. and the lights are knockoffs of engine room ‘stack lights’.
(Even the green pass side, red port side are like the Port Stbd lights on ships and work on similar rules)

Increasingly popular is vehicles temp. parked with headlamps on.....common sense to turn them off surely(?).....everyone seems so angry now, squeeze past rather than wait for a few seconds....

As for emergency vehicles, don't have the patience to leave a gap nor awareness there's a BIG blue light charging up behind them....as for traffic stopping on tarmac with the legend "Keep Clear" clearly painted.

Moan..moan...etc.