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trafficator or not to trafficator
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 3:09 pm
by Margret's custodian
trafficator or not to trafficator that is the question or can you have both ?
so the question is i have non working trafficators with a horrible indicators added on the front but i can see you can get running light and indicators all in one but will have to wait till spring as i will have to fill some holes back to question do you have to have trafficator and indicators on the same circuit or could you separate or semi separate the systems say for everyday stuff like trip to b&q use indicators but if i want show off flick a switch on come the trafficators as well i would assume all have to flash in union i cant be the first person to think of this
thanks in advance
Re: trafficator or not to trafficator
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 3:16 pm
by King Kenny
I would not trust trafficators with modem motorists, they won't have a qlue. When I had my convertible I fitted later indicators but fitted the trafficators on a seperate circuit just for fun.
Re: trafficator or not to trafficator
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 3:44 pm
by unclealec
It's easy enough to have both operating simultaneously from the same switch.
I do this, and fit LED flashing bulbs in the trafficators; they act as very useful side repeaters.
Re: trafficator or not to trafficator
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2026 12:29 pm
by geoberni
The simple facts of the matter are :
Original Trafficators are only an Amber Arm, with a steady illumination.
Many owners using Trafficators have switched to a flashing LED lamp so that people might actually notice them.
If using flashing trafficators with their own flashing LED, at the same time as flashing indicators, it's not strictly legal since The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1986, S7, Pt 1, para 10(b) states...
All indicators on one side of a vehicle or combination of vehicles showing a flashing light shall flash in phase, except that in the case of a solo motor bicycle, a motor bicycle combination and a pedal cycle, the front and rear direction indicators on one side of the vehicle may flash alternately.
So don't have flashing Trafficators and Indicators operating at the same time on the MOT.
I guess a steady original Trafficator with Indicators might get through, depending how confused the MOT Tester was by the wording of the Regs.
Quite honestly, with the number of manufacturers playing fast and loose with the regs when it comes to the various moving indicator displays on the roads, I wouldn't loose any sleep over the matter.
If you look closely at the modern moving indicators they all start at one innermost point and the movement extends out towards the side of the vehicle.
It's that very first one that is the 'Indicator' under the Regulations and complying with the 'flash rate', the other 20 or so LEDs are not anything to do with it....
Re: trafficator or not to trafficator
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2026 12:50 pm
by unclealec
geoberni wrote: ↑Sun Feb 15, 2026 12:29 pm
The simple facts of the matter are :
Original Trafficators are only an Amber Arm, with a steady illumination.
Many owners using Trafficators have switched to a flashing LED lamp so that people might actually notice them.
If using flashing trafficators with their own flashing LED, at the same time as flashing indicators, it's not strictly legal since The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1986, S7, Pt 1, para 10(b) states...
All indicators on one side of a vehicle or combination of vehicles showing a flashing light shall flash in phase, except that in the case of a solo motor bicycle, a motor bicycle combination and a pedal cycle, the front and rear direction indicators on one side of the vehicle may flash alternately.
So don't have flashing Trafficators and Indicators operating at the same time on the MOT.
I guess a steady original Trafficator with Indicators might get through, depending how confused the MOT Tester was by the wording of the Regs.
Quite honestly, with the number of manufacturers playing fast and loose with the regs when it comes to the various moving indicator displays on the roads, I wouldn't loose any sleep over the matter.
If you look closely at the modern moving indicators they all start at one innermost point and the movement extends out towards the side of the vehicle.
It's that very first one that is the 'Indicator' under the Regulations and complying with the 'flash rate', the other 20 or so LEDs are not anything to do with it....
All agreed. I have in the past fed a non-flashing trafficator bulb from the same cable as feeds the flashing indicators. You can de-solder the cable in the trafficator unit that feeds the bulb from the same cable that energises the solenoid, and then take a new cable from the bulb to the flasher cable.
But since the advent of LED festoon "bulbs" with built-in flashing, I have adopted your approach of assuming that either nobody important will notice the non-synchronicity, or won't know that they should synchronise. Simplicity rules.
Re: trafficator or not to trafficator
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2026 1:13 pm
by myoldjalopy
It may be better to have the two methods on separate circuits - it is not always desirable to have indicators and trafficators working simultaneously.
Re: trafficator or not to trafficator
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2026 2:43 pm
by unclealec
To be honest, the main reason I deploy trafficators is that the general public like seeing them.
My wife & I call it "the finger". At traffic lights, you often see the people in the car behind pointing excitedly at the trafficator when it pops out.
Cheers them up - and cheers me up!
Re: trafficator or not to trafficator
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2026 8:27 pm
by mike1864
Mine are on separate switches; the trafficator use being reserved for shows etc.
In the queue at Caen Ferry port, I was alarmed at two female gendarmes marching towards us.
One of them pointed at my (stowed) traficator and said "Montrez ma collegue cette lumiere".
I duly obliged.
The other one burst out laughing and they both walked off, giggling.