Are side marker/turn signals going away?

Again today I come to a 4-way stop at the same time as a Toyota? to my right. Car on the right has the right of way if you arrive at the same time. She moves a car length ahead, I release the brake and head for the gas when she dives toward my headlight and gives me the finger.

WTH? As she zooms out of sight I see the last blink of her left rear light, but howcumzit the front one wasn't visible?

It was probably tucked in smartly with the tiny headlight, fog, some chrome and a clear cover. Is it the mad cow, or has anyone else had this experience?

Thanks I don't think I'm nuts) Dan

You're not crazy, i don't think any modern toyotas have sidemarkers. My car does, but they aren't tied to the blinkers.

Yep the side turn signals are going away, and it's not that new. They migrated from that actual sides of the cars to the corners during the '90s, and now they're settling on the nose and tail.

It's probably being done for aero and production cost reasons (stamping more holes into the sheet metal costs extra). I thought the Lotus-style fender-integrated side signals would be a good solution to both of those problems, but I bet they're a PITA to fix if they get damaged.

I think since headlights and taillights have been getting more HID-y and LED-y (read brighter), the lowly turn signal has all but been forgotten in terms of an automobile designer.

There has been a number of times, where I have to really look hard for a turn indicator at four way stops, at least on new cars. Only to jam on the brakes because the person really did have it on! Older cars, the turn signals seem much more prevalent/noticeable.

The loss of the side mark has only compounded this problem.

There are still cars with separate side marker lights, like my 5th gen Camaro, 6th gen has them too. I think manufacturers are trying to be "clever" with placement and end up making them harder to see.

I guess the engineers figured "Why bother? The bastards don't use them anyhow."

Have you noticed the newest cars with the LED DRL's that turn off the DRL while the front blinker is on? I see them every damn time and think "they have a headlight out!" then the blinker stops and the light comes back on.

Appleseed wrote: I guess the engineers figured "Why bother? The bastards don't use them anyhow."

If cars were lifeforms, the indicator stalks on BMWs would've evolved into vestigial nubs by now

Huh, there have been a few similar occasions recently where I've found myself shouting "Use your berkeleying turn signal, shiny happy person", only to then end up behind said shiny happy person and see them use their signal at the next intersection. Perhaps this explains the phenomenon...

Javelin wrote: Have you noticed the newest cars with the LED DRL's that turn off the DRL while the front blinker is on? I see them every damn time and think "they have a headlight out!" then the blinker stops and the light comes back on.

This really bothers me. Fortunately, not from the driver's seat of the vehicle at question though.

In reply to petegossett:

I didn't realize that this was a 'feature' until this thread. I've seen it and thought it was a bad headlight.

Appleseed wrote: I guess the engineers figured "Why bother? The bastards don't use them anyhow."

This!

Could it have simply been a burned out bulb? Or maybe she decided to turn left at the last minute and flipped on the signal after the nose of her car was out of your line of sight...

Javelin wrote: Have you noticed the newest cars with the LED DRL's that turn off the DRL while the front blinker is on? I see them every damn time and think "they have a headlight out!" then the blinker stops and the light comes back on.

That's not new. The Miata had DRLs back in 1990 in Canada using the turn indicator lenses, and IIRC they had to change the behavior from "both on with one blinking" to "both off with one blinking, then both come back on" pretty much immediately. The update looked weird, but apparently it's less confusing for regulators.

I would expect that there are regulations as to the angles of visibility for turn indicators. I'll let someone else dig through the regulations, but they're sure not "going away". If anything, they've become more visible thanks to the trend to put them on the mirrors as well.

some have moved the side marker to the mirror.. that seems to be a decent place for them.

I miss the cornering lamps on luxo-barges from the 80s. People from space knew you were turning then.

According to floridians, there hasn't been a functional turn signal in most cars for at least 15 years. People look at me like i got my head on backwards when i use mine.

My Wrangler is guilty of this. The turn signal lenses are below the headlights in the grill. They are nearly flat so you cannot really see them from an angle. Also, the corners of the fender flares cover them from certain angles. Compounding this is that there are 3" round marker lights on the side of the flare that do not flash.

I wired the marker light to it's respective turn signal. Now, the markers flash when the turn signals flash. I have noticed a huge reduction in people pulling out in front of me when I'm making left hand turns after I modded the lights.

ThunderCougarFalconGoat wrote: I miss the cornering lamps on luxo-barges from the 80s. People from space knew you were turning then.

Heck, my 1966 Caddy has them. Also has turn indicator indicators on top of the fenders so you can tell when they're on. It loves indicating turns, it lights up like a disco.

speaking of odd turn signals. Does the Chrysler 200 have an odd stalk? last night I was passed by one and the lady driving it hit her signal before pulling in front of me (I know!) and then it took her a good 30 seconds to get it to stop flashing. It seemed that every time she went to cancel it, she wound up signaling for the other direction.

I was watching for this with a new Suburban that was across from me. But after seeing it from both ends, the driver just didn't signal for the 3 turns I witnessed.

Okay - I am biased. The Datsun teardrop side markers were one of the best. (I don't think the low windshield 1967 had these on them - maybe 1968?)

Nice Datsun, quite beautiful. 1968 would be the first year side markers were required in the US.

To the OP, why did it matter if she had signaled or not? If she was on your right and you arrived together she has the right of way. Yes, she SHOULD have signaled. We're you trying to jump the right of way?

mad_machine wrote: speaking of odd turn signals. Does the Chrysler 200 have an odd stalk? last night I was passed by one and the lady driving it hit her signal before pulling in front of me (I know!) and then it took her a good 30 seconds to get it to stop flashing. It seemed that every time she went to cancel it, she wound up signaling for the other direction.

It may be like my Elantra where there are two positions.

1) push the lever all the way to the end of travel, you'll feel it click past the first stop and that keeps it on until you make your turn or manually turn it off.

2) if you only move it to the first stop (but not past) and let it go back to the off position It will blink four or five times and then stop.

There is no way to stop it unless you go past the stop and then back to off. if you try and move the lever to the first stop on the other side then the other directional will blink 4 or 5 times.

This can lead to the problem you saw if the driver doesn't give up and wait.