The Red Light District

Does the Color of Flashers (Indicators) Matter?

And What About Rear, High-Intensity Red Fog Lights?

By: Eddie Wren

Many American-made vehicles have red rear indicators and yellow front parking lights but do
these colors enhance safety or hinder it?

To consider this question wisely, we ask you to think about driving in heavy commuter traffic, in heavy rain or thick fog, in the half-light of dawn or dusk.

Think about being in high-volume traffic on a busy, urban road with traffic signals, with perhaps three or four lanes for the direction you are heading, and apart from the low light and bad visibility, the road is very wet. Therefore, you are facing a sea of red lights: the traffic signals, tail lights, and stop/brake lights. And indicators?

Apart from saving the automakers a few cents per vehicle by having just red lights at the rear, what possible benefit can there be from having indicator lights (“flashers”) the same color as tail and brake lights? Unfortunately, the answer is None!

If the flasher/indicator lights are yellow/orange/amber (call them whichever you prefer) instead of red, they stand out firmly instead of the opposite — blending in.

There can be no good argument for not having maximum conspicuity for flashers/indicators. The day red rear flashers are no longer made will be good.

A similar argument can be made regarding the front lights of many American cars.

What is the benefit of having yellow/orange/amber parking lights (i.e., side lights) or Daytime Running Lights (DRLs)?

Is it not better to have only white lights for the parking lights and, of course, the headlights, and keep the prominence of the yellow/orange/amber solely for the flashers/indicators?

It should go without saying that indicators need to be as conspicuous as possible, so why should that effect be muted in any way whatsoever? The fact that most drivers don’t use them correctly is a separate issue addressed elsewhere on this website.

Rear Fog Lights

In some, if not all, American states, having two high-intensity rear red fog lights is illegal.

Why? Because U.S. legislators fear that such lights, being very bright, could be mistaken for brake lights… But so what?

Matched pairs of rear, red fog lights are prevalent in Europe and reduce collisions in bad visibility conditions.

So which is better: mistaking rear fog lights for brake lights and backing off or not seeing the rear of the vehicle ahead until it’s too late and having a collision? Isn’t this a “no-brainer”?

Just as it is much easier to see an approaching car at a greater distance in fog if it is displaying headlights rather than parking lights (side lights), so it is also much easier to see a vehicle ahead of you that is displaying rear fog lights rather than just ordinary rear lights.

In addition, when these lights are fitted in matched pairs, they can be used by following drivers — albeit often subconsciously — to help gauge the distance to an otherwise invisible vehicle, such as in dense fog. This cannot be achieved when only a high-intensity rear red fog light is used. A single point of bright light in conditions of terrible visibility cannot give any helpful indication of distance and is, therefore, much less safe.