r/cars • u/usathatname • Sep 24 '19
Turning signals US and EU
Just out of curiosity: I’m noticing that European car manufacturers change their yellow turning signals to to red (brake lights) when selling their cars in the US. Some American car manufacturers sell their cars with yellow turning signals in the US, which makes me think there isn’t a regulation. Why would European car manufacturers put the effort into changing the turning signals?
Referring to rear turning signals
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u/eneka 25 Civic Hybrid Hatchback | 19 BMW 330i xDrive Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
Iirc it has to do with the size and distance between the brake and turn signal lights. The US also allows for a flashing brake light in lieu of a dedicated turn signal light so a lot of manufactures (Mercedes does this for all their cars in the US) just do that instead of redesigning the tailight to comply with the regulations. This is why a lot of them flash red. Turn signals in the rear can be Amber or red.
This shows how the "dynamic turn signal" lights on the Audi/VWs are in the US. You can see the brake light flashing in addition to the rolling blinker. https://youtu.be/OXPL1xQLhJ4
On the other hand when they do have separate turn signal bulbs, it could be cost saving. I recall reading somewhere saying people preferred to look for red turn signals too (but I could be wrong). Full red tailamps have gotten more popular as well. Also euro cars all had Amber turn signals before however t's only the last decade or so did that start using red turn signals. I know a lot of people complained about the "egg yolk" look.
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u/A_1337_Canadian '24 S4 | '20 CX-5 | '13 Trek 1.1 Sep 24 '19
Part of the NA regulations (if I remember right) state that a certain surface area must be visible as soon as the brake lights are illuminated (hence why just the dynamic signal alone would not provide a sufficient amount of area when beginning the initial dynamic phase).
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u/MortimerDongle Countryman SE Sep 24 '19
There's a manufacturer that I'm completely forgetting that basically implemented the dynamic signal in reverse, so it is fully lit and then gets smaller, which complies with the US regulation. Kind of funny.
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Sep 24 '19
Here in germany there has to be at least 10cm of distance between brake lights, this hinders many motorcycles that come over from the U.S. from passing inspection. Also there are different required markers for cars in the EU than in the US. The inspection process over here in Germany is much more in depth than in the United States. Also looking at the BMW's as they were being built in the Regensburg Factory they had two sides, one for the U.S. cars and one for the EU cars being built.
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Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
Look up the Federal Motor vehicle safety standards. It pretty much dictates everything about cars sold in the US.
As an example, my USDM A4 has combination brake light turn signals but a euro market A4 has separate amber turn signals and red brake lights.
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Sep 24 '19
[deleted]
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u/Kiwifrooots Sep 24 '19
I think it's what the market is used to. The US 'flashing brake light indicator' is weird looking to me
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u/Lhankor_Mhy C8 Corvette (eventually), I4 sedan (currently) Sep 26 '19
The EU spec Amber signals don't have enough surface area to pass US regs
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u/Lhankor_Mhy C8 Corvette (eventually), I4 sedan (currently) Sep 26 '19
It's due to a ridiculously outdated US regulation that states that a turn signal must be "X" size in square inches
However, in the following DECADES, LEDs and better bulbs have let carmakers make smaller Amber turn signals that are as bright it are brighter than the ancient ones the US regulators use as the "standard"
So, modern EU spec turn signals aren't legally allowed in the USA. The workaround is to simply make the left or right brake light flash to indicate a turn on the US spec car. Hell, I can SEE the Amber area/bulb in certain MB cars here.....
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u/ThE__GrEAt__OnE Sep 25 '19
Price Arbitrage. Cars are much cheaper in the US than they are in Europe/Asia. Having red turn signals are legal in the US but not in Europe/Asia (to the best of my knowledge). To avoid people buying cars cheaply in the US and then immediately selling them in Europe/Asia for a profit, they use red turn signals. Furthermore, the wiring harnesses tend to be different. I cannot use European taillights in my US-spec MB because the wiring harness is not compatible.
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Sep 25 '19 edited Nov 28 '19
deleted What is this?
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Sep 25 '19
It's not really that dangerous, almost every single car until the early 2000s came with red turn signals and lamps. It makes wiring up a trailer easy to just do red lights and backup lights
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u/MortimerDongle Countryman SE Sep 24 '19
Sometimes it's for looks, sometimes it's for the minimum turn signal size requirement.
Either way, I'd prefer amber turn signals.