2y ago

Mercedes adds a new car light color: Blue for self-driving

www.cnn.com

Mercedes adds a new car light color: Blue for self-driving | CNN Business

There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.

25 comments

This would be illegal in my state. Amber and red visible from the rear and white, yellow, and amber visible from the front. Regardless, blue isn't a good color because it's reserved for emergency vehicles. Should have gone with green.
- My state, too (Indiana, for reference)
  I'd go with Purple/Violet. Not a color light you really see anywhere on roadways so it would stick out easier.
  
  Purple is for rain.
- To confuse with traffic lights, brilliant! But seriously, the amount of people that hit the gas when they see green in their periphery is high.
  Which state is it?
  
  Wisconsin, but I think a lot of states have a similar law. But yeah green maybe isn't the best choice either.
- Red-green colourblindness is the most common type, perhaps it's best to use a more distinct colour.
- But iT's tUrQuOiSe
Looks like a different blue, but my understanding is that blue lights are reserved for police.
Edit: it was selected because it's clearly different from the police color.
- The article and the autoTLDR comment both say they were approved to use turquoise
  
  Approved by who though?
  It mentions an organization that has no authority over road laws in any US state, or EU, or anywhere else. So what?
- iT's tUrQuOiSe
- Blue is for priority vehicles, not just police.
  
  Depends entirely on the state/jurisdiction in the US.
  That is surprisingly not a federal law.
in some cars, amber for turn signals.
optional in BMWs by my experience
I can be almost sure it won't cut me off when the blue light is on.
- To stay consistent with expected Mercedes road-behavior care, the self driving mode is programmed to change lanes without signaling.
  
  Sorry, I think you've mistaken this with BMW.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Mercedes-Benz has just received approval to add a fourth color: turquoise blue lights that indicate when a Mercedes car is driving itself.
Mercedes Drive Pilot can be used in traffic jams on selected major highways when vehicles are traveling at less than 40 miles an hour.
In the meantime, drivers can surf the Internet or play games on the car’s big center screen.
It’s not similar to the color of any other lights on a passenger car but it’s also clearly different from the darker blue used by police and other emergency vehicles.
The Society of Automotive Engineers recommends this specific blue shade to signify autonomous vehicle operation but Mercedes is the first automaker to receive approval for its use.
The turquoise lights are needed, according to Mercedes, to alert passing drivers and police that the vehicle is under fully automated control.
The original article contains 406 words, the summary contains 142 words. Saved 65%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I think this is cool af. I’m a tad nervous about full “eyes off the road” autonomy, but also excited for what the future holds in terms of transportation, highway safety, etc.
Probably takes over the indicator spot

25 comments