CR asks red or yellow turn signals?

Red or yellow.

Consumer Reports (CR) published an article on the use of red or yellow turn signals — “Why Do Some Cars Have Red Turn Signals and Others Yellow?”

Curiosity drew a read, which turned out to have a truly serious side.

While regulations in the States allow either, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study found that yellow “signals show a 5.3% greater effectiveness compared to red signals in reducing two-vehicle crashes where a lead vehicle is rear-struck in the act of turning left, turning right, merging into traffic, changing lanes, or entering/leaving a parking space.”

This is nothing to sneeze at.

The article briefly discusses why red is used at all, but only speculates on the reasons. It’s most likely a cost issue.

But this is clearly a safety issue. Why do a study and then not act on what are clear results favoring the use of yellow signals?

Next time we are in contact with NHTSA, we will weigh in on the matter.

And we’ll spread the word as well.

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