BANGOR, Wales, March 21 (UPI) -- The location of a car's indicator lights greatly affects people's safety on the road, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by the School of Psychology at the University of Wales, Bangor, showed when a car's amber indicator lights were located inside the headlights, toward the center of the vehicle, people needed more time to decide which way the car would turn. People responded faster when the indicator lights were placed outside the headlights.
Lead author Andrew Bayliss tested the reaction time within two groups of 15 young adults using keyboard arrows and pictures of cars' headlights. When the right light on the picture of the car flashed, the testers pressed the right arrow; when the left light flashed, they pressed the left arrow.
Bayliss challenged the safety of new car designs, warning that the effects revealed by the study are even more dangerous in real-world scenarios.
"Designers obviously want to create good-looking cars, but this should not be done at the expense of compromising safety. The position of lights on the cars should be guided by safety considerations, not aesthetics," Bayliss said in a statement.
