The first cars equipped with turquoise-colored front and rear headlights began to leave manufacturers’ factories. But what is this new color for?
Until now, car taillights tended to have red tones. But that could change and turquoise colored lights could appear. Indeed, Mercedes has received permission from the state of California to use turquoise lighting on some of its cars for the next two years.
For which cars in particular? For those called “autonomous”, that is to say for vehicles equipped with technologies allowing them to navigate and move without human intervention, using sensors, algorithms and sometimes artificial intelligence to interpret the environment road. On these vehicles, when the steering wheel is not operated by a person, the new turquoise lighting lights up at the rear of the cars. This makes it possible to warn vehicles following an autonomous vehicle that it is not being driven by a human being and therefore to adopt precautionary measures. Moreover, the turquoise color also appears at the front of the car and not only on the rear lights.
Mercedes has indicated to the TopGear website that the brand is keen to introduce turquoise headlights and taillights in Europe and even the rest of the world. In the state of Nevada in the United States, even production cars can already have this type of special lighting when Drive Pilot is activated.
However, the brand explains that the rules in Europe do not yet allow such lighting to be introduced. However, Mercedes is trying to explain to the European Union the benefits of turquoise lighting for self-driving cars. The manufacturer is particularly curious to see the interaction with other road users when they know that a car is driving autonomously. It also helps police officers: if someone is busy doing something else behind the wheel, an officer can see if the car is paying attention. Additionally, introducing distinctive lighting would help the acceptance of self-driving cars, Mercedes believes.
Mercedes chose the turquoise shade for two reasons. First, the color stands out from all other lighting in traffic, including emergency services and other markings. Additionally, there are various studies that show that turquoise is “both physiologically and psychologically” the optimal color to indicate self-driving cars.