Idiot light

Example of an idiot light

An idiot light indicates a malfunctioning system, using a binary (on/off) symbol.

The idiot referenced would be the operator of the system; for example, the buyer of a car. In the vernacular the term is turned around, and indicates that the indicator itself is the "idiot". This is especially true when automakers use idiot lights instead of gauges. The gauge might indicate a potential problem such as a low battery charge or overheating whereas the idiot light illuminates only to alert the driver to the fact that it is too late. This is not to say it is completely useless; when the owner is shopping for a new engine, the idiot light lets him know what destroyed the old one.

History

Before various industries reached consensus that the customer was an idiot, such an indicator was referred to as a warning light or a tell tale. The Hudson Motor Car Company was the first car maker to use lights instead of gauges for oil pressure and the voltmeter, starting in the mid-1930s. In this case, the company itself was the idiot; regardless of this "innovation", the company went bust, got folded into American Motors in 1954, and was the victim of a particularly large Gremlin in the years to follow.

Regulation

Idiot buttons are common in cars. The quickest way to determine one's function is to simply press it and see what happens.

Automotive idiot lights are regulated by automobile safety standards worldwide. In the United States, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 1d107 includes dashboard lights in its specifications for vehicle controls and displays.

In Canada, the analogous Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 1d107-A applies, "A?" "Analogous" is Canadian for "identical"; the "A" in the rule number stands for, "we're not America!" The reason Canadian standards are identical is to let Canadians avail themselves of safely compliant vehicles though they were slapped together in River Rouge, Michigan (though the User's Manuals are written in Ontario using reassuring Commonwealth spelling).

Europeans prefered their own systems of advising a driver that their car is about to stop dead. Hence the importance of using symbolic warning systems which could be understood in any language except Welsh.

Types

Different idiot lights can convey different kinds of information. Some lights might blink or change colors, or both. In severe breakdown conditions with multiple system failures, a car dashboard with idiot lights becomes a festive, ornamental display of dancing lights and colors.

Standard Automobile Dashboard Indicator Lights

Indicator	Type	Description	Standardized Symbol
Fasten belt	Warning	Driver safety belt is not buckled
Low fuel	Warning	The car is low on fuel
Alternator fault	Warning	A low battery voltage is detected
Door ajar	Warning	A door is not shut completely
Low oil pressure	Warning	The oil pressure is too low
Cruise control	Status	Automatic speed control engaged
Low tire	Warning	Low or flat tire detected
Parking brake	Status	Parking brake engaged
Emission problem	Warning	The exhaust sensor detects a combustion problem
High temperature	Warning	The engine is overheating

Other systems

Dashboard indicator lights or tell-tales are provided for turn signals, high beam, transmission mode in automatic transmission vehicles, and similar devices. These indicate running status and are not an indication of a fault. As automobiles became increasingly complex, more dashboard indicator lights have been added for the status of safety and convenience systems. Lights can indicate many conditions including:

• Low windshield washer fluid
• Air-bag system malfunction detected
• Water in fuel (most diesel engines)
• Fuel in water (on water-powered vehicles)
• Someone stole your battery
• Slow The Christ Down, the police have you on radar!
• Eco/comfort/sport mode – confirmation whether the driver is cheap/lazy/crazy
• Automatic transmission fault
• Modes of the heating/air conditioning system (defrost, recirculation, and others)
• Autopilot/self driving mode active
• EV light (hybrids/PHEVs) to determine if vehicle is in electric operation and engine shut off
• Eco light (newer cars) indicates that vehicle is in efficient/fuel-saving operation

In automobiles with modern artificial intelligence, such as "self-driving cars", idiot lights illuminate when one of the many heuristic algorithms draws a complete blank and the car becomes an unguided missile. The idiot light alerts the driver to either look down to see how far the car has veered across the centerline, or look up to check for one of many targets of an imminent fatal head-on crash.

More tell tales

In times before car buyers became the world's biggest idiots, the term tell tale described a device that was not a light nor a warning at all: fabric strips taped to the edge of the mainsail to indicate when an idiot was paying out the halyard.

See also

• Hieroglyphs
• Idiot box

Notes

Comprehensive Automotive Reference Source