I haven't seen a single comment about the turn lights gifs.
that's something that always intrigued me. why mine and the one from the car in front of me never matches? I wonder if there's a reasonable explanation other then "by chance".
that's something that always intrigued me. why mine and the one from the car in front of me never matches? I wonder if there's a reasonable explanation other then "by chance".
Even two cars of the same type never seem to match up. They will often sync for a while, but then gradually get out of synch until they are 180 degrees different.
I suppose it is down to minute differences in lighting circuits, bulbs and all sorts of other things.
Somewhere out there is a population of cars with the same exact turn signal frequency as yours. But the chances of you stopping behind it at a set of lights while you are both signalling to turn and noticing are very, very small.
Old hazard lights, like the ones in rows along construction sites, used to blink more-or-less in time despite not being manually synced. The lightbulb itself would act as a weak photo-diode, so when a neighboring light was on, it took a minutely smaller time to charge the circuit. Eventually they would sync up :)
Back in the old days, turn signals were actuated by bimetallic thermal relays - a simple and highly reliable device. They were constructed with a range of frequencies by manufacturers and sold mixed together, so cars might receive the same part number but with an essentially random on/off period. This part would also mechanically create the familiar clicking sound of a turn signal actuating.
These days indicators are controlled electronically and I assume the randomness is programmed in.