One third of drivers can't recognize this idiot light

:
2006 Mazda Speed6
What if you made a product that shows up on every new car, a product that can save lives, but a third of motorists can't use the product because they have no idea what it is?

A third of motorists can't recognize the system for low tire pressure, a survey by a maker of the systems found.
tireiconx-large.jpg

By Schrader
Such is the quandary faced by Schrader, a company that makes tire pressure monitoring systems, or TPMS for short. For the one out of three drivers that is, it's the idiot light on your dashboard that looks like a little U with tire treads on the bottom. Oh. That.

The TPMS icon illuminates when tire pressure in one or more of the vehicle's tires is 25% below the manufacturer's recommended amount. It became required by law in 2008, the direct result of the Ford Explorer debacle a decade ago in which rollover accidents were blamed on underinflated Firestone tires. An outgrowth of the scandal was the finding that many people never check their tire pressure, putting their lives -- not to mention their gas mileage -- on the line because of underinflation. Requiring a new idiot light seemed like an ideal solution.

Schrader says it conducted a survey at the start of the year that showed 46% of drivers couldn't figure out that the little tire-tread icon was supposed to look like little tire treads. Whether they recognized the icon or not, a third didn't know what the tire-pressure monitoring system is.

Another 14% thought the light was warning them that something else was going wrong in their car -- but not tire pressure.

Yet the survey found almost all, 96%, of drivers agree that driving with underinflated tires is a serious safety issue, although only 44% said they regularly check their tire pressure.

Armed with its scary survey results, Schrader created a website:

The site, TPMSMadeSimple.com, is designed to try to tell drivers about inflating their tires The comprehensive site helps drivers understand the purpose and benefits of TPMS, as well as what steps to take when the TPMS alert illuminates. The site also explains the many economic and environmental benefits of proper tire pressure.

"Drivers can sometimes take it for granted that their vehicle's four tires are what keep them connected to the road," says Carl Wacker, a vice president for Schrader. "Just like seat belts and air bags, TPMS helps protect drivers when their safety is most at risk."
 
Do you mean the one that flashes when the cooking pot is empty? Idiots
 
unfortunately, a TPMS warning light is difficult to design. how many ways can you design an underinflated, monochromatic, negative-space, universal language, tire icon? i hate to be the designer who had to come up with that one.

i've seen many cars with warning text which is a better solution however it is restrictive as it requires more real estate such as a separate indicator display and is not a universal solution for countries that use do not use roman alphabet.

the key to use of this warning light is properly educating drivers of this and all warning lights and what to do when the lights illuminate.
 
unfortunately, a TPMS warning light is difficult to design. how many ways can you design an underinflated, monochromatic, negative-space, universal language, tire icon? i hate to be the designer who had to come up with that one.

i've seen many cars with warning text which is a better solution however it is restrictive as it requires more real estate such as a separate indicator display and is not a universal solution for countries that use do not use roman alphabet.

the key to use of this warning light is properly educating drivers of this and all warning lights and what to do when the lights illuminate.

I think an outline of a tire with big offroad treds from the side that looks like it has a flat would make more sense to me.
 
The key for recognition of any light is for drivers to read their owner's manual. It's all in there, but people can't be bothered. Then we get threads like, I disconnected my battery and now my windows don't work in auto etc.
 
The key for recognition of any light is for drivers to read their owner's manual. It's all in there, but people can't be bothered. Then we get threads like, I disconnected my battery and now my windows don't work in auto etc.

When in doubt I always refer to the manual, but I can agree with that the symbol isn't a good choice for low tire pressure.
 
I've often thought most idiot lights weren't nearly as universally recognized as they could be. Take the check engine light.... how many of your average drivers could recognize the outline of a motor in profile? Or the oil pressure light.... looks like something that a genie will come out of when you rub it. Or the water temp light...

Sure, once you know what they are, you can decipher the logic behind it, but that kind of defeats the whole purpose of the "idiot light"
 
i had no idea what it was, never had a car with it. i could pick the light out now, but if i had seen it before i read this i would be likw wtf? and grab the manual. call me an idiot idc.
 
They need an LCD screen instead of a light cluster that flashes.
PUT AIR IN YOUR ******* TIRES BEFORE THE TRUCK FLIPS b****!

and of coarse a Spanish button
 
Last edited:
That's actually an interesting point. IIRC on my Contour all of the idiot lights were just text.
 
It's not called an "idiot" light for nothing. Realistically, you could put a scrolling neon display on the visor that said "YOUR TIRE PRESSURE IS LOW, MORON" with a bunch of strobe lights flashing around it and have a mecahnical arm with a boxing glove pop out of the headrest to punch you in the back of the head until you acknowledge the warning, and 37% of drivers still wouldn't get it.
 
Back