Here Are Two Small But Annoying Automotive Pet Peeves Of Mine

I’ve never really liked the term “pet peeve.” It always sounded like the type of thing a sort of fussy person would keep track of in a little leather-bound journal, and that’s not really who I want to be. But, the word is useful in its specificity: some little habit or detail or practice that just rubs you wrong, and you end up making those annoyances your own special little irritants. They’re pet peeves, after all, and as pets, they need attention and need to be fed. So, that’s what I’m going to do right now, with two automotive pet peeves of mine!

A pet peeve generally is something sort of trivial, not Earth-shaking, and I think that qualifies for the ones I feel a need to share with you today, because, objectively, they’re not big things at all, and I should just get over it.

But I can’t. They don’t stop annoying me. So let me vent them out here, and hopefully I’ll be free!

Peeve One: Rear Windows Are Not “Windshields”

I feel like I encounter this one a lot, and every time I hear it, I wince a bit. And it’s not like it’s uncommon, or not accepted in general use. I know automotive designers like to call it a “backlight” but I always found that a strange and slightly confusing term, though it is better than “DLO” or “daylight opening” which just sounds like what an alien might call a window, were they unfamiliar with the concept.

I think the reason I don’t like “rear windshield” is because it simply isn’t a shield, dammit, not in the way a windshield is. The windshield literally shields you from the wind, from the air you’re pushing out of the way as you drive forward. The rear window? It just doesn’t do that. Well, I guess in reverse it does, a bit, but by that logic we’d call back-up lights “rear headlights” and no one does that.

This is a little thing, I know, but I feel like I can always spot someone who does not care about cars if they call a back window a “rear windshield.” Does that make me a dickhead? Does anyone else understand what I’m talking about here? I hope so.

Peeve Two: Using Clear Bulbs Instead of Amber Bulbs In Clear-Lensed Turn Indicators

Okay, this is a taillight-related peeve, so you know it’s important. I was reminded of this one again when I saw this Kia Soul the other day:

See what’s going on there? This one car is an object lesson in what I’m talking about. When car designers want an amber turn indicator – front or rear – but don’t necessarily want a big amber lens, they will often have a clear lens with an amber bulb inside, a compromise to get the proper color of light without all the bright visual orange some people – especially a lot of designers – seem to want to avoid.

When they do this, there’s a sort of unspoken agreement between you and the designer that when those bulbs need changing, you’ll find replacement amber bulbs and not just throw in some clear bulb, which hasn’t been the legal color of turn indicators since 1962. It’s like the people who don’t play ball here are going to ruin the concept of clear lens/amber bulb for everyone with this bullshit, because this lack of shit-givery is how we get mandated lens colors, people.

And let’s not forget the troubles we went through just getting from white to amber:

It wasn’t easy!

That Kia up there had one amber bulb and one clear one: for fuck’s sake, Kia owner, stop being so lazy! Where’s your sense of taillight dignity?

Man, after writing these out, they really do seem fussy and trivial. But I guess that’s the nature of a pet peeve, right?

Okay, now tell me yours! Make mine seem less inane, please?

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