About two months ago, I was travelling in stop and go traffic on the highway. A Ford F-250 was in the lane to my right. As my lane was picking up speed, his lane was slowing down. Suddenly, he changed lanes right in front of me, causing me to slam on the brakes, narrowly avoiding an accident. Although he did have his turn signal on, I did not see it, due to it being the same color as his on/off brake lights. To add on to that, he had his taillights on, making his turn signal indistinguishable from his running lights in broad daylight. After researching, I concluded I would have been at fault if I had hit his truck, even though he dangerously switched lanes with a barely visible turn signal. I assume the reason I did not anticipate his maneuver is because my brain recognized the dim turn signal as the driver tapping on his brakes (as one often does in stop/go traffic). It should not be legal for car manufactures to piggy back turn signals onto brake lights. Additionally, when a car (this F-250 for example) uses a single bulb for three purposes (brake/turn/tail lamp), it creates confusion that could result in an accident or even death. Orange/yellow/amber turn signals reduce the time for the brain to realize this car is intending to turn. At highway speeds, even a fraction of a second could mean avoiding a deadly accident. After looking into this, I realized my own car has the same setup! (2013 Volkswagen tiguan). This is unacceptable! I have had many instances of confusion over this, but this close call brought me to say something over this lack of effort to protect american drivers. This needs to be addressed properly, as it is a simple regulation that could help save lives. I found out that american/Canada are the only countries that do not mandate amber turn signals. Please take the time to protect american drivers and future generations.

- Santa Cruz, CA, USA