One of the key factors when driving your Toyota is safety. This is especially important at night since there is very low visibility, thus making driving more difficult if not dangerous. However, your car comes equipped with a lighting system to cope with this problem. Your car has many lights installed both in its interior and exterior frame that help improve the visibility both of your car and the road. And one such example of a lighting component in your Toyota is the Toyota Turn Signal Assembly.



Also known by the names directional indicators or directional signals, indicators, directionals, blinkers, or flashers, the turn signal light is a key component in the lighting system of any car today. What makes the turn signal light so important is that it serves as a signal to other drivers on the road whenever you are going to make a left or right turn. Whenever you turn on the turn signal light, it blinks to the direction where you are planning to drive your car, thus making the drivers both behind and in front of your car know what direction your car is headed and it lets them plan accordingly. Turn signal lights are often mounted on the four corners of the car for this purpose, though there are also some models, such as SUVs, that feature turn signals that mounted in the side mirrors of the car. In addition, the Toyota Turn Signal Assembly is required by international safety standards to blink on and off, or "flash", at a constant rate of between 60 and 120 blinks per minute. Such regulations also require that all turn signals must be activated at the same time and flash in the same phase with one another. And what’s more, international regulations also state an audiovisual notice when the turn signals are activated. This often takes the form of one combined or separate left and right green indicator lights on the vehicle's control panel, and a tick-tock noise generated electromechanically or electronically.

The Toyota Turn Signal Assembly is often activated by means of a horizontal lever protruding from the side of the steering column, though there are some cars that have the lever mounted instead to the dashboard. However, in nearly all left-hand drive cars, the lever is on the left side of the column, and the driver pushes the lever up to activate the right turn signal, or down to activate the left. Right-hand drive cars, in the other hand, the location of the signal lever varies by model. When the lever is on the right side of the column, the lever is moved down to signal a right turn, up to signal a left. The direction in which the lever must be moved must be innate, in which the lever must be turned to signal in the same direction as the steering wheel must be turned for the car to make either a left or a right turn. And what’s more, almost all cars have a self-canceling feature that returns the lever to the neutral (no signal) position as the steering wheel approaches the straight-ahead position after a turn has been done.