Oops, Ford did it again!

Two posts about bad design from Ford Motor Company in a row, that should be a record. Some days ago I went to have dinner at Vips (they make very good enchiladas suizas). At the payment booth I crashed into a 5 door Ford Focus, it was nothing serious, it was just a bumper touch... the car in front of me just paid and started to move (So did I) and then suddenly stopped. They didn't even get out of the car and left. Anyway, I looked at the car and realized that the tail lights are not at the normal place... they are higher at the window poles and there's nothing, not even a small reflector around the booth.

I don't know if there is a SAE standard about the correct position and height for signal and tail lights... but I remember that some of the firsts SUV's also had tail lights on the window poles... but they also had the normal ones. Even big trucks and buses have tail lights at an average height of normal cars, and the little ones at the top corners. So, I think there must be a "norm" for that range.

Strictly from an ergonomic point of view, stop and tail lights have two work scenarios: - By day, other drivers have good visibility of the whole car, so they only serve to signal a stop or a turn to others. -By night, they also serve another function... that of marking the size of the car, and give others a reference of where are the other cars. If the tail lights are above the normal height, they might give the impression that the car is further away, or that the street has a different level... or many other false interpretations about the size, position and whereabouts of that car, i.e. those tail lights are not serving the function they have by night. In conclusion: very bad idea! bad design! two thumbs down to ford (again)!

There's also a bright side about cars sometimes, like today. My business partner Raul, bought a mini cooper with a very classic combination: red with white top. We went to have dinner to celebrate, and I should tell you that it is in deed a very nice car and amazingly comfortable inside. It was worth the wait of almost a month to get it.

ciao