What is the difference between position lights and clearance lights?
3 Answers
Position lights and clearance lights are the same. Here is more information about position lights: 1. Position lights, also called clearance lights, refer to lamps installed at high points on the front and rear of a vehicle, similar to anti-collision lights mounted on aircraft wingtips. 2. They mainly serve to indicate a vehicle's width and height during driving in conditions like dusk, cloudy days, or rainy/foggy weather, helping drivers judge relative positions and vehicle sizes during encounters or overtaking. Typically, position lights are white at the front and red at the rear. Additional lighting types and functions include: 1. Brake lights: Warn following vehicles or pedestrians; 2. Turn signals: Alert surrounding vehicles and pedestrians.
Having driven for over a decade, I often get asked this. Actually, position lights and clearance lights are the same thing—it's like one person having two names. Their main purpose is to let vehicles in front and behind see your outline at night or in foggy conditions. Those yellow or white lights on both sides at the front of the car are them. Traffic regulations clearly state that these lights must be turned on at night, otherwise you'll be fined. Once, I forgot to turn them on while driving at night, and seeing the dark outline of my car in the rearview mirror almost gave me a scare. Now, turning them on has become a habit as soon as I get in the car. Some new cars combine this function with daytime running lights, but the principle remains the same—to display the width of the car and prevent scraping accidents. Safety is the most important thing.
Working at an auto repair shop, we often encounter car owners confusing these two names. Essentially, there's no difference between position lights and contour lights - both refer to those small bulbs installed at the corners of the bumper. Turning them on during bad weather helps others accurately judge your vehicle's width. Last year while repairing a female customer's car, we noticed her contour light bulb was burnt out but she hadn't paid attention. This nearly caused a rear-end collision when she changed lanes in the rain. Nowadays, some new models use LED light strips instead of traditional bulbs, but their function remains unchanged: making the vehicle's outline recognizable from 150 meters away. Remind everyone to regularly check these small lights - replacing a bulb only costs about 20-30 yuan.
