On October 20, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published draft versions of five mandatory national standards for public comment. One of them concerns a small blue light that many people see on the road every day.
It is still only a draft. The comment period runs until December 19, 2026, and the drafting notes propose implementation from January 1, 2028. Under the wording of this draft, the blue lights currently shining on the road fall squarely into the category that would be forbidden.
1. This color was never meant for civilian cars
The colors allowed for exterior lighting on civilian vehicles are spelled out in the current mandatory national standard, GB 4785—2019: white, red, yellow and amber. Blue belongs to special vehicles such as police cars, fire engines and ambulances. Ordinary civilian passenger cars may not be fitted with continuously lit blue exterior lights.
The little blue lights on cars in recent years were never a compliant default state. They borrowed the color of special vehicles.
Most automakers did not design a separate lamp structure for them; they simply reused the mounting position of the car’s turn signals. The mounting point is legal, but the light source installed there is not in a color the standard permits.
The concept was proposed back in 2019 and written into recommended practice J3134 by SAE International. The suggested color at the time was cyan-green, precisely so it would be distinguishable from conventional vehicle lighting. From 2022, production models began carrying the feature, and more than ten brands followed.
The answer given by this draft is to add “blue-green” to the color table, taking China’s vehicle lighting from four colors to five. The new color does not legitimize the old blue; it creates a different color altogether.
There is a companion requirement: under the draft’s wording, when a vehicle turns on a lighting device not defined by the standard in other situations, it must not use a color close to blue-green. Charging indicators, welcome lights, ambient lighting and aftermarket light strips will all have to give way.
2. Who may show the light is written into the liability column
The eligibility conditions below come from the draft, not from current rules.
Wang Yu, vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Association of Productivity Promotion Centers, summed up the principle in four words: light on, liability shifts. When the indicator light is enabled must correspond strictly to the vehicle’s level of driving automation and the allocation of responsibility. In his words, with L2 assisted driving the driver still holds control, so an explicit external signal is inappropriate and would blur who is responsible. This light should be “a notice of responsibility,” not “a display of features.”
Under the draft, only vehicles with L3 or higher automated driving systems may optionally fit front, rear and side ADS marker lights; when a vehicle is at L2 or below, lighting them is prohibited. Even L3 vehicles are not required to install them.
The cars currently fitted with this light all run L2 assisted driving systems.
Only two models have actually obtained L3 approval and legal on-road pilots so far: the Changan Deepal SL03 and the Arcfox Alpha S. The former is restricted to designated expressway sections in Chongqing, the latter to certain highway sections in Beijing. Both are limited to specific roads, specific speeds and single-lane operation. Neither is a mass-production version sold to ordinary consumers; they operate only as pilots within designated areas.
3. The switch is not in human hands
The draft stipulates that when L3 or higher automated driving is activated, all ADS marker lights come on automatically at the same time and stay lit for the duration. When the system disengages, all marker lights go out automatically at the same time. Manual switching on or off is prohibited throughout.
The provisions leave no manual option for the driver.
4. Why it has taken until now
This is not the first attempt to write the matter into a standard.
In 2021, the ministry issued a draft on related requirements proposing that L3 and higher automated vehicles be equipped with marker lights. But in GB 5920—2024, officially released in 2024, those clauses were deleted entirely. That part of the standard has remained blank, while automakers kept fitting the lights.
The China Automotive Standardization Research Institute put the problem in concrete terms: blue lights glowing at night can dazzle other road users. Some describe them as “brighter than taillights,” interfering with nearby drivers’ judgment of the road. More troublesome is road behavior: cars with the light keep a larger following distance and tend to yield when someone tries to cut in. As a result, some drivers deliberately cut in front of blue-lit cars or tail them closely, treating them as easy targets to test.
Then in July, when applications opened for the ministry’s 410th batch of motor vehicle product announcements, new models with factory-fitted external blue automated-driving status lights failed to pass review. The research institute subsequently confirmed the problem of misuse of such lighting.
The standard is still some distance from taking effect. This comment period ends December 19, 2026, and the drafting notes propose implementation only on January 1, 2028. Vehicles already on the road will not have to be modified and can continue to be used legally; automakers must wait for follow-up implementation rules from the competent authorities.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7699096926562320959/