Debate Erupts Over Banning Smart Driving's Blue Light Over Safety and Compliance Concerns

The Intelligent Driving Status Indicator Light—commonly known as the "Smart Driving Blue Light"—has recently drawn widespread public attention. Initially introduced by Li Auto on its L9 model, this light is designed to signal to other road users that the vehicle is operating in an intelligent driving assistance mode. As vehicles become increasingly electrified and intelligent, numerous new models across various price ranges have begun incorporating this feature. However, practical use has revealed several safety concerns associated with the light. Currently, automakers lack unified standards regarding the brightness, mounting position, and flashing logic of the blue indicator light. At night, it can produce glare that distracts or impairs the vision of other drivers. Additionally, vehicles displaying the blue light often experience aggressive lane-cutting or tailgating, heightening traffic risks. From a regulatory standpoint, China’s current national standards governing external lighting and light-signaling devices for motor vehicles and trailers permit only white, red, yellow, and amber lights on civilian vehicles; blue lights are reserved exclusively for emergency or special-purpose vehicles. While no specific regulations yet address the Smart Driving Blue Light, existing national standards effectively prohibit automakers from installing external lighting devices that fall outside the approved color spectrum. Moreover, some automakers have leveraged this light as a marketing tool, potentially misleading consumers into overestimating their vehicle’s autonomous driving capabilities. All mass-produced models currently equipped with this indicator feature only Level 2 advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), which do not possess true self-driving capability. If drivers relax their vigilance simply because the blue light is illuminated, accident risk could increase significantly.