Drivers baffled by mysterious car ceiling button and what it means
As a driver, understanding how to properly operate your vehicleis one of the most crucial responsibilities. However, keeping track of all the various buttons and features in your carcan prove far more confusing than anticipated. With so many buttons in modern vehicles, most drivers steer clear of touching anything unfamiliar, just in case it triggers something unintended.
But occasionally, these mysterious buttons might be more useful than you'd imagine. Taking to Reddit's 'What is this' forum, one car owner shared a photograph of a button on what appears to be the interior ceiling of their vehicle, displaying a picture of a car with both front doors open and the word 'off' written to the right-hand side.
"I bought a car but I have no idea what this button [does]! Can anyone tell [me] please," they wrote in the caption of the post, as they asked fellow users what the button's purpose was.
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While some were equally baffled as the car's owner, others were quickly able to provide an answer for the new car owner.
This button controls the automatic interior lights. When activated (ON/Door mode), the interior lights turn on when a door is opened, and switch off when it is closed. Setting it to OFF disables this automatic feature.
According to the Cars and Vehicle thread on Gumtree, many modern vehicles have this setting. These buttons are typically located at the driver's dome light position and rear cabin area, they added.
They continued to clarify that these interior reading lights fulfil several functions in contemporary UK vehicles, including delivering primary cabin lighting for night-time driving.
In higher-end models, they're frequently combined with sunroof and blind controls.
These interior lights illuminate when any door is opened, including the boot on estate vehicles, and stay on for a predetermined period after the ignition is switched off.
This duration differs according to the manufacturer of the vehicle in question. The lights subsequently switch off once the engine is started or following a timeout interval.
Responding to the Reddit post, one person commented: "Those buttons are really frustrating when you accidentally press them and have no idea that option was available.
"Suddenly your interior lights don't come on or the rear hatch won't open by itself."
When questioned by users why the car owner hadn't consulted the vehicle manual to work out the answer, the person responded: "I have read the owner's manual but in the manual it says there should be a button for the alarm's motion sensor where this button is and nowhere does it mention the button I posted a picture of. I just got my license and this is my first car."
Another user remarked: "To be fair, I've driven 100s of cars in my lifetime and have never seen this particular switch. I've seen switches with similar functions, but never that iconography."