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The standardised dashboard tell-tales drivers most often need to tell apart quickly — several share a colour, shape family or general warning register, and several documented pairs are commonly confused with each other (see the brake-system-vs-ABS comparison).
An amber or red dashboard icon shaped like an engine block, indicating a detected vehicle malfunction.
A red oil-can-shaped dashboard icon warning of critically low engine oil pressure or level.
A red battery-shaped dashboard icon warning that the vehicle's charging system, not necessarily the battery itself, has a fault.
A thermometer-in-liquid dashboard icon, red for overheating and (on some vehicles) blue for an engine that is still too cold.
A red circle-and-exclamation-mark dashboard icon, often flanked by curved brackets, warning of a parking-brake or hydraulic brake-system fault.
An amber dashboard icon reading 'ABS' inside an oval, warning of a fault in the anti-lock braking system.
A dashboard icon of a seated figure with an airbag outline in front of them, warning of a fault in the airbag/supplemental restraint system.
A red or amber dashboard icon of a seated figure wearing a diagonal belt line, reminding an occupant to fasten their seatbelt.
An amber dashboard icon shaped like a tyre's cross-section with an exclamation mark, warning of significantly low tyre pressure.
An amber fuel-pump-nozzle dashboard icon, sometimes with a small arrow, warning that fuel level is low.
An amber dashboard icon of a car with skid lines beneath it, warning of a fault in the vehicle's electronic stability or traction control system.
An amber dashboard icon of a windscreen with spray dots, warning that windscreen washer fluid is low.
A steering-wheel dashboard icon, sometimes marked 'EPS' or with an exclamation mark, warning of reduced or lost power-steering assistance.