I think it's mostly because the eye is drawn to motion/change, which hijacks your attention. When the turning light is blinking on-off, it only distracts you fo

I think it's mostly because the eye is drawn to motion/change, which hijacks your attention. When the turning light is blinking on-off, it only distracts you for a fraction of a second each time it blinks, while alerting you to the driver's intention. The animated turning lights are in motion closer to 90% of the time, so it takes a second to tell you what blinking light tells you in 10 milliseconds, and uses far too much of your attention bandwidth compared to how much information it conveys. I think they should be illegal. The light should alert you and let you focus attention elsewhere, not mesmerize you with useless fanciness.