1. A self-driving vehicle (SDV) comprising: a sensor system comprising one or more sensors generating sensor data corresponding to a surrounding area of the SDV; acceleration, steering, and braking systems; a lighting strip viewable from the surrounding area of the SDV; a control system comprising one or more processors executing an instruction set that causes the control system to: process the sensor data to autonomously control the acceleration, steering, and braking systems along a current route; based on the current route, dynamically determine a set of immediate actions to be performed by the SDV; initiate a preemptive signaling mode to generate a set of intention outputs on the lighting strip based on the set of immediate actions, the set of intention outputs indicating the set of immediate actions prior to the SDV executing the set of immediate actions; execute the set of immediate actions using the acceleration, braking, and steering systems; and while executing the set of immediate actions, initiate a reactive signaling mode to generate a corresponding set of reactive outputs to indicate the set of immediate actions being executed, the corresponding set of reactive outputs replacing the set of intention outputs.