Flashing brake lights
Discussion
I was travelling south on the M6 this morning, as I do every day, mostly alert but admittedly in a bit of auto-pilot. There was the usual brake lights and domino effect throughout the journey, but at one point I noticed in the distance some flashing LED brake-lights. They made me pay a bit more attention and I immediately backed-off the accelerator and covered my brake, even though this car was about 20 ahead of me.
Lo-and-behold, everyone slammed on and came to a halt because of the obvious hazard that is an accident on the opposite carriageway. I was impressed with the flashing brake lights as they obviously stood out more than standard brake lights and made me (and hopefully other drivers) prepare to brake earlier.
The only cars I could see that may have had these flashing brake-lights were a new 5-series and a 10-plate Passat CC. But Wikipedia states that BMW use 'growing' brake lights and VW use flashing hazards, and the only manufacturer to use flashing brake lights is Mercedes.
Anyway - good idea?
Lo-and-behold, everyone slammed on and came to a halt because of the obvious hazard that is an accident on the opposite carriageway. I was impressed with the flashing brake lights as they obviously stood out more than standard brake lights and made me (and hopefully other drivers) prepare to brake earlier.
The only cars I could see that may have had these flashing brake-lights were a new 5-series and a 10-plate Passat CC. But Wikipedia states that BMW use 'growing' brake lights and VW use flashing hazards, and the only manufacturer to use flashing brake lights is Mercedes.
Anyway - good idea?
Bad idea (for me at least). I was informed that longer periods of gentle braking caused more brake wear than shorter periods of heavier braking, and have always braked more heavily initially before easing off the brakes as I came to a stop (obviously only were appropriate, and not when I had passengers or when I had someone tailgating).
So for me personally, having the hazards or rear brake light strobes going off would be annoying.
I do not want my car assuming things and doing things that I do not tell it to do!
So for me personally, having the hazards or rear brake light strobes going off would be annoying.
I do not want my car assuming things and doing things that I do not tell it to do!
Codswallop said:
Bad idea (for me at least). I was informed that longer periods of gentle braking caused more brake wear than shorter periods of heavier braking, and have always brake more heavily initially before easing off the brakes as I came to a stop (obviously only were appropriate, and not when I had passengers or when I had someone tailgating).
So for me personally, having the hazards or rear brake light strobes going off would be annoying.
I do not want my car assuming things and doing things that I do not tell it to do!
So you cause the phantom traffic jams. This is how they start.So for me personally, having the hazards or rear brake light strobes going off would be annoying.
I do not want my car assuming things and doing things that I do not tell it to do!
Codswallop said:
Bad idea (for me at least). I was informed that longer periods of gentle braking caused more brake wear than shorter periods of heavier braking, and have always braked more heavily initially before easing off the brakes as I came to a stop (obviously only were appropriate, and not when I had passengers or when I had someone tailgating).
So for me personally, having the hazards or rear brake light strobes going off would be annoying.
I do not want my car assuming things and doing things that I do not tell it to do!
You'd have to stomp on the brakes pretty heavily to trigger them.So for me personally, having the hazards or rear brake light strobes going off would be annoying.
I do not want my car assuming things and doing things that I do not tell it to do!
surveyor said:
Codswallop said:
Bad idea (for me at least). I was informed that longer periods of gentle braking caused more brake wear than shorter periods of heavier braking, and have always brake more heavily initially before easing off the brakes as I came to a stop (obviously only were appropriate, and not when I had passengers or when I had someone tailgating).
So for me personally, having the hazards or rear brake light strobes going off would be annoying.
I do not want my car assuming things and doing things that I do not tell it to do!
So you cause the phantom traffic jams. This is how they start.So for me personally, having the hazards or rear brake light strobes going off would be annoying.
I do not want my car assuming things and doing things that I do not tell it to do!
Lastly, I always strive to maintain the 2 second gap on motorways, which ensures that I rarely need to use my brakes at all as I have something you seem to lack judging by how you read my post: observation.
ArsE92 said:
Anyway - good idea?
Yes. I've thought for a while that it would be useful if the brake lights gave more information than just on or off. I'd like to know ASAP that the car in front has slammed on the anchors rather than just touched them. Would also be useful if you could turn the feature off, otherwise it could be annoying on a track day!FreiWild said:
You'd have to stomp on the brakes pretty heavily to trigger them.
Good to know, thank you. Does it maybe working depending on how quickly you depress the brake? I'm sure I read somewhere that the hazard system on the Citroen C2 used to work by measuring how quickly you went from throttle to hard on brakes (like in an emergency situation potentially, or maybe a trackday 
)Fartgalen said:
Maximum Bobs said:
I bet they're not fun to look at when stuck behind for 20 minutes in non moving traffic because their owner is too stupid to use the handbrake.
They only flash under particularly heavy braking.I'm not sure if they flash when the ABS is activated ?
Codswallop said:
Good to know, thank you. Does it maybe working depending on how quickly you depress the brake? I'm sure I read somewhere that the hazard system on the Citroen C2 used to work by measuring how quickly you went from throttle to hard on brakes (like in an emergency situation potentially, or maybe a trackday )
Something similare on infamous prius)Apparantly if you move your foot from accellerator to brake pedal in less than so many milliseconds it thinks oh dear
It applies emergency brake assist and holds the brakes on until you take your foot off. Too many people in an emergency either dont brake as hard as they could or take their foot off when they feel the ABS modulating the pedal.
sparkyhx said:
Didn't some kid come up with the idea a few years ago around indicating how hard people were braking.
I think he won some invention award.
It was then picked up by motor manufacturers.
It would also be handy if brake lights faded or something when you're stopped at traffic lights. I hate being behind people that sit on their ultra-bright LED brake lights when stopped, and now I drive an auto I feel really bad about doing it myself I think he won some invention award.
It was then picked up by motor manufacturers.
Noticed this the other day on the M6 following an Insignia. I was a good distance behind but had noted he was following the guy in front a little closely, inevitable massive slowing down in front of him and he anchored up pretty hard, his brake lights then started flashing rapidly and they also seemed to go brighter than normal. It certainly made me notice what was going on much quicker so good idea as far as I'm concerned.
Maty said:
Noticed this the other day on the M6 following an Insignia. I was a good distance behind but had noted he was following the guy in front a little closely, inevitable massive slowing down in front of him and he anchored up pretty hard, his brake lights then started flashing rapidly and they also seemed to go brighter than normal. It certainly made me notice what was going on much quicker so good idea as far as I'm concerned.
Yep, I've seen this on Vauxhalls too. It's like following an F1 car - sort off :-)Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff