Apparently, Hyundai (and perhaps others) needs to be more liberal with brake light logic:
They make money selling replacement parts from minor car accidents. There is little incentive to fix this. I can imagine some out sourced software people saying that it meets the specification of NOT requiring brake lights when using an engine brake system.
Drivers should still pay attention even when there are no brake lights on the car in front.
Brake light should be on when stopped, since sometimes people forget to turn their brake lights on at night.
He goes on to say that in Europe regulations forbid using regenerative braking to activate brake lights. They might want to use the same brake system in the US and in Europe and be compliant in both without any changes.
Would not happen. Software boffins don’t get the final say in meeting government fmvss standards.
Brake lights are not switched by the headlight controls. They are switched by the brake pedal of regen braking in EVs or hybrids based on decceleration rates.
Taillights are switched by headlight controls. Many people with DRLs forget to turn their headlights on at night because they see headlights… dim headlights since DRLs are wired in series not parallel.
And finally, every auto engineer and beancounter wishes the car buying nations of the world would settle on a single standard. Its been 139 years waiting for this. Not bloody likely
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Using regenerative braking isn’t applying the brake pedal
commercial truck drivers slow the vehicle down all the time without applying the brake pedal
What’s next . . . ?
Are you going to suggest software that activates brake lights when downshifting to slow the car down . . . ?!
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Anybody else remember when dodge or Plymouth were the first to have that third brake light on their trunk? Had to have been the late 40 s or early 50 s. I would agree though it is best to not rely on brake light signals. Like yesterday when they come on it may be in a screeching panic stop from 70 miles an hour. Several times I have seen a dust cloud ahead warning of cars piling up before I could see the brake lights.
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I don’t recall the early versions. But the third brake light requirement imo is one of the most effective gov’t required safety gadgets.
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Pretty good looking car. And third brake light, good for Plymouth’s design team.
Yeah that’s it. Push the brake pedal and a few seconds later the light comes on due to the six volt system. Nice car.
If the center brake light doesn’t turn on during engine braking, how does it relate to the discussion?
The rear bumper? Tain’t nothing better!
No, George. That one center brake light on the late '40s-early '50s Chrysler products was their ONLY brake light. I think that you’re likely as old as I am, so I’m surprised that you don’t recall that detail.
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Ok good one. I never would have guessed. I suppose they spent 75 cents for the brake light but otherwise would have had to rewire the tail lights. So a win win. Did they even have dual element bulbs back then?
It was 1949.
Here are some more photos of that Beautiful '48… This is not saying that the Plymouths were the only ones to have a center Brake light nor that they were the first… I do not know either way, but I do know how to appreciate the styling of this automobile…
Enjoy!
It was typical Chrysler Corp styling of the period, not at all stylish.
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Well I liked them. Coulda bought one back in 1965 for $100. Didn’t want to spend the money. Saving for school.
I am not sure of what to make of your remark, whether it’s “styling” or “stylish,” I consider almost all of the vehicles of that era as beautiful… Well the '55 and '56 Chevys beat out the '57 by a mile (my opinion and I know I am in a minority…), but the Twin “Ray Guns” on the hood and the “wings” made for a vehicle that only “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” could love… Like they say, “the face only a mother could love…”
I had friends who had '57s and some of them drilled/ground/filed out the “Ray Guns” and mounted RED Tinted lights behind them…
That $100 was about two-weeks pay (minimum wages) back then and it would have bought you a car that you could drive for quite some time… Now, what will two-weeks pay (minimum wages $1,000 to $1,200…) buy you?
80 hours at $1.25 but to put it in perspective, tuition was $425 a semester. Them were the days.