I think this is an excellent idea. Mainly because I had the same thought a couple of years ago. This just proves my own genius. HahaSeriously, this should be easy to do and would save hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

I had a very similar idea! I'm not sure you need 10 levels of breaking, perhaps 4, 5, or 6 would do, but I really think it would be great to distinguish between someone trying to subtly slow down because they see a police car a quarter mile down the road between someone slamming on the breaks to avoid an animal or whatnot. This would be great with night time driving when visibility is poor beyond the car in front of you, or in heavy traffic when everyone is so close you can't see the break lights of any other car but the one in front of you.

While we're at it, we should also encourage manufacturers to add high-mount brake indicators on the front of the car(say upper corners of windshield). I wonder how many collisions occur because someone "thought the other guy was going to stop?"

This is a great idea. BMW has a similar concept in their 2004 cars. Under hard braking the tail lights illuminate brighter than normal. This is possible because the 2004 BMWs use LED tail lights instead of incandescent bulbs.

Very good idea. Wonder why we haven't seen this before? I seem to remember reading about something similar in the past. In fact, I seem to remember seeing it on some show car many years ago. Has anyone done a USPTO search to see if this already exists (pretty sure it does).

Apparently US Patent 6,573,830 indicates something very similar. No strobe for emergency braking though, and the brake light illuminates from left and right moving to the center. My recommendation is to go from left to right (in the US and other left to right reading countries, vice versa in other countries). Also, I think a flashing strobe is essential for emergency braking. Thanks for all the feedback!

The simple electronics needed to do this could also disable the brake lights when the vehicle is accelerating. Constantly glowing brake lights are as confusing as turn signals that are always on.

Given that:1.people mostly drive by their own comfort level, not by perceived risk to others2.people perceive objects distance and speed by their rate of change of sizeThe design could be enhanced as follows: under moderate braking the light circle could be moderate size and grow moderately quickly. Under heavy braking, the light circle could start very small and grow quickly to big and bright.

The idea is to induce a slight "Wow! something's coming right at me!" when braking is heavy. During the daytime, the effect would be attention-getting, but quickly resolved by the sight of the larger automobile body. A disproportionate number of rear-end collisions happen during the daytime, anyway.

One more thing -- most rear-end collisions happen because the driver isn't even looking in the direction of the car in front. What about involving another sense? Hearing? (Smell seems a little TOO non-directional.)

Say, a rear-facing horn with a distinctive tone? Or, maybe, a jet of water to harmlessly impact the windshield and get them to LOOK! :0

Great idea.

This is a practical idea that provides information without taking over the driving (which is impractical from a technical and more importantly from a liability standpoint). The Thunderbird aerobatic team can fly within feet of one another at over 400 miles per hour because they know what each other are doing. If that is brought to the highway the rear-end collisions will be reduced.

NHTSA studies indicate that 88% of rear-end collisions caused by a combination of insufficient following distance and inattention. With rear-end collisions representing about 28% of all vehicle collisions nationwide. In California 36% of fotal and injury collisions are rear-end collisions.

One suggestion is that the hard braking information should be transmitted rearwardly so that vehicles which can not see what is ahead (behind an SUV or in fog) are alerted to danger.

One can also add other indications to increase the safety and awareness of the driver.

As for patentability though, you may be bit late as we are currently getting claims allowed on a patent that does what you describe. This was published August of last year on an application filed in 1999. See patent publication US 2002/0105423 - you can find it on www.uspto.gov in the search pages.

While the functionality of the idea is right on, a good portion of the car consumers value aesthetics and image over certain safety features. In order for the majority of drivers who can't see, don't pay attention, have poor perception, or generally don't have a clue to properly evaluate a 'metered' type system, would require a large display.

I like what BMW has done with varying the intensity of the brake light. Perhaps an improvement could be an intensity varied (light) system based not only on braking speed but in combination with proximity as well.

Not to be a party pooper,but I have to disagree. Although your idea sounded interesting at first the more I think about it the more I realize it could be more harmful than helpful. By allowing drivers the ability to view the braking intensity of the car in front of them gives the driver following too much information. The idea of a brake light is to show caution. Varying degrees of caution is more info than what a driver following may need given that he/she might follow too closely behind thinking the scene is safer than it is.

While this is a good idea, the real problem is that the car ahead needs to transmit to the car behind it's speed, distance how rapidly it is slowing. With bluetooth and other technology this transmission should be easy to accomplish. Once the car behind is warned that the car ahead is slowing and/or that a colision is imminent then the car behind can signal an audio warning to the driver to take action.

How about an amber light to indicate that the driver's taken his foot off the gas pedal ?

Good idea!

I have had similar thoughts in the past - and I want to add a refinement. The brakelight (or at least one/some segments of it) should be made to automatically blink for 2-4 seconds when the brake is applied, so the driver behind is alerted (blinking is more attention catching) to the fact brakes are being applied on the vehicle in front.

This will replace the need for tapping the brake to alert the car behind.

This idea was published on www.ukonline.gov.uk 2 years ago by "sweetheart".. and is referencable at the british library. Exactly this idea plus the principal of having a bar of green LED's indicating by the number of LED's lit the 10's of miles per hour the vehicle is travelling.

The principal discussion at that time was how to reinforce speed limits around schools where the idea presented was to have a low-power transmitter of radio frequency (range 100 meters) to speed governors in vehicles passing by... that way there would not be 100 percent speed governance, but relevant speed controls where we ALL agree it is critical....

Just so the yanks don't think they invented the unviverse.. they didn't.. thought i'm a yank in britian... best regards.

-s

In Germany, when traffic suddenly slows down, it is common practice to turn on your warning lights to warn drivers behind you of your decreased speed. Since this involves you slowing down quickly, then taking your eye off the road to find your warning light and press it, my idea was to make these lights come on automatically when the brakes are applied with a certain force. Because this is a white or orange light, it catches the driver's attention far better than simply a stronger red light.

You could extend this idea to provide all sorts of useful information to the driver behind you...

"Idiot on a cellphone""Random lane-changer""I don't know where the turn signals/indicators are""Driver receiving gratification from front seat passenger"etc.

This needs to happen. I suggest that the colors vary from green to red with a few in between. What no one has mentioned is that this plan would greatly reduce gasoline usage as it would not be necessary to slam on the break at the slightest touch from the driver in front. It would also prevent some traffic jams because people would not have to send back a wave of breaking unless it was really necessary.

I think it's an excellent idea. It makes drivers' intentions and actions more visible.

Honestly, though, I think 3 lights or so would be better than 10. It would provide a similar level of deceleration "intensity" indication, while reducing the space the lights take up (for aesthetics reasons)...

As somebody commented above, sound/audio is also a good feedback mechanism. Although it isn't as "trace-able" as light - it would be a lot harder to determine the origin of the sound. Furthermore, it could cause even more "noise" pollution...

BUT - I think sound would be excellent INSIDE the car. Perhaps there could be some proximity indicator? The sound volume/pitch increases as some other object gets closer to the car.

That *may* be annoying in many cases: stop-go traffic, parking lots... Generally where cars are close together and not moving. So perhaps said proximity indicator could be based on the current speed of the car: the faster the car is moving, the greater the volume/pitch of the sound. Thus if a driver is hurtling down some road and is rapidly approaching a car in front, the audio kicks in and increasingly deafens the driver - until they slow down.

I think that this is a well-intentioned, but poor idea. Drivers face enough distractions on the road as it is. Having moving lights racing around the tails of the dozens of cars at any particular traffic light would be unnecessary light polution.

Brake lights are idiot lights. You know the brake pedal is depressed, but you cannot even tell if the car is actually braking or if its one of those moron two-foot drivers. And what about downshifting or emergency brake use?

As for varying the brightness of the tail-lights in response to braking force, there are too many variations of lens plastic, bulb brightness and ambient conditions (ie fog, white-outs) to make this worthwhile. Better to completely abandon brake lights and use radar.

This idea was actually tried out in San Francisco over 20 years ago. A fleet of Yellow cabs were equipped with a device with lights in the rear window that indicated hard breaking. It was tried for some time and was not pursued. I assume the test was not sucessful. Maybe people are just too wary of cabs to begin with.

How about brake lights in the front of the car? If I'm trying to make a left turn at a traffic light with oncoming traffic, I'd like to know if the person coming at me is slowing down or gunning it to make the light!!!

<a href="http://www.halfbakery.com/category/Car_3a_20Brake_20Lights>

Been there, done that.

The best way to do this is probably, as one has already said, to make the lights illuminate brighter the harder someone brakes. If you stick to the idea of having a "level meter" then it should fill int he upward direction not right or left (it is less ambiguous that way). Stobe lights are distracting as hell and should pobably not be used at all (usually in such a sudden braking situation there is lots of bad noise and fierce swerving you DON'T want to be distracted from).

I've been behind buses that had a series of lights at driver eyelevel:a constant green light appeared when in progress,a yellow light blinked when the bus slowed (brake pedal activated) it appeared solid as the bus decelerated (prolonged pedal activation)and became red when the bus stopped.I may have the progression wrong -but the concept seems to be/or has been trial tested already.I live in Conn. and have seen this locally

The idea sounds very feasible. I would use increased amounts of lights with higher speeds. It would make the following vehicle more aware of the required additional distance required to stop.

Good idea, but no secret in Detroit. In addition a timer shut-off on turn signals might prevent the neveerrrr ending blinker. (Perhaps followed by an audible alert for those who signal three miles in advance. Already used on some motorcycles.) I should also appreciate alerts to the driver when lights are blown out so the brake and turn signals in fact are functional. LEDs would give much greater bulb lifetimes.

French car makers have put in a feature that turns on hazard-warning signal flashers when the driver is braking heavily, to indicate that to the following traffic. To put on the hazard-warning signal flashers is a quite common precedure on the autobahn when approaching a traffic jam (for obvious reasons).

While this idea is off-topic, it is still interesting that BMW is doing a study on having the delimiters of the highway (you know what I mean, these white post on the right of a highway) flash a yellow warning light when there is a congestion or whatever ahead, so that drivers can prepare themselves and slow down graduatly.

As someone who has actually developed such a product, I would have to say that I agree that it's a great idea! We have secured a final US patent and anyone so interested could visit our website on www.intellibrake.com to read a little more. We address all the issues raised.

Although this is not a bad idea,,I think a more important idea is for straight drive cars to have an additional means of letting people know they are stopped!!!! Some people "ride" the clutch while at a light or stop sign or for any other reason there stopped & have no brake liight on to warn other drivers!!! This needs to be adressed & I find it hard to believe that it hasnt! When you push in cluth pedal & pc sees no vss then brake light should come on!! This would not be a hard thing to incorperate with electronics!!!! What yall think?Bill PowellASE master cert tech

less is more

o Why not make the idea generally applicable to acceleration as well as deceleration. It would be a useful to know that the guy in front of youis pulling away after a stop.

o Since I drive a stick shift and like many other stick shifters rely on down-shifting to achieve breaking under many situations, tying the lights to deceleration would be better than measuring actual break pressure applied.

Not left to right!

Go from the center outward in both directions for redundancy and to make it easier for drivers in the rear to see the intensity out of the corner of their eye. Left-to-rigth will cause drivers to scan across instead of keeping their gaze focused.

No reason why this cannot be implemented in a trial run to see how it fares. On a related note, I'd love to have manually adjustable brake lights to keep tailgaters at a nice distance

There was an Aston Martin concept car that had this in 1971! Can't find a picture but here is a reference. The page states: "The harder the driver braked, the more lights were illuminated.".

If I was close enough to your's or any car to see the squares changing I would be driving too close if it was at speed. Sounds like a 'get out of jail free card' excuse for drivers who drive to close to the car in front of them! What ever happened to driving at a safe braking distance for your speed behind the vehicle infront and allowing time to react safely?

The problem is people don't play the game and this sounds like an aid to pepetuate not driving at a safe distance. I have had an experience of both situations, causing an accident and being shunted from behind and braking lights are not the issue, it's not paying attention to the road conditions and driving too close to the car infront that causes these accidents.

I guess you have taken into account the possibility of strobe effects inducing epilepsy? Particularly at the 4hz range? How would this be overcome ?

In the 70's, a car design company called Olga design a car withj just this feature.

Depending on how far the brake pedal went down, lit the lights on the rear of the car.

Not sure what happened to this idea, but they also had a row of about 10 lights to show the force of braking.

Good idea. Let's retro-fit our cars if such a kit can be easily made. I'd do it, just to see the expression on the guy behind me!

I think having just 2 levels of brightness (like the one suggested used in BMWs, is sufficient. The higher level brake-light response can kick in as the car goes over 55 miles an hour. While it is surely better to have more information than we get from braking lights at present, the potential trouble with this idea is great since a variable brake light assures us of a higher level of safety, but conversely a highger risk-level when it doesn't work as designed. I have seen a big number of brand new audis out there which have malfunctioning brake lights (one side lights up, the other side doesn't).

I think Ned Harris is on the right path, but consider a small green accelerator light with the brake lights. When your foot is on the gas-- green. When foot is off the gas-- running lights only. When foot is on brake-- red. I suggested this to a car magazine a while back, but got no response. I think this would give more information to the follower: both green and red means you're following a two-footer or its Christmas.... In heavy traffic you would be able to see a sea of green ahead if all is well, then a shift to amber and then red as people brake. It could give you an additional second or two of warning, and be easy to implement, even aftermarket. Then of course you could put another switch on the floorboard under the accelerator for "pedal to the metal", or just rely on the Doppler Effect for a color shift....

Not sure if this is a new idea or an ajustment to yours...

I have a real hatred for being behind certain modern cars with bright brake lights - when we are all stationary in a traffic jam. The driver infront leaves their foot on the brake pedal and I get blinded. I have to close my eyes (I can still see the light through my eyelids) and wait for them to release the brake to move forward. We need to include intelligence into these brake lights that ideally detect a stationary car behind - and then turn themselves off or dim significantly. PLEASE !!!

Maybe the brake light could flash in the right sequence to relieve the suffering of the migraineur in the car behind (sorry GreyNewt, I had to make that wisecrack before someone else did)

leave the brake light alone and add a blinking light (LED probably) that blinks faster the more you are decelerating. Simple, provides the information you need, and can be incorporated into any existing vehicle design.

While it is a great idea, a simpler approach with very little modification to the existing configuration may be possible.

If you're driving at highway speeds and need to stop short, why not have the hazard lights triggered for say, 10-15 seconds to let motorists know that you've stopped short, or slowed significantly. We all have hazard lights on our cars, and we rarely use them. Why not put them to good use?! Any thoughts?

Good Idea

i like the idea, but dislike the side-to-side direction. i think it should illuminate outwards from the middle and the outer lights should be a brighter (or at least different) color.

Years ago I heard the idea bandied about of a three-tiered brake light system:

1) Green if the accelerator is engaged2) Amber if the accelerator is not engaged, but the brakes aren't being applied either.3) Red if the breaks are being applied. As others have suggested, perhaps the intensity of the red could be regulated relative to the amount of breaking being applied.

At the time, I think there were three big limitations:

1) The technology wasn't available in a practical way.2) How do you [retro] fit this back on to all existing vehicles?3) This would be a new system for drivers to adapt to. Could it be a smooth transition or would it cause a lot of problems until it became mainstream?

Yeah - very much been suggested and discussed elsewhere. See Brake lights have variable brightness to indicate speed of slow-down which was submitted to the Global Ideas Bank about three years ago......even before Half Bakery!

Good idea!

What about making the lights blink when the driver steps on the brakes? It gets a little more attention that way. It can also be very annoying, so maybe they can make the lights stop blinking when the car is not moving. What do you think about that?

It occurs to me that nothing about this idea changes someone's reaction time and, as such, it really doesn't solve the intended problem. Think about it: now I've got to interpret how "bright" a brake light is before deciding how to respond to it yet so many drivers already follow too close for their own reaction time abilities. And, if someone touches the brake lightly at first and I respond accordingly but moments later, they brake hard, will my mind adjust to the changed information fast enough or will I already be locked to assumptions based on the first indication?

Until drivers learn to pay attention and slow down it really won't matter what type of warning is given

I dunno if anyone has noticed this in their areas, but in my locale (Charleston, SC, USA) I see late model cars with blinking brake lights now all the time. I've always found it makes me more uncomfortable than a static intensity for some reason.

As for a rearward-projected horn, I would never hear it because of the volume of my radio. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

I have to agree on the notion that brake lights are idiot lights, you have to drive cautiously regardless of any lights and I get more feedback from the actual perceived motion of the vehicle ahead of me than anything -- particularly when it's evident the car in front has an electrical short and the brake lights are STAYING on permanently.

The bluetooth idea is interesting, as long as it isn't taken too far, I mean I don't want government putting RFID devices in cars to enforce anything, that's too intrusive, could be misused, and hypocritical since the people enforcing drive by a different set of rules anyway and it won't stop teenage drivers from driving incompetently whilst us older drivers may know how to drive fast and competently and be penalized for no reason. It just seems like once you introduce something like bluetooth into a car, there is no turning back / it opens a can of worms to make regulatory types salivate. Life is regulated enough as it is.

How about a green light on the back of the car when your foot is on the gas, that changes to yellow when you remove your foot from the gas?

I agreed with the idea. I have had the same, a couple of years before, using a pressure sensor in the hidraulic brake circuit, and using a (very brigtly) leds pad, growing vertically as the pedal pressure up. But, doing it another round..., first, after read the "makefatpay, Nov 9 2003" comment, I thought install an accelerometer instead of pressure sensor. But, ¿what would happend in a climbing street, when both vehicles decelerate at the same rate?. By now, I think that the rear car must have a very simplified radar system, showing a growing red bar in its own board, showing the differential velocity to the forward car. Maybe, this system would need to be standarised putting a small reflecting pad in the rear part of each car, specific for a standardized frequency, I don´t know.

Great idea. My car already has it, since it uses LED brake lights. No strobe, though. Just a very bright light. Perhaps the white backup lights could flash under emergency braking.

Afraid I have to be one of the naysayers here. I think that if a driver is following the car in front of them closely enough that a collision would result from emergency braking, no amount of information about that emergency braking is going to save them from rear-ending the car in front of them. In the time it takes the driver to register the meaning of the strobe (or whatever) and slam on his/her brakes, the accident will already have happened. And if the driver is not paying attention, then more information will not make any difference anyway.

love it it's a winner

not sure you can make money on it

car things are tough but it would save lives

great idea great

All one needs to have for this to work is a pendulum with sensors on one end to activate the light sequence. When the car was accelerating the lights could activate a different color or flash in reverse sequence.

The mechanism would be enclosed in oil or some other damping medium to prevent rocking or be otherwise disabled under a certain speed.

There is already a pendulum system in most cars that locks the seat belt during deceleration.

Excellent idea.

This is a really good idea.

This idea is OK, but the intent has ALREADY been achieved by a MUCH better system.

In the mid 1980's there was the Vovodsky Cyberlight brakelight. It was tested in California on taxicabs for ~20 million miles. It was shown to reduce rear end collisions by ~60-75% (my memory fades on actual number, but I'm close) and reduce average damage in dollars per collision by similar ratio.

It was 2 inches high by ~10 inches wide, with a pair of 6 volt lamps behind fresnel type lenses, and was designed to be mounted above the license plate on the plate's mounting screws. They were driven by an integrated circuit connected to 7 mercury switches at increasing angles for a simple decellerometer. The light was simply connected to the brake light circuit.

It blinked slowly for slow decellerations, about once a second. It got brighter and faster for harder braking, up to 7 times a second for anything over 1/2 G. This rate was researched as creating a reflexive response in the viewer. Many people found themselves hard on the brakes well before realizing that the situation in front of them was serious.

I put one on my car, but mounted it on the top of the aftermarket wind deflector I added for cleaning the hatchback window. This put it as high as the roofline. It definately saved my car three times from being rearended, and one of them might have been much worse....

Driving I-10 in Los Angeles the traffic westbound (all 4 lanes) was heavy but moving well, until it got heavier and started jumping from 50 to stopped and back. I tend to leave a larger than average gap in front of me, and it invited some jerk to pull in front of me when the traffic was stopping quickly and I already had little room to stop. As soon as I saw I wasn't going to slide into him I looked in my mirror to see who was going to hit me, and was pleased to see the guy behind stopping in a big hurry, and the cars behind _him_ were stopping even faster.

When my brother was driving my car (with a full passenger load) on a divided highway in the left lane, a car ahead got confused about a lefthand exit, pulled back into the left lane and thencame to a stop, and the car behind it nearly hit them. Braking hard, my brother realized he didn't have enough room to stop, went for the gas and accelerated into the right lane, where the car that had been just off of our right fender had already braked harder than us, making enough room. Even though the light was designed to be bright only for those immediately behind (via the fresnel lens), it was still strobing in the peripheral vision of that right lane driver who might not have braked as hard (or at all) without it.

Unfortunatly, when I bought my Cyberlight it was already being focus marketed to motorcycles (that can usually outbrake a car and are hard to see and judge braking to begin with). I have never seen it on any other vehicles on the road and I could not locate the company in the mid '90s to get a replacement lens. I guesss good ideas are often seen as bad for established businesses that will suffer from them (i.e. replacement auto body parts, auto body shops, etc.) even though others will/might benefit (auto insurance, transportation-using businesses, etc.)

Brake lights are intended to warn of a slowing vehicles, but they aren't active when coasting or other slowing. The yellow turn signals should blink as soon as a driver takes a foot OFF the accelerator. Thus drivers behind would know BEFORE the brake is applied that a vehicle is about to be slowed. This would prevent many chain-reaction collisions in my opinion. Queing theory has studied this in great detail.

I agree this has merit. As stated many accidents could be avoided if drivers would not Tail-gate. Where we live most of the high-ways are two laners and with the diverse types of vehicles using the road many people make passes. When you follow someone very close and do not pass when safe to do so you make the driver behind you need to pass two or more vehicles at once. So make the pass or back off.

I believe one should be at least 1 car length behind the driver ahead for every 10 MPH at a minimum. If it is night time or raining or icy Etc. then2 car lenghts is better.

This allows you more time to respond.This allows you to see potholes and road signs.This allows you to see traffic ahead of the driver in front of you.This saves you on wind shields and wiper fluid.This allows faster vehicles to pass one vehicle at a time safely.This allows drivers in the opposing lane to make a left hand turn and not back up traffic for 1/4 mi.

So my idea is to have a caution light on the rear of vehicle that comes on when the driver behind you is too close. It would use your current speed/wipers-on head lights-on inputs to set the radar range. i.e. 1 to 3 car lengths for every 10 MPH your moving. It could be as simple as an amber light or say something like pass or back off. LOL.

One thing i've found that must erk the people behind me is i use cruise control and make adjustments to slow gradually useing the cruise control coast feature since i have time because i'm not tail-gating, so i do not need to use the brake, the driver behind me approaches fast and has to hit the brakes. I can see the look on their faces like what are they doing! Well if they could see around me they would know that traffic is slowing, but all they can see is the back of my rig.

When I pass someone i make it stick, because after following them i can determine their driving style and only pass if i will be going faster than them even after i pass. Some people just want to lead so they pass you then settle back to a crusing speed slower than before?

This is a bad idea, it just creates one more thing to distract the driver, and if it's an emergency you are going to see the car come to a halt pretty quick without having to decipher some complex 4/5/6/etc.. bar lighting scheme.

I thought of this as a kid, so has the industry... the reason it won't work, is because the distraction a billion cars with undulating break lights, would cause more distraction and death than it would preserve.

I like the idea sugested by PFrishauf, I thought of the same thing some years ago.A simple variation of this idea:

A pair of amber lamps on either side of the center brake light. (Or, the amber turn signals on most cars could be used for this instead of dedicating new lamps). When the driver's foot is lifted from the accelerator and before the foot touches the brake pedal, the amber lamps light up.

The brief flash of amber light catches the eye of following drivers, giving a slight fraction of a second more to react. The illusion of motion as the amber lamps dim and the red lamp lights is another eye-catcher.

The "foot off pedal" lights could also indicate when the driver is coasting, or when the driver of a manual-shift car is shifting gears.

This would be cheap to do. I think the only extra equipment needed is a couple of microswitches, brackets for mounting them, a light relay, some connectors and some wire, maybe some dedicated amber lamps if the turn signals are red.

I agree this is an excellent idea. For the past several days I was thinking about how to upgrade my Civic with pressure sensitive brake lights. he he he.

One thing I want to add. When I traveled to Belgium a few months ago, I observed when Belgians where about to make a sudden stop on the highway either because of an unexpected traffic jam or to prevent an accident. They turn on their car hazard lights. Event though this is not exactly the pressure brake light. I think this is a great manual way to let the driver behind know there is a sudden stop in highway traffic. I try turn on my hazard lights to warn the people behind me. It works perfectly. However I wish others would follow my lead.

Putting on the hazard lights if you know you're about to stop on the freeway or any busy street may be a good practice- but in places like West Virginia, you could get a ticket for it. The last time I was in WV, it was illegal to have hazard lights flashing on a moving vehicle, so check your local traffic laws.

Instead of a left to right meter, or intensity meter. Why not blink. And then blink faster or slower as the brake pressure changes. Secondly with new radar technolgy in bumpers. When a car gets to close a bright light should shine back. It may get someone's attention if they were not paying attention. May stop tailgaters.

I did not read everything on this topic and may be somebody else allready wrote something similer but my sugestion would be to have a breaklight that has only 3 of those often discribed "steps" in a circle! The middle one would be normal breaking than a circle around the frist one would light on when the breaking be stronger and finaly the strongest breaking ...

I had this Idea a long time ago but it is amasing how many people had it too.

vlk007

Hmph. Amazing. I also had this idea a while back, and it turns out dozens of you had it too, and that it seems to have been attempted in some form more than once already.

Well, I think that the most simplest way would be to just have 2 high-intensity lights that are usually not lit up but with a distinct color, as in not affected by blinkers, parking lights, headlights or anything else. The ONLY time that those lights light up is when there is a situation where the driver is slowing down at a faster-than-normal rate... No "meters", no nothing to confuse already confused drivers (you know who you are).

If you DO want to take it up a notch, you can also just have every single light light up in the back if you don't want to modify your car too much, or have both items work in conjunction.

Also, on higher-end luxury cars, there's already technology that indicates if there's a bulb burnt out via dashboard indicators (except blinker warnings are on every car either by blinking faster or not blinking at all -- and some people never use the blinkers!), so I suggesst that the automotive industry make this a standard feature since I've seen cars with ALL brake lights out (even the CHSML) and almost got in a wreck since the weirdo in front of me made a sudden stop for no reason.

If THAT idea needs to be taken a step further, a signal should be sent to the authorities if you haven't changed the bulb in 10 days.

Great idea. Here's something to add to it:

VISUALLY TELEGRAPH HOW YOU ARE BRAKINGThe light should convey a few general braking conditions:1 - lightly breaking;2 - braking hard; and finally,3 - when the ABS has kicked in.

The last stage tells the trailing car's drive that the road surface ahead is slippery.

TRANSMIT THIS INFO THE TRAILING CAR'S PROXIMITY SENSORHonda and Toyota minivans now come with optional proximity sensors that will tell them if their driver is getting too close to the car in front of them. If so, the minivan will reduce the cruising speed if the cruise control is set, jerk the seatbelt in the case of the Honda and even apply the brake (I believe). Toyota calls this Dynamic Laser Cruise Control .

So why not overtly feed the brake information from the leading car into the laser sensor of the trailing car so that the trailing vehicle can accurately and rapidly interpret it, and telegraph it within the trailing vehicle's driver as an audio messages. You could then also pass this info the vehicle behind the trailing vehicle as well, and so on and so on...

[naive comment following]

Why not just maintain a safe following distance?

At first I thought this was a great idea, then I imagined a typical rainy night on the M25. With hundreds of cars in front breaking at various intensities, and strobes and stuff going on, I think it might be confusing, especially for those older drivers with the beginnings of the loss of their night vision.

Surely it’s not that hard to maintain a safe stopping distance? Maybe a sensor linked to an audio indicator that tells you when you’re driving too close by saying “back up buddy!”??

Yet more visually confusing information for Joe CarDriver I'm afraid. Most motorists manage very well, but I can just imagine Mr Hopeless trying to deal with all the images flying at him.

Anyway. There's already a visual indicator that the vehicle in front is braking quickly and hard...it gets big REAL fast.

I had to make a full stop to zero from 150 km/h (90 mph, yes, german autobahn) once in my life. In such an emergency, you don't need flashy high-tech brake lights. There is a simple way to tell the driver in front of you slams the brakes at full power: there tires are smoking.

(I was lucky, I stopped at one meter distance from the car in front.)

I remember seeing a Flash animation of a Volvo concept car (I can't seem to find the same one on the Volvo site now) that did something just like this. It would vary the intensity of the brake light proportional to brake intensity, and in the case of emergency braking it would strobe the light quickly.

In 1980 I had a Kawasaki 650 street bike. I found a safety device for it called Cyberlight. It was great, it was about a foot wide, 1.5 inches tall, and it had bulbs that ranged in intensity depending on the how hard you hit the brakes. 1 flash per second if easy braking, 7 flashes per second on the hardest braking. They used a mercury switch I believe, and the intensity of braking caused the small chamber to fill with more and more mercury depending on braking hardness. I loved it. The only problem with it is with current laws on the book, no red flashing lights of any sort are allowed, in Texas at least, and probably many other states. I never got pulled over for it during the 1.5 years I had the bike with the light. Others should see the sheer genius of it and not bother you about it. I also had another device that flashed my headlight on that bikes at about 240 flashes per minute, 3 per second. From a distance it was just enough of a flicker to draw your eye to it. I was big on safety on a bike, not wanting to get killed, and I always thought it would be nice to have a Cyberlight on my car. I've not seen or heard of this device since back when I got it, and at that time it was only advertised for motorcycles. Hope that helps.

One other thought: instead of flashing what about different colors, like green(no brakes) yellow, orange and red or when red kicks on then the LED higher intensity lights come on. It doesn't have to be too big, just effective. As a driver your focus will be on the light in the car directly in front of you, and secondly the cars to the left and right of the car in front of you on a large roadway.

I'm with dagerb and crr on this one. We already have a really excellent deceleration monitor: it's called the human brain. It has a piece of software called Common Sense that works really well when people bother to install it and keep it updated.

That being said, some means of deterring tailgaters would be a good thing. Tailgaters have obviously had their Common Senseware shut down by a virus, for example Impatiance-D, which is quite nasty, and someone should call their attention to it.

Dagerb's idea of a "you're following too closely" system is nice. In my grouchier moments I would like to add a little water cannon to it, so if the tailgater doesn't back off, you can press a button on the dashboard and squirt water behind you in the direction of his windshield. And another one in front to squirt cars that cut into traffic at unsafe distances ahead.

Depending on where you live would make a big difference in having this device or not. In a rural area this would seem unnecessary, however in major metropolitan areas with grid lock rush hour traffic and just crazy traffic in general, this would be very helpful. We could use them in Dallas, Texas for sure, population 1 million roughly. Ft. Worth next door to us is another million.

ADD ONE SET of ACCERLATION LIGHTS -- NOTHING FANCY --I think that the mult-level brake light is cost-prohibitive. People would rather get a cheaper car and take the risk of getting rear-ended, than worry about another whole set of lights. Not too mention the new complication for automakers.I think the cheapest thing to do is to just add another light for when the driver presses the accelerater with his/her foot. When I can see that the people in front of me are not accelerating, that gives me the first warning that traffic is coasting (i.e. gradually slowing). I mean, we have day time running lights already, right?I would propose that the lights should be green, and I know that could maybe be confused with the traffic lights, but not that confusing. I think that green is so universally known to mean "go" that the psychological conditioning to that color would be useful. Think about the times when you are at a light, waiting in a line of cars. The people in front of you don't see that the light is turned to green. Cars 1 through 3 accelerate, and car 4, seeing that the car in front of them has a green light, now is reminded (apparently red lights turning off aren't enough for some people) to accelerate. Please tell me what you think.

The BMW brand has developp a similar system, I think they already put it in their new vehicles...

First, a brake light needs to be easily seen, any multi-stage light needs to be easily understood ( intuitive ), without a following driver having to think about what is going on. It also needs to be cheaply manufactured and integrated into a car's systems.

My suggestion :-

Two-tiered brake system, using LEDs ( most cars are or will go over to LEDs, they are faster acting for a start ).

Normal braking - All the red LEDs light up as per normal.

Emergency braking - The entire panel of red LEDs shoulf flash quickly, alerting a following car that something is happening ( flashing lights tend to naturally get people's attention - they don't need to "think" about it ).

I would suggest that emergency braking situations be defined by activation of the cars ABS or pre-tensioner safety systems, which typically happens under either hard braking, or braking in slippery conditions ( ice, wet road etc - ie dangerous ). Thus another system isn't needed to calculate the car's deceleration, what is a dangerous situation etc, keeping costs down.

The flashing would remain until the driver's foot released the brake pedal, to guard against either :-

(i) The ABS disengaging as the car slowed, or reached a better surfaced road, as ABS tends to come on and off during a braking action, and (ii) some drivers panicking upon the vibration through the pedal that ABS causes and taking pressure off the brake ( studies have shown this is quite common )

Advantages - this system is cheap, easily integrated with current car safety systems, and understood by other drivers without the need for re-education.

Compliments to Trogdor the Burninator for the excellent contribution and conclusion to this idea. You took the information and tied them into a very viable solution. Thanks for the great contribution and for everyones feedback on this and Tazlake who made the original suggestion.

check one two, one two

Volvo new concept car is said to have a pressure sensitive brake light. The harder you push the brighter the light.

what if theq lighhtq breaksqq and yoqu need toq change tqhe lightq it wqill be verqy costly tqo the perqson rightq? soq i thing thiqs idea is kinda okay but needs to be rechecked.

yes. i think that the new Volvo has a similar feature...

> Some people "ride" the clutch while at a light or stop sign

Don't know about the US, but in the UK drivers should not have their foot on the brake pedal when stationary at lights etc. When slowing, of course, but don't sit with your foot on the brakes. (Not only is this annoying, it negates the purpose of the high level brake light at night.)

Drivers decelerating without brakes generally do so gradually, so lights needn't be related to speed as opposed to braking. Why would anyone need to know if I was changing gears, or not using the accelerator?

If we were to have several lights coming on in sequence, I'd propose working to the centre. L-R or R-L, or even centre to out seems counter intuitive.

The current system Renault (I think) use in Europe, with flashing hazard lights under heavy braking (eg motorway speed to stationary) seems to be one of the best options. using hazard lights is a common technique used under heavy braking in the UK anyway. Flashing indicators/turn signals when the accelerator is not applied would become ignored quickly, as the surprise factor fell.

Honda have just launched a vehicle that will stay in line, and apply the brakes if it feels you are too close. mercedes Benz also have a predictive braking system that will apply the brakes for you, on the latest generation S-Class.

Honda: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/previews/65481/honda_accord_24_ex_adas.html

The one thing I liked about driving in Japan was that big trucks had speed related green lights above the cab, so you can see from in front what kind of speed it was travelling. One light meant moving forward, two was faster, and three at speed.

It's also worth remembering that a system that might work in one place, might not elsewhere, due to different uses of lights.

Something I've found many cars don't seem to be equipped with, gg,is that common sense software

They hve this already.

Arg, no edit button. They have these on BMW's, using electrical-flow control connected to the brake. The harder you press the brake, the brighter the light. I've seen it on a few other cars too.

Though it's not actual deceleration, as compared to pedal-pressure.

Drivers that would be adept at reading the 'magnitude' meter, would be equally adept at seeing a car apply brakes in an urgent manner.

This however may benefit in alert those drivers that are unarousable through normal brake lighting.

Unfortunately, this idea falls in the realm of serving the stupid and mocking the intelligent. Sounds a lot like politics.

GREAT IDEA But until they put them on cars you could use the 2 second rule. The 2 second rule is to keep 2 seconds between you and the car in front of you. If it is wet make it 4 seconds. If you have a large truck behind you make it 4 seconds to car in front of you. If you have a motorcycle in front of yor you have to have 3 seconds because the bike can slow down much faster then you can. To use the 2 second rule pick out a landmark as the car in front passes it and just count the Seconds until you pass this point. I has never hit anyone in 38 years of driving. Joe in Florida

Good idea. Couple of questions, though. How would this light assist with the reaction time of the driver, depth perception problems, and following too close, which are likely the main reasons for rear-ending car accidents? Will this light design give driver's an even more "invincible" attitude when it comes to how close they can follow the car in front of them? Food for thought!

With LEDs gradually replacing incandescents, it would be no large feat to make a bar that grows in width in direct proportion to the brake pressure. Or perhaps incandescents could still be used, paired with dimming devices which cause the lights to glow in a similar manner, all the way from light contact to full depression. (Once the brakes are actually engaged, the incandescent lights would receive additional power to reflect this condition.)

The overall concept is good. Except that there should be distinct and unique differences related to braking intensity. A dirty rear window, burnt out lights, rain, or fog might give the driver behind a false sense of security. For instance, the dim light might lead the rear driver to beleive the driver in front is much further ahead than actual in reduced visibility.

I would rather see standardized sizes and separation of brake lights and have the center brake light blink with increasing frequency as braking pressure increases.

I believe the car computer monitors braking pressure already for ABS systems. A solid-state relay and a pair of wires from it to the center brake light would allow the car computer to set and initiate the blinking rate of the center brake light.

The proposed strobe light adds a significant cost to the system in both manufacture and in maintenance. It wouldn't be like changing a light bulb or relay.

I have a better idea - teach people to drive. The intensity of brakingrarely is of importance except when you're following too closely and anemergency braking event happens in front of you. If you follow your goodold drivers education rules and provide for proper spacing with thetraffic in front of you (count 2 seconds - remember?), your don't need any special brake lights. Those folks that are always tapping their brakes would be just as annoying in any case.

It's fun to see all the comments here that keep coming in long after I posted this idea. I also am continually amazed by the people who think that further teaching of those who follow too closely is the remedy. People are people and only so much driver education seeps through. While this is important, there will ALWAYS be emergency braking situations.

For example, in Atlanta where I drive, there are any number of events to cause emergency braking. Even if I leave a gap in traffic, someone will fill it, usually causing me to then follow too close for a period of time. Whose fault is it then? If an SUV dives into traffic in front of me, blocking my view, then slams on the brakes, will this proposed system help? Possibly... the best answer would be to try some simulations with a group of typical drivers and see if it has any impact in a variety of situations.

Also, the fact that "accidents as a result of something other than following too closely are rare" does not eliminate the possibility that they happen for other reasons. What does rarity have to do with anything? It doesn't matter if it happens only "rarely"... accidents in general are pretty "rare" in the typical person's life. That's why they are called accidents.

I guess the next step will be to outlaw cell phones while driving (some states already do), newspaper reading, makeup application, hitting the kid in the back seat, listening to the radio and a host of other things that distract the driver and could contribute to a collision. I'm not saying this solution solves all instances, but I think it can cut through the distractions that even the best drivers often face.

Education and training to solve the problem of rear end collisions is admirable and worthwhile, but still overrated.

i agree with sfrizzell

A graduated brake light system, while a good idea, being employed by some buses (Bellingham Washington, for example), faces the usual problem confronting any new idea by Detroit. A Carl Sagan clone is in charge of accounting at the Big Three, and any new expense is multiplied by millions and millions and then they usually decide it costs too much.

The other consideration concerns the reduction of what amounts to minor accidents. Rear enders aren't usually the result of a defect of the car itself, so the automakers are held harmless. (The Pinto might be a rare exemption.) So, where is the incentive to reduce accidents, hence, reduce the auto repair business?

The best method to install better brake lights might be through a law requiring such lights. It is a good idea (the brake lights) and it has probably been around since the Model A, but nobody has done anything to solve the problem, except maybe BMW, why not?

This idea seems great and something that I've been thinking of since I was small. However I belive it would be better to show a Percentage (%) on how much the brake has been pressed. Some people might not get an idea looking at the speed as at times brakes have to be pressed immediately for the car to stop at once. With the percentage (&), it would help people see if the driver infront is just braking normally or in emergency which would in return help them to react accordingly. This could, hopefully resolve the issue of multiple cars ramming into each other on highways!

I am not sure this is the best idea about how to reduce the number or accidents. Most people are not aware of the brake lights on the vehicle in front of them. Just making the light brighter, or any of the other ideas, does not strike me as sufficient or even helpful. In my opinion a driver just simply needs to be made aware of a vehicle in front of them. Something like radar that measures your distance from the vehicle in front of you an warns you when you violate the 5 or 10 second rule that most people hear about but do not follow. Obviously this would strictly be a warning, no overiding of the car should take place, such as slowing it down automatically. My $.02

Good idea, I have thought of a center brake light that would flash, perhaps more rapidly as braking effort increased. The flashing gets your attention faster.

Just to let everyone know I am in the developmental stage of a radar device that can be retrofitted into any car, truck, van, or SUV. It uses a laser device to mesure distances, like the ones found in Home Depot but what I am doing is extrapalating the info this device gives (distances) and writing a program that will sound an audible alarm at certain intervals 50' 40' 30' and so on, untill it reaches zero. I really can't go into it much more because of my impending Pat# but I will let you know when the first prototype is complete.

Kyle

If you observe a traffic jam at night you can easily see where movement has stopped by the intensity of red brake lights ahead. The color and amount of brake light differential is the key to determining to perfect amount of intensity. Although the color red is perceived as “stop” by most unconscious drivers, a combination of white and red would be the brightest during the day and provide greater contrast at night. The amber color seems to be perceived more as a "caution" and thus not optimal. The white reverse light does its purpose by getting our attention finding a premium Rock Star parking spot or cautioning others when reversing carelessly. Not to be confused with the reverse light, the high intensity brake light should flash at a high rate signaling danger while avoiding the deer in the headlights phenomenon of a steady beam. If you would like to proceed further with this idea, conduct the following experiment. – Find a vehicle such as a mini van with excessive brake lights in the rear, preferably 5 or more. Next convert the brake lights for High Intensity head lamps and angle them towards where a vehicle would be measuring aprox 2 car lengths behind. (Find an engineering geek to help with the transformer and batteries) Next, search for the nearest Highway patrol station on an Interstate and drive at least 15 MPH over the speed limit making several passes if necessary to bait an officer. Once the pursuit is underway, slow your rate of closure by letting your foot off the accelerator and gently applying the E-brake. (Keep holding the button down while applying sufficient pressure to ensure a false sense of deceleration.) Finally, when the patrol car is within 2 car lengths, apply a small amount of brake pressure illuminating the High Intensity Brake Lamps while simultaneously applying maximum acceleration. (Pedal to the floor). This technique will most likely cause the trailing vehicle to go into antilock brakes and prove my idea and answer your question of Why Not? Oh yeah and don’t let’em catch u riding dirty!

More important than the variable brakelight based upon braking speed, is how close a car is to the car in front of it and whether there is sufficient space to stop when traveling at a given speed, including road conditions. I would think automatic sensor to set brake lights blinking to warn the car in back and a solid on (so it is not blinking and distracting) light on the dash for the driver to warn of a tailgator. I do think that they variable brake light has value, I think this would be a nice complement.

I think it might be too much for average drivers to analyze the lights within seconds (or-subsecond). In critical situations like driving / stopping, simplicity might be the safest bet.

I think the main idea here is to avoid collisions. This idea should have a combination of some automated device probably a sensor which takes control of the braking system immediately after it discovers this alarm light and acts as per the distance between the two.

In any case a sensory device to maintain and keep proper distance between two cars is a must.It will function in all situations.

This sensory device can put on any mobile vehicle, even planes. This will guide the plane, car or any other vehicle either to change direction, slow down or stop.

Why should you know the degree of braking? A brake light is a warning in any case to slow down and the rest depends on your speed, reflexes and the distance between you and the car in front which will decide which degree of braking is required.

You could do this more efficiently with a simple two-light brake system, where especially bright brake lights illuminate during especially fast deceleration. The bars are too many and too subtle.

I like your idea. I have one of my own on this, let me know what you think.I believe the problem with braking is not the lights, it's the driver, more specifically it's that drivers put them in situations that does not allow them time to respond, ie. following too closely, taking their eyes off the road etc. So I think I may have a solution that may take the driver error out of the picture at least at some level.

Idea - Why not have a transmitter of sorts that sends a signal to any car following another and a receiver on the car following that is signaled when the brakes are applied. If the following car get's within a certain distance and is closing the gap too quickly the following car electronically slows itself down, possibly even stops itself. Bottom line a computer can react much faster than a person when needed.

Thoughts?

I agree that automatic collision avoidance is where we are headed. If a car can parallel park itself, it can certainly use a rudimentary radar to facilitate collision avoidance by requiring certain distances based on speed of the vehicle or taking over braking temporarily to avoid collisions.

I think this idea is very good however I would always used the same number of lights but alter the speed of flashing to denote more decelleration..it gets the attention better IMO. Please note I've been rear ended so many times, I look at the mirror now when I hit my brakes.

Hi, you guys should check out www.vbilighting.co.uk

This guy pete rose has designed and manufactured flashing brake lights and although it hasnt got the rubber stamp of approval yet in the uk, i have bought and installed it on my vehicle as have many other people. Regardless of legislation, peoples safety should come first.

It is patented and sold worldwide so take a look.

Whynot add just two additional lights to the rear of all vehicles? One Green Light and One Yellow Light located in the center and high up. No changes would be made to the braking lights now used. The green would come on only when the accellerator is depressed. The yellow would illuminate only when not depressing the accellerator or the brake pedal. Drivers of following vehicles would have an indication of the action the car(s) ahead is performing. Green Light meaning it is accelerating or moving on... Yellow Light meaning the vehicle would be coasting and giving the following vehicle a heads up or beware it may be braking soon... An ofcourse the existing braking system would still indicate the car is slowing down or stopping. One additional dpdt switch located on gas pedal or its linkage and wiring to lights throught the brake light switch are all that would be needed. "KISS" idea

How about maintaining Proper Following Distance???????? I know, I’m a little out of the norm on this, but when I see the red lights on the car in front of me get brighter I naturally think to myself, “D, I think that vehicle in front of me is slowing down.” To which I reply, “Why I think you’re right. We should start slowing down, ourselves, so we can keep our Proper Following Distance.” And in reply, I say, “Well, I think that might be the brightest idea I’ve heard all day. I’m glad you are so safety conscience.” At which time, I pat myself on the back and say, “Shucks, ‘twurn’t nothing, you would thought of it shortly.”) ;) ;)

If they put these brake lights in the new cars then I also want turn indicators which can tell everyone, “I’m kind of thinking I might want to turn---at some point---sooner or later---just as soon as the mood strikes me.” But, I also want it to tell them, “Yeap, I’m turning right now, you better get out of the way cause I ain’t foolin’ around this time. If you hold your life precious you might want to head for the ditch, cause I’m turning, I’m telling you, I’m turning right NOW!” :) :)

Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge. D-

There is a big difference between turning and braking (although both are analog processes, not digital as the simple on and off seems to indicate). I do have an idea for turn signals that I will post ;-) Also, comments on human driving behavior and attempts to change it still humor me. "Just keep a proper following distance" and other comments are just laughable to me... see previous comments. I am glad to see that someone is actually taking this idea and making a marketable product out of it. Hopefully that will fuel acceptance of this as a viable option.

Tazlake, it doesn't come as a surprise to me, that you would find my suggestion laughable. Everyone wants someone else to solve their problems for them. I find this laughable, and sad. Every day I watch people mindlessly endangering their lives, and the lives of everyone around them, just so the can get to McDonald's and then home five minutes faster then the guy next door. I agree, no amount of education will ever change their little 'ME! ME! ME!' attitudes. Nor well, any bells, lights, or sirens, unless it's the meat-wagon hauling their lifeless bodies away. We have vehicles designed to crumple on impact, front and side airbags, seat belts with shoulder straps, anti-lock/anti-roll systems, fog lights, 3-light brake indicators, turn indicators, and hazard lights. All these things were meant to make us safer. Yet, all it has done is given use the false sense of security. And we all feel we can drive 70 mph eight feet away from the person in front of us. Personal responsibility will take you a long way in life. A simple answer to your quest to save 'Man from Man, used in the non-gender exclusive, is to go on the internet and buy a fluid pressure/flow sensor with a 12volt sending unit install it in the main line of your brake system. Set it's limits to react to sudden sharp rises in brake fluid pressure. Hook the sending unit up to a LED indicator assembly with a amp sensitive intermittent switch. Stick the assembly to your back bumper, or wear it for a hat, and off you go racing to the next stoplight at 90 mph because now you feel safer. Oh, if you do develop this as I have described I do expect my annual 10% consulting fee. ;) D-

I wasn't attacking your individual comment, just comments about human behavior in general. It sounds like we both agree that changing this is very difficult. There have been many here that say educate the driver, don't follow so closely, and so on, but I think we can all agree that this only works so much. For those it doesn't work on, this implementation would serve as a good reminder.

Instead of left to right meter, it would be aesthetically better if the lights start from center and spread in both directions. Small light in center (light braking), 3 lights for mildly heavier and 5-7 or 9 lights to indicate more braking force.

I just joined. Gosh, what a lot of posts to this idea. Wish I had time to read them all. Perhaps someone else has posted this variant. I even think that I've already seen this in traffic during the last couple of years.

It is a strobing high light. With a mostlyon, slow strobe beat for moderate decelleration, ranging to a proportionately faster strobe the higher the rate, culminating in a locked brake maximum frequency. This would be the simplest to standardize with led and load cell technology available for quite some time now.

Please pardon me if this has already been proposed. I have ulterior motives for posting here now.

It seems thet this site needs more promotion, and we members should do our part in "scattering the seed". The reason that I say so is thet most of the threads that I've viewed have not been posted to recently. This forum should be more popular,if not mainstream.

Comments??

SRB

As halfbaked7 pointed out, this is an already-exploited idea. Check the car and motorcycle magazines of the seventies, and look for the "Cyberlight". It was an amber brake light with two lights spaced like human eyes, and driven by a number of mercury switch capsules all mounted at a slightly different and incremental tilt. The braking force would close more or less contacts, causing the lamps to vary their flashing rate in coincidence with the deceleration. Of course, being the seventies and the age of Earth Shoes, the "panic" stop rate was something that was hard-wired into everyone's base animal or reptile or whatever hooey impulses. It was very popular on motorcycles and fleet vehicles. I've not seen one in decades.

Ten bars are too much. Three would be prime (forgive the pun). I've seen one comment suggesting a rear-projecting horn be activated in concert. Good idea. I've seen one comment poo-poohing a rear projected horn on account the commentator ran their stereo too loud. Hey, no problem. Just increase the penalty for rear-end accidents. Stupid should hurt.

I used to live in a town where red lights were so frequently ignored that folks were suggesting FRONT mounted brake lights in order to know whether or not the moron approaching the light at 100kph in a 50kph zone was planning to stop.

BMW in the UK already have a similar technology built into some of their models and ready to go. Sadly it's disabled as the UK authorities don't regard it as street legal yet.

GREAT IDEA !WHY don't we just keep enough DISTANCE to the next car ?!?ever seen somebody in a car that WAS NOT MOVING, hitting another car which WAS NOT MOVING either ?GOSH ! a bunch of smart people using their intelligence for POOP!sad....

possibly make the lowest level when someone takes their foot off the gas while going up hill. I have almost hit someone because they decided to coast to a stop.

This is a great idea. I had a similar concept with my '96 Camaro when I found a tail light mod on the internet. As some may know readily the tail lights on that particular car are shaped light outward facing arrows and are sectioned. The mod was to make the sections light up in sequence when you used your turn signal OR brakes... I merely thought that it would be cool to wire it up in such a way as to light the tail lights in increments depending on how far you depressed the brake. Of course there are only three sections on the camaro and I think that three levels (light, moderate, and heavy braking) would be enough.... They also have the kit for mustangs, firebirds, and a various other vehicles as well as a universal one I think that you could use on a center brake light http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/sequential.htm

AS for the people not paying attention, well, they are fools BUT accidents do happen so I should think that one of those beepy things that they use on SUVs and trucks to detect objects in their path behind them could be front mounted with a londer ranger and your speed detector hooked up to a little computer that would calculate stopping distance and sound an alert to let you know that you are approaching something ahead of you too quickly and you need to slow down... just a though ;D see ya later

Come on.. Just pay attention to what is happening around you. You do have binocular vision and depth perception don't you? Race cars don't even have brake lights and they are inches from each other doing 100 to 200 mph and using maximum braking.

Race car drivers are highly skilled, the average driver is not. Some people have better vision than others. Race car drivers must maintain focus because of their speed and reputations. Individuals also have similar considerations such as increased insurance premiums should they crash as well as bodily injury, but they still read the paper and put on makeup while driving.

It is a nice idea, but is not longer useful since modern cars can monitor distance from the cars ahead without any intervention from the driver. Indeed, the car operate the brakes properly accordingly with the speed and distance.

I agree to disagree with Finally there's comment By allowing drivers the ability to view the braking intensity of the car in front of them gives the driver following too much information. The idea of a brake light is to show caution. Varying degrees of caution is more info than what a driver following may need given that he/she might follow too closely behind thinking the scene is safer than it is.

Let's face it if you follow to close your most likely going to rear end someone so back off and drive defensively and responsibly. Rear enders occur because people are not paying attention and/or following to closely.

one issue with the strobe light. strobes can trigger seizures in epileptics, and I say this only because there are more seizure prone drivers out there than you realize. in my state you only need a doctors certification that you have been seizure free for 3 months to be eligible.

also, what of the maintenance costs associated with the increased sophistication of a brake light?

Thanks.JBC

While the idea (that a driver may be afforded a more accurate perception of the behaviour of the car in front) may be of value, the method proposed does not meet the aim. Why not? Ideally the cars rate of decleration would be directly proportional to the perceived intensity of the light. This translation of information can be severly distorted through any number of agencies however. ie lens color, angle age. Ambient light levels, the type of sunglasses worn, the calibration of the decelerometer etc. So there will be a percentage of vehicles and under various circumstances where the system may relay false information. False information is arguably more dangerous than no information.

This idea is basically sound, but there may be better implementations of the concept than an improved brake light. In 1996 I drove an 18-wheel truck that mounted a collision avoidance radar. That particular system was a bit buggy but I believe more effective systems have been developed since. Try Googling "auto collision avoidance radar" if you are interested. These things generally provide a visual indicator similar to the multi-segment brake light idea and also an audio warning tone. I like the idea of this critical safety equipment being in MY car and not dependent on some random stranger's idea of proper maintenance. And the radar can sense exact distance and closing rates, giving a more accurate risk assessment then the brake light.

You're right. With the advent of collision avoidance radar in some vehicles, my guess is that this will become a standard feature shortly in most vehicles. This is a much better solution than nearly any brake light variation discussed here. I say we put this one to bed. It's been circulating for nearly 4 years on this site and is decidedly out of date as new technologies are introduced. That's from the guy who submitted the idea.

fantastic!it would be more useful than we can think

It is time to rethink the brake light. Brake lazers? Why depend upon lights at all? Why not have the car in front get larger and smaller based upon proximity?

It's a very nice idea! I have a comment too, It's better to use arrows to indicate left or right turning light. In bad weather, the light arrow will be seen clearly in far away. How do you think?

I'm in favor, the only issue I can see, is that the person behind who sees the "sign", may overreact, but I think that could be solved by doing some usability design :)

I've always wanted this as well. And if it were based on actual acceleration, then it could also have positive values to tell you when people were really speeding up (instead of just taking the foot off the brake).

I'd like to add to this a little. Why not also include a general speed indicator lamp - say amber (on the rear of the car) for 5 to 10 mph slower than the speed limit and green (on the front) for 10 mph or greater. The highway departments would only need to install small solar powered transmitters at each "change" in the speed limits on the interstate highways. Of course, cars would have to be equipped with minimal receiver to "set" the internal logic.

You know I also have thought about this while slamming on my brakes in lanes of traffic. Why doesn't the car in front of me indicate they are slamming on the brakes. Here what I propose and I think it should be mandated by all car companies as a standard. Much like reverse lights. Basically its pretty simple.. your third brake light in the middle or around the frame as well as the left and right tail lights.. when you brake normally red... but when you are hard on the break the middle or outside of the brake glows a bright yellow or blue... if the computer of the car senses full on the brake, anti-roll or anti-lock, the color around the frame would flash very fast as well as put on your flashers.

awesome idea. This would help avoid pileups and alert the driver behind of sudden emergency braking or slow braking.

Driving is by far left to electronics.

If it were made manditory such as the Daytime running lights were in Canada a number of years ago, I see this as just another way the car manufacturers can jack up the overall price of the vehicle. The simple addition of an auxiliary audio input can prevent the person from looking away as often creating 'preventative safety' as opposed to a Red light that glows brighter (figure of speach), since a red light means stop and so if you feel you need to know how urgent you are probably following too close to worry about this sort of thing. As for the cyclops it works great but how many cars do you (still) see without this light and/or it is burnt out!

A friend of mine worked on the Cyberlight project many years ago and I was impressed by the simplicity and effectiveness of the device. I would have bought one if I hadn't been a pauper at the time. With current LEDs and accelerometer chips, I suspect a retrofit device could be made to replace any center-mount stop light bulb. The main benefit I see of the Cyberlight concept is to alert following drivers to panic braking vs. normal braking. Even the best among us suffer from divided attention amid the high workload of heavy freeway traffic, and any additional easily-interpreted information is welcome. A flashing light is intuitively seen as a high-priority interrupt, signifying a task to be serviced immediately.

A better alternative would be a change in the color of the brake light.The moment you put your leg on the brake a light orangish shade shouldappear, if you drepress the brake a little more it should the light orangeshshade should turn a little darker. It should be bright red when the brake isfully depressed

The color change idea is tough... many people are color blind to colors such as red and green and have a hard time distinguishing colors especially on the red/orange side of the spectrum. Maybe a shift from red to blue would be more appropriate, but blue doesn't usually symbolize a warning in the western world. Thanks for the idea though.

THE BRAKE LIGHT SHOULD HAVE A WHITE COVER- IT SHOULD ALWAYS APPEAR WHITE-THE MOMENT YOU TOUCH THE BRAKE PEDAL - A FEW LEDS OF THE BRAKE LIGHT SHOULD GLOW.WHEN YOU DEPRESS IT FURTHER THE LIGHT SHOULD GROW BRIGHTER. HAVE ABOUT5 CONCENTRIC CIRCLES OF HIGH INTENSITY BRAKE LIGHTS - AND EACH RING SHALLGET ACTIVATED AS YOUR KEEP DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL.

if your paying any attention to the car in front of you you should kinda know when they are stomping on the brake or slowly stopping. cars tend to all of a sudden lean a whole lot more forwards and of its hard enough maybe some smoke will come out of the wells. in todays world its a good idea with all the distractions on the road but honestly if your are focused enough on driving(which allot of people dont do) i dont think you have anything to worry about.

Great reason to have an SUV~you see traffic ahead of you and can immediately monitor how slowly or quickly to react. Better yet, eliminate cell phones, newspaper reading, etc while driving and you really have no need for additional brake lights. There is a place for those of you in favor of better brake lights-its called mass transit!

This is so interesting 'cause I remember having the same idea a few years back as well. I don't know if there needs to be 10 levels of breaking. I'm sure we could refine the number of levels with kind of colour recognition and reaction testing with actual people. I definitely love the idea though!

Hummm.... Came out on BMWs standard this year... Was a good idea.

Forget the brake lite. Just set up sonar or laser activated brakes that brake when your car has exceeded the required distance to stop safely. Just remember the average human reaction time to an accident is 0.7seconds you can't beat automation the speed of light or the speed of sound.

New Smart Brake Lights Could Improve Safety

great idea. get it done!

my idea too, from 20 years ago! Doesn't have to be a third, center brake light, multiple LEDs can flash faster depending on the decreasing velocity

This is a decent idea and it might help a bit, but I have an even better one.<P>Lets start cracking down on drivers listening to IPod's, reading the paper, putting make-up on, shaving, talking on cell phones and last but not least TEXT MESSAGING. I am sure that I have missed about a million other things but these seem to be the most common that I see while driving down the road.<P>My suggestion would is to do what you are there to do, drive and pay attention to the road and other drivers around you. If a driver is caught doing any of items mentioned above I would put harsh penalties in place.<P>First Offense - 30 Day Mandatory License Suspension
Second Offense - 90 Day Mandatory License Suspension
Third Offense - 1 Year Mandatory License Suspension
Fourth Offense - 3 Year Mandatory License Suspension
Fifth Offense - Denied the privilege of holding a license.

I am continually amazed by the "do what you're supposed to do" comments. I agree, but human nature isn't so straightforward. There are any number of reasons why they are not doing what they are supposed to do when driving ranging including carelessness, tired from work, etc. I do agree with incentivizing appropriately to produce the desired behavior, but I doubt many agree that the highly punitive disincentives you recommend match the crime(s). By the way and interestingly enough, a lot of insurance companies have started incentives with safe driver bonuses and such. Also, you are very selective about the driving distractions you mention, probably out of personal bias. I see you focused on the items most commonly associated with people driving to and from work (mostly). I say rhetorically to outlaw drinking anything in the car, singing with your favorite song on the radio and for that matter transporting children at all... these are all distractions and could cause us to take our eyes off the road.

the problem is not "how fast is he slowing down?!", it's that everyone is playing with theis cell phones and changing the stereo or eating. they dont pay attention, someone slows in front of them, bang. a rear end accident is never the guy who got ended. ever. every car is made to stop within the same limits.

waste of brain

This is a great idea. You could consider a flashing warning - slow flash for gentle braking to hyper flash for emergency braking. A bit like the noise the parking radar makes as you approach an object.

although it is good,i think it has a small shortcoming.when emergency brake, if the driver ,who is behand,don't react so fast that he don't hit the fore car.because man reaction need time .

My car turns on the warning lights system automatically during emergency breaks (Audi).

my opinion is when two car are running on the subway.one is in front of the other.when a emergency happening,the one who is behind need time to brake.when both are nearby.they hit each other when one is reacting.

hi,whats nessasary is a three light sys like a flat stoplight in the rear,red for stoped,yellow for slowing,green for axcellerating.thanx,greensleep

the idea is to show the following car how much brake you press so as he ll be prepared

Nice Idea, may improve safety on the road and be less frustrated when little old ladies tap their brakes.

A good idea! I think it will come true.

Unless you are Matsumoto, I'm afraid someone may have jumped on the patent train before you. Check out this U.S. Patent Application Publication:

US20080094200

Yes, thanks for the information. I'm sure someone in the automotive industry could benefit more from this than I. Of course, the patent was filed after my posting here. As the starter of this poist, I think this whole idea will be invalidated by collision avoidance systems, adaptive cruise control and DARPA cars in our driveways. So, I doubt it has a lot of value.

Like many new ideas, this one sounds good intellectually, logically etc in a 'left brain' sort of way, but I wonder how it would translate into practice? Centre- (sorry - English spelling) brake lights were an improvement because they moved a visual warning device closer to a driver's centre of visual focus and hence improved reaction times, but still represented a single visual clue for danger. It seems to me that this proposed innovation would introduce a second stage into the reaction equation: ie yes, it's a brake light, but how bright/how big is it? and how does this particular instance compare with the last one I saw in a completely different car, in a different location, at a different speed/distance etc ... whoops, just downsized the beamer!

I think this would be difficult and expensive to implement and be of little or even negative value. I can't envision how the braking force would be immediately and clearly indicated. I think it would likely confuse most drivers and especially older drivers. I also think such an indicator is unnecessary if drivers will follow good driving policies such as not tailgating and paying attention to the overall traffic conditions. A better change is gradually being made. That change is to replace incandescent lamps with LED's which illuminate instantaneously instead of taking a significant amount of time to come to full brightness as is the case with incandescents.

Only modification I would add is rather than a strobe, simply put on the hazard warning flashers for emergency / hard braking.

Could be as simple as adding a presure gauge in line of a brake line to tell the electronics that display the red stop lights how much presure is being applied to the brake peddle. If there is X amount of presure display 3 bars...etc.

I read on digg that a company in Europe has developed this concept for reducing rear end collsions. here's the link New brake light system could mean fewer collisions

its no doubt a great idea. car companies have implemented this. i know for a fact BMW already has this on all of their 3 series. the break lights distinguish between normal vs. hard braking

I think this could lead to more rear end crashes caused by people who are too slow to brake because the lights show light braking until it it too late. I think people should always be ready to brake hard when needed.

maybe people should just learn how to drive

This is a good idea but the hazards have already been put into many new cars, if someone breaks hard the hazards flash to show the person behind to slow. very good idea

A GREAT(!) idea. I'd make (/agree) with a few changes:- "bar graph" should illuminate from the center out towards both left & right sides (this will help ensure left-to-right or right-to-left illumination sequences are not confused with turn indication.- Strobe effect should also apply above a certain level (defined as "emergency stop" deceleration), with a higher strobe rate as the aggressiveness of the emergency braking increases above the threshold.

Amber lights are a good idea - amber effects night vision the least out of the various colors lights can be. Also, I think a center outwards progression would be more beneficial than a side to side progression. Strobing is also a great idea, and many emergency vehicles and larger vehicles use something similar today. I don't think this would give the driver behind "too much information" as was a concern mentioned in an earlier post. It is possible that something similar to the back-up sensor alert system in some commercial vans (and other vehicles?), during which a progressively quicker beep (leading up to an extended 'beep'), be applied to the front end of the vehicle. It could alert the driver audibly if they are approaching another vehicle (or object) faster than a certain rate.

Another unintentional benefit is increased fuel savings and improved traffic flow.

When a vehicle lightly touches the brake pedal to say slow down 5mph or a potential hazard risk ahead, it impacts the traffic behind them. In order to prevent hitting the braking vehicle, the next vehicle pushes the brake pedal until the distance between the first and second starts increasing. Therefore, the second is going even slower now than the first. Then when the first accelerates, the second sees the gap growing and speeds up. The act of slow and resuming consumes more fuel and slows traffic than just remaining a constant speed.

Now repeat this cycle whith tens of thousands or vehicles on the same stretch of road. Now you have a traffic jam, cars idling, and inefficiently consuming fuel.

By better sensing the amount of speed reduction, subsequent cars could minimize their contribution to this collective inefficiency.

I disagree. Adding more lights in the brake lights will increase power consumption of the car, effecting the effecientcy of hybrid models. I think it may also draw attention away from the surroundings if a driver is looking for how many squares are illuminated. The best idea is to look at the cars infront of the one you follow to give you a better heads up of whats to come. Your own depth perception should be all you need to determine the rate of decelleration of the car in front of you. If a driver slams on the breaks and you rear end him then your were probably following too close or were distracted the moment it happened and no number of squares on the brake light system will change that.

I agree a better brake light would be useful. I would modify the design slightly. A simple change would be to strobe the existing center brake light, vary the duration by the level of deceleration. An issue with creating a "level meter" is in distinguishing levels, this needs to be an unconscious decision... suppose one or two of the individual lights are out, what's the level?

I agree. but not on emergency brakes.

I don't know if I should open a new thread for this idea but it definitely has everything to do with brake lights.The idea is to have brake light in motorcicle helmets that go on when you are braking. I think it will save lives and help drivers be aware of motorcicles.The easier way to go would be to develop stickers that would go on when the driver is braking. They could have other uses as well. They should be tuned to have sensibility depending on the speed.

Pulsing panic brake lights are already on Motocycles and marketed as attention getting options... So is the idea to legislate their use on Cars?

The Idea has already been implemented.

Great Idea! Although simple, such would significantly improve the safety and convience of modern day travel. The technology to implement your idea is most definitely available. Its a matter of making the industry aware of it. Additionally calibrating such a device will play a major role in its effective implementation, however.

Great Idea! Although simple, such would significantly improve the safety and convience of modern day travel. The technology to implement your idea is most definitely available. Its a matter of making the industry aware of it. Additionally calibrating such a device will play a major role in its effective implementation, however.

I'm kind of of the school that keeping things simple is the best way to go, less circuitry, less to go wrong, less to have to pay to fix... the idea of the strobe is the best part of your idea in my opinion. Anyone seen the strobes on newer style red lights... talk about catch your eye... they do it so well, and that's just the point. This is a GREAT idea... hopefully someday we'll see it on the road...

I think one key to better information exchange between drivers has to include keeping the turn signal light color different from the brake light color. E.g I've noticed that older BMWs have a yellow/orange turn signal versus a red brake light. The newer BMWs use red for both. I believe this makes the red signal less urgent.

Yes, fairly updated idea which the new generation car mfrs shall follow for the convenient of road traffic regulations.

Great idea!

While in school for electro-mechanical engineering, a couple of students in the grade above me proposed this concept and made an amazing prototype as well. It was almost exactly as you described. I believe they used 9 lights, with the minimal breaking being indicated by the single center light illuminating and then increased pressure resulting in the neighboring lights being activated. Instead of having independent strobes to indicate a sudden slamming of the brake pedal they had it set so that all 9 lights would blink rapidly to work as a strobe.

It's a shame that this idea has never gotten any real traction as I honestly feel it would be a huge boost to driver safety. Heck, it just looks really cool too ;P

I didn't look at all of the comments, and this one may already have been made. It seems to me that there should be three layers of brake lights. Solid for normal slowingSlow flash for hard brakingFast for lock up.Flashing red lights get allot of attention

I think that instead of 10 squares of light, we should change the levels of intensity. Make the fast braking super bright (close to white), while normal slowing of traffic would be regular, dull reds.

I think that instead of 10 squares of light, we should change the levels of intensity. Make the fast braking super bright (close to white), while normal slowing of traffic would be regular, dull reds.

Some years ago I made a demonstrator out of my personal car, using 2 micro-switches, a relay, and some wire. Energized by the ignition circuit, so the circuit was active only while the car was running, the micro-switches were both closed when the driver's foot was off the accelerator and the brake at the same time; this lit up the amber turn signal lamps. In use, the amber lights lit up in that moment when the driver's foot left the accelerator to step on the brake, giving the following driver an extra fraction of a second to react.

Most of the wiring was done under the dash and under the hood of the car. All that's needed are a couple of automotive-rated microswitches, mounting brackets fabricated as needed, a headlight or horn relay, and some 14-ga wire, and of course the car needs to have amber turn signals. I think I spent all of $10 and an afternoon to figure how to route the wires.

After more the 450 I agree, I think, and so much good input Why Not 1 of these is offered on new cars - I have the best yet IDEA but knows they do not want ideas better then what they can bring into the market.The Prepatent solution answers the problem but all creative thinking, in this art, as Safety issues and driving Curtsy are shared here which Government and Insurance institutions should adopt from inventors and developers of better products and services.

Strange but intrigued such a topic is still being addressed after so many years (2003). I want to add a comment that may or may not be surprising. In 1984 I was so involved with much of this topic in developing a new high mounted third brake light that was activated by the least simple movement of foot pressure off the accelerator to warn of slowing, well before the brake pedal was touched or even if the pedal was not touched. It was tested for 60 days on two police cars in Houston with good recognition by two local TV stations. Police Chief Carrol Lynn rode in the vehicle I had originally installed the device on and was pleased.

Over a 12-18 month period, two investors paid for an original patent search which came back with no such device having been recorded before but advising it may trend on existing patents for brake light and turn signals and may have challenges from a current study research on-going in California (a university professor) with a fast braking light system being tested on 'taxi cabs'.

The investors dropped out after those findings but it brings me great personal pleasure in knowing, after many years that others think the concept is still worth talking about. Interestingly enough, about a year later, GM placed the first high mounted, 3rd brake light on cars and it soon became a requirement. Had maybe 4 or 5 other productive inventions since then but never moved forward on them because of this one experience. Keep trying guys and gals. You never know where the next big idea is just a thought away.

navigator08 is one of many like us who had found the flaws in just seeking a Patent, and hoping for respect from industry and consumers and from Government or academia - and this is why The PrePatent Commercial Protection method had been developed and is protecting us who employ it - because we do not allow Industry or Laws to take advantage of our good will and investments in projects based on our ideas for better products and services - a sample, is my own special safety light indicator for cars - that no one yet has seen or been disclosed.

I sure like a smooth yellow-orange-red transition at the same level of brightness that corresponds to a deceleration rate.

While we're at it, why not also add an ambient light sensor? There are times when a car's brake lights are Way Too Bright at night. It is blinding.

While I find this idea to be innovative, an essential question we must explore is, How are we going to calibrate it?

Imagine you are following an 18-wheeler truck on the interstate in your tiny two-door car and that both vehicles are equipped with the said "brake meter" device. Suddenly, the truck driver brakes hard (reflected by his brake meter going off the chart). What are you going to do?

If you see he's braking at 80%, you'll probably brake at 90%, just to be safe. But you are driving a small car, which means you slow down much faster than the truck ahead of you. This is not only unnecessary; you have now forced a car behind you to brake even harder, contributing to the risk of a panic and a pile-up. By relying upon an illuminating device to adjust our braking, we may become less reliant on our visual judgment (for better or for worse).

Thoughts?

Wow, this is good. It is simple but significant. However, I think using color rating would be easier to comprehend, since human brain is more sensitive to the color. But again, this is a very inspiring idea!

Is it just my imagination, or do I see some new car models with a brightness function that corelates to the intensity of the braking? That's also a great idea.

This is of course a great idea, and as an inventor of various gadgets, i created a variable braking system that operated based on pressue generated in a cars hydraulic braking system. I should have done it earlier, but when i checked for patent information, it appears that Jaguar has patented the rights to use this method of driver notification using variable braking lighting.So there goes another idea that will never be produced or released to mass market