Interesting Pacifica feature

Just what we need...flashing lights everywhere...NOT! How in the world will emergency vehicles ever stand out with all this proliferation of lights from so many sources? Heck, why not make the DRLs flash too...I'm sure that will add to conspicuity as well! Or perhaps put strobes in the DRLs...everyone would sure see them! My preference? Turn off all the voluminous and unnecessary distracting lights everywhere!!!

Sorry but turn signal lights flash and it is not a big problem for the world.

notice

mounted

Seems

DRLs...everyone would

unnecessary

I have seen this feature on several different makes and models and I don't think this is standard. One person I was able to ask about his feature said it was installed from a JC Whitney catalogue order. His was the best in that it flashed three times when the brakes were applied and then stayed lit. Sort of got your attention without the constant flashing which apparently, so some, will drive the world mad and make emergency vehicles, which are larger than most cars, not stand out. It is a shame that the sirens are obfuscated by the flashing lights as well! LOL

Mark

Art Begun wrote:

unnecessary

As long as we have idiots driving around watching DVD players, talking on cell phones, putting make-up on, shaving, doing their nails, wacking off and generally doing everything but paying attention to what they are doing---driving---I say anything go's to get their attention from anti missle flares to a 12 gauge slug between their eyes.

Motorcycle DRL headlights flash.

Richard.

It's not only not standard, it's not legal and not safe.

Under Federal and Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 (Lamps and Reflective Devices), all brake lamps including the center high mount lamp are required to burn steadily whenever the brakes are applied. They are NOT permitted to flash. The only exception to this does not apply to the center brake light: The left and right brake lights may be flashed to serve the rear turn signal and rear hazard warning functions. The center brake lamp may never legally be wired to flash.

But there are several CHMSL flasher kits on the aftermarket sold by those who know nothing of proper signal design or legality, and figure a light that flashes just *has* to be better than a light that doesn't. They make all kinds of unsupported and unsupportable claims for improved safety, and there are people who believe 'em.

There's been a proposal in Europe (from Germany) to flash the CHMSL under extremely hard braking as a means of indicating "I'm not just slowing down; I'm braking and I REALLY MEAN IT!" signal to following traffic. The US and Canadian regulatory bodies have rejected it out of hand for exactly the same reason the aftermarket CHMSL flashers are unsafe: We already have flashing red lights on the backs of cars in North America. They mean the driver is pumping his brakes OR signalling for a turn OR has activated the hazard flashers. Adding yet another possible meaning for following drivers to try and decode on the fly does NOT improve safety.

DS

No, motorcycle DRL headlights do not flash. FMVSS 108 and some states allow motorcycle headlamp modulators that alternate between low and high beam at a specified blink rate, but this is neither a requirement nor is it universally permitted, and it is not proven to improve safety.

DS

Absolutely not.

Driver inattention is a real problem, but nonstandard lighting and signalling is not the solution.

DS

Still illegal.

That's what the regular brake lights are for. If they are not capable of getting your attention, pay more attention or get off the road.

DS

| |There's been a proposal in Europe (from Germany) to flash the CHMSL under |extremely hard braking as a means of indicating "I'm not just slowing |down; I'm braking and I REALLY MEAN IT!" signal to following traffic.

Sounds like a good idea to me. Trigger it at the threashold of ABS

|US and Canadian regulatory bodies have rejected it out of hand for exactly |the same reason the aftermarket CHMSL flashers are unsafe: We already have |flashing red lights on the backs of cars in North America. They mean the |driver is pumping his brakes

People with ABS (most current cars) don't pump brakes

| OR signalling for a turn OR has activated the |hazard flashers.

Different lights, different location.

|Adding yet another possible meaning for following drivers |to try and decode on the fly does NOT improve safety.

Adding information in a situation where reference points are few makes sense to me. Often I'm at freeway speeds topping a rise to find a line of cars ahead of me. Other than the rearmost car, usually the only light clearly visible in the queued cars is the CHMSL. What I need to know is:

1 - are the cars moving or stopped 2a - If moving, how fast 2b - If moving, are they braking? 2b.1 If braking, how urgent is it? Are they just riding the brake or avoiding collision?

Certainly in the latter case, there are clues like attitude of the vehicle and whether some of the cars are attempting to dive for the shoulder. But if some of those CHMSLs are flashing, I'd know the situation was avoidance very early in the process.

If they can't differentiate between turn signals and a rapidly flashing center-mounted light, they don't need to be driving.

My $.02, adjusted for inflation.

Rex in Fort Worth

It's a great idea outside North America, where there are presently no flashing red lights on vehicles. It's a very poor idea in North America, where many vehicles already have flashing red lights.

Sure they do. "Pumping" doesn't necessarily mean "trying to stop on slick roads by rhythmically applying the brakes". In city traffic, it's very common to see intermittent brake application that causes the brake lights to flash.

Certainly, but the information must be presented in a clear and unambiguous manner, and it must not interfere with the rapid and accurate comprehension of any other information being conveyed by the rear light system. For that reason, yet another flashing red rear light is contraindicated.

DS

...and that is what a flashing red light at the rear of the vehicle means, signaling a turn OR a standing vehicle hazard (or a emergency vehicle). Since the CHMSL can be seen several in a row due to their higher mounting heights the sea of blinking lights before you would contribute to confusion of the scene in my opinion since it wouldn't necessarily be clear as to what light on what vehicle was blinking....especially on a dark unlit road at night. Are people turning? Is there a emergency vehicle up there. Was there a accident up in front. What a mess! Not a good idea.

Do you really want to drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic with half a headache already from a day at work and have to deal with every single car around you flashing...flashing...flashing...flashing...? It would get real old real quick...trust me. The Chinese know this method as one very well suited to derive madness from any subject. A great idea to introduce for use on the highway, don't you think? Drive everyone to madness! :-)

| > By the way I was driving my parents around in my 300M and I was | > telling them about the terrific rear seat in my old 94 LHS which they | > never saw. Started to wonder why the heck Chrysler made the 2nd | > generation LHS with a big trunk instead of keeping the big rear seat | > room of the original LHS. It was truely a unique design and with | > better quality as they put into the 2nd generation, probably could | > have been quite a success. | >

| >

|

Signals flash at a slow rate. A highspeed pulsing "strobe effect" under hard breaking would be VERY effective - particularly with LED CHMSL.

Why not? Why not just make one light that flashes at different intervals to mean different things; like flashing a Morse code "L" for left, "R" for right and "B" for braking?

| Signals flash at a slow rate. A highspeed pulsing "strobe effect" | under hard breaking would be VERY effective - particularly with LED | CHMSL.

Cite the source of the studies that prove that claim please.

Sorry, no. This may be your guess, but it's a baseless one. There's not a shred of evidence that even suggests this *might* be the case.

DS

Cop cars get whacked on the side of the road while conducting business with all kinds of flashing lights because the driver didn't see them....why would this be any more noticeable?

How about Voevodsky's Cyberlite and related studies in the San Francisco taxi fleet?

- RWM