Hot Rods ideas on a third brake light

You are making the logical leap that following drivers only fall into two categories:

Will hit.
Won't hit.

That is far from true.

You dismissed the existence of:

Might hit.

If an additional light, which makes the light profile of a vintage car match the commonplace, and expected light profile of a modern car, preventing even one single "might hit" from being converted into a "will hit", then the addition is a success.

 

More lights won't make them look at your car and the road instead of their cell phones

 

Is it your contention less lights are any better? I know what you're saying and I agree with it, but every bit helps.

 

A third bright LED light would make a difference, especially if the lights on your hot rod are low on the body. These jacked up 4x4 trucks would come closer to seeing a higher mounted light. I don't like the looks of them either but I feel safer is better. It's like the drum brakes on the front deal, I'll take disc, I've driven drum brake cars and trucks in my youth and if I have to stop quickly for some reason I want disc brakes.

 

I'm just saying that original lights with a high intensity/LED bulb is adequate and that 3rd brake lights just junk up the looks of old cars in most cases. Here are the stats From the Chicago Tribune:
The low-cost third brake light requirement was generally accepted by manufacturers as a way to help prevent relatively low-speed accidents that typically don't result in deaths or severe injuries. Back then, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated the regulation would result in, annually, 900,000 fewer crashes, 40,000 fewer injuries and a $434 million cut in property damage costs for consumers.
Whether the mandate met that mark is unclear, particularly when crash totals alone are considered. Between 1988 — the earliest figures available — and 2014, the percentage of fatal crashes that involved rear-enders actually rose from 4.6 percent to 5.2 percent. Rear-end injury accidents also increased, from 24.9 percent of all crashes to 28.7 percent, according to the NHTSA. Likewise, rear-end property damage-only collisions increased from 23.5 to 29 percent, and the percentage of rear-end accidents jumped from 23.8 to 28.8 percent.

 

Granted a third brake light will not save you from every idiot on the road, but it can help save you from someone who may not be fully aware of what is happening but is not looking at a cell phone! Of course you are entitled to run just 1 tail light and believe that will be just as good. Just don't expect sympathy from us when you do get rear ended!

 

I know that one person is going to give out his boiler plate argument on this one, again, like a broken record, but here goes:

The person who smashed in the back of my Falcon admitted that she was not aware that I was slowing down, since she only saw two brake lights. She saw my lights! She was young, and had no idea that cars had fewer than three brake lights. She saw two, and though that I was just heading down the road. Believing this to be the case, she looked away, and promptly smashed into me.

A rise from 4.6% to 5.2% is statistically insignificant. Yeah, it really sucks if you are in one, but it is less than 1%. Highly unlikely.

Rear-end injury accidents are not the topic here, either. I was not injured. My car, on the other hand, needed a new rear clip. A 3.8% increase is a pretty low percentage, when you consider the number of distractions that are now present in modern automobiles, and the repeal of the 55mph.

The rise in property damage only rear-end collisions was 5.5%, which is actually a statistically low percentage, when you consider the number of distractions that are now present in modern automobiles, and the repeal of the 55mph national speed limit.

What there are absolutely no statistics for, as this is impossible to measure, is the number of accidents prevented by a third brake light. For all we know, that 5% increase might have been 20% without them.

I only need the equation to be X = (N - 1), with N being the current number of times that I have had the back of my classic car smashed in.

 

December the 27 of last year I posted on this thread that I had been rear ended twice in our delivery van, my daughter got hit again today in the van. I'm firmly convinced the third brake light doesn't help because the van is equipped with one and it hasn't helped!

As long as these idiots are using the cell phones & texting it's just going to get worse. HRP

 

If you get hit in the back they pay for repairs and paint.

 

You would like to think so but one of the accidents where we were rear ended the guy was driving with a suspended license, drunk and driving a car with no tag and no insurance, guess who paid for the damage? HRP

 

The debate can rage on forever. The simple fact is, there are times a 3rd brake light has prevented a rear end collision in the past. Does it always help, no, nothing always helps.

I suppose its depends on how you feel about it. If it increases the odds of not getting hit, even a little, its probably worth the effort. The 3rd brake light doesn't distract from how a car looks nearly as much as having the rear end smashed in.

That said, I do not have one on my coupe, and that is pretty sad really, the 48 Plymouth came from the factory with one. Given the appearance of my rear bumper, maybe some people pay more attention to the back end of my coupe. There is not one on my new truck yet. The truck may get one, if I can find one I like. Gene

 

Now lets review all the cars, here, that have their bumpers removed maybe they should have a bunch of brake lights, like 12, all the way across the car .

 

Some people are so preoccupied with their damn phones they wouldn't see the 2 story Budweiser red light mounted on the trunk of a car. HRP

 

That is why I carry uninsured/under insured coverage on all of my vehicles!

 

And those are the key words, "SOME PEOPLE", but I believe that the help in some cases makes adding a 3rd brake light worthwhile. JMO

 

I'll take the chance that a third brake light will prevent me being hit.

 

So, the original post is looking for ideas for a third brake light. Those that want to debate the pros and cons need to start another thread. Thanks.

Phil

 

Thanks Phil.....Ideas here Pleeeze

 

Sure, and it took 109-days, and an intervention from the CA State Insurance Commissioner, to get them to cut the check, after they agreed to cover all the damages.

Cross your fingers, and hope this never happens to you.

 

I have to think that a 3rd light "must" help, but it won't do anything AT ALL with texters, that is pure fact in my experiences. ...just two days ago!

Texters only "glance up" to follow the car ahead, then immediately look at the "smart" phone again. I watch them do this and it pisses me right off. They are not looking at the road, they will "follow you into the gutter" and I proved that to myself last summer. I tried to pull over as far as I could AND THE TEXTER FOLLOWED THE CAR, NOT THE FUCKING ROAD.


Mine is a trunk emblem from a 40s Olds station wagon that used to have a plastic center that said "hydromatic" and I put a red lens in it. My tail lights are 41 chevy, installed back in the 50s in these fenders I found.

Most traditional tail lights are very tiny, so a 3rd tail light, and 3rd brake light simply must help in certain cases.

 

How about installing brake lights up behind the back bumper and point them toward the car, so when you hit the brakes the driver behind you will see the red glow on the rear end of the car without ever seeing the third brake light housing, just an idea i guess. If that would work might also depend on the car.

 

I remember watching a movie when I was a kid, about a guy that had his car set up to have the trunk open and logs would roll out the back if someone was chasing him. That's what we need today for texters/tailgaters.

Last year, I was in town (less than 2000 pop.), waiting to make a left turn, with my turn signal on. I looked in my rear view mirror to see an suv hit the brakes and veer to the right at the last minute. C'mon...I had my 63 Galaxie. Can those tail lights get any bigger?

 

My Dad's 53 F100, had an angle iron bumper hitch for pulling house trailers. Stuck out about a foot. Nobody ever rear ended us.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Since I almost got slammed two days ago, I can't think of how I can avoid the same thing in all cases. If I try to pull over way before my driveway, they still follow my damn car! You could pull into a super wide commercial driveway at these speeds, but there are not that many around when I have these incidents of knowing a texter is on my tail.

At this point, I guess I will gradually slow way down a mile before a turn and hopefully they will pass me? or they might hit me sooner? Seriously, IDK how to prevent this. It is not a daily or weekly event, but it makes me spend too much time looking in my mirrors ALL the time on every trip, anywhere.


BTW, both power poles at either end of my home have been completely taken out by texters.
.

 

I got rear ended before cell phones..Totaled my car [dd 70 F'lane]...Driver of other car had no insurance or driver licence and stoned or drunk to boot..So I got nothing except that he could not ever get his licence back or register a vehicle until he made restitution with my approval..We agreed on an amount and it took him two years to make payment..Good thing I didn't get hurt..POS..

 

Can we stay on topic? See topic title. Thanks.

Phil

 

So give us a solution..

 

Just be creative, and look like a UFO or a Christmas tree going down the road. A flamethrower that shoots about 20' might help.