Hot Rods Why get hit in the rear end?

I don't really think that pertains to the topic, you can't prevent everything from happening. I just don't want it to be my fault that I got hit and injured, especially with my wife in the car.

 

Given...you can't prevent stupid people from driving and not paying attention and putting everyone at risk.

But after all the hours, blood, sweat, tears, (money), if a third brake light changes my chance of getting hit by even 1% then it is worth the downside.

Full cages and full frames. I know the downside...but there is plenty of upside.

 

Bruce Lancaster hits the nail on the head again. So the question is -- can we make this third brake light thing look not dorky, but still save our rear tailpans, bumpers, trunk lids, backbones, fellow HAMB'ers etc, etc.

 

Many new cars have the light in the rear window. Dose not mess with the lines of the car and can be easly added when doing the interior.

 

Absolutely true. In fact, I'm not saying it could have prevented the firey crash that was on the HAMB the last few days. But, there may have been another one that was preventable -- suggestions on how we do that?

 

I don't like third lights either.
I hate to say this but todays drivers EXPECT to see a bright red light up high. With third brake lights everywhere, the lower lights mean less, and people don't look lower down as much as they used to. Usually the upper one is what triggers their reactions.

Today you have to poke them in the eye with it or they might not notice a thing.

I think a thin LED strip at the top of the window on the inside of the glass, next to the weatherstrip is not very noticable when off, but grabs attention when they come on.
That may be the only way to avoid a gaudy looking add-on light or a worse looking caved in body.

 

I know the light in chev berettas is easily removed, modified and kind of looks like a "universal" unit, so it works well, could be grafted into the package tray.

theres got to be a gazillion of them around the boneyards

 

I still like Winky better! But, if you really must go the hat route, here's a start:

 

A poke in the eye is traditional.

 

I did the same on the 40---folks drive/tailgate like NASCAR around DFW and I just don't need the aggravationof being rear-ended.

 

Now...they are not 100% non-traditional...
There are circa 1948 Buicks and Plymouths that have them, in the form of a chrome-rimmed lens on the rear deck. These are small and probably dim, but offer some sort of thinking point.
Trucks, and especially wreckers and buses, have always had lots of extra and oddly placed lights. There was a wide array of atermarket stuff for these from Guide and the independent companies that made the headlights rodders like...
I have actually gathered some bits towards a third light, but for a '32 pickup, not the roadster, so an easier problem.
I have: One gigantic bowl shaped STOP light, STOP as part of the circa 8" lens, and a couple of nice amber truck rooftop teardrops.
Mounting is planned to be set into a big steel box, some sort of military thing, mounted across the front of the bed as a lockable tool container. Everything but the tin box is pre-1949, and the box looks ok, as I believe the rectangle had been developed by 1949...

 

I think I'll have the tailgate on my 32 truck converted into one big LED taillight that says "I'm stopping, Dumbass"

 

Hey I forgot to mention when I was on my rant earlier - At LARS last year, 09, I stopped by the Ionna Rod Shop booth, and they were showing a cool little cast STOP type light that they were prototyping. I never asked if they moved it to regular production, but it was cool and looked a bit like the one above, and might solve some problems for those with truly traditional cars.

 

If it is proven the ass hole that hit this Vicky or ANY CAR while cell phoning/texting said ass hole should have the cell phone permently attached to their forehead.

 

I think that has my vote! And sentiments too...

 

Hmmmm...a good long tungsten carbide eye-poker, perhaps powered by a traditional '39 Pontiac starter solenoid like a shaved door...a bit ugly, but it would be an excellent attention getter!
I want to know, also...how much would a good set of solid-core sparkplug wires, perhaps fitted with JC Whitney "spark intensifiers" to add to the EMF, interfere with cellphone use??? Would that idiot look up if the phone turned into a wad of static??

 

The ones on newer corvettes are almost level with the actual taillights. Letter of the law... Just make sure your taillights are bright. I have noticed however, in stop and go traffic that low mounted lights can be hard to see, (like on a taildragging custom) How far do you stretch function/beauty... they are objects of beauty, yet they are functional vehicles. Not ideal, for sure, but it's our dilemma. Otherwise just drive a contemporary vehicle.

 

New bumper sticker:

For better phone reception while driving...pull your head out of your ass

*trademark pending*

 

cmhsls started being used in 1986.

I'm 43 and graduated from high school in '85.

So anyone under about 25 has never known a time when 95% of the cars didn't have a 3rd brake light.

Just something to consider. You may react just fine to two brake lights if you were driving before the 90s, but a good portion of the population was trained to look for that 3rd light and doesn't even realize that some cars didn't have them.

 

My '37 has low mounted lights in the fenders, I really don't care if you think my 3rd brake lite is trad or not. All I know is it def catches the car behind me attention, as stated cheaper than bodywork

 

I was nearly hit at a stop sign by an older woman. She said that she didn't see a brake light(note she didn't see A Brake light)! I was driving my '57 which has fairly large and bright brake lights. I told her my brake lights work just fine, and she said there wasn't one in the back window and that's what she looks for!
I still don't have a third brake light, but now I live in Ohio and it doesn't seem to be a problem here. We used to live in Connecticut where stop signs are refered to as "Glance and Goes"!

 

I put magnetic reflectors on my '32 when driving at night. A third brake light is probably a good idea but, that guy could of had 12 tail lights and it wouldn't matter. He was driving through one of the worst parts of the San Fernando Valley which has become a third world toilet. The party that hit him was from another country driving a Hyundai and was either screaming at her kids or texting. I'm glad he didn't get toasted, but driving these old things around some of these new arrivals is dangerous. I've had to pull ahead and jump out of line to avoid getting hit before. Leave early and plan your route, especially in L.A.

 

Defensive driving always has to be ON, especially when driving an irreplaceable car that will squash like a budweiser can with you inside when that escalade arrives, but it is not worth much when you are stopped at a light behind another escalade when you notice the one behind you doesn't seem to be slowing...
Everyone in Madison is driving a suburban, cayenne, or escalde, and I don't think half of them would even notice the splat of a tiny roadster passing by beneath their floorboards.
One teenager who rearended my wife a few years back (at a pedestrian crosswalk full of children, yet!) kept her cellphone to her empty head the WHOLE TIME the cop was there, and looked SERIOUSLY annoyed at the cop's attempts to speak. You can't break through that mentality with nuclear rockets.

 

forgot to add, back in the '70 drove old style Jeeps , was a mail carrier at the time, when they added those "dorky" 6" 3rd brake lites on the Jeeps people finally took notice, that was before cell phones etc Its not fun being rearended believe me..

 

if they can't see my four aftermarket 59 Cadillac tail taillights that fifth one ain't gonna help.

 

As I've said before, if you really want to be safe, you must install a 5-point passenger restraint system, full air bag system, anti-lock brakes, a collapsible steering column, a padded steering wheel, a padded dash, crush zones, auto locking doors, 5-mph bumpers, traction control, anti-rollover control, a padded full roll cage, back-up latched hood, a fire suppression system, a safety fuel cell, reverse lockout, foot-on-brake start switch, child safety locks, a computer controlled collision avoidance system, and helmets for all passengers. Each of those systems should have a redundant back-up and a fail-safe. And, of course, NO combustibles on board, such as gasoline and oil! Its just common sense.

Now, I have to add a third brake light to the list!

I think its safer to just walk.

EDIT: after reading Bruce's last post, I'm thinking that walking is not so safe either. I think I'll just stay at home.

 

I'm still laughing.................. That's priceless

 

I have seen the blinking brake lights on motorcycles before, they do catch your eye quicker. While at the nats in louisville a few weeks ago one of the guys was backing in and his brake lights were blinking. He said he got them from Technostalgia. They are L.E.D.s and they are bright. They pulse for 3 seconds before going solid very eye catching. I have heard enough tires squealing behind me.

 

They are a simple matter of psychology. As ugly as they are and my god are they ugly they do work.
Even know we are programmed to look for the brake lights at an average height having the third one higher has been proven to be effective as it is closer to your eye level. No matter if you are texting, scratching your arse or adjusting the radio they are more likely to catch a driver's attention than the standard lights on a car.
Therein also lays the chief issue with our Hot Rods, our tail lights are not only at a much lower height than average but they, on average are much duller and smaller than modern lights.
This is a safety issue that should be added. Use your imagination guys, make them into something acceptable. Maybe fold down for parking and showing your car so they can't be seen?
I guess it all depends on how cool you want to look versus being alive?

Doc.

PS, I have dragged a lot of bodies from cars; everything you can do that adds that little margin of safety should not be overlooked. Remember there is a point where even the best Paramedic will say 'Enough', no one can afford that.