Added brake strobe to rear brake strip

[FLDarren]

I added a brake strobe to my rear brake strip. I simply connected the strobe into the wires leading to the strip and tucked the controller box into the plastic trim piece below the strip. Now, every time my brake strip comes on it will strobe 4 times, solid one second, strobe 4 times then solid. I installed it mostly as a safety precaution. It gets your attention yet its not annoying. It would've been annoying if I had it constantly strobe whenever there was power to the brake strip. It gets the point across, I'm slowing down! I even had a biker complement me on it the other day. He had one on his bike as well.

Don't mind the music. Quaker Steak and Lube was playing some classic tunes.:smile:

Dropbox - IMG_3708.MOV-1.mov

 

[island]

Wow great upgrade. I do find myself nervous slowing down especially if there is an accident or something that causes stopping abruptly ahead. I avoided two accidents from behind by swerving off into the breakdown lane when the person behind me didn't look to be slowing down fast enough.

In both instances they slammed into the car in front of me (with no one hurt) but this strobe light idea might of helped. Adding it to my future plans!

 

[CT Audi Fan]

Is that legal? Manufacturers have been talking about such for years but could not get approved.

 

[TES-E]

I'm not sure about Florida, but that is almost certainly illegal in many, if not most, States. That debate has raged in the motorcycle industry for years.

 

[CHG-ON]

Sorry, but those things drive me completely crazy when following (typically a Toyota) in traffic. Every darn time they touch their brakes I am assaulted by these annoying and sometimes blinding lights. With the Tesla CHML, I can only imagine that it would even worse. The rear lights on the MS are so bright as it is. If some moron doesn't notice them, a siren and fire hose won't wake them up.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

I've noticed firetrucks and ambulances here have strobing break lights like that. It certainly does catch your attention.

What I do know is legal for us civilians are progressive brake lights - meaning additional lights or brightness is activated on panic braking. My wife's 2007 BMW and 2014 Volvo have it. Anyone know if the Model S does?

Here's a demonstration of BMW's "brake force display" feature. The first time this guy applies the brakes normally, and the normal brake lights illuminate. Second time they brake harder at the end and a second set of brighter lights come on. Third time they threshold brake, activating ABS, and the brake lights flash. Interestingly, in the comments they note that the third stage flashing lights aren't enabled in the US. What does the NHTSA have against additional warning of heavy braking??

 

[CT Audi Fan]

Don't know exactly why but not allowed in US. Same is true of progressive signal lighting for turns for whatever reason. What the OP describes is rather annoying frankly ... If the strobe activated with ABS then fine but flashing each time you touch brakes (and presumably on regen) is more dangerous than normal.

 

[jerry33]

I find them very annoying.

 

[artsci]

I've noticed firetrucks and ambulances here have strobing break lights like that. It certainly does catch your attention.

What I do know is legal for us civilians are progressive brake lights - meaning additional lights or brightness is activated on panic braking. My wife's 2007 BMW and 2014 Volvo have it. Anyone know if the Model S does?

Here's a demonstration of BMW's "brake force display" feature. The first time this guy applies the brakes normally, and the normal brake lights illuminate. Second time they brake harder at the end and a second set of brighter lights come on. Third time they threshold brake, activating ABS, and the brake lights flash. Interestingly, in the comments they note that the third stage flashing lights aren't enabled in the US. What does the NHTSA have against additional warning of heavy braking??

The annoying and loud noise the BMW makes is more notable than the brake lights

 

[thedaysbetween]

The annoying and loud noise the BMW makes is more notable than the brake lights

+1 for this

 

[yobigd20]

This looks more like faulty wiring and electrical shorting than brake strobing. If I see anything like that I'd suggest getting your electrical systems checked out. The first thought that would come to my mind is that your electrical is messed up and that your not really braking at all. I think it's a huge distraction. That's also probably why it's illegal in every state.

 

[cgiGuy]

Is Pulse legal in my state?

http://www.pulseprotects.com/faq/

The founders of Kinetech[SUP]TM [/SUP]spent two years in research and development to ensure that Pulse meets federal regulations and the regulatory requirements of all 50 states in the U.S. While the national highway safety laws restrict flashing lights to emergency vehicle use only, the Pulse award winning design causes the 3rd brake light to remain steady burning, even while it pulses four times.

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I admit this is different than that OP's system, but it shows that it's not as cut and dry illegal as many think. It seems to be whether it is a continuous strobe and whether the level of the light is just getting brighter vs cutting out all together. Pumping your brakes quickly would be similar to this "pulse."

 

[EarlyAdopter]

The annoying and loud noise the BMW makes is more notable than the brake lights

Indeed. That's an aftermarket exhaust and it sounds atrocious, even by ICE standards.

 

[David99]

I hate them. The problem is exactly that it's trying to get your attention all the time, every time the car is slowed down. It's flashing and alerting you of a danger that isn't one. We already have an overkill of things trying to get our attention. The problem is that anything that flashes in your face all the time, you tend to filter it out and ignore it, thus it looses it's purpose.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I hate them. The problem is exactly that it's trying to get your attention all the time, every time the car is slowed down. It's flashing and alerting you of a danger that isn't one. We already have an overkill of things trying to get our attention. The problem is that anything that flashes in your face all the time, you tend to filter it out and ignore it, thus it looses it's purpose.

That's my main issue with them. If it were tied to an accelerometer or something where braking over a certain threshold pulsed like I've seen on some motorcycles, great, but flashing in stop-and-go is going to train you to ignore that. This is compounded by the fact that we can't truly control the brake lights on our cars when decelerating slightly via regen, so it's hard to know if you're flashing your lights at those behind you constantly. It's almost a "boy who cried wolf" scenario.

 

[Tony Lin]

very rice boy!

 

[wycolo]

> The problem is exactly that it's trying to get your attention all the time, every time the car is slowed down. [David99]

<Strobe only when Bypass ends (xx sec)> Make it user adjustable.

But I would want to remove Regen lights from this equation, and am not up to date on Regen activation of lights. Has firmware updated Regen lights?? [Need to drive more at night].
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[Gizmotoy]

> The problem is exactly that it's trying to get your attention all the time, every time the car is slowed down. [David99]

<Strobe only when Pause ends (xx sec)> Make it user adjustable.

But I would want to remove Regen lights from this equation, and am not up to date on Regen activation of lights. Has firmware updated Regen lights?? [Need to drive more at night].
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So they strobe after they've been on solid for some number of seconds? In a true emergency situation, wouldn't you want it the other way? Strobe and then solid?

Brake lights come on during regen, but it's speed- and deceleration-sensitive. You can get a pretty good feel for it, but there's no definitive way to know for sure when the brake lights will be illuminated. I don't think this has changed recently, it's just always been like that.

 

[wycolo]

My idea is to disable Strobe after a single use until xx sec have passed. By then presumably you will have shaken off the tailgater or entered another traffic pattern. Drivers only get one shot of this treatment!
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[CHG-ON]

I agree with the the previous posts. Though I can see some value to flashing under exceptionally hard braking, signaling a potentially dangerous situation. But in stop and go, it is just about as annoying as it can get. Especially at night, when they can be somewhat blinding.

A prime example of our ultra paranoid USA culture.