Smart Brake Lights Make Drivers More Aware

The problem with brake lights, according to a group of Virginia Tech engineering students, is that the warning signals are simple "yes or no" propositions. When a driver engages the brake in any way, the lights go on without any indication to the following vehicle of how quickly the car will decelerate. Therefore, you get the same signal whether the driver is merely tapping the brake or slamming on the pedal to avoid a major obstacle in the road.

In response to this problem, the students have devised a new kind of brake light, one that actually tells drivers how quickly the car in front of them will stop. The lights are a series of bars that glow orange when a car is merely slowing and bright red when it is about to come to a more immediate halt. The urgency of the lights would be intuitive for drivers based on existing traffic signals.

The only drawback is that the lights will be more expensive to manufacture than existing brake lights. The students think the price of the technology will come down quickly, especially when the lights become commercialized.

Smart Brake Light System Would Provide More Information to Drivers (Physorg.com)

Comments

[D]

Alot of Euro cars have some sort of emergency "tell-tale" for brake lights, some cars will blink the brake lights when the brake is slammed on. Others will turn on the hazard lights if the brakes r engaged quickly at high speeeds, 2 let those behind u know that u r stopping suddenly. I also like rear fog lights too, all Euro cars have them!

[George]

The easiest way to adopt adaptive brake lights is to have the CHMSL operate at 1/3 width on normal stops.
and when the brake assist function is engaged, the entire width is illuminated.

No need for more obfuscation with orange colored brake lights.

[jake]

i think these "smart" brake lights would result in poorer driver practices. drivers would start to rely on the color of the brake lights to decide how quickly they should slow down. hey, while we're at it, why don't we make another brake light that tells you when the driver in front of you took his/her foot off the gas and is just coasting. another one for "cell phone in use," "kids in back seat," "munching on a big mac," etc.

regardless, how would you implement the new smart brake light? if it's just on new cars, then what about older cars? their brake lights are only red. so then there's the problem of people slamming on the brakes behind you each time you slow down, if you're driving any vehicle that isn't new.

it kind of defeats its own purpose.

[J]

Shouldn't something more fundamental implemented first?

Stop tailgating!

(I remember seeing a bumper sticker that says: I am not a dog in heat, stay off my ass!)

[Infosaur]

As more taillights go to LED's I'd say the most obvious idea would be a percentage sequence.

Light braking would activate 50% of the RED-HI LED's (RED-LOW would be for running lights and tail markers, YELLOW-ORANGE would be for turn signals)

Moderate braking would be 50% to 80% in three incremental stages.

Hard or agressive braking would be 100% in five rapid stages. As would comming to a full stop from 15mph.

Full stop (resting) would back down to 80% and creeping (at a stop light) would be down to 50%.

If you did a flat out panic stop with all assist, the 4-ways would also come on. And the tail lights would flicker at the speed of ABS cycling.

[Riari]

Knew a physicist who designed a similar contraption back in 1986 -- mercury switch closed on rapid deceleration and caused a third flashing light to engage. I thought it was a great idea then, but he was off to the next idea pretty quickly (a wheel-well light that would cause spoked wheels to appear motionless!).

I really don't get the objections to this. The more information you can provide a driver about the velocity of the car ahead, the more readily the driver can react to changes in velocity. It's a no-brainer.

[Dan]

I've been asking for this for years. Hopefully someone finally implements this.

Didn't Mercedes convince the NHTSA to allow them to test a similar technology for a period recently?

[Rick]

I see one good point with one of the naysayers -- how do you distinguish between a car that is slamming on the brakes from one that is just old and can't tell the difference between that and a slow deceleration?

There's a relatively easy answer, though. Just make the hard brake look different from the current technology, maybe by adding flashing of some sort.

Of course, there might be something to that crazy "defensive driving" notion, too -- always assume that everyone else on the road is a moron and they're about to do something that might kill you. React accordingly. (Or be ready to.)