Electric cars & brake lights

Wow - what an epic fail. The "brake" lights should really be renamed the "I'm slowing down (at a rate exceeding x)" lights and should come on whenever the car slows more rapidly than it would if it could be put into neutral and coast.

Apparently Nissan had figured this out for the Leaf's one pedal driving mode.

 

Yeah, let’s reinvent the brake light. What could go wrong.

 

Why have a lot of EVs not already been rear-ended?

 

We have owned EV’s for six years, not one instance of a car behind coming even close to hitting us.

 

And yet, I have heard of none where the absence of brake lights was a proven cause. In any event, running into the back of another vehicle is usually the fault of the driver of the following vehicle for failing to pay sufficient attention to the road ahead.

 

Why? That's not a Thing, at all.

EVs do not, cannot, decelerate faster than any other kinds of vehicles.

Brake lights are unchanged as to simply signal 'I am slowing' - since forever. Even the move, to a third, eye level repeater in the early/mid 90s just made such more apparent to the unthinking. That had a small, but barely-detectable, mostly- statistical effect.

Observation is everything; drivers should be used to no such cues - in fact, that is very important - If you are watching for intensity changes to signal how you should behave in the shoal - it's already far, far too late.



Side-observation: we are also entering a realm where 'UX-designers' are being put to work, at how drivers might/should drive cars - without any of the experience of doing so!

A lot of the result, is utterly, utterly ..shit; from a safe-interaction-vs-feedback, vs: diversion-of attention POV: touchscreen-everything, for a start.

 

That's the kind of observation that any driver notices! diminution of space in front, driver ahead isn't maintaining speed uphill etc. Or - car ahead , limiting speed downhill, by selection of lower-gear and using engine-braking (per highway code, road signs etc) -it'll slow at an arbitrary rate, even abruptly - with no external signal.

13s 60-0 deceleration rate is .. really bloody slow ... a vehicle ahead coasting uphill to a stop without brakes, also , long, perfectly normal; say a motorway off-ramp. You might see a flash in the last second or two as vehicle ahead brought to a positive stop/held.

TBH - as a driver, one in the shoal - you watch for the relative movement of the Shoal around you, to avoid incursion into the stand-off space you are managing - ahead, to the side, behind. Vehicle signal lights - brake, indicators - are not to be relied-upon, ever.

If you wait for, let alone believe, signal of intention, you've failed.

Easier to demonstrate, than discuss - ATB : )

 

To put that into perspective, that's about 180m of travel before it stops.

The braking distance for 60mph in the Highway Code is 55m (73m stopping).

 

You do not drive if I remember correctly?

 

I was once rear ended and had neck pains for several years. Long before EV's was around. An idiot behind is an idiot behind.

But, yeah, I see the problem.

 

Tony rides a bike if I remember correctly. You don't need to be a car driver to be a legal road user with a legitimate interest in vehicle lighting and warning systems. If you think otherwise you should seriously consider giving up driving.

Any how, I think the guy in the video has a point. While brake lights are just one of the many visual clues as to what may be happening on the road in front of us, they are important nonetheless.

 

I give everyone more room than they need regardless of the vehicle because most people can't drive for toffee, even more so these days when they're doing twelve more important things than actually watching the road.

 

I would think that it would be relatively easy for a signal to be sent [via the computer] to the brake light circuit from any regeneration that is effectively braking. It would not require any special software to decide the amount of braking, but rather that regenerative braking is occurring.

When I was taught driving before my third driving test [two fails!] in 1979, I was told to dab the brakes as soon as I had changed down a gear for engine braking going downhill or approaching a junction for examples, as this gives the driver behind an indication that I am restricting the speed by means that would otherwise not be obvious from the braking lights.

Nowadays it may be too much to hope that this will be done by many drivers, given that so many seem to think that even turn signals are optional, but it could so easily be done on EVs to illuminate the braking lights whenever regeneration is working.

Best wishes from George

 

I drive a car with regenerative braking. The brake lights come on if the brake pedal is pressed, or when the regen system braking exceeds a certain force.

Having brake lights come on whenever regen is active would be extremely problematic, as they would become a distraction to other road users. Driving a car with full regen does require some acclimatisation.

The best way to avoid rear ending is to pay proper attention to the road and not be distracted by phones, sat nav settings, radio, music, etc etc.

 

I have an EV and only seldom use the brakes, I use the regenerative braking by taking my foot off the accelerator. To do this you have to use a longer ‘braking distance’ ie start to slow down sooner before you need to stop, hence the deceleration is over a longer period and more gentle which I think reduces the chance of being rear ended .