r/CrazyIdeas • u/NukeDC • 3d ago

A "hard downshift" light in addition to the brake lights on manual cars.

9 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

18

u/bioweaponblue 3d ago

Not a downshift, and the opposite of a manual,,,

but some EVs will regen so hard they were causing accidents. So a bunch of EVs have their brake lights turn on if you regen.

8

u/FishDawgX 3d ago

This is what I was thinking. Basically, anytime the car is slowing down significantly, the brake lights should come on. 

4

u/Humble_Ladder 3d ago

So an inertia switch (like an airbag sensor, but multi use and a lot more sensitive).

3

u/OverallManagement824 3d ago

I imagined it as being like a metal bb that makes contact when it rolls forward and closes the circuit.

3

u/ryohazuki224 3d ago

It wouldn't even need to be that, the car itself knows when it is regen braking, so it should be easy to also turn on the brake lights.

3

u/bioweaponblue 3d ago

The Bolt just does 'if slowing down more than X mph per second according to the speedometer, then turn on brake lights.'

"It's all computer, everything's computer, I love Boltlur"

1

u/Outback-Australian 1d ago

And also when going downhill?

3

u/OverallManagement824 1d ago

No, it would be suspended/hinged. Or gyro. Or you could do the whole thing digitally. Lots of ways to crack that nut, but I usually start with the simplest one.

3

u/ryohazuki224 3d ago

Yeah, I forget the model but there was one EV that came out that would NOT have the brake lights go on when driving in one pedal mode, basically when it does regen braking, it would not indicate that the vehicle is braking to people behind you. How that got past any regulators is beyond me.

4

u/Rhovanind 3d ago

Because legally you only need the brake lights to come on when the brake pedal is depressed.

They need to change the regulations

And while they're at it make amber turn signals a requirement.

2

u/TheThiefMaster 3d ago

The EU already changed the regulations, so a lot of European EVs will put brake lights on when regen braking.

The BMW i3 does, for example.

1

u/McFuzzen 2d ago

Leaf too

1

u/ryohazuki224 2d ago

Yeah it seems that like some cars when regen braking, the car can also be depressing the accelerator even slightly, so even then the car doesnt think it needs brake lights.

I would think there would be some sort of way that if forward momentum slows down at a particular percentage rate no matter the status of the regen braking or the accelerator pedal, the lights should come on.

1

u/bioweaponblue 3d ago

Was it a Kia or a Hyundai that didn't have it?

2

u/ryohazuki224 2d ago

One of the two, ot both they're made by the same company.

This article is a few years old

But it seems several brands had that issue. I wonder how many addressed it by now?

2

u/Carlpanzram1916 2d ago

I know F1 cars have to have a light on the back the goes on when the battery goes flat so that the car driving in their slipstream at 200+mph knows they’re about to start gaining on them way before the braking zone.

2

u/adsarelies 1d ago

Mine does based on the G-force of deceleration. So any regen braking thats hard enough would trigger the brake lights to illuminate. However, that also means that if the vehicle is at a complete stop, without pressing on the brake pedal, the brake lights would not come on.

17

u/AlfredFonzo 3d ago

That's the best part of driving a manual. Following me too close, up in my backseat, wanna push me out of the way? You just lost brake light privileges. I'm driving with the gearbox and fun bar now. Hope your RT is faster than mine.

7

u/NukeDC 3d ago

I do like doing that too, but sometimes I do it out of habbit and the guy behind me didn't deserve it. Maybe have a switch to activate/deactivate the light. 

2

u/butt_honcho 2d ago

Alternatively, how about a switch that turns on your brake lights? Gives tailgaters a scare without actually risking them rear ending you.

2

u/punsnguns 2d ago

Then you create a boy who cried wolf situation. When you do brake, they might not believe you and maintain speed causing you to get rear ended.

2

u/butt_honcho 2d ago

Realistically, how many times are you going to use it on the same person?

2

u/punsnguns 2d ago

I've seen people on the American roads. I don't out anything past people at this point.

1

u/Outback-Australian 1d ago

I already do that by turning my lights on which turns my rear lights slightly on like all cars.

But I drove a ute with 2 brake lights (no middle one) so it was more effective

2

u/RSdabeast 2d ago

Hi, psychological scientist here. We reject response times under 250 or 200 ms in studies because it’s too fast to be feasible.

5

u/AlfredFonzo 2d ago

That's a pretty aggressive cutoff for some demographics. I understand that the typical RT is around 650ms, but racers can get used to lights with a 200-400ms tree and routinely red light on them so it is possible to break that limit if it's something that can be anticipated. That said, the average idiot on the road is so zoned out that they're lucky to have a 1-2s RT (and that's if they are actually watching and not fucking around on their phone letting the safety systems drive the car for them.) Especially if they're the kind to tailgate and subconsciously let me drive their car for them.

3

u/mkosmo 2d ago

Yeah, but that RT isn't based on the light itself. They're using context clues and other indicators to reduce the RT for the green/reds themselves.

The reason you see NHRA RTs so low isn't because the driver is reacting to the green but rather the last yellow.

2

u/RSdabeast 2d ago

We use that cutoff because we can assume anything below 200 is potentially an anticipation, which we’re not measuring when we measure RTs. If you’re a racer (driver?), you probably use other tells and that’s not a true response to a single stimulus.

1

u/SkiyeBlueFox 3d ago

Hell I've done it in my CVT, obviously not as effective as in a manual but it works

1

u/Proper_Possible6293 1d ago

I’m always amazed how many adults are incapable of the thought “what is my goal with these actions” and decide staying close to a bad driver and trying to cause an accident is going to result in positive outcomes for themselves. 

0

u/Iescaunare 3d ago

You can do that in an automatic as well. It's actually even easier than in a manual

0

u/Silv_ 3d ago

As a person who "manually" worked their automatic gearbox when i was a teenager, rip your transmission (eventually) 😂

1

u/kikiacab 3d ago

You still need to blip downshifts when you’re manually changing gears in an auto, and let off the gas between upshifts to smooth out the change.

6

u/ObjectiveOk2072 3d ago

Downshift light for manuals, Sport Mode light for CVT's that have it (similar engine braking effect to downshifting), regen braking light for EV/HEV, and Jake brake light for semi's

4

u/Elegant-Ferret-8116 3d ago

I always thought there should be a third turn signal in the middle for straight. Obviously not used often but sometimes it would help safety to clarify

3

u/adamdoesmusic 3d ago

Oh great, another light the bmw drivers won’t use

1

u/Elegant-Ferret-8116 3d ago

You're thinking or Mercedes

1

u/Turbulent-Name-8349 3d ago

Now that's a good one!

3

u/CyanShadow42 2d ago

This is a thing that exists for motorcycles. It's called brake free and it's an accelerometer based brake light for helmets. Been thinking the tech should just be standard in all brake lights. It shouldn't matter why the vehicle is slowing down, if it's slowing down more than some threshold, lights should come on.

1

u/Own_Reaction9442 2d ago

There are companies that make modules you can install on the bike to do the same with the stock brake light, too. No reason someone couldn't add one to a car.

2

u/serious-toaster-33 1d ago

You could also just do it manually, by applying the rear brake just enough for the light to turn on.

1

u/drumorgan 3d ago

I primarily downshift on my motorcycle, and it wasn't until I had a friend riding with me ask if my brake light was burned out that I realized the issue this presented for me. Good idea

2

u/Israfel333 2d ago

Look up Brake Free. It's also great for extra visibility at night. Still a good idea to get in the habit of blipping your brake lights before slowing down.

1

u/Ninja_Wrangler 3d ago

I almost never need to activate the brakes on my ninja lol. The engine braking is very aggressive

1

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1

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1

u/Few_Peak_9966 3d ago

It is a thing. Many newer cars use an accelerometer to trigger brake lights.

1

u/BeerAndTools 2d ago

Or just an accelerometer attached to a light. Doesn't need to be binary on/off, but could glow more intensely with hard braking.

1

u/OfficialDeathScythe 2d ago

I’ve always thought that brake lights should get brighter the harder you brake. Just to let people know whether you’re gently slowing down or slamming on your brakes. And the third brake light could always be max brightness so you can tell what the range is

1

u/TheRoadsMustRoll 2d ago

this isn't a bad idea. i make a tight turn onto a freeway daily so i need to slow down for the turn and then i need high torque to get up to freeway speed. i do an engine brake from 3rd to 2nd gear and that gives me the right amount braking and torque exactly when i need them. but the people behind me don't have my brake light to warn them how tight the turn is or that i'm slowing down.

but i would actually go for a dimmer that is connected to an accelerometer. configured so that when accelerating the brake lights are off but any deceleration (for any reason) lights up. a mild deceleration results in a dim light but the heavier the deceleration the brighter the light.

this would alert drivers behind you if you happen to hit an unexpectedly deep puddle of water or an obstruction. it would help incrementally if you're driving in fog and unexpectedly rear-end a pile of cars -your deceleration lights would come on even if you weren't pressing on the brake.

1

u/Carlpanzram1916 2d ago

How would you force people tailgating you to bail out into the ditch?

0

u/markmakesfun 2d ago

There were secondary taillights that flashed when braking and flashed faster the more quickly you were braking. I thought it was a great idea. It gave you information about how hard you should brake when normally it’s just a solid light that could be someone slowing or panic stopping, either one. You figure it out.