Electric cars prove we need to rethink brake lights

Truly, this is a pressing issue. I hope somebody at the helm is watching.

Links 'n' stuff:
The mentioned turn signal video

My other vehicular-lighting related content:
On how we used to require all cars to have the same headlights

On why you can't get turn signals to synchronize (except now you can)

Technology Connextras (my second channel where stuff goes sometimes)

Technology Connections on Mastodon:

The TC Subreddit

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00:00 Intro
01:47 Demonstration
03:15 Regen braking and one-pedal driving
09:17 Somebody forgot about the brake lights
12:25 One solution that GM came up with
15:12 Adaptive cruise control
16:25 US regulations
21:15 The Boy who Cried Wolf problem
21:50 Europe's previously terrible regulations and their fix
25:47 An earnest call to action
28:38 Bloops

[TechnologyConnections]

GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! Consumer reports picked up on this video and did testing which confirmed that this issue affects nearly all Hyundai/Kia E-GMP platform cars (and I very much appreciate them giving a shoutout to this video!)
And now! Hyundai will fix this. They're calling it a "field service campaign" and it will begin in July. Weirdly, Kia hasn't said anything yet at the time of this comment's posting.
Now, while I'm glad Hyundai is doing the right thing (and hopefully Kia does soon), I believe we still very much need a clear, unambiguous regulation to unify brake light behavior with features like one-pedal driving. We are still leaving too much up to manufacturers right now.

[timseguine]

As a software engineer I feel qualified to say that one man's software can also be the same man's nightmare.

[phildittrich]

I’m an automotive lighting, safety engineer, and just shared this with my team. Keep up the good work 😇

[AlexanderFable]

Thank you for the imperial seconds to metric seconds conversion.

[wesd]

Now I want to see a video about why new car headlights are absolutely decimating my retinas.

[NothingOfficial]

How this guy gets me and 2 million other people to watch a 29 min video about "another brake light problem" is pure magic. 🧙

[Ultra_]

"The brake pedal was the only thing that can slow down the car enough to warrant turning on the brake light"
My mangled standard transmission would like a word with you

[SecretAsianMan]

The accelerometer approach for the Bolt is actually a pretty decent idea since it's a hardware double check to the software's logic on pedal position. It's a redundant system, which, when talking about a safety item, is a good thing.

Also, manual drivers are plenty used to not always having brake lights illuminated at traffic lights considering we can leave the car in neutral on a flat surface and not have to hold any pedals.

[bri]

"Actual rate of deceleration"... I hope I sometime in the future see this reflected in brake lights! Too many times you're behind someone who's slightly braking and suddenly has to fully brake and the only visual info you get is the car shaking forward, and you always brake at least a second too late.

[hugoiwata]

I love how your videos range from "I'm really bothered by this very small design issue in this very specific product" to "Many people may die because engineers are lazy"

[flopdos]

Got my "optional recall" update done today. Got the notice in the mail a few weeks ago. Pretty sure you are solely responsible for getting the ball rolling on this, and thank you so much for that.

[aaronmeche]

That ABSOLUTELY deserves a recall. I love studying headlights and taillight design, subscribed

[larryvezina]

In 1951/52 my father had a light mouthed on the rear deck and visible from the rear that showed green on acceleration, yellow when decelerating and red when braking. All of this controlled by a pendulum.

[briantaylor]

Oh boy new car light episode dropped. Making my lunch break much better.

[bannanaanna]

After I had watched this video last night, I decided to talk about this video with my coworker that I was driving with. After explaining it we were stopped at a red light behind a couple cars and THAT EXACT CAR PULLED UP IN THE LANE NEXT TO ME AND FLAWLESSLEY DEMONSTRATED THE ISSUE WITH THE BRAKES. I love when things like this happen directly after learning about them

[lyleclarke]

Glad you mentioned the indicator issues at the beginning, I've noticed recently that die to daylight running lights, indicator lights are much harder to see as the white light overpowers the amber, at night it's not so much of an issue but it's so unnecessary.

[keirstenduren]

I’m definitely checking my break lights when my hybrid is in adaptive cruise control, but I will say that I have watched my break lights at night and I LOVE that they flash a couple times when my foot first touches the break; I have always felt like that got people’s attention better than just coming on.

[kangthao]

I love the engineers who decided to separate the rear turn signal light, and put them below the bumper, where you can see it from a distance ahead of you, but not when the vehicle is next to you, or in front of you.

[Kahnanesgi]

Script comment:

"I was able to stop my car from 60 MPH, [or] about 96 and half KPH, in 13 seconds, or 13 seconds."

I absolutely loved that bit of snark on the time conversion from seconds to seconds. I love your channel for the discussions you bring to the table, but I also find it a complete joy when you drop in little quips like this.

[pmwgwgl]

Wow, this presentation is amazing. This guy is amazing. I'd want him on my team.

I note that my brake lights do not come on when I decelerate in my 1984 Camaro using only the cruise control "decelerate" button on my steering wheel. However, this only happens at speeds high than 40mph because, once I slow down to slower than 40mph, the cruise control deactivates and I have to use the regular foot pedal after that which, of course, does light the brake lights.