Safe Speed Forums

Back in 1977 I had a motorbike which told me when my rear brake light wasn't working via an idiot light on my console next to the speedo.

30+ years on and something as simple as this has still not been incorporated on any modern car I have driven - and I drive quite a few.

Does anyone know why?

To this day, I still filter up next to cars, tap on their window, and say to the driver, "do you know your nearside brake light is out?" or whatever it is.

There is no reason I can see why manufacturers couldn't do the same in all cars today and yet they don't for some reason.

I'm sure there must be some cars which have this but surely it's simple and cheap enough for it to be commonplace, and in the interest of safety of course?

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

of course it's not beyond the wit of man to check them occasionally...

I see what you're saying though Tone.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Many new cars have bulb failure warning, I had a Rover 75 in 2003 that had this.

An even better feature was the ability to re-configure the lights, i.e if a tail light was gone it would warn you and put the fog light on dim to compensate. It used BMW architecture so I assume BMWs do this as well.

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Speed camera policy Kills

Saabs tell you bulbs are out (and which one) - even my wifes old 1994 900...

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I won't slave for beggar's pay,
likewise gold and jewels,
but I would slave to learn the way
to sink your ship of fools

So it already sounds to me like you have got to lose the best part of £20,000 before you may have this feature?

Not good IMO.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

My Suzuki Katana had a habit of blowing brake light bulbs and I remember fitting an after-market kit to let me know when this had happened.
The kit comprised a fibre-optic cable one end of which was positioned within the light fitting so it was near the bulb and an LED at the other end that was mounted near the instrument cluster. The little LED would therefore illuminate as long as the bulb was working. I though it was pretty cool in 1980!

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

The same bracket of vehicles which feature indicators as optional extras

I've had Accords since 1984. All have this feature.

I'm sure this sort of thing will become (a) more common on cheaper vehicles and (b) less neccesary in the future. LEDs have the potential to be much more reliable and long lived than incandescent bulbs and that's the way the industry is likely to go. Also, as electrical systems get more and more smart-arsed, this kind of capability is likely to be easier to build in.

Of course, as we've seen in these fora before, there will then come the moans about why nobody makes simple, easy-to-fix cars anymore! With bulb failure warning is likely to come increased complexity, more stuff to go wrong, more trouble with fault-finding and wiring up towbars!

As I'm an electrical dunce but an avid mechanical DIYer, I prefer simpler electronics - even if it means checking that my lights work periodically!

Nope, it seems equally random across the market.

I've know cheap runarounds (Fiat IIRC) which had the feature, in fact didn't the original Maestro (the talking one)?

The best thiing that had was a spell on candid camera - when the squak box was disconnected and connected to a hands-free intercom that was controlled remotely.

You have a good point. Bulb failure means you cannot "splice" in a tow bar electical system. In stead you need an interface box that can cost over £100.

LEDs may be more reliable (in theory) but detecting a failure is more difficult, and a lot more expensive to fix as you probably have to replace the whole lamp cluster. I see a lot of centre brake light clusters with LEDs in with some of the LEDs gone out (and no these are not the bulb versions, I know how to tell them apart).

The bottom line is that failure detection is expensive to implement as you need electronics to drive the lamp not just cheap relays and switches. And if you want to fit a tow bar don't expect much change out of £500!

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Speed camera policy Kills

yeah, I think my merc does tell me and thats a van, so everthing will have it fairly soon. Downside is it's an advantage of the can-bus, which is clever ("your drivers side rear door is open"), but a DIY'ers nightmare.

The air recirc has a 5 min timeout. I want to use it permanently in london traffic cos I don't like breathing exhaust fumes. On an older car (not a problem cos the sodding thing was a switch that didn't timeout, but evan if it did...) you'd just bypass the timer module/supply a switched live feed to the relevant trigger on the valve. Not so now! Now I have an addressable push button on a common bus that sends a coded signal to the ECU which sends a coded signal to the addressable valve unit, then presumably another signal telling it to disengage after 5 mins.

Now you need a degree in computer hacking to carry out a simple mod.

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

Is it a Vito that you drive? I can't remember but I have a vague feeling you can get them with charcoal filters (not just "pollen" filters) for the cabin for exactly this sort of situation. I could be mistaking it for another Merc but I know some of the saloon cars have them as an option and they seem to work quite well.

My 1990 Honda Accord had the feature to let you know if a brakelight had gone, just wouldn't tell you which one.
Later cars I have had, Mondeo and Primera haven't.
My Mercedes artic has this feature as well, and it also lets you know if the trailer lights are out as well.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Yeah it's a vito, I've just looked at the options list and this should be already fitted as it's an upgrade with the A/C. Fact is though, I know immediately that the air recirc has timed out because of the exhaust smell, despite what the government tell you about smokers I have a very strong sense of smell.

There's a ECU recall so I may quiz the technician on the possibilty of altering the timeout, but I doubt they'll do as apparently it's a safety feature to stop me suffocating on stale air apparently ozzies who drive this van hate this feature too as you need constant A/C recirc to get anything near decent climate.

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

Bulb failure warning systems are good, but increasingly of late, bulb replacement is a garage only task.

Yes, witness the new shape Disco :@

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Smokebelching,CO2 making,child murdering planet raping,granny mugging,politically incorrect globally warming (or is it climate changing now it's getting colder?)thug.
That's what the government want you to believe of me. If they get back in I'm emigrating.

Realistically the only lights that are difficult to check ( by oneself )are the brakelights . And if you can't get someone to check them simple enough to fit a switch accross the pedal switch so that they are on to test .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Ah, well the Japanese cars of then were renowned for giving you all the extras.

In the 80s the clutch on a GB made car was an optional extra!

For the same price, the Japanese equivalent would give you variable wiper speeds electric windows and a whole bunch of stuff.

Tell me I'm wrong?

Why, in 2008, haven't we got 'lights out' as standard or even a legal requirement?


I rest my case.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.