this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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Like someone said in the hnews comments, this might work for auto transmission but with manual gearing you've got people using engine braking on hills.
Also like stated in the article the colouring is going to be an issue and trying to see some green lights whilst the headlights are on (full beam fog lights perhaps too?) doesn't seem practicable to me.
with computers these days an acceleration based system should be achievable for all types of cars. hybrid/electric cars already do it with regen braking.
Not all of them. It is becoming more common, but for a while Hyundai and Kia didn't do this, and I know my older Ford doesn't.
Probably just in the US, since brake lights are only required when pressing the brake pedal. Mercedes illuminates them but then turns the brake lights off once the vehicle comes to a stop using regen.
Possibly, and I'd be interested in some sort of 360° LED on top of a vehicle to indicate to pedestrians and other drivers alike of its (de)acceleration.
But jamming some non standard colours in what is a long term understanding on the front of a vehicle I can't really get with and would like to see the impact to people with partial / colour blindness with using such a system.
Like, does the average pedestrian know what the green and red lights mean on an aircraft? I bet not.
fair point about color blindness, but surely there is some 4th color that would work well with red/amber/white.
Well you should educate yourself on the rules of the method of travel no matter.
If you were to go up in the air and you didn’t educate yourself on what the lights mean, you’re going to ruin everyone else’s day in your incredibly dangerous ignorance.
You don’t take a paddle boat onto the water without understanding some basic principles of water navigation… why would roads in this specific cause be any different? We already do with most land methods, this one is gonna be hinge? Nah. Ignorance isn’t an excuse.
I have, and that's my point.
I'm a lowly drone pilot that isn't really made to understand what those lights mean but did out of my sheer curiosity.
But the average pedestrian is going to take some, teaching?
Automatics also allow for engine braking. From a quick search, it sounds like a toss-up as to whether that triggers brake lights. Regardless, the article mentions the benefit is not only from cars slowing down, but also from indicating that a car is preparing to stop or "that a stationary vehicle might initiate movement". Neither of those can be done by an engine brake, so front brake lights would still have a benefit even with a driver that likes engine braking.
Last I heard something like 98% of new cars/trucks sold in America have automatic.