I think this constitutes a new thread/discussion....

I was working a little project to try to improve my brake light visiblity to rear-ward oncoming "unintentionally homocidal" passenger cars, etc. Would like to know what you think and possibly you may have some tips on sources, etc.

NEEDS/WANTS: I want to improve the visiblity (and so saftey) of riding and especially concerned when I am at a stop light and there are cars approaching off in the distance (or stopping behind me -- will they stop?). Generally, I leave a path that I can gun my engine and jump off the side, between vehicles, etc. if it should happen but my VRSCDX'08 has one little incandecent brake light. Cool if the opportinity to redesign presented some other improvemets too such as the MC flashing the brake light automatically on fast deceleration (engine braking, etc.).

LOGIC: Realizing that the ramp time (to go from off to full on light) on an LED vs a incandecent lamp (filament light) amounts to about 50 feet of additional advanced warning to rear drivers at highway speeds I decided LEDs are the only way to go these days. I think this would improve reaction time to drivers behind me that are paying attention.

IDEAS: I would like to find a small intelligent lighting system (not 2" or even 1.5" unit... but a postage stamp size unit) that would do the following:

1. Initial Flash/Strobe. Flash/Strobe my brake light when I first depress it for 1.5 seconds (or so) then provide a continuous light for 3 seconds (or so) then repeat for as long as I have the brakes actuated. I think this would provide added visibility at stop lights as I find myself looking in my rear-view and tapping out a "SOS" signal to the approaching car (joking)... but you know what I mean? It would be cool just to not have to do this tapping thing to improve my visiblity. A kind of "Back Off!" indicator.

2. Nuisance Timer. Some of the units I saw have a timer so that if you are in stop-n-go traffic you aren't flahing/strobing in the face of the driver behind you constantly. This seems to be a good feature as well. The one I have on my car for the "5th light" will not flash if you have depressed the brake within 10 seconds ago -- it will just go on like a regular brake light.

2. Auto-Brake Indicator. Include an inertia (mercury switch) to actuate this braking automatically within the rear light when I decellerate quickly without touching the brakes (such as engine braking or just de-throttling quickly... or as it happens sometimes... I am in a lower gear than I thought). This would be useful as I read in the MAID study (Euro MC Accident Forensics) that many accidents are caused by "MC speed dropped to slower than surrounding traffic." I did review one unit that had a connection to the speed sensing circuit (speedometer) to determine whether the MC is continuing to slow (decelerate) and if so it would continue a brake light flashing warn the drive behind you that you are slowing/stopping. Very good feature!

3. Tilt Strobe. Include a "tilt switch" (possibly mercury swith(es)) to set off a Xenon strobe in the light housing if I am on the ground ("I have fallen and can't get up!"). Got to assume this could happen... downed MCs are not easy to see. 12VDC Xenon strobe units can be had for $10.

I found one very sophisticated intelligent lighting unit that is a single potted chip with a few SMT components supporting it and about the 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/8" and programmable and has 10 various modes but no "auto repeat" mode (a very cool feature to have). The others are "big" clunky "boxes" (IMHO). Maybe someone has something like this or knows where to get (a source for it).

In Virginia the law allows you to modulate the brightness of your tail light for up to 5 seconds to get that attention of other drivers. The repeat feature wouldn't be exactly legal but hard to enforce... cop wouldn't be able to tell if I just didn't reactivate my brakes or not I think. I don't mind "bending the law" a bit for saftey sake.

Lots of great LEDs avaiable to "build in" such as the CREE and P7 LEDs on the Internet now... very high intensity reds and also some dispersion lenses, etc. that go over the individual CREE LEDs to make the tail lights more visible from the side and above (big trucks, etc... that one should never find themselves in front of really).

Thanks All... looking for your input.

 

Neat idea JayD...

Rather than using a mercury switch, you could use a small accelerometer which would also allow you to more easily filter out noise (like from hitting a bump) and have the unit activate only when desired.

We have a brake light modulator coming out in the next month or two that does have many of the features you talked about - at least, the initial flash/strobe.

A nuisance timer is a neat idea, so I will look into adding such a feature.

The auto-brake and tilt sensor are good ideas, although our unit does not incorporate an accelerometer at this time - but maybe in a future version.

I have seen some brake systems in Europe (I think it was BMW) where the brakes came on brighter or flashed faster the harder you were pressing on the pedal. I am not sure what the federal laws are on that - which makes it tricky to come up with a product that is 50-state legal but offers the features wanted.