Tail lights - a rant

[jeepman3071]

As we know, tail lights and brake lights are essential to letting those behind you know that you are stopping. So why is it that cars can have non-functioning brake lights, or tinted tail lights, and get away with it?

I never understood the "blacked out lights" look. Given how many accidents are caused by people not paying attention, I would want people to be able to see my brake lights as much as possible. I even put brighter LED bulbs in my brake lights so they are brighter than the dim stock ones.

It seems that law enforcement around here does nothing with these people, as I see the same ones driving around.

Last night I drove for about 30 minutes, and at least 1/4 of the cars I was behind had some form of light malfunction. Do people just not care? I was behind an early 2000s Silverado 2500 that had no tail lights, and when they pressed the brakes only the top cab light illuminated. How is that acceptable? There are lots of college kids around here with tinted tail lights. Some of them are tinted so dark that you cannot see their brake lights during the day.

Am I missing something? I always thought the more visible you are the better, but then again I drive with my headlights on in the rain and snow where other people don't.

Any thoughts? Anyone have tinted tail lights and have issues with people hitting them?

 

[BrandonVA]

no one can afford to fix a stupid tail light!!! come on now!

 

[Dave Sherman]

I hear you. I never understood the attraction of tinted headlight/taillight covers. I think they look silly myself.

Unless you happen to back up to a store window or get somebody to actually check your taillights, it's hard to tell if they are working or not. I almost wish cops would pull people over for no taillights just to warn them. Surely there might be some people like me who don't know they aren't working and would get them fixed. I'm guessing cops just treat those as secondary violations and would only enforce them during a ticket for something else.

Then again, there are people who drive around with high beams on all the time on well-lit streets with other traffic around, or have headlights and foglights on in broad daylight.

 

[morepwr]

While not always the case, many don't know they have a bulb out and I have told people before if I caught up to them at a stoplight or saw it in a parking lot and they had no idea. I am with you on the tinted lights though, I don't get that.

 

[exranger06]

I hate tinted tails. I once saw a car that had the lights so tinted, I thought they were simply not lighting up because of burnt bulbs.

Burnt out bulbs annoy me far more than tints though. It seems to be much more common today than a few years ago. Or maybe I just didn't notice it as much years ago. Why can't people just check their lights every once in a while? The ones with 2 or more lights out have probably had at least one out for months before the second one blew. It's not hard to check lights and only takes a minute. Check your lights at least once a month!

 

[Kira]

Hello, I think your rant is on target. I see what you mentioned ALL THE TIME.

I see more vehicles with one headlight out than ever before in my life as well.

I've noticed several Land Rover vehicles without any rear lights; granted my sample size is small.

In these times of tight budgets you'd think the opportunity to cite people would be a revenue source.

Years ago when I was young, police gave equipment tickets. Fix the problem and the ticket was excused.

Darkened tail lights is beyond me. That has to be illegal. Kira

 

[ddrumman2004]

Here where I live, a non-functioning tail light or head light will get you stopped by local law enforcement. While this may seem like a revenue generating move, they happen to catch a lot of drivers with no or suspended license, no insurance and a lot of times they find drugs.

Never understood the tinted covers over tail lights either.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
As we know, tail lights and brake lights are essential to letting those behind you know that you are stopping. So why is it that cars can have non-functioning brake lights, or tinted tail lights, and get away with it?

I never understood the "blacked out lights" look. Given how many accidents are caused by people not paying attention, I would want people to be able to see my brake lights as much as possible. I even put brighter LED bulbs in my brake lights so they are brighter than the dim stock ones.

It seems that law enforcement around here does nothing with these people, as I see the same ones driving around.

Last night I drove for about 30 minutes, and at least 1/4 of the cars I was behind had some form of light malfunction. Do people just not care? I was behind an early 2000s Silverado 2500 that had no tail lights, and when they pressed the brakes only the top cab light illuminated. How is that acceptable? There are lots of college kids around here with tinted tail lights. Some of them are tinted so dark that you cannot see their brake lights during the day.

Am I missing something? I always thought the more visible you are the better, but then again I drive with my headlights on in the rain and snow where other people don't.

Any thoughts? Anyone have tinted tail lights and have issues with people hitting them?


In NY with a yearly safety inspection they would catch that.

 

[javacontour]

The same folks who don't follow the owners manual and check the oil at every fuel stop probably don't make the weekly or monthly prescribed bulb checks.

I can't stand to have a bulb burnt out. In fact, one of the LEDs in my HMSL is out and it's getting the best of my OCD even though there are more than a dozen still working LEDs in there

I carry an assortment of spares in my car, including a headlamp bulb.

Folks are too busy chatting and texting behind the wheel to be bothered with preventative maintenance.

 

[Lead Shoes]

I may modify my cars but I never tint any lights or get cheap ebay junk projectors/HID kits to blind everyone with. I prefer it when people don't run into my car from not being able to see me.

 

[jeepman3071]

My rant isn't so much about those who have one light out. It happens to the best of us. If I notice a car with one light out, I will jump out and notify them if possible. Many are unaware they have an issue and thankful I told them.

My problem is with the people who have 2 lights or more out and are just too lazy to fix them. I saw a WJ Grand Cherokee (1999-2004) that clearly had a wiring issue with the lights. When they hit the brakes, only their top light would illuminate, and the tail lights would actually turn off. My dad had a '99 with the same problem, and it requires replacement of the tail light assembly since the circuit board goes bad.

I told the guy what was wrong and he said "I know". That was a few months ago, and I saw the same Jeep just last week with the same problem, so he obviously hasn't fixed it.

 

[eljefino]

There are failure modes where one single point knocks out both main brake lights. If the turn signals are shared, both the turn signal and hazard light switch have to pass brake light current when in "rest" mode.

Fortunately for us the car designers tap off the pedal switch for the CHMSL before it goes through anything else that can interfere.

Back in 1940 you could still buy a car with one tail light on the left rear fender. With six volts and a silvered reflector, good luck to you!

 

[grampi]

One tail/brake light out is one thing, as it could've just happened and the driver may not yet be aware of it, but I'm amazed at how many vehicles I've seen lately with NO working tail lights...I came up on this guy from behind driving down the highway at night with no working tail lights...if it wouldn't have been for the reflector part of his tail light lenses, I may not have seen his vehicle until I was right on top of him...I also don't get the dark tail light covers...there also seems to be a lot of people who clearly have their windows tinted too dark and law enforcement doesn't seem to do anything about it...why people are allowed to drive around with this stuff is beyond me...

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
My rant isn't so much about those who have one light out. It happens to the best of us. If I notice a car with one light out, I will jump out and notify them if possible. Many are unaware they have an issue and thankful I told them.

My problem is with the people who have 2 lights or more out and are just too lazy to fix them. I saw a WJ Grand Cherokee (1999-2004) that clearly had a wiring issue with the lights. When they hit the brakes, only their top light would illuminate, and the tail lights would actually turn off. My dad had a '99 with the same problem, and it requires replacement of the tail light assembly since the circuit board goes bad.

I told the guy what was wrong and he said "I know". That was a few months ago, and I saw the same Jeep just last week with the same problem, so he obviously hasn't fixed it.


These are the people who should be ticketed for this kind of stuff...people with one light out should only get a warning if stopped...

 

[440Magnum]

I'll give that rant a HUGE Amen!

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Nightshade on tail lights is dangerous. I have been behind a few vehicles that you just can NOT see the tail lights in [censored] weather.

I think a lot of people don't remember to turn on the lights because of DRLs.

 

[bdcardinal]

Has anyone else noticed a lot of newer cars with LED taillights that are not on when the headlights are on? Like they come on when they hit the brake pedal, but they are not just on like normal taillights. My new Mustang has LED taillights, but they are pretty much always on. I have mostly noticed it on Toyotas, but saw it on a couple Bentlys as well.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Nightshade on tail lights is dangerous. I have been behind a few vehicles that you just can NOT see the tail lights in [censored] weather.

I think a lot of people don't remember to turn on the lights because of DRLs.


That's another thing I don't get...why do you DRLs stay on at night?

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Nightshade on tail lights is dangerous. I have been behind a few vehicles that you just can NOT see the tail lights in [censored] weather.

I think a lot of people don't remember to turn on the lights because of DRLs.


That's another thing I don't get...why do you DRLs stay on at night?

DRLs are typically on any time the ignition is on. Many cars don't sense if it's dark out or not, they just leave the DRLs on regardless. And stupid drivers think just having DRLs on is an acceptable substitue for turning the headlights on.

 

[wrcsixeight]

What is kind of noteworthy is that the OP put 'Brighter' LED lights in his taillights, and they very well might be brighter, from directly behind, but 15 degrees off to the side might barely be visible.

While the brighter is better mentality is alive and well, as is the nightshade gotta look cool mentality, there are also some annoying bright brake lights which are nearly blinding too, and some of these that I see are obviously these aftermarket LED bulbs which are attempt to mimic 360 degrees of light like an incandescent bulb, but fall well short of the intended optics of the incandescent reflector.

I have been following somebody around a turn whose Brake lights had appeared to have failed, but when I got directly right behind them I was blasted with Pink LED lights.

In most cases installing LED retrofit bulbs in Incandescent brake and signal fixtures is illegal. We have some draconian laws regarding vehiclar lighting in the US, but this is one area where some enforcement is needed. Some reflectors and bulb designs might be adequate, but some are just downright dangerous.

The OP should do a walk around their vehicle's rear from different heights and different angles to make sure these retrofit LED's brake lights are indeed visible from every angle.

Another issue with retrofit LED 1157's or replacements for other dual filament bulbs is there is not enough brightness difference between parking light and brake light. I see this all the time too, an LED retrofit which looks like the car is braking, but obviously not, then when the brakes are depressed it gets only about 10% brighter.
Kind of like crying wolf, such brake lights will get ignored after many false alarms.