Miata Mailing List: October 1999, Message #133

sponsored by

or better yet, if you really like the blinking idea, blink your brake
light with the pedal.  Or do what I do when I screach to a stop because of
stupid dallas traffic, and someone is flying up behind you, and flip on
your hazards as you slow down....  Then turn them back off...  Most of the
time the blinking crap has
just gotta be annoying..  

On Fri, 1 Oct 1999, Keith Hearn wrote:

> In message <3.0.6.32.19991001152825.0082d210@pop.win.org>, Bill Kellenberger wr
> ites:
> > I'd be interested in hearing from some of you that have driven for any
> > distance (in traffic) *behind* someone with the blinking center stop light.
> >  How would you compare the "attention" factor versus the "annoyance"
> > factor?  I'm thinking about doing it to Dino and the Honda, but I have some
> > concerns over the annoyance it might cause to someone behind me for a few
> > miles in stop-and-go traffic.
> 
> I'm pretty sure I'd find it *really* annoying. As annoying as I find
>   flashing text or ads on the web. Something flashing tends to draw my
>   eye to it, even when I'm trying to concentrate on something else.
> 
> I like the idea someone posted a little while back of a brake light that
>   flashes just a few times when you first apply it, but then stays on
>   after the first few flashes. Then it would grab attention when it first
>   comes on (when it needs to grab attention), but not be as obnoxious
>   while the brakes are being held on for long. It would also be more 
>   complicated to implement than a simple flasher.
>   
> It could still get annoying fast in traffic where brakes are getting 
>   applied and released a lot, though. Maybe some sort of cutout so that
>   if it has been less than 30 seconds (or some other time period) 
>   since you got off the brakes, it won't blink when you apply them 
>   again. So when you're on and off the brakes in slow traffic, you
>   won't be as annoying, but when you have to hit the brakes when
>   everything is flowing (and the driver behind you might not be paying
>   as much attention), you'll get the blinkers and the other driver's
>   attention. This would be even more complicated to implement. 
> 
> There may also be better strategies than a timer since last brake
>   release for deciding whether or not to blink on any given 
>   application of the brakes.
>   
>   Keith Hearn
>   '99 10AE "Sexy Sadie" the Sapphire Shark
>   Milpitas, CA
> 
> 
> 
>