My 3rd brake light, on the back shelf window, is out.
It’s not a simple bulb, but some LED part I have to special order.
Will I risk a ticket if I drive before fixing it?
That’s a matter of state law to some extent.
In two states I’ve lived in, you’d be obligated to get that fixed if you ever operate the vehicle in public places or public roads.
On edit:
If that car was made BEFORE the 3rd light was federally mandated you have a shot at being legal without it. Don’t count on the cops actually knowing that technicality, though.
I’m assuming you’re in the US - and if so, the answer is “depends on your location”, which you didn’t give. If you’re in the UK, then if your car is an R-plate or more recent, then you’ll have to fix it to pass the MoT.
If it’s LED, then it’s definitely too young to hope to escape from being a pre-Libby car. It’s the LED that bothers me, though. I don’t find that they ever go out, not without an overcurrent condition. Are you sure it’s getting power when you brake? Or have you already examined this possibility and maybe it’s a power supply or regulator in the device that’s bad?
I think you’ll find that most, perhaps all, U.S, states require that all installed lights must be operable. This is certainly true of commercial vehicles, so a commercial driver can be cited even for a marker light that is burnt out. I doubt the police are as strict w/ private vehicles, but I’d guess that something like a brke light would be more likely to earn you a citation, than an inoperable parking light.
They must go out before the car is scrapped, because you can order them.
No, I didn’t check the power. I don’t know how to detach it. I took it to a service station and they ordered the part.
I have now found what the law is, and it appears that only two lights are required, but if I do have a third the only requirement is that it is either directly above or below one of the others, or centered, and that it not cause a glare to the driver from the window.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc24603.htm
Just because parts don’t fail doesn’t mean they aren’t available. Things that don’t fail can still be damaged by accidents and such.
As the question seems to have been answered satisfactorily, I have a hijack. The LED light comes on, at least to my eye, noticeably sooner than the conventional incandescent bulbs, I assume because of the lag in heating the filament in the incandescents. Has anyone else noticed this, and do you think the extra couple tenths of a second of warning helps avoid rear end collisions? After all, at 60 mph you travel almost 18 feet.
LED’s do burn out, just with a far far lower failure rate than standard bulbs.
The lag in heating a filament shouldn’t be noticeable at all. If you can detect any sort of lag between turning on a light and the light itself appearing, you’re probably a Jedi.
I’m pretty sure the delay would be due to wiring issues more than anything else.
Volvo claim that their LED stoplights come on substantially quicker than a standard incandescent bulb and fit them as a safety item, to reduce the chances of a following car colliding with you.
I can’t remember their exact figures - I’m sure that Rick will have them to hand - but it was in the region of a few tenths of a second and at sixty miles an hour could give quite a few extra feet of braking distance.
I thought it was a load of advertising tosh, probably as I measure my reaction times in fractions of a day rather than fractions of a second but I have noticed on some newer cars - mainly BMW’s, that are fitted with LED indicators that the lights do ‘snap’ on and off much more quickly. Can’t say that I have made the same observation with respect to stop lights.
He’s not a Jedi. I can readily ascertain if vehicles are equipped with LED taillights or ordinary incandescent lamps. With LEDs, there is no discernable warm up and cool down time. Watching two vehicles equipped with different lamps using their lane change signals will help you to observe the difference.
Actually, if you look at that law, there is reference to some brake lights coming on before you brake, when you decelerate by downshifting or releasing the accelerator suddenly.
I’m not sure what vehicles have that, but presumably commercial trucks.
The wonderful servers wouldn’t respond for five minutes prior to rebuking me.
I’d attempted to add: ETA-when you choose to equip your vehicle with aftermarket accessories, such as driving lamps, rear brake lamps, right hand mirrors, e.g. anything not supplied by the manufacturer, those devices still have to be properly functional under the inspection code in PA.
Mine does that - under severe deceleration it lights the brake lights and flashes the hazard lights.
So I am told.
I thought it was generally illegal to operate your hazard lights while the vehicle is moving, unless you’re a wide load or somesuch…?
They deploy to warn of a hazard. It is only while under severe braking or deceleration to draw attention to the fact that there is a potential emergency situation.
I’m pretty sure the manufacturer would not knowingly initiate an illegal signal and it is one of the advertised features of the vehicle.
May be illegal in the US but to the best of my knowledge not in the UK.
To the best of my knowledge it’s not illegal to use hazard lights while moving. I’ve done it many times. Truckers will often do this to warn other drivers of a potentially dangerous situation ahead. Truck drivers can see much further down the road than the typical auto driver, due to their elevated position above most other vehicles.
Like so many other things, it most probably varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. For example in Michigan, “Any vehicle may be equipped with lamps which may be used for the purpose of warning the operators of other vehicles of the presence of a vehicular traffic hazard requiring the exercise of unusual care in approaching, overtaking or passing[.]” I don’t see where such conditions are defined, so presumably one could argue that just about anything merits such precaution if you’re a nervous driver.