Jack88

My 2011 has this feature standard, and the brake lights are not on when engaged.

aTOMic

The intent of such a law would to be the same as the raisin-de-etera (sic) of the very concept of brake lights itself - to alert traffic approaching from the rear that there is a slowing/stopping/stopped vehicle in the roadway ahead. Additionally, please note I specified letter of the law, implying that that particular statute was more strict than my humble opinion deemed sensible; although now that I have explained it for you it seems more necessary than upon cursory analysis.

It is against the law to "coast" (travel with the manual transmission in neutral) in many states. Why? I could speculate, but I really don't give a (fecal mass). When I want to coast, I coast; The Man can just try to stop me.

Misha, you seem a bit grumpy lately. Are you missing your mistress? (IIRC you were selling the A8). If so, please accept my sincere, kind condolences. I know you loved her very much.

-Tom

Galco

Geez guys, doesn't anyone recall the days when many cars on the road had manual transmissions and there was no need to hold the brake while at stop on level ground of course. Hence NO brake lights on. Or when at a stop on an incline you would feather the clutch just enough to keep the car from rolling back and able to pull away with out hitting the stopped car behind you. NO brake lights were on then either.

And yes, confirming the brake light does NOT stay on when using the parking brake at say a long traffic light. I use this feature all the time. I ALSO, pay attention to my review mirror and if i see a car approaching quickly, I have many times tapped my brakes a few times to advise the driver i am stopped. Never had a problem...

mishar

You are absolutely right. Could be water here in Belgrade, Serbia.

Samo7

And don't even get me started on daytime running lights. It's a no brainer that saves lives.

Jack88

I made a point when I had my A8 to set the daytime running lights to include tail lights. In some conditions, your regular automatic lights are not yet triggered, but the additional illumination by including running tail lights is of benefit. I'm all for more lights on stuff. If you're stopped, you should be looking at the traffic approaching behind you, in addition to looking forward, to make sure there is not any action you should be taking. There are a lot of little things you can do to make yourself and others safer, much of it very easy. Also, put down your phone! Your text can wait until you're home, I promise. If you absolutely must communicate something, pull off and put it in park. There is no excuse.

dvs_dave

Just to clarify, there is no law in any state where the brake lights have to be on whilst the vehicle is stopped, and/or the parking brake is engaged.

My Cooper S is stick and the brake lights are not activated by the handbrake, regardless of if you are moving or not. The joys of a proper manual hand brake. Makes for some fun in snowy parking lots.

richard-tx

Government studies have shown zero benefit from DRL and in the case of light trucks and vans, they increase risks.

When they first started pushing DRLs, my prediction was that they are pointless. If everyone has them, then people will ignore them thus providing no benefit at all. Sadly, this has been proven true. One could mandate mars lights on top of every car but when every car has them, people will ignore them thus rendering the mars lights useless. Another case in point is those aftermarket car alarms. They were so prolific with so many false positives that in urban settings the alarms were wholly ignored even if they were blaring for hours. In short, it is not a car issue but a human one. How many times have you heard, "I didn't see it". If a person can't see an object as large as a car, add lights to it isn't going to help. Putting lipstick on a pig might make it more attractive but if all pigs have lipstick, they all look the same.

Another interesting factoid is that economy cars don't save gas. What happens is that the owner drives more after acquiring a car that is less thirsty, thus consuming the same amount of gas per month as they did with their old car.

rich

Jack88

I'm not sure I agree, Rich. DRL's do less the brighter it is outside, yes. However, there are in between dark and light conditions where the automatic headlights have not come on where DRL's really do help. I can't see how it wouldn't make you less likely to be overlooked by traffic pulling out.

As far as the economy car dilemma, I also disagree. People with more fuel efficient cars are less likely to worry about going for a drive, but if I traded a pickup for a Prius, like my brother, it wouldn't increase my driving by nearly enough to use as much fuel. A marginal increase, at best.

Pothole5000

They may be slightly useful for two hours a day between full sun up and sun down, but the are far more dangerous at teaching people not to turn their lights on. I don't know why any car (wife's stupid Honda!) would offer DRL's but no auto lights, at least tie the dash lights to the headlights to make it more apparent that they are off.