Unbridled brake lights

[AliRafiee]

I drive the Mach-E like I do any other car. I’m not the one turning brake lights on and off and getting pissy about it. It’s the other guys. Why don’t you read four pages to figure out who’s who first before passively responding.

When you drive your ice car, does the brake light come on when you slow down by letting off the throttle? How do you know it doesn’t look like you’re tapping your brake in one pedal?
I was driving behind a Mach E the other day, it looked like he was tapping his brake every 10 seconds. I was waiting for him to turn any minute, but he never did.
If you don’t want to see the info. Then don’t look at it. Do you stair at the instrument cluster to know your light are on, or how fast you’re going, or when your auto high beams go on and off? I really don’t know what you’re arguing about.

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[GreaseMonkey]

When you drive your ice car, does the brake light come on when you slow down by letting off the throttle? How do you know it doesn’t look like you’re tapping your brake in one pedal?
I was driving behind a Mach E the other day, it looked like he was tapping his brake every 10 seconds. I was waiting for him to turn any minute, but he never did.
If you don’t want to see the info. Then don’t look at it. Do you stair at the instrument cluster to know your light are on, or how fast you’re going, or when you auto high beams go on and off? I really don’t know what you’re arguing about.

You’re in a better place now. Enjoy the peace and quiet.

 

[iam-s-Hon]

If they are not on when I want them to be, let go of the throttle more. The opposite is don’t let go off the throttle that much.
Lane keep is useless to me so I don’t turn it on. If this is useless to you, don’t turn it on.

IMO if you're paying that close attention to your brake lights and what's following you then you may not be paying enough attention to what is in front. Something that I remember from drivers ed is pay more attention to what's in front than behind.

As mentioned earlier, it's not to different from down-shifting in a manual transmission. Anyone annoyed or unable to stop in time for something is likely following WAYYYYY too close and more likely than not to be found at fault if there was an accident.

Rear-ender: Their lights didn't come on when I expected them to.
Other: You still weren't paying attention to your speed and following distance.

That is a reasonable thing to do. My point is that you shouldn’t be anxiously monitoring the brake lights on the dash and overreacting with brake pedal application to force a brake light on.

This is unreasonable IMO. How is that different from brake-checking a close follower? Tapping brakes as warning you *might slow down? I'm not a mind reader . You are either slowing/stopping or not are not. I'm paying attention to you and the car ahead of you, and I can tell you are slowing without the brake lights flashing. Shame on me if I don't.

 

[AliRafiee]

IMO if you're paying that close attention to your brake lights and what's following you then you may not be paying enough attention to what is in front. Something that I remember from drivers ed is pay more attention to what's in front than behind.

As mentioned earlier, it's not to different from down-shifting in a manual transmission. Anyone annoyed or unable to stop in time for something is likely following WAYYYYY too close and more likely than not to be found at fault if there was an accident.

Rear-ender: Their lights didn't come on when I expected them to.
Other: You still weren't paying attention to your speed and following distance.

This is unreasonable IMO. How is that different from brake-checking a close follower? Tapping brakes as warning you *might slow down? I'm not a mind reader . You are either slowing/stopping or not are not. I'm paying attention to you and the car ahead of you, and I can tell you are slowing without the brake lights flashing. Shame on me if I don't.

Don’t worry about me. I’ve been driving for almost 40 years. And I drive and ride on race tracks. I’m pretty sure my vision skills are up to par.

My problem is the lights coming on when I don’t want them to, just because I’m decelerating at a rate of 1mph.

 

[steve.panse]

I don‘t think anyone is suggesting that you should be anxiously monitoring your dashboard for brake light status. The suggestion is to give us an indicator to learn how the car behaves so you can better control it. After a short while of learning the car under safe circumstances you can ignore or turn off the feature. Like the ‘Brake Coach’…it was helpful for a few days but now I keep it off.

 

[steve.panse]

Tapping brakes as warning you *might slow down? I'm not a mind reader . You are either slowing/stopping or not are not. I'm paying attention to you and the car ahead of you, and I can tell you are slowing without the brake lights flashing. Shame on me if I don't.

Then why are there requirements for road-legal vehicles to have functioning brake lights? Brake lights do serve a function and increase reaction times. You can instantly see a brake light come on, but it takes up precious reaction time to observe a deceleration and mentally calculate its magnitude.

 

[melissphillips]

During a recent short run, I was followed by a friend. Upon reaching our destination, she commented that my brake lights were not working properly. I immediately realized she was referring to the deceleration under throttle lift associated with driving in unbridled mode. I guess she deemed the slowdown aggressive enough to warrant a brake light signal. I wonder if this is something that could be addressed in an update, or if it would require a much more complicated intervention to accomplish.

Anyhow, my takeaway from this was that in heavy traffic, I switch out of unbridled mode to avoid upsetting the car behind me.

Okay I have a stupid question, what is "deceleration under throttle lift associated with driving in unbridled mode" ... I never drive in Unbridles so have no idea. Is it just a fancy way of saying One Pedal?

 

[zvez]

as others pointed out, engine braking in ice vehicles (and most noticeably v twin motorcycles), precludes the need of applying brakes in many instances. If the person behind is so close and oblivious that your vehicle is slowing down, not much to stop them running over you.

 

[rcechinel]

Funny, my Unbridle anxiety is the opposite. I worry that my brake lights are on too much of the time.

Now that Ford has moved the car to the center of the IPC screen, maybe they can make that useless static image a little more useful by illuminating the brake lights in the image when they're on in real life. I'd appreciate knowing when my car is automatically turning them on.

That's a good idea. Record the voice feedback and send it. ?

 

[iam-s-Hon]

Then why are there requirements for road-legal vehicles to have functioning brake lights? Brake lights do serve a function and increase reaction times. You can instantly see a brake light come on, but it takes up precious reaction time to observe a deceleration and mentally calculate its magnitude.

They are to indicate the vehicle is slowing or stopped.

to tap the brake b/c one *may slow or stop, without actually doing so, is misinformation IMO.

also- downshifting in a manual transmission does not activate brake lights unless that’s a new feature. It wasn’t- that I know of- in the simple 5-speed I had many many years ago and don’t think it exists in GF’s 10yo 6-speed. I down shifted regularly to slow in numerous driving conditions.

 

[iam-s-Hon]

as others pointed out, engine braking in ice vehicles (and most noticeably v twin motorcycles), precludes the need of applying brakes in many instances. If the person behind is so close and oblivious that your vehicle is slowing down, not much to stop them running over you.

Problem for motorcycle.

not my problem in car. Problem for the rear ender. I’d be driving as car is designed and capable (down shifting) or slowing by reducing pressure on acceleretor. I don’t ignore what’s behind me but I’m more concerned with what’s in front- and on sides for avoidance measures if needed.

I’ve also been driving for many years.

 

[dallowev]

I don‘t think anyone is suggesting that you should be anxiously monitoring your dashboard for brake light status. The suggestion is to give us an indicator to learn how the car behaves so you can better control it. After a short while of learning the car under safe circumstances you can ignore or turn off the feature. Like the ‘Brake Coach’…it was helpful for a few days but now I keep it off.

Exactly.
In my first few weeks of owning this car I was actually doing just that when possible when I could see my brake lights glowing/reflected from the rear view mirror at night.
Quick glances to better understand the signals I’m giving to cars behind me.

 

[zvez]

Problem for motorcycle.

not my problem in car. Problem for the rear ender. I’d be driving as car is designed and capable (down shifting) or slowing by reducing pressure on acceleretor. I don’t ignore what’s behind me but I’m more concerned with what’s in front- and on sides for avoidance measures if needed.

I’ve also been driving for many years.

Yeah, that's really the point, the "brake lights" are designed to come on when a person uses the brakes, not because the car is slowing. Now I don't really know how the brake lights work in one pedal, I've only used that once or twice. Assume they do come on when the one pedal braking is slowing the car.

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