Is the third brake light really required?

[psrivats]

By law, you are supposed to have a CHMSL (center HIGH mounted stop light, emphasis on HIGH) and it's been shown to be effective in getting people's attention (compared to not having it) in passenger cars. But with our large spares in our Jeeps, you can argue it doesn't do much.

But with lights getting brighter and brighter these days, and people driving more distractedly, it certainly helps to have a good rear light solution. I heavily dislike LEDs for the front lights, but I do like them for the rear. I replaced my rear lights with LEDs (made by Grote). I left the factory 3rd brake light as is for now, but I added the lug nut lights with a flasher that @MountaineerTom posted above. The flasher is only on the lug nut lights. It works really well to catch your attention on the road. The flasher that @MountaineerTom posted is a very good one. In very slow moving stop and go traffic, it does not keep flashing every single time you touch the brakes. It's a very effective solution if you live in a place like Oregon where it gets rainy and foggy for months.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

By law, you are supposed to have a CHMSL (center HIGH mounted stop light, emphasis on HIGH) and it's been shown to be effective in getting people's attention

I'm a big fan of the 3rd brake light but it's DEFINITELY not required to be kept in place by all states. The Feds require only that it be installed during the first new retail sale no matter what state it is sold in.

But after that the federal law doesn't apply, it's up to each state after that first retail sale. Some states require them, other states don't.

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

By law, you are supposed to have a CHMSL (center HIGH mounted stop light, emphasis on HIGH) and it's been shown to be effective in getting people's attention (compared to not having it) in passenger cars. But with our large spares in our Jeeps, you can argue it doesn't do much.

But with lights getting brighter and brighter these days, and people driving more distractedly, it certainly helps to have a good rear light solution. I heavily dislike LEDs for the front lights, but I do like them for the rear. I replaced my rear lights with LEDs (made by Grote). I left the factory 3rd brake light as is for now, but I added the lug nut lights with a flasher that @MountaineerTom posted above. The flasher is only on the lug nut lights. It works really well to catch your attention on the road. The flasher that @MountaineerTom posted is a very good one. In very slow moving stop and go traffic, it does not keep flashing every single time you touch the brakes. It's a very effective solution if you live in a place like Oregon where it gets rainy and foggy for months.

Just to clarify - it’s state law, not federal. There was a thread here a year ago I pulled the federal regs up

 

[billiebob]

I'm a big fan of the 3rd brake light but it's DEFINITELY not required to be kept in place by all states. The Feds require only that it be installed during the first new retail sale no matter what state it is sold in.

But after that the federal law doesn't apply, it's up to each state after that first retail sale. Some states require them, other states don't.

Absolutely correct Jerry. But almost every state has some obscure law which gives petty officers the right to deal with us unruly Jeepers ...( edit... whose sons are) ..... dating their daughters.

 

[Tranz Zam]

I always found 3rd brake lights to be ass ugly. On Jeeps that thing gets removed, and I drop back and hit a 3pt shot into the trash.

If I'm repainting a truck, usually I shave the light off the cab.

 

[89grand]

I'd bet most cops think my Jeep is a CJ, or something similar in age. They don't know whether it came with a 3rd brake light or not.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I always found 3rd brake lights to be ass ugly. On Jeeps that thing gets removed, and I drop back and hit a 3pt shot into the trash.

I wonder if some people thought the same thing with tail lights and brake lights when they became the norm too.

I like 3rd brake lights for one reason... too many drivers under the effect of their cellphones, weed, crack, meth, alcohol, or young peers pushing to do the wrong thing. I figure if the 3rd brake light, even if some people feel it is too attractive for them to handle, can save some asshole from plowing into my rear end it will have been worth it.

Seatbelts are a PITA to use at times but we do because they're proven to save lives which may not be just our own, they save family members and friends too. I figure it's best to not be selfish with our lives since if we die in a wreck, it's not just us it affects. Our families don't deserve us to be careless with how we protect ourselves while surrounded by lethal/heavy steel machines too often driven by inattentive drivers or drivers who are hammered by some kind of drug, alcohol, their cellphone, or their 16 year-old peers pushing them to do something stupid.

3rd brake lights unattractive? Maybe they are but maybe it'll help me/us/you/all of us avoid a major collision some day which will prevent a lot of heartache and just maybe a tragic event.

 

[Tranz Zam]

3rd brake lights unattractive? Maybe they are but maybe it'll help me/us/you/all of us avoid a major collision some day which will prevent a lot of heartache and just maybe a tragic event.

Everyone is free to do as they please. I hate how they look, so I don't run them. I wont knock someone who does.

I'm of the mindset that if you cant see a lifted lime green Jeep with two functional taillights, that 3rd light isn't gonna help.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I'm of the mindset that if you cant see a lifted lime green Jeep with two functional taillights, that 3rd light isn't gonna help.

I agree 100% where attentive sober drivers are concerned. The others? Not so much.

 

[Baltimoreed]

When I had my Gr8tops half cab done I had the third light installed over the back glass. I never liked the look of the over the spare tire set up and it’s just something else blocking your view. I don't need anything blocking my view as I have been known to back into stuff. That’s why I look for drive through parking spots at the Food Lion.

 

[wraith1516]

got a cheap Amazon 20" light bar red lens repair tape used factory bulb wires mounted it to middle of tailgate when not dirty it is bright as fcuk with Michigan legalizing pot i want it so some STUPID FUCKING POTHEAD doesn't rear end me like one did to a police car on the first day it was legal to buy a couple weeks ago

 

[Jeffreybomb]

I agree 100% where attentive sober drivers are concerned. The others? Not so much

As someone who has had a startling number of people in his life affected by drunk drivers (including myself), I’ve yet to hear of a situation in which a drunk driver was stopped by a third brake light.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

I’ve yet to hear of a situation in which a drunk driver was stopped by a third brake light.

Maybe it is because it would be a non-event to NOT rear end someone.

 

[InOmaha]

Mine has been gone since I bought 33s. And given there is hardly a Chevy out there with 3 operational brake lights... even brand new ones... it is obviously not a priority for the police.

When first introduced the third brake light had a statistical reduction in rear end accidents, but 5 years later the stats were right back where they were before they were mandatory. They worked when they were unique... now the statistics indicate no advantage.

This summer there was a guy driving a car with no tail lights at all. I noticed him in the stop go traffic, stopped with no red in any of the 3 brake lights. I saw him a week later, with the same problem.

I check all the vehicle's lights regularly during oil changes. Close the garage door and it's easy to see blinkers. Press the brake pedal with a piece of wood wedged to the seat and you can inspect the brake lights.

We don't have inspections here.

 

[Jeffreybomb]

Maybe it is because it would be a non-event to NOT rear end someone.

Let me rephrase: I have never, ever heard of a drunk driver winning a case in which they tried to claim the vehicle they hit while driving drunk didn't have a third brake light.

By the argument that a third brake light would somehow magically stop a drunk driver, it stands to reason that drunk driving accidents could further be reduced if there were a fourth brake light on the front of the car, a fifth brake light on the passenger's side, and a sixth brake light on the driver's side.

If a drunk driver doesn't notice my bright yellow Jeep sitting behind them when they back into it (true story), they're certainly weren't going to notice the little red light had they been behind me.

Are the center rear lights legally required? I just really don't like the looks of it.

To answer your question, here's the California statute regarding tail lights:

To be operated on a road, every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer and any other vehicle that is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles must be equipped with at least one tail lamp mounted on the rear, which, when lighted as required in section 42-4-204, emits a red light plainly visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear; except that, in the case of a train of vehicles, only the tail lamp on the rear-most vehicle need actually be seen from the distance specified, except as provided in section 42-12-204. Furthermore, every vehicle registered in this state and manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1958, must be equipped with at least two tail lamps mounted on the rear, on the same level and as widely spaced laterally as practicable, which, when lighted as required in section 42-4-204, comply with this section.

The third brake light is not required in Colorado.

 

[bluescapegoat]

Mine is removed, but my stock lights are also replaced with some stupid bright truck-lite leds. When you press the brake pedal there's no mistaking that it's not just tail lights. I'd still like to add one back on but just haven't figured out a solution I like yet.

For me, I like third brake lights on cars for an entirely different reason. I'm looking as far ahead as I can in traffic, and it's nice to see that third brake light two cars up through the windows of the unattentive or binary-braking driver in front of me.

 

[wraith1516]

its just a positive and negative wite cannibalize the stock third brake light and wire it in

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Let me rephrase: I have never, ever heard of a drunk driver winning a case in which they tried to claim the vehicle they hit while driving drunk didn't have a third brake light.

By the argument that a third brake light would somehow magically stop a drunk driver, it stands to reason that drunk driving accidents could further be reduced if there were a fourth brake light on the front of the car, a fifth brake light on the passenger's side, and a sixth brake light on the driver's side.

If a drunk driver doesn't notice my bright yellow Jeep sitting behind them when they back into it (true story), they're certainly weren't going to notice the little red light had they been behind me.



To answer your question, here's the California statute regarding tail lights:



The third brake light is not required in Colorado.

I dunno, a bright 3rd brake light mounted higher and more in direct line with the following driver's eyes will be noticed more easily than lower mounted brake lights. OF COURSE it wouldn't stop a stone-drunk driver but if someone is more marginally impaired by any number of reasons it COULD make the difference. There's no magic about it, I have no personal doubts about the effectiveness in helping reduce, not eliminating, rear-end collisions. How could it not help in some (of course not all) situations????

 

[Hound Dog]

In VA we are required to have them because the car came with one and we have yearly inspections. It does not have to be the stock one though. I took off my spare and replaced the light with an LED strip light. I don't mind it. I doubt very seriously that it helps anything at all. Most people are numb to them now. The DD's will not notice them and the moron looking down at the phone would not see a lighthouse beacon in front of him because he is not looking up.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

got a cheap Amazon 20" light bar red lens repair tape used factory bulb wires mounted it to middle of tailgate when not dirty it is bright as fcuk with Michigan legalizing pot i want it so some STUPID FUCKING POTHEAD doesn't rear end me like one did to a police car on the first day it was legal to buy a couple weeks ago

Based on how slow potheads drive and how long they sit at a stop sign (or anywhere) they and you are more likely to be rear ended by a drunk driver. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but drunks are way more dangerous