You try not to look at the bright red lights staring you in the face, so you cover them with the sun visor or you close your eyes. But you also need to be aware of the instant that the brake lights go out because that's the time that you'll probably want to prepare to set off.
Oh, do American cars not have a handbrake as we would know it in the UK? I didn't know that. Why can you not safely use Park when you come to rest at traffic lights? Judging by the number of cars that I've sat behind which flash their reversing lights as they are about to set off, I think many drivers shift into and out of Park, going via Reverse which briefly flashes the lights. I've found that a handbrake is perfectly easy to use in an automatic: you brake to a halt, apply the handbrake, release the footbrake, shift into neutral (or even leave it in Drive - a good handbrake will not allow the car to creep), then as you are about to set off you press the footbrake, release the handbrake, release the footbrake and apply power. Very much the same as you'd do with a manual car.
Mortimer wrote: > Another thing that offends my sense of symmetry, though it's not distracting
Unfortunately, this is not so simple on at least some cars with bulb failure detection. They complain if both sockets are used. And if they do not complain, I suspect that they would be unable to detect a single bulb failure.
Always struck me as madness that we can drive onto a train at Folkestone, drive off at Calais and have these lights exactly the opposite way round to how they should be for the country.
If they are as bright as you seem to be implying you could be looking out of the side window and know when they go out...
Actually, thinking about it (it's been a while since I've had to work on such a vehicle), it was a shared brake/indicator light that shared a single filament bulb.
The parking brake used in some cars (e.g. some European Mercedes as well as many US motors) requires the use of a leg to apply it. There are many drivers who for various reasons can drive the car fine but cannot apply this brake. (You sort of need to lift your knee up to your chin in order to get your foot onto the pedal. Then press down quite hard with your leg.) I suspect that many drivers never use it - just leaving the car in P when parked. Seems a major reason for installing them was said to be that it is difficult or impossible to design a hand-operated parking brake adequate to the job on big heavy cars.
If they can't operate the vehicle they should not be driving it, especially on an automatic.
Seems a major reason for installing them was said to be
Funny how they manage to do so for vans, never mind lorries! It's more to do with internal styling than any technical issue, also some (Mercedes is one) also still use the old fashioned 'umbrella' type of brake lever.
I do find it difficult to see that it is as bad as all that. So long as they have full control over the rest of the controls, of course.
Don't truly big vehicles use different systems altogether? (I only didn't comment on vamns because I am so out of touch with what they are like these days.)
Not sure what uyou mean about 'umbrella' - what do other use?
EU regs only allow one on each side now. I believe this is to reduce chance of them being mistaken for break/tail lights and headlights respectively.
However use of headlamps on all vehicles would make it more dangerous for more vulnerable users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
Excerpt from highway code:
"236. You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves."
It's good practise to use the handbrake when waiting at traffic lights.
Because they can't park their vehicles safely, nor could they bring their vehicles to a halt safely should the main braking system fail.
Yes, but my comment was about the supposed technical issues, actually there is no reason why a car could not use air pressure to keep the parking brake off, even more so for larger cars.
They literally have what looks like the handle end of a umbrella sticking out of the dash, hence the name.
Care to cite that?
I believe this is to reduce
Rear fogs have always only been a requirement on the OS (in the country of registration).
Yes, they all have one, but I've never seen an American use it.
People don't drive automatics like a manual car. For the most part, they got an automatic specifically so they didn't need to, although in the US it's very difficult to even find a manual (or as they call it, a stick shift) car.
It can be amusing when US colleagues come over here and rent a car. Car hire companies usually get this right by themselves and give Americans automatics without them having to ask, but sometimes that fails, and an American trying to drive a manual is a complete non-starter. We've had several calls from the airport over the years when they've got stuck there with no automatics available to rent.
I've only seen the brake/tail version in common use. One has to ask how a shared brake/indicator would display the right colours..?
I thought I'd heard that there was an exception for males with a big ego and a very small willy who wanted to improve their pulling power? Certainly seems to fit with typical observed usage. Next time one drives past, you can nod knowingly to yourself in a full understanding of the predicament of the poor driver...
They're common in the US, indeed at one time, required, but the US do also allow European indicators now. The flashing indicator is red -- it is the brake light in this case. Some US vehicle lighting engineers have been pushing for some time to get the US to adopt EU vehicle lighting rules, which they regard as much better, but the US car industry has so far managed to resist.
when indictor lamps game out colours weren't specified. I remember having white ones to the front in a 1965 Anglia. But they weren't single filament bulbs. they were twin filament units in single glass envelope. Usually
12w and 21w.
I said 'commonly' because I remembered those!
What is really unsafe about just using P on the auto? Might not be optimum. And always a good idea to follow all the other 'best practices' about parking.
And how many people would be able to apply such a parking brake in an emergency situation? I think I would find it at the least awkward.
Appreciated - but I was sort of trying to exclude HGVs and the like
*because* they are different.
Ahhh - the parking brake release. Yes. Never heard that term before.
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