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Vehicle: Car: Brake Lights
Programmable LED Brake Lights   (+2, -2)  [vote for, against]
Show off some personality to those behind you

Now that lots of manufacturers are making brake lights out of banks of LEDs, how soon before they start adding electronic controllers to them so they're not simply on or off?

I think cascading horizontal stripes would be pretty and add to safety by being more catching to the eye.

The next step would be to allow car owners to set their own patterns (within certain safety limits). Expanding concentric circles? Rotating starbursts? Line drawing of the Mona Lisa?

Until then, I'll have to hack my own static display by punching out some of the LEDs to spell "STOP".
-- drzeus, Feb 25 2004

LED License Plate Frame http://www.customdy....com/streettags.htm
The same idea, but text only and not on your brake lights. [drzeus, Oct 04 2004]

Custom Brake Lights http://www.logolite...third/brake/lights/
Similar, but you have to pre-set the pattern and it's not animated. [drzeus, Oct 04 2004]

Sequential Taillights http://www.autothin...tangturnsignals.htm
[jurist, Oct 04 2004]

Or you could go a step further and change them to small flat panel screens. Have little red animations of cars crashing.
-- Worldgineer, Feb 25 2004


Variations on sequential taillights have been around since the mid-1970s. See the [link] for one updated model.
-- jurist, Feb 25 2004


You could also have advertisements or tvs shows on your LCD displays so people driving behind you could watch a movie or a commercial that you get paid to display. Also you could have a video of you giving them the finger.
-- JoeLounsbury, Feb 25 2004


And then you could sending scrolling messages to the drivers behind you! Wow!
-- bristolz, Feb 25 2004


[bristolz] hit the nail on the head there.

And what are you doing back?
-- Baker^-1, Feb 25 2004


IIRC there's a scene in the first Ghost in the Shell movie that's similar to this: the driver of a car hits the brakes, and this being the future, the lights spell out "STOP."

The real appeal is scrolling messages though, as bristolz points out. And I like it a lot.

Potential messages might include:

* Cop ahead.

* Up yours.

* Pass already.

* Get a load of that idiot.

* What's the rush?

* Are you blind or stupid?

* No turn on red here, idiot.

* Welcome to my ass. Population: You.

* Just for that, I'm gonna drive real slow.

Of course, this could totally supplant the bumper sticker industry. At least while the car is on, unless the draw is low enough that it's okay to keep running when the car is off. But I bet that these'll prove more popular given the annoyance of cleaning off old, worn-out stickers, and how easy adding new phrases would be.

The problem though, is that it's going to be relatively annoying if other people have these things. Therefore I propose that I get the only one.
-- cpt kangarooski, Mar 11 2004


It would be quite distracting to have all kinds of flashing brake lights in your face when you're driving. There's enough to pay attention to as it is. I'd hate to think that I hit you walking on the road, cuz I was distracted by the Las Vegas of the road.
-- whuil, Jan 28 2005


I've seen a vertically rotating "STOP" lit up in LED's. It was in the rear window.
-- Ling, Jan 28 2005



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