Oh, you think I need a new chair? Will the Internet come back then?

Thats more an issue of using the same lamp for rear lights and turn signal

Yeah, the only thing I could think of is that I'm driving down a country road, and I see the front brake light ahead of me because someone stopped for a deer in the road or something.

And the negative state of "the lack of this light means that the vehicle could be moving" is exactly what we have now.

My main thoughts instantly come to someone in the opposing left turn lane, if they are not applying the brakes they are likely starting to turn and if they do it right in front of you, you have more of a heads up than just them starting to turn and can set yourself in a better position to hopefully stop in time. Driving is all about judgment calls and having more info quicker is important to those calls.

I mean when a car is coming at me from a cross street, I want to be able to tell if they're turning or just an asshole not using their signal. On some cars, the turn signal is mounted so far to the side that if they're approaching from my right and turning right onto the same street as me, I can't see that turn signal. Sometimes combined with the roundness of the nose exacerbating the problem.

The key detail is that, like with rear brake lights, they extinguish when the foot is removed from the brake pedal. So it's not so much the presence of the brake light, but the presence of an inactive brake light that would, serve as a warning that a car is about to start moving. This would be very helpful to drivers on a road when other drivers are pulling out too early from a side road or driveway. That little bit of extra warning is, in many situations, enough for you to pump the brakes, hit the horn, or both.

Risk Compension predicts that drivers would simply use this new information to drive more aggressively, negating any possible safety benefits.

i don't think that was ever required in the US. it is elsewhere though.

okay, pick a different color then. it's a solvable problem.

I have, and that's my point.

I'm a lowly drone pilot that isn't really made to understand what those lights mean but did out of my sheer curiosity.

But the average pedestrian is going to take some, teaching?

and honestly i have the same problem with that intended use. it often looks like a stopped car is attempting to turn out into traffic. IMO emergency lights should have a faster blink pattern or something to differentiate from turn signals.

for example, say you are waiting to make a left turn, it would be nice to know if oncoming cars are braking or not. if they are stopped and you see their brake lights turning off, you can judge if you should hurry up or not turn at all.

Can't speak to "required." But I know it used to be done.

And never forget about the I-D ten T error.

But isn't that exactly the situation we're in now? If there's a car in the opposing left turn lane, they might start to turn in front of you.

The only thing the light does is say "right now, they're braking". It doesn't say whether they're moving or stationary any more than the headlights, and it doesn't say anything about their intentions or whether it's safe to enter the intersection.

Struggled with this for a second, then I figured it out...

The brake light coming ON isn't the important part, like the rear brake lights... it's the brake lights turning OFF that's important in the front.

So maybe, now hear me out, MAYBE we need to invert that. Have front brake lights that are on ALL the time, and pressing the brake turns them off to indicate safety?

Yeah, and then you have the distraction of people looking in the mirror because of lights behind them. Especially seeing lights behind you at night thinking it’s a police car

ID10T for those who didn't get it.

First of all, this would be illegal in many countries.

Second of all: we can differentiate cars by: has red lights, back.

If we lose this option we can no longer differentiate easily if there is a car coming towards us or driving away from us.

Say you're a pedestrian and a car is coming toward you as you're entering a crosswalk. Being able to see if they are braking or not could save your life.