Rich,

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 16:51:00 -0400, Rich Mulvey wrote:

> While I'm aware that The World Is A Very Big Place, I have to wonder 
> how many places, like my state, restrict the use of blinking lights in 
> civilian vehicles, other than turn signals.

I thought this right at the beginning, but got distracted by the physics discussion!  Over here ordinary 
vehicles have flashing turn indicators, and as a hazard warning they can all flash together when the vehicle 
is stationary (even though a lot of people use them to indicate problems when moving, strictly this isn't 
allowed).  

Otherwise you have to be a hazardous vehicle (towing, or with a large or slow-moving load) to have flashing 
amber, an emergency vehicle on a shout (Fire, Police, Ambulance, Rescue, Bomb Disposal, blood or medical 
supplies) to have flashing blue, or a doctor or other medic to have flashing green - the latter usually in 
their own cars when they are called-in to an emergency.  

Doing the hazard-flashing thing every time you slow down would confuse and annoy other drivers, and you'd get 
pulled up by the first police car to see you do it.  You wouldn't get away with flashing the brakelights 
themselves either, because the regulations say they must come on when you apply the brakes, and flashing isn't 
"on"!  You might get away with additional brakelights whose brightness indicates the rate of decelleration, 
but I think even this would be frowned on.

I seem to remember seeing an American car that had three pairs of brakelights, and they came on in sequence in 
proportion to the level of braking, but I'm not sure it did any good.

Cheers,


Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist