Study Shows Front-Mounted Brakes Lights Could Reduce Car Crashes

Have you ever thought that putting brake lights not just on the back of your car but also on the front might improve safety and reduce the risk of a crash? If you haven’t, you have now. Three German researchers wondered about front-mount brake lights, too. So they investigated the issue and discovered that it could have a significant impact on crashes as a whole, and on the severity of the crashes that happened.

More Information Can Lead To Fewer Crashes

The researchers tested a front brake light system, which is exactly what it sounds like – a retrofitted brake light up front. The study showed that a front brake light on vehicles could prevent up to 17% of crashes at intersections. When crashes do occur, up to a quarter could be positively influenced, and by that, we mean the speed of the crash becomes lower than it would be otherwise. If something were to be implemented on this, it could be the biggest brake light change since the third brake light mandate in 1986, or the first extra-bright LED brake light a few years later.

Moreover, those numbers include crashes where the vehicle with intersection right-of-way couldn’t see the other car’s front brake light. When the right-of-way driver could see it, the chance of preventing a crash goes up to 26.2%. When crashes do occur, 39% are less severe and occur at lower speeds. That’s a serious reduction in the potential for injury and death. It also potentially benefits pedestrians, who are the most at risk at intersections and crossings, by allowing them to immediately see if a vehicle is braking. Safety group IIHS reported 7,522 pedestrian fatalities in the US in 2022, up 83% since a low in 2009.

The study tested various types of intersections: straight crossings, left turns across traffic, and combinations of these. The researchers also discovered that this wasn’t the first time such things have been examined. A study examined the effectiveness of front brake lights in the 1970s, but the subject was ignored until 2015 when an in-lab study had participants identify when cars looked to be braking with or without a light. Not exactly a real-world evaluation, that.

This study started with 102 vehicles and 197 participants in Berlin. Then it expanded to 3,072 vehicles and thousands of interviews in Slovakia. “Well over 75%” of those involved said they supported a front brake light at the end of the study.

The effect is simple as well as effective. If a driver sees a car with a turn signal and no brake light, they assume the car is going to proceed. It works when you’re approaching a car from behind, but it also works from the front. Example: You’re approaching a green light and see an oncoming car in front with a left signal and no brake light. That driver will probably make a turn right in front of you. The front brake light gives you a chance to avoid a potential crash.

More Brake Lights Are More Effective Than Autonomous Braking

That small amount of extra notice can be the difference between a crash and a near miss. Crucially, it can be the difference between a severe head-on collision and one with lower stakes and a better result.

The study found that the avoidance rate of a crash was better even when compared with autonomous emergency braking systems. Those systems can wait too long to brake, and don’t have the adaptability and intelligence of a typical driver.

Related

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The whimsically titled (deep breath) Assessment of the Potential of a Front Brake Light to Prevent Crashes and Mitigate the Consequences of Crashes at Junctions study was published by Senior Researcher and Director at Bonn Institute of Legal and Traffic Psychology Bernhard Kischbaum, Senior Scientist with the Vehicle Safety Institute of the Graz University of Technology Dr. Ernst Tomasch, and Professor Wolfgang Schubert of the Bonn Institute.

Sources: MDPI, IIHS