Annoyed by following car(s)

[vmanthani]

A while ago a lady (driving) in a car following me was taking pictures of my car while driving at 40mph. I slowed down and put haward lights and the stopped it. As soon as I started she started taking pictures again. When we stopped at the signals, I asked her why she was taking pictures and she denied and took a exit road and flew away.

And today one lady was writing my registration number on a note book, It seemed its her daily job to collect the registration numbers. In this case I was slowing down using regen brakes while approaching a signal in few hundred yards and the I was slowly decreasing my speed from 30mps to 10. And there was a vehicle which was few hundred yards behind me. As soon as she stopped she started writing something I presume its my registration number. While I had my foot on brakes. I have also noted down her registration number for safely while I was exiting that road.

By law is it mandatory to use only brakes to slow down? I never used regen brakes if the distance between me and following vehicle is less than 100 yards or so... But I make sure to press brakes to alert them even I'm using regen braking.

 

[tun]

There is only law (& logic) saying that the car behind must stop when the car in front stops. How the car in front stop is not covered in any law

 

[Neverfuel]

When I had a manual car I always slowed down by using engine braking, until about 20 meters before I wanted to actually stop, then I would apply the brakes. My brake lights would not show in that car either. I always slow down in the PHEV using paddles but may just touch the brake if someone is close enough to be a worry and I only use up to B4 if I am being followed by another vehicle. I think it actually makes you more aware as a driver, and you tend to keep a greater distance from the vehicle in front.

Maybe the people who were taking pictures etc should be concentrating more carefully on their own driving?

 

[maby]

There is only law (& logic) saying that the car behind must stop when the car in front stops. How the car in front stop is not covered in any law

Quite true, but the Outlander PHEV does raise some new issues that the current law does not really consider. You are required to have brake lights triggered by the brake pedal and the police can pull you up if they are not working. It's also an MOT failure, so the law does attach some importance to them. Regenerative braking on the Outlander can provide significant deceleration, but does not illuminate the brake lights. As other cars are designed with regenerative braking, I would not be surprised if the regulatory authorities take them into account and start to require that the brake lights should illuminate.

I do recognise that it has been possible to get the same effect by going down through the gearbox, but that was probably something that was used less commonly by drivers of conventional cars, and it would have been a lot more difficult to turn the brake lights on when the driver slows down with engine braking. It seems likely that Mitsubishi could implement it quite easily on the PHEV.

 

[tun]

There is only law (& logic) saying that the car behind must stop when the car in front stops. How the car in front stop is not covered in any law

Quite true, but the Outlander PHEV does raise some new issues that the current law does not really consider. You are required to have brake lights triggered by the brake pedal and the police can pull you up if they are not working. It's also an MOT failure, so the law does attach some importance to them. Regenerative braking on the Outlander can provide significant deceleration, but does not illuminate the brake lights. As other cars are designed with regenerative braking, I would not be surprised if the regulatory authorities take them into account and start to require that the brake lights should illuminate.

I do recognise that it has been possible to get the same effect by going down through the gearbox, but that was probably something that was used less commonly by drivers of conventional cars, and it would have been a lot more difficult to turn the brake lights on when the driver slows down with engine braking. It seems likely that Mitsubishi could implement it quite easily on the PHEV.

Agree to a certain extend. If the brake lights are faulty, then it's "sort of" our fault. We can still get away from the law if it's faulty because logically, how often do you actually check that

And as per comment above by Neverfuel, we can stop a car by dragging the gears and that will not trigger the brake light either. So I guess with regen braking, it's the same concept...

 

[PeterGalbavy]

The law states that the brake lights must operate when the brake pedal is depressed and the brakes operated - e.g. the "handbrake" does not operate the brake lights. The regen in the PHEV is not the same as foot operated braking but akin to engine braking which also does not operate the brake lights.

When I am rolling down a hill I will, on an ICE, use an appropriate gear to slow my speed to an acceptable level. In the PHEV I use a regen level in a similar way. I see no difference and neither I believe does the law, as it stands.

 

[maby]

The law states that the brake lights must operate when the brake pedal is depressed and the brakes operated - e.g. the "handbrake" does not operate the brake lights. The regen in the PHEV is not the same as foot operated braking but akin to engine braking which also does not operate the brake lights.

When I am rolling down a hill I will, on an ICE, use an appropriate gear to slow my speed to an acceptable level. In the PHEV I use a regen level in a similar way. I see no difference and neither I believe does the law, as it stands.

You are perfectly correct - as it stands, the law does not require brake lights illuminated on regen braking. My point is that I suspect that will change as it becomes more common. The current law is a reflection of the best that was realistically possible in the pre-electronic age of car design. With modern electronics it would be easy to put a decelerometer into a car and trigger the brake lights whenever it slows down at more than a defined rate, irrespective of the cause - that would seem likely to be a useful safety feature and I would guess that it may become a legal requirement in the future.

 

[PeterGalbavy]

Yes, and there is also a note in the PHEV manual that if you trigger the ABS by doing an rapid/emergency stop it will trigger the hazard lights. Not tried this yet and it sounds like a "feature" more than a legal requirement on newer cars - unless anyone knows different?

 

[maby]

Yes, and there is also a note in the PHEV manual that if you trigger the ABS by doing an rapid/emergency stop it will trigger the hazard lights. Not tried this yet and it sounds like a "feature" than a legal requirement on newer cars - unless anyone knows different?

although one tends to become the other - I didn't know until recently that there is now a requirement to fit TPMS to cars.

 

[Neverfuel]

I think I have read somewhere that adaptive cruise control shows the brake lights when it slows the car down? If so, the technology is already fitted to the 4HS and so should be able to easily be adapted to work on other models. It certainly works with Forward Collision Mitigation as it applies the brakes for you. I don't know whether I would want the brake lights to be flitting on and off during slow regen though people tend to get a bit twitchy when they see brake lights on a motorway for example.

Can someone confirm whether brake lights come on with ACC though?

 

[MartinH]

I Think the brake lights luminates B3 and higher, please correct me if i am wrong.

 

[maby]

I Think the brake lights luminates B3 and higher, please correct me if i am wrong.

I think you are wrong - but I have to admit to not having actively tested it, so we'll wait for one of the others to comment.

 

[Neverfuel]

Brake lights do not show under regen braking when using either the paddles or gear selector. They will show when the following conditions happen:

The car is being driven fast and the S-AWC uses the brakes to control Yaw.
ACC is engaged and the car has to slow down (even if it can slow to the correct speed using regen).
FCM applies the brakes to prevent a collision.

 

[jkh112]

Regen braking is no stronger than using engine braking on a conventional car. I often slow down in my other car by dropping a gear or two and it slows a lot quicker than my phev on b5. I see no reason why there should be concern about the lack of brake light illumination on regen.

 

[pheverish]

How often have you been following a car that you suspect has 2 faulty brake lights?
It will make you more aware of your stopping distance and hopefully you will allow a little extra room.
I paddle all the time - and do not have a problem with other cars being too close behind me for this reason.

I do not follow the logic of having to rely on somebody's brake lights to tell if they are slowing down.
I never rely on others indicating, or people flashing me to let me pull out.

Be more aware, leave a bigger gap and read the road ahead - then driving will be a more pleasurable experience for everyone.

 

[jcandmorag]

How often have you been following a car that you suspect has 2 faulty brake lights?
It will make you more aware of your stopping distance and hopefully you will allow a little extra room.
I paddle all the time - and do not have a problem with other cars being too close behind me for this reason.

I do not follow the logic of having to rely on somebody's brake lights to tell if they are slowing down.
I never rely on others indicating, or people flashing me to let me pull out.

Be more aware, leave a bigger gap and read the road ahead - then driving will be a more pleasurable experience for everyone.

Totaly agree... :twisted:

 

[vmanthani]

How often have you been following a car that you suspect has 2 faulty brake lights?
It will make you more aware of your stopping distance and hopefully you will allow a little extra room.
I paddle all the time - and do not have a problem with other cars being too close behind me for this reason.

I do not follow the logic of having to rely on somebody's brake lights to tell if they are slowing down.
I never rely on others indicating, or people flashing me to let me pull out.

Be more aware, leave a bigger gap and read the road ahead - then driving will be a more pleasurable experience for everyone.

Yes, Agree with you.
I always check my rearview mirror, if someone is not slowing down to caution them I press brakes otherwise I use regen to brake but not too aggressively of course.

 

[deskry]

Read somewhere recently that Mitsubishi are addressing this issue with a mod from 2016 whereby the brake lights will come on when you release the accelerator pedal. Did not give any more detail, like for which B settings; I would hope it was only for B4 and above. This Car could do with a B6 for serious descents in the Alps, Pyrenees etc!

 

[Regulo]

There is a "B6", but I think it illuminates the brake light. If you are aproaching a stop in B5 watch the power meter as you apply the brakes. Ooooh! More regen. Does that count as "B6"?

 

[deskry]

Apologies for not returning to the board sooner. Regarding B6, I do mean on the Paddles. One of the benefits of this car, is that your brake pads should last twice as long as other cars. I too am careful to check my rear view mirror and will touch my brakes if necessary to warn. However, I always keep a good distance relative to my speed from the car in front. I have done so since the 1980’s when I had a "heart thumping" moment driving my first biggish car, a Volvo 240 GLT. I wasn't very close to a car in front, but was on a fast A road when they for some reason braked violently. I reacted and kept my line as this Volvo did have ABS, but I came within inches of hitting them. What I didn't realise was just how much heavier the Volvo was to anything I had driven before and how long it took to slow down. I had a very similar experience recently in the PHEV, but did stop in reasonable time thanks to the much more advanced type of ABS cars have today. However, I had that same feeling you get with a heavy car, when it takes ages to stop, so heart was thumping a bit! So keep your distance in this beast!