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Indeed. What is the largest button I have in my Renault's dash? It's the triangle-shaped hazard light switch. Do I ever use it? I hope not. Do I want it to be t

Indeed. What is the largest button I have in my Renault's dash? It's the triangle-shaped hazard light switch. Do I ever use it? I hope not. Do I want it to be that big? Yes, I do.

Syonyk 5y ago
That's actually one complaint I have about the 1st gen Chevy Volt - the hazards switch is a physical button... on the right side of the center console, over by the passenger. It's not a location that is either rapid to find if you don't know where it is, or particularly rapid to hit when you need them - it's a substantial span reach, unsupported, on a smaller button than I think reasonable. Though, admittedly, I miss the ones on the top of the steering column. That was standard enough for a long time that I still look for the toggle there. I use them at least a few times a year, though far less than I used to when I was on the interstate a lot more. Any time traffic rapidly drops more than about 20mph, I light up my hazards to let following traffic know, "Yes, you see brake lights, no, they're not just people scrubbing a few miles an hour off - get on your brakes now!" Probably a habit I picked up from truckers, a lot of them do this for the very understandable reason that a big rig doesn't stop on a dime, and even if they will, you're likely to unstack your cargo in the process. Super infrequently used compared to other buttons, but also not something I really have the time go sorting through menus for when I need it. And neither do I trust the car's automatic systems to turn them on for me. Though, if I could dream, we'd use LED brake lights to encode braking intensity somehow. The car knows if I'm barely touching the pedal to cancel cruise control and light up the brakes, or if I've just mashed them to the ABS actuation point, but the brake lights don't encode any of this useful info. You couldn't rely on it for car behavior (trivial to spoof, and get rid of tailgaters), but it would be an additional useful input for driving - "Woah, hey, that car in front of you just nearly locked up their wheels, radar data agrees, slow down!"
- frosted-flakes 5y ago
  Actually, I've seen that some cars will rapidly flash the brake lights a few times if the brakes are applied hard. I don't know off the top of my head which cars though.
  - hunter2_ 5y ago
    Brake light modulators are many decades old, generally illegal, and therefore aftermarket modifications. The ones that light up like a Christmas tree for feathering the brakes are obnoxious (other than for motorcycles, perhaps), but I'm totally on board with this being standard for ABS situations and similar.
    - numpad0 5y ago
      I heard more than a decade ago that Mercedes designed that system but could not pass regulations back then. Plenty of cars do it today so that must have changed.
  - Syonyk 5y ago
    I've mostly installed them on motorcycles over the years. The combination of a modulator/flasher (several pulses and then solid) and a bright LED tail light makes a HUGE difference in how cars behind you follow - I converted several motorcycles at different points in time and observed the rather significantly increased following distance on each one as I converted them. I don't know the legality of them, but nobody ever complained on the motorcycles.
  - tguvot 5y ago
    volvo's flash lights in case car things somebody going to rear end it
  - NathanielK 5y ago
    Many dealerships install them on all the new cars on the lot, along with protective films and the like. This lets them have a reason for the list price to be well above MSRP without it being a straight dealer surcharge.
  - ptaipale 5y ago
    This is common in newer cars in Europe - if you brake so hard that ABS is activated, the brake lights will flash / pulse. I suppose regulations do not allow it in the U.S. but at least here it can be programmed on/off via service terminals. Random example from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJk-rJpgF1o&t=108s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJk-rJpgF1o&t=108s
- ajford 5y ago
  I think Chevy got feedback on that or something, as that's something they changed on the Gen 2 Volt. The hazard switch is now right by the driver's seat, "down-left" from the shifter.
kergonath 5y ago
I use it occasionally, when there is a sudden traffic jam, or a potentially dangerous situation. It's not every day, but certainly more common than the fog lamps (and I really don't want that to be less accessible either). In my old car it used to be a big button in the front of the console (not a Renault, but a Citroën). It was really easy to hit, which was great. When I need it is usually not a situation where I can take a second to make sure I am pushing the right button.

Indeed. What is the largest button I have in my Renault's dash? It's the triangle-shaped hazard light switch. Do I ever use it? I hope not. Do I want it to be that big? Yes, I do.

Syonyk 5y ago

That's actually one complaint I have about the 1st gen Chevy Volt - the hazards switch is a physical button... on the right side of the center console, over by the passenger. It's not a location that is either rapid to find if you don't know where it is, or particularly rapid to hit when you need them - it's a substantial span reach, unsupported, on a smaller button than I think reasonable. Though, admittedly, I miss the ones on the top of the steering column. That was standard enough for a long time that I still look for the toggle there. I use them at least a few times a year, though far less than I used to when I was on the interstate a lot more. Any time traffic rapidly drops more than about 20mph, I light up my hazards to let following traffic know, "Yes, you see brake lights, no, they're not just people scrubbing a few miles an hour off - get on your brakes now!" Probably a habit I picked up from truckers, a lot of them do this for the very understandable reason that a big rig doesn't stop on a dime, and even if they will, you're likely to unstack your cargo in the process. Super infrequently used compared to other buttons, but also not something I really have the time go sorting through menus for when I need it. And neither do I trust the car's automatic systems to turn them on for me. Though, if I could dream, we'd use LED brake lights to encode braking intensity somehow. The car knows if I'm barely touching the pedal to cancel cruise control and light up the brakes, or if I've just mashed them to the ABS actuation point, but the brake lights don't encode any of this useful info. You couldn't rely on it for car behavior (trivial to spoof, and get rid of tailgaters), but it would be an additional useful input for driving - "Woah, hey, that car in front of you just nearly locked up their wheels, radar data agrees, slow down!"

frosted-flakes 5y ago
Actually, I've seen that some cars will rapidly flash the brake lights a few times if the brakes are applied hard. I don't know off the top of my head which cars though.
- hunter2_ 5y ago
  Brake light modulators are many decades old, generally illegal, and therefore aftermarket modifications. The ones that light up like a Christmas tree for feathering the brakes are obnoxious (other than for motorcycles, perhaps), but I'm totally on board with this being standard for ABS situations and similar.
  - numpad0 5y ago
    I heard more than a decade ago that Mercedes designed that system but could not pass regulations back then. Plenty of cars do it today so that must have changed.
- Syonyk 5y ago
  I've mostly installed them on motorcycles over the years. The combination of a modulator/flasher (several pulses and then solid) and a bright LED tail light makes a HUGE difference in how cars behind you follow - I converted several motorcycles at different points in time and observed the rather significantly increased following distance on each one as I converted them. I don't know the legality of them, but nobody ever complained on the motorcycles.
- tguvot 5y ago
  volvo's flash lights in case car things somebody going to rear end it
- NathanielK 5y ago
  Many dealerships install them on all the new cars on the lot, along with protective films and the like. This lets them have a reason for the list price to be well above MSRP without it being a straight dealer surcharge.
- ptaipale 5y ago
  This is common in newer cars in Europe - if you brake so hard that ABS is activated, the brake lights will flash / pulse. I suppose regulations do not allow it in the U.S. but at least here it can be programmed on/off via service terminals. Random example from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJk-rJpgF1o&t=108s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJk-rJpgF1o&t=108s
ajford 5y ago
I think Chevy got feedback on that or something, as that's something they changed on the Gen 2 Volt. The hazard switch is now right by the driver's seat, "down-left" from the shifter.

kergonath 5y ago

I use it occasionally, when there is a sudden traffic jam, or a potentially dangerous situation. It's not every day, but certainly more common than the fog lamps (and I really don't want that to be less accessible either). In my old car it used to be a big button in the front of the console (not a Renault, but a Citroën). It was really easy to hit, which was great. When I need it is usually not a situation where I can take a second to make sure I am pushing the right button.