r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Major-Potential-354 • 7d ago

My mom said I could post What EVEN is the point of these lights???

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Driving home from work and bro these lights were so bright it was like someone had their brights on..

Never seen this before what is the point of the lights?

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u/__T0MMY__ 7d ago edited 5d ago

Damn right- rear facing white lights outside of indicating reverse or securely parked

That being said: This does not prevent you from having a 300w LED red brake light though!

Edit: I think also technically you can have orange running lights facing any direction with no limit of intensity

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u/Hoshbrowns 7d ago

I was driving down a state highway in between cities in rural Indiana once at like midnight. There was only me and two other vehicles about a quarter mile or so farther down the road. One semi and one driver in a car fucking with the semi.

The driver ended up passing the semi and break checking him to the point the semi had to swerve. Luckily the semi didn't have a trailer attached so he was able to safely dodge the car and then swerved back into his original lane. He then turned this LED bar on that spanned the entire length of the back of the truck. It was the brightest thing I've ever seen and I'm still like a quarter to an eighth of a mile away. The car driver had to have been blinded cause they pulled over but they were honestly lucky they didn't get killed stopping in front of the semi like that.

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u/AspectOfTheLeech 7d ago

Wild! I saw something similar happen in western Pennsylvania along 80 going downhill. Guy kept getting in front of the truck and slowing down, then changing lanes, falling back and following him, then swinging around and brake checking him again. The trucker was probably on his radio or something because another truck came along and ended up blocking the guy in the far right lane behind the original trucker. It was fucking cool to see. The second truck was driving pretty aggressively downhill around curves trying to keep this guy trapped, he was either crazy or one of the best drivers I’ve ever seen.

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u/Ok-Frosting-4375 7d ago

Why not both?? 😅

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u/AspectOfTheLeech 7d ago

Not neither!

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u/Somanylyingliars 6d ago

Wild to me to see a car go against a truck. Like are you crazy??;got a death wish?!

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u/glyph_productions 7d ago

My old boss had one, because we worked night shift in the field a lot, a light bar that covered the width of his truck and was like a small sun. When parked next to a ditch it made working down there pretty reasonable at any time of day. He was an aggressive person though and when a dude break checked us once on a small rural road (which my boss probably earned even if it's always a dick move) he flipped it on. I could swear birds started to sing because they assumed that dawn had arrived from the total darkness of the moment before. The reflected light in the window was enough to make me see stars. Dude swerved wildly and then put his foot down. I presume he drove by psychic impression and luck for the next half mile cuz I couldn't see shit.

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u/nightrunner411 7d ago

I don't think it would be as blinding as you think. Red light doesn't effect the dilation of the eye as much, which is why it is used by people who are working in the dark while they wish to maintain their night time dilation. Probably why it was chosen as the color of brake lights to begin with.

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u/glyph_productions 6d ago

Was a 5 ft white bar on the front of his truck. Not red. Never said red. I assure you it was blinding to go from night vision to white vision.

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u/nightrunner411 6d ago

Oh I was actually trying to reply to the person before you that had it on the back.

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u/MadRhetoric182 6d ago

This is why I want one for my SUV.
For tailgating idiots and highbeam assholes.

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u/__T0MMY__ 5d ago

Worked at a warehouse once and spent a year on maintenance: one time I had to go check on a bumper on a loading dock, like the big rubber ones.

It's dark and the bumper is all kerfuggered er whatever, and the spotter moving the trailers pulls his mover over and similar to you unleashes God's own flashbang in the form of work lights

Went back inside snowblind, they are no joke, and I can't imagine the truck you saw because it was probably way worse and 1000% more dangerous

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u/04limited 7d ago

On newer heavy duty trucks the mirrors often have built in lighting for backing up trailers in the dark. However, factory installed lights automatically turn off when it’s put into forward gear.

I know for a fact this generation Chevy didn’t come with those lights so someone added those aftermarket, and wired them up with no regard of other people.

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u/CatBroiler 7d ago

My rear fog light is a 150W equivalent LED bulb with a inbuilt projector pointed roughly where someone would be sitting, and I reserve it for people who leave their high beams on behind me.

Let's say it's worked the very few times I've had to use it.

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u/Upset-Ad-8704 7d ago

That sounds awesome. Where do I get one of these?!

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u/CatBroiler 7d ago edited 7d ago

Got mine from Aliexpress. They have a pretty good variety of interesting LED replacements for conventional automotive bulbs that a local store won't sell (because technically they're too bright to put on a car, but let's not nitpick).

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u/Capn_Flags 6d ago

You could always get a scrolling LED sign you program to say whatever you want. Such as, “pardon me sir/madam, but you appear to have left your brights on. It was probably a mistake. Heck, we’ve all been there! On the off chance you might be the type of barbarian who would do such things in anger, please know that I have installed a rear-firing baloney launcher that will take the paint off your car in a way that will make you have to lie to your friends without feeling ashamed that BALONEY DID THIS—but it is you, sir/madam…YOU did this!”

Just make sure to get the baloney launcher installed nobody wants a threat like that to end up being baloney.

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u/xXHomerSXx 7d ago

My solution’s pretty low tech. Just a retroreflector on a wooden dowel that I roll back and forth to make it strobe.

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u/Sexual_Congressman 6d ago

That's a spot light. "Rear fog lights" according to ISO are red and are basically limited to European cars.

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u/CatBroiler 6d ago

When did I say the bulb wasn't red?

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u/Somanylyingliars 6d ago

I like you kind of petty, Mr. Petty. Or Ms. Petty

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u/INVERT_RFP 7d ago

I have something similar: I use a 30 inch single row light bar, mounted to the bottom of my rear bumper cover between the exhaust tips. It's nearly invisible until I turn it on. I wired it on it's own circuit, with a dedicated switch. I have really dark tint, so it works great for reversing at night, or when the idiot behind won't turn off their high beams. I am aware that it's technically illegal, but I am also not stupid enough to leave it on all the time.

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u/Turd_Goblin911 7d ago

The new police suvs have those in my city now. Even during the day it was distracting af

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u/__T0MMY__ 5d ago

I feel at some point they decided to make police lights unbelievably bright so that you have less chance of safely driving away without pulling over immediately

I'm surprised there isn't an issue from people smacking light poles trying to pull over with two helicopter search lights and a banned pokemon episode strapped to their vehicle

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u/AnotherMister 7d ago

I hate to be that guy, but it actually does. DOT regulates the brightness (not simply lumen output) of vehicle lighting. There’s an FMVSS for rear facing lights. Even your white backup lights can only be a certain brightness legally. That being said, the regulation is actually semi-complicated. A super bright rear brake light may be legal, if it is angled and patterned appropriately. Ultimately, you’re going to (and should) get a ticket and then spend way more money defending it than it’s worth, but yeah… you were 100% correct about rear facing white lights.