LED's require correct polarity

[Borrego Dave]

Interesting Byron, but do you really think anybody is going to be stopped because their brake lights are too bright? All I want is if the guy in front of me hits the brakes is that they work.....even if they are way bright .

[Raz]

My Trillium came with Bargman LED tail lights. They work well and I'm happy with them. But when one failed the whole unit had to be replaced. $40. While LED's may have a longer life they require additional electronics which adds to the possibility of failure. Typically these are sealed and unrepairable. As you drive around note the cars that have LED tail lights and imagine what the unique sealed unit will cost at the dealer as Napa won't carry them. Raz

[Paul O.]

Very interesting comments, thank you, all.

One very obnoxious thing I noticed about some LED lights years ago was the strobe effect. That may have been an attempt at dimming them by means of PWM (pulse width modulation), I think. Looking straight at them the effect is not noticeable, but sweeping the field of view shows the comet tail, like the comet cursor on the computer screen. With lights that are steady, there may also be a tail, but it is less disturbing.

Years ago I remember there were some discussions about a three-mode brake light:
power flow to the wheels (foot on gas) - no light
idling/coasting - some color (?)
braking - red

That would definitely cut down the reaction time dramatically, much more than the LED light curve response. What happened? Government inertia?