[Santoshbhat]

Lot of these tempo traveler guys modify their brake lights to flash red and white light when braking instead of a steady red glow. I hate it when I am stuck behind one of these guys. I either try to overtake them at the first opportunity I get or let the car behind me to pass and act as a shield.

Apart from irritating the eyes in the dark, flashing brake lights will make the side indicators less noticeable.

No point in talking about the legality/illegality of such small things in our country. There are far more shocking things that we see daily on our roads that are far from legal, yet nothing is done about it. Clear simple laws and strong enforcement will prevent these kinds of contraptions form being used . But then we don't like it when laws limit our freedom. Remember the sun film thread? the mods had to close the thread to shut us up .

[sumitgovil2311]

If I am stuck behind one using these lights, I prefer to stop for some time to let the other person go ahead, or else try to overtake. But in any sense, I find them complete nuisance.

[sudeepg]

Completely agree. They are an absolute nuisance, especially on a rainy day or at night. They are quite distracting and bright and I wondered if there is a law in place to keep a check on this. Anyone knows where and how to report it online? BTP site?

The other nuisance is that the temp travelers have all their lights flashing during braking.

[barcalad]

Before I bought my first bike (which is 10 days back), I had a firm decision to get one of these attention craving lights and have it fitted, either near the number plate or under the rear tail lights. On the day I was going to take delivery of my ride, I saw this R-15 ahead of me, with the same brake light, fitted UNDER the base of his exhaust. Now, even though it looked pretty decent and all that, I shuddered to imagine what would happen if he happened to ride over those insanely huge speed breakers on the route to Hebbal Flyover from BSK 3rd Stage (On the ORR). That mere thought sent my decision scrambling for a NO.

[Thilak29]

LED brake lights are way forward. A night bus driver was complaining about brightness of stock LED brake lights in new Ashok Leyland BOSS trucks (http://goo.gl/7IEgjs).

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

LED brake lights are way forward. A night bus driver was complaining about brightness of stock LED brake lights in new Ashok Leyland BOSS trucks (http://goo.gl/7IEgjs).

I think you misunderstood the topic here. It's about flashing style LED lights and not normal ones. Most of the high mounted lamps of cars are LED

[zenren]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Edit:: Did you guys know that Mr. Rishiraj Singh is on a hunt for the extra lights on vehicles in Kerala - anything other than stock fitments?

Didn't he extend his leave? I thought he was set to go on deputation to Delhi. Or, was it some old drive?

I've fitted my Zen with a regular HMSL since mine didn't come with one and the position of Zen's brake light is not visible from SUVs in bumper to bumper traffic. Would that be treated as illegal? If yes, by that same logic, I should not fit rear seat belts too. That would also be illegal since the car didn't originally come with one till the government mandated it!

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by zenren

Didn't he extend his leave? I thought he was set to go on deputation to Delhi. Or, was it some old drive?

I've fitted my Zen with a regular HMSL since mine didn't come with one and the position of Zen's brake light is not visible from SUVs in bumper to bumper traffic. Would that be treated as illegal?

Do you think the cop will know/remember whether your model Zen had an HMSL or you retro-fit it?!

Jokes apart, the HMSL should not create an issue at all. I guess it is an MGA one installed in the centre top of the rear windshield.

Even if the cop by chance peeps inside and notices that the rear passengers seated have belted, he would be happy and may 'Thank you' too.

Anurag.

[hemanth.anand]

"Legal or not...Who cares!"
"Its so cool, I want one on my car too"
"Police will never be able to catch, After all it is in the rear"
"I'll have it on my car until I'm fined for it"

Majority of our car owning population think like this. Not just these f1 style lamps, but there are many things that people do to their cars which are illegal. For all of those things, people give you the same answers.
From not using high security number plates (IND) to using dark tints. I bet many on this forum itself use tints and other non-prescribed types of number plates.

Although they dazzle, I personally didn't find these lights as disturbing as the blue neons that many Autorickshaws, Indicabs and the mod-friendly Swifts run around with. The blue lights sometimes blind me!

They are definitely not legal, but in our country "sab kuch chalta hai"

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by zenren

...Didn't he extend his leave? I thought he was set to go on deputation to Delhi. Or, was it some old drive?..

He has extended his leave. I am doubtful whether he will move to Delhi as that would put the government on backfoot.

Originally Posted by zenren

... I've fitted my Zen with a regular HMSL since mine didn't come with one and the position of Zen's brake light is not visible from SUVs in bumper to bumper traffic. Would that be treated as illegal? If yes, by that same logic, I should not fit rear seat belts too. That would also be illegal since the car didn't originally come with one till the government mandated it!

If the cops want to catch you, they will. To be honest, they usually don't bother to check the rear of the vehicle. If you have proper number plates, no extra lights in the front and no tints, you are most likely to let go of. I remember reading that even the after market DRLs would be treated illegal. But I really do NOT know how much these are been enforced as I have NOT spend much time in Kerala after announcement came out.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Do you think the cop will know/remember whether your model Zen had an HMSL or you retro-fit it?! ...

I have a doubt he is having one mounted on top of the roof.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Do you think the cop will know/remember whether your model Zen had an HMSL or you retro-fit it?!

I used the single line LED that you get in the rear spoiler since OEM one for Zen comes at the bottom of the windshield and protrudes into the boot area. Moreover, the bottom line of the rear windshield of a Zen is still not high enough to be called a "High Mounted Stop Lamp". It was still not clearly visible when followed closely in Scorpio or similar vehicles. BTW, my garage has a sample picture of my installation.

[DDIS]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

"Legal or not...Who cares!"
"Its so cool, I want one on my car too"
"Police will never be able to catch, After all it is in the rear"
"I'll have it on my car until I'm fined for it"

Majority of our car owning population think like this.

Totally agree.

A lot of them also have the "Hum jahan khade hote hai line wahi se shuru hoti hai" kind of attitude as well

I also see a majority not following basic stuff like:

- using low beam. I have seen so many people use high beam and fog lights when visibility is the best! Hurts eyes badly
- switching on hazard lights when wanting to make a temporary stop
- turning on the right indicator when moving from standstill
- avoiding honking
- dipping lights instead of honking

The sad thing is, most of these are from people whom you expect to know and follow these things. They are mostly people who are "educated" and are comfortably placed in life. So you would know what kind of cars they would be driving. The whole range imaginable.

Just yesterday, a 55-60 year old well dressed, "executive" kind of man driving a swanky new Skoda Octavia felt I was wasting his time by pausing at a junction for traffic before proceeding. He didn't hesitate to honk and didn't stop until I moved, which I did when there was an opportunity for me to, 4-5 seconds later.

Sad.

[supertinu]

Looks like these flashing LEDs have really caught on. I havnt noticed too many of these in Bangalore yet to complain about them but I guess it is catching on. More than cars I think buses are the biggest culprits. Their entire huge windshields have a LEDs lined up on edges continously blinking, changing colors, its almost a discotheque inside .

As far as legality is concerned, "its all fine as long as you dont get caught" mentality . In my opinion there are many bigger safety issues on our roads that I wouldn't be bothered by these blinking lights. For instance, wasn't there a Supreme court ruling on trucks not carry loads that protrude beyond their carriage. Every single day on Bangalore roads I see tens of tempos, aces, 307s carrying pipes, iron rods all hanging 5-10 feet outside of the carriages passing traffic police guys without getting even stopped.

[joe_antony]

I think in a country like India finding out which is legal itself a big effort . So I would use common-sense. These lights are beyond any doubt annoying and a big diversion factor for the fellow road users. The image retention in the eyes due to these sharp lights are longer and could blind one for 5-10 seconds max. Also, I have felt these lights are mostly done by auto-rickshaws and cabs, when I see some Swifts (or even Polos sometime) with stuff like these I have felt it was truly an injustice to the car.

[newtonMeter]

The best use of these are to make them Non Flashing ans use it only when connected to Rear Fog lights. I havent seen one on person - but may be its a good option when used in non-strobbing mode on a foggy day.