The High Mounted Brake Lamp: A Cause without a Theory

Studies are described that formed the basis for the Federal high mounted brake light standard and some that have been done since. One purpose of this paper is to show how some details of the new Standard are hard to derive based on the underlying research. In addition, there was no adequate theory of driver performance upon which the standard was based. Although experimental field studies forecast reductions in rear-end crashes of about 50%, analyses of actual reductions in rear-end crashes since the standard took effect estimated them to be 22% to 3.5%.

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