[dhawcash]

Hi,

Maybe i'm extraordinarily stupid, but cant figure out why most SUVs have two pairs of tail lights- on at the normal place, and other placed low on the rear bumper. Ford endeavor, Pajeros, even Q7s have this. And these have parking/stop lamps, reverse lamps as well as indicators. at both places.

Can some one shed a light? what is the logic behind this? how are they controlled?

[999]

Pajero and Q7 just have stop lights/reflectors at rear in addition to the normal ones. no?

[wanderernomad]

Something to do with the eye level of the guys following in sedans. Plus I dont remember where I read it but there was this study which pointed out that an additional lamp(s) for the brake lights resulted in much better cognition of the following driver to the brakes of the front vehicle. On of the reasons you have even small cars and hatches having a mounted stop light.

[anekho]

AFAIK, vehicles that have their brake lights on the hatch (tailgate) have to have additional brake lights on the bumper. So if you've loaded something long into the boot and have to drive with it open, you still have brake lights that are visible.

See this:

The lights are mounted onto the hatch.


So when the hatch is open, lights aren't visible.

Hence, an extra set are mounted on the bumper.


In the case of other cars, I guess they are just reflectors to aid visibility.

[dhawcash]

Originally Posted by 999

Pajero and Q7 just have stop lights/reflectors at rear in addition to the normal ones. no?

They dont just have stop lights/ reflectors- indicators and reverse lamp is also present. look closely in above image.

[dhawcash]

Toyota Fortuner doesn't have them.


Also googled many images, and found that some pajeros have them, some do not. The montero (new pajero elsewhere) hasnt got them. Just reflectors.


Ford Endeavors have them, but look like only stop and reverse lamps.

[dhawcash]

AFAIK, vehicles that have their brake lights on the hatch (tailgate) have to have additional brake lights on the bumper. So if you've loaded something long into the boot and have to drive with it open, you still have brake lights that are visible.

Hmm. Makes sense. But still, vehicles like older pajeros did not have hatch mounted tail lights and still had pretty boxy looking set of lights on its bumpers.

And i have seen many Endeavors and pajeros running these bumper set of lights on road in normal weather conditions. ( the normal tail lights were not functioning- noticed this via the brake lights). its a random thing- some of them use normally located brake lamps, and in somebumper mounted units were functional.

Is it in some way related to fog?

[condor]

Safari / Sumo Victa has a single set. The additional lights you see in the bumpers are the rear fogs. Possibly same case with other SUV's - you may have mistaken the rear fogs for additional tail lights

[Parm]

In Europe and other countries adhering to ECE Regulation 48, vehicles must be equipped with one or two bright red "rear fog lamps" (or "fog taillamps"), which serve as high-intensity rear position lamps to be energised by the driver in conditions of poor visibility to enhance vehicle conspicuity from the rear. The allowable range of intensity for a rear fog lamp is 150 to 300 candelas,[15] which is within the range of a U.S. stop lamp.[5] For this reason, some European vehicles imported to the United States have their rear fog lamps wired as stop lamps, since their European-specification stop lamps may not be sufficiently intense to comply with U.S. regulations, and in North America rear fog lamps are not required equipment.

However, they are permitted, and are found almost exclusively on European-brand vehicles in North America — Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes, MINI, Land Rover, Porsche, Saab and Volvo provide functional rear fog lights on their North American models. The final generation Oldsmobile Aurora also had dual rear fog lights installed in the rear bumper as standard equipment.

Most jurisdictions permit rear fog lamps to be installed either singly or in pairs. If a single rear fog is fitted, most jurisdictions require it to be located at or to the driver's side of the vehicle's centreline — whichever side is the prevailing driver's side in the country in which the vehicle is registered.[15] This is to maximise the sight line of following drivers to the rear fog lamp.

In many cases, a single reversing lamp is mounted on the passenger side of the vehicle, positionally symmetrical with the rear fog. If two rear fog lamps are fitted, they must be symmetrical with respect to the vehicle's centreline.[15] Proponents of twin rear fog lamps say two lamps provide vehicle distance information not available from a single lamp.

Proponents of the single rear fog lamp say dual rear fog lamps closely mimic the appearance of illuminated stop lamps (which are mandatorily installed in pairs), reducing the conspicuity of the stop lamps' message when the rear fogs are activated. To provide some safeguard against rear fog lamps being confused with stop lamps, ECE R48 requires a separation of at least 10 cm between the closest illuminated edges of any stop lamp and any rear fog lamp.[15]


Some people drive with their both rear fog lamps on in summers also!

Automotive lighting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Parm

Some people drive with their both rear fog lamps on in summers also!

That's a common phenomenon in India wherein the driver will turn on all the light that the vehicle has without knowing what their exact usage is

[Parm]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

That's a common phenomenon in India wherein the driver will turn on all the light that the vehicle has without knowing what their exact usage is

specially the X5 and Q7s have very bright rear fog lamps.

forget india, i have seen people in dubai using both the rear fog lamps!

[wanderernomad]

Driving with the hatch open with goods sticking out is illegal therefore the extra lights cannot be there for this illegal activity.

[ashis89]

AFAIK, Pajero has 2 sets of lights. The lights on the rear bumper are the tail lamps whereas those on either sides of hatch are the fog lamps. Turn indicators and reflectors are with the tail lamps and reversing lamps are with the fog lamp. You can check out ricky63's gallery and thread for more info. Similar is the case with endeavour. But Montero has its fog lamp built into its spare tyre cover

[desertknight73]

Nice observation;
The reason primarily being that sedans have body mounted tail lamps (generally they do,don’t go blazing your guns on me!) when the boot is opened in case of an emergency the reflectors in the tail lamps are sufficient to alert oncoming traffic. (We know how many of the drivers use the safety reflecting triangle! Usually truck drivers are ‘benevolent’ to put a branch or twig that is hacked off from nearby tree; worst, they put a stone on the street)
Back to discussion, so big SUVs like the Endeavour’s tail lamps are hatch mounted, it opens all the way up and hence the oncoming traffic cannot see the vehicle in darkness. In order to put at least some amount of RED in the oncoming driver’s eyes, such sets of reflectors or additional tail lamps (as seen on the new Q7, where the additional lamps activate if boot is open) are a useful and cheap way of safeguarding our not-so-safe streets.
P.S.: No one can still guarantee anyone ramming your car, be safe use a safety triangle and place it minimum 100m away from your car.

[DirtyDan]

In North America the rear brake light mounted in the rear window is to comply with the law as of circa 1980 or so. It really started with just an acknowledgement that a brake light located higher and in the center-rear gets attention faster than low set taillights alone. Especially from new or ditzy drivers whose attention fixates on the wrong things at the wrong time.

As for two full sets of taillights high and low on SUVs...seems like a good idea and is most probably aimed at making sure the person behind gets the message. Often, drivers crowd the rear end of a tall SUV because they just don't like those big boxy things in front of them blocking their view and they MUST pass. It is, afterall, mandated by the Godhead himself that all drivers must be first. All of 'em!