Hello, dear car enthusiasts! We are considering a rather sensitive topic, to which many may react extremely ambiguously, in some places negatively. After all, we are talking about a flashing brake light.
Considering the capabilities of online stores, as well as the skills of some garage craftsmen, you can buy or assemble almost anything with your own hands.
But before you make your feet with a flashing effect, you should think about the feasibility and legality of such upgrades. Not everyone knows how traffic police officers will react to flashing lights.
What the laws and regulations say
The modified pattern, which turns a constantly lit brake light into a flashing one, raises many questions.
It would seem that if you can buy a ready-made controller from Aliexpress or order it from other stores, then there is nothing illegal about it. It’s even possible to hang a strobe light on a car. The only question is what consequences this will have.
The first thing you should do is look at the traffic rules. Oddly enough, not a word is said here about a ban on the use of such devices. After all, when the stops are blinking, the color of the flashlight itself does not change. Therefore, there is no corpus delicti as such. Everything is legal. But the light is blinking. And this is a reason to impose a ban.
Although the traffic rules do not say anything, there are also technical regulations. And here it is precisely stated that a flashing brake light is a prohibited type of tuning. Appendix 8 clearly states that no car lights, except turn signals and emergency lights, should blink.
Modern lighting devices
Previously, car taillights were very bulky devices, but modern lighting installations are characterized by their miniature size and beautiful design.
Taillight design
At the same time, they are capable of performing several functions at once, which we discussed above. Modern manufacturers try to create the most unusual headlight design possible, making it a unique feature of the vehicle.
Note! LED taillights are relatively new. Therefore, many cars currently have outdated headlight designs.
But you can make the lights at the back of a car without LED headlights modern and beautiful with your own hands. For this you can use modern LED light sources. For tuning, you can use both LED strips and individual diodes. In this situation, a diode will be used as the main lighting element.
Possible punishment
There is nothing in the traffic rules, but there is something in the technical regulations. Hence the logical question about whether they can be punished for flashing lights, and what the possible fine is in such a situation.
Here, traffic police officers will build on Article 12.5 of the current Administrative Code. The emphasis is on the fact that a flashing stop indicates an incorrect operating mode of the equipment. As a result, a fine of 500 rubles. But in addition, the driver may also suffer for making changes to the design of his vehicle.
Step-by-step assembly instructions
To assemble a diode tail light with your own hands, you can use various instructions. Let's consider the simplest and cheapest option for making such a lighting installation with your own hands, based on the use of an LED ring. For this we will need the following materials:
- red diodes with a diameter of 5 mm (64 pieces). You can take medium brightness;
- for stops – 20 LEDs with increased brightness;
- resistance (120, 150 and 270 Ohms);
- 12 V power supply – needed for testing;
- a can of matte black paint;
- 4 pieces of plastic. They should be even;
- 4 voltage stabilizers, which will be used for dimensions.
Tools you will need:
- screwdriver;
- glue gun;
- wire cutters;
- knife;
- heat shrink;
- soldering iron;
- tester;
- technical hair dryer.
Step-by-step instructions for assembling the lantern are as follows:
- We cut off the glass from the old headlights. To do this, it must be constantly heated with a hair dryer;
- Next, we take out the light diffusers and paint the reflectors black;
Headlight without diffusers
- then from a piece of plastic we form a platform for placing LEDs in it and implant the LEDs into it;
Note! LEDs can be placed on a plastic base in a variety of ways. In this case, a circle was chosen.
Prepared plastic platform
- We solder the leads from the standard headlight sockets to the LEDs and connect them to check that the light sources are connected correctly;
- We solder stabilizers into the electrical circuit;
Soldered circuit elements
- We put a reflector painted black on top of the diodes;
Working LEDs
- we install all the components of the lamp in place;
Reinstalling the LED backlight
- After that, glue the headlight glass back onto the sealant. The sealant takes a couple of days to harden;
- Next, we remove the bumper and under it we find the guides with which the headlight is held on it;
- carefully screw the headlight into place, having first connected all the wires.
Finished tuning result
The steps described above must be repeated for all lights that are located at the rear of the vehicle.
To bet or not
This is a personal matter for everyone.
And you have your own opinion on this matter. Some are sure that flashing stop signs distract attention and cause a feeling of confusion among drivers moving behind such cars. After all, the intentions of the motorist are not always clear.
It also happens that, due to the flickering, the motorist behind does not have time to brake in time, because he glances at the feet exactly at the moment when the lamp goes out.
There is also the opposite opinion, according to which flickering makes you be more attentive and vigilant. Fans of this theory cite design solutions on Formula 1 cars as an example. After all, their feet also blink during active or sudden braking.
You decide. But remember that such changes can easily be classified as illegal. As a result, the driver faces a fine. And not only the modest 500 rubles. For illegal design changes, sanctions can be much more serious.
Here it would not be amiss to remember why the brake lights do not light up and what this may be connected with.
How to make the brake lights flash
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Guys, please advise me how to make the additional LED brake light on my car not just light up, but blink.
What kind of gear should be put in there to make this happen? This is what I did for myself:
My rear fog light is flashing. a year ago a freak drove into me and said he didn’t see the difference between the dimensions and brake lights. Now there is definitely a difference.
This is the general principle:
This is what I did for myself:
My rear fog light is flashing. a year ago a freak drove into me and said he didn’t see the difference between the dimensions and brake lights. Now there is definitely a difference.
on the contrary, safety increases and attracts attention!
And increases the anger towards you behind
Yes, you can make it blink, or better yet, have a sledgehammer climb out and hammer 2 meters behind the car.
There is a standard! The red brake light is on, not flashing! All people are used to this, and when something flashes there or suddenly the foglights light up, you just want to go out and blow up this whole New Year's show. Even if everything is beautiful and not annoying, the person is distracted and may miss the moment of braking.
I saw one on the Moscow Ring Road on a penny, so he confused the right and left taillights, and in place of the stops he had turn signals (which were correspondingly yellow). It’s very uncomfortable to travel like this, and I didn’t even immediately understand the reason (I myself rode the spear for 5 years). The lady was driving behind him in a Citroen, because she realized that his feet were yellow, so the brake was on the floor and it was at 110, and behind her the others were also on the floor. I still don’t understand how the train didn’t get hitched, probably the lady wasn’t completely stupid and didn’t slow down until it came to a complete stop.
Guys, please advise me how to make the additional LED brake light on my car not just light up, but blink. What kind of gear should be put in there to make this happen?
On the Volga, people like to connect this blinker. Anger quickly arises, turning into hatred, in relation to such cars, in a traffic jam
Stop line at a railway crossing: travel rules, what to do if there is none
Experience shows that a flashing brake light is most often the prerogative of domestic cars that are actively used for tuning. These are cars such as VAZ 2110, Lada Kalina, Lada Priora, etc.
But it’s quite difficult to imagine the owner of a new foreign car with such tuning. Although situations are different.
There are several options for how to implement flashing stops on a car. Let's look at 2 of them.
With relay
The easiest way to implement the idea of flashing brake lights is to use a turn signal relay.
Only here it is worth immediately emphasizing that such a scheme is not always characterized by increased reliability. A scenario in which the relay fails cannot be ruled out. This largely depends on the build quality. Therefore, motorists are advised to initially choose high-quality relays. And the best option would be a rotary relay from the car on which the tuning is performed.
Now to the question of how to properly connect the relay. This is done through standard wiring. You just need to connect the rotary relay to the stop. Before insulation and assembly, it is recommended to check the system for functionality.
The main disadvantage of this method is that the stop light will flash continuously.
It is because of this that alternative schemes have gained the most popularity.
Using a microcircuit
There are various microcircuits. Among those in demand for the implementation of a flashing stop is a circuit of the K561TL1 type.
On its basis, a foot control unit is created. If everything is done correctly, the work scheme can be implemented to your taste and your own needs. To change the number of blinks, simply change the capacitance of capacitor C1, which is part of the microcircuit. The resistor resistance parameters also change.
Circuit C2-R2 in the microcircuit will be responsible for the frequency of flashes that occur. To avoid problems on the road, experienced craftsmen advise adding an instant shutdown button here. So the traffic police officers simply won’t see your flashing light, and therefore won’t be able to punish you for such tuning.
You can implement quick shutdown in 2 ways:
- Install a special button with a resistor directly in the cabin. The parameters of the latter should be 1 kOhm. By pressing this button, current will be supplied bypassing the microcircuit used, and then the feet will be able to function in standard mode;
- Use a regular switch. This way the brake light can switch and switch to normal power. This scheme is considered simpler.
Which one is more suitable for you, decide for yourself.
Reasons for tuning headlights
You can make LED rear lights for your car not only to improve the appearance of the vehicle and improve the luminous characteristics of the headlights, but also to prevent the lighting device from failing. It makes sense to carry out such headlight tuning in the following situations:
- reduction in the quality of the glow of devices;
- a constantly ongoing oxidation process in lighting fixtures;
- burnout of backlight bulbs;
- loss of contact in the device;
- various problems with the lighting fixture.
An excellent solution to all of the above situations would be to install LEDs yourself. During the installation of new lighting elements, you can simultaneously correct all existing minor problems that you can fix on your own.
Results of the work carried out
There are several options for creating such an intermittent stop signal. Both how the scheme will work and what the result will be are different. At the same time, any of the options can be easily implemented independently; both the simplicity of the electrical circuits and the low cost of the components will help.
The absence of the need to use programmable controllers can also be recorded as an asset.
Now it’s up to you to choose the most suitable option and organize revisions. We wish you that the information received will be useful to you, and the result will meet your expectations!
