Brake On, Brake Off:
Seemingly anywhere I go in and around Calgary I notice vehicles with at least one non-working brake light. The incidence is unusually high. It also appears to be spread fairly evenly across older and newer vehicles, American and foreign models, and even 18-wheelers and trailers.
This can be quite distracting. When coming up behind cars in adjacent lanes with the working tail light on my side, where the driver begins breaking when their car is at about a 45 degree angle to me, I register it as an indicator light and slow up slightly, anticipating a lane change. Then you realise what’s happened, and off you go again until the next run-in. Slightly more worrisome is when you’re directly behind such a vehicle and they begin to brake, your brain just doesn’t seem to recognize one red light as a brake and it takes a split second longer before you react as you normally would.
Take a minute to check your own vehicle’s lights at your next chance, just in case.
