Vehicular Tradecraft Enhancements: Brake Lights Hack
A series of intel about DIY / improvised vehicle upgrades and modifications to optimize otherwise regular automobiles for tactical driving.
Brake Light Hack
The automatic activation of the ubiquitously recognizable red lights on the rear of motorized vehicles is an ingenious yet simple feature that prevents thousands of accidents everyday in every country.
It notifies the driver behind to stop or slow down as not to ram (rear-end) the vehicle in front, it’s a universally unmistakable sign and instinctually embedded into every driver, new or experienced.
In many instances, a driver behind another car will only use the brakes or release pressure on the gas pedal if they see the brake light glowing red from the car in front, because there’s no reason to.
For the purposes of evasive and tactical driving scenarios, this feature works too well.
If evasive driving, it gives a hint of your intended movements to the enemy in the rear. Such as using the left and right hand signals, the brake lights tell the enemy driver how you intend to move before you actually make the move, giving them an advantage.
If tactical driving, active brake lights can make it difficult or impossible to execute a “reverse ram” maneuver (stopping suddenly while in relatively high speed so that the rear car rams into you – to stop, slow down, distract or disable.
These are the extremely specific use cases that would benefit from an inactive brake lights.
However, there is no production vehicle that lets you disable or otherwise turn off the automatic brake function without some modifications:
With time and technical skill, the brake light switch can be adjusted so that the brake lights are not automatically activated when the brakes are.
With less technical skill, the wiring to the brake lights can be disconnected or removing the bulbs for the same results.
Obviously the lack of functioning brake lights invites rear-end collisions, however that is partially the point of this, as a defensively offensive maneuver.
Reducing the enemy’s ability to read your driving actions will have the same effect to everyone else on the road, not to mention drawing attention from law enforcement even if driving otherwise legally.
It’s vehicular controlled chaos for asymmetric strategy for highly specific situations.
This is for professional use and should only be used as per applicational need and or in specified vehicles.