I agree with your sentiment, but would rather this than the silly B's who have no bicycle lights! I am sick and tired of coming acrosss darkly dressed idiots on bikes with no lights wobbling along in the pitch dark!!! Additional , vaguely linked gripe... Will you all please USE YOUR HANDBRAKE when sitting in traffic at night, not the footbrake. I am sure all Fiat Forumers do this without me moaning!
The human brain often does not work properly.
We arrive at a junction with limited visibility. Our eyes say "we cannot see". Our brain interprets, "we cannot see any problems, therefore there are no problems." This causes people to pull out into the path of others. Also, if we cannot see, we stare, as if looking at the same view for longer, may allow us to see further.
Then there's the "I can see you, therefore you can see me." This is what allows people to walk into the road wearing dark clothing, assuming the driver can see them, or to ride bicycles without lights. The opposite side of this, is like the small child that hides its head under a cushion, and declares, "you can't see me now".
The brake lights issue is only going to get worse.
People are lazy, so hold the brake insteadof using the handbrake.
Electronic handbrakes are a pain, so encourage non-use. Many have an 'auto-hold' feature, that once stopped will hold the car until the driver moves away, but many of these will keep the brake lights illuminated, even though the driver has released the pedal. Many electric vehicles have auto-hold. Some do not have a handbrake function, applying them automatically when the power is turned off, with no manual control.
Automatic vehicles can be moved to N or P and the handbrake applied, but few bother, instead, holding it on the brake. An auto with stop/start will only stop the engine while the footbrake is held, keeping the brake lights on. If N is selected, and handbrake used, releasing the footbrake restarts the engine.
Next we'll need auto-darkening windscreens, like a welding helmet.
