Improving brake Lights for safe deceleration

The simple solution to your perceived problem is don't tailgate.
What is your source of data that gives a higher incidence of rear end collisions to Priuses ?
BTW the Prius already has a built in safety feature for following vehicles, when braking hard the brake lights pulsate on and off.

 

tailgating seems to be worse than i have seen it in my 40+ years of driving. people are just not interested in the safety of the people in front of them or the occupants of their own car. it's much more important to them to not leave enough space for someone to pull in front of them. add to that all the technical wizardry occupying their attention in the vehicle and you have a recipe for disaster. or a bumper thumper at the very least.

 

I didn't know that. Is this true for the USA Gen 3?

 

I've heard it proposed, but haven't seen it on any standard vehicle here in the US.

 

Yep, what's the source?

I believe I've seen it on a few European luxury brand cars here in the US.

 

"One potential problem with flashing stop lamps in North America is the regulations that permit flashing stop lamps to be used in lieu of separate rear turn signal and hazard warning lamps." from wikipedia, could be why you don't often see it in US. It's pretty normal here, at least for the third/high level brake light to flash when ABS is activated or deceleration force is high.

This is lifted from the UK prius brochure PDF which you can find here:
Toyota

 

I've been driving for 34 years, and I agree- tailgating seems more prevalent than ever. It doesn't help when law enforcement completely ignores the situation either or worse yet- they tailgate too.

One other thing I've noticed in the Prius is that it must create a vacuum or magnetic field around it- I've never seen so many cars pass so close to me on the left (yes- I look at their tires- they are on the lane divider or actually partially in my lane) as I have with the Prius. It's to the point where I've actually scooted over to the right side of my lane when being passed in the left lane because they drift so far to the right when passing...

 

No need to shout. I wasn't suggesting for one minute that you were the tailgater, but why make the suggestion of a device to compensate for the idiots that do. If you think you need this device then I would suggest reading the road ahead rather than looking at the back of the next car in front.
It may be different on the US models but the UK brochure for the 2010 Prius states, under passive safety equipment, LED brake lights with emergency brake signal.

 

I've noticed this too (on the other side in the UK), usually they are on the phone.

3 points on your licence in the UK for tailgating now.

 

Points here too, but it's never enforced- I've had ppl tailgate me while being passed on the left by a cop. They just ignore it. Is it enforced in the UK?

 

we hardly ever see a patrol car here in the UK, cut backs etc. mean it's mainly cameras that catch people. I haven't heard of anybody being done locally for tailgating yet.

 

I suspect (without evidence) that it is illegal.