Installed a 3rd brake light.It was an easy weekend task. Got it from Summit along with a 25'- 2 wire jacketed harness.
Bought 2 small "L" brackets at the local hardware store. Total cost around $70. A relative inexpensive safety upgrade that can be easily removed .

Fits nice in the license plate recess

Doesn't protrude past the bumper

I wired it directly to the brake switch and grounded it under dash

Will this prevent a rear ending by some kid texting while behind the wheel? Don't know but there's no downside to this .

 

I saw your headline and thought, "Oh, that's a shame," but it actually looks pretty good on your wagon. Fairly non-invasive. Well done.

 

Thanks, as I said it's easily removed. One day I might get sick of it, but will give a try for a while.
The previous owner got rear ended, taking out the tailgate, bumper and damaging the driver side panel. That is what influenced me to come up with something.

 

Enjoy the 3rd light. Let me just say that people drive into the rear of a car is because they are not paying attention to their driving.

I have been rear ended at a red stoplight and on the freeway. The red light "rearender", the traffic lights were RED and I was stopped with a foot on the brake. Would another red light have saved me ? Nope.
The freeway "rearender" was by a guy pulling a boat. Vehicle and trailer lights were on. Would another "light" have prevented this accident ? Nope.

 

Driving is all about me, me, me (and, my all important F'ing phone). No one knows how to drive, today.

 

Aye, inattentive drivers and our old cars don't mix well. I like your easy approach that adds a lot of intensity to your stop lights.

On my VC, I covered the area behind the taillight lens with specular (highly reflective) adhesive film and installed the brightest red LEDs (170 lumens) that I could find.

I thought the combination of the better reflector, intense red color, 30% more lumens, and quick illumination might penetrate through the fog that surrounds inattentive drivers.

It sure lights up my garage much more than the incandescents did!

 

I installed a rear deck third brake light from a 1986 Cutlass Salon in my ‘80 Supreme. It’s OEM and looks like it was born for my car and I liked it for the added safety. It’s wired to my brake light switch with a very bright LED bulb to grab attention. Any added bright brake lamps out back is a good thing imho.

 

Good luck with the lights. When I was rearended at RED traffic light and foot on the brake illuminating the RED brake lights, I was sitting in a BRIGHT RED Porsche 944.

You may want to install a outside rear facing speaker that alternitively emits the sound of a siren (or another attention getting sound) and a voice that says STOP, STOP, STOP.

 

That's a great idea.You should develop and market that. You'll make millions.
But seriously, I think properly working brake lights help prevent accidents. Adding brighter brake lights certainly can't hurt.
There will always be a small percentage of idiots not paying attention, to which I agree with your humorous sarcasm.
In your case of a Porsche being rear ended, that's a major hit (no pun intended).
Another thing to keep in mind is that we properly insure our vehicles in the event of such a loss.

 

That was my point, a small percentage are the cause of most maladies in life. No matter what you do, they will screw things up. No matter how many lights you add, if they aren't paying attention or watching the road ahead, people will get rear ended.

Another cause is people driving to closely to the vehicle ahead. They drive like they are a NASCAR driver drafting. Most people do not have the quick reflexes of a professional NASCAR driver, so they hit you in the rear when traffic slows down abruptly.

I would also mount your 3rd light higher on the rear. To me, it just looks like you and colored lights to enhance your license plate.

 

Mounting it higher is an option, and a good idea.
I'm not at the point where I want to drill holes in the body, but always open to outside suggestions.
Maybe someone else has a better approach they did on their Olds and want to share?

 

There is a regulation governing the installation of 3rd brake lights and yours does not meet it. Most states follow the Fed standard.
Do You Need a Third Brake Light by Law? Rules and Exemptions - LegalClarity

 

Great info.
From what I read besides the older vehicles being exempt (no surprise) is the minimum height. Passenger vehicles are exempt from that too.
Has to be centered, only activates when brakes are applied.
Thank you for sharing

 

Looks like a good idea to me- higher would be more visible, but that's not possible, without damage to your beautiful Vista- good job!

 

There’s a whole new breed of drivers today, reckless and inconsiderate. The only time I feel save driving my old cars is Sunday morning before the idiots are out!

 

Absolutely
Another thing I did was clean/ polish the tail light lens, inside and out.
Definitely made a difference, took off 50 plus years of that oxidation / fog.
I'll post the product I used

 

This is what I used. Worked good, very easy to use. Just wash the lens first then follow directions. It has a very mild compound in the cloth. There are other brands that are similar.

 

Even a CHMSL won't help if the driver behind is looking at their phone...

And note that CHMSL stands for Center HIGH-MOUNTED Stop Lamp. Down low on the bumper isn't likely to be noticed, especially since everyone drives a monster SUV today.

 

The constructive criticism are all valid points and taken well.
But there are also drivers that are fatigued, kind of staring at the road losing concentration, or if following a bit too closely.
Perhaps the intensity of an additional brake light could snap them out of it? Maybe, maybe not.
I also agree with the larger vehicle following too close is a no win sitiuation

I figured if you can see the license plate when driving, you'll notice the light.
If you're driving that close to the vehicle in front of you that you can't see the license plate, you're gonna rear end him.

Anyway, coming full circle I had an idea / project to share. I will look forward to seeing other approaches on the same topic.
Thank you for the interest and input.

 

I purchased this last year, have not installed it yet. I'll most likely mount it on the bottom of the rear window. Should be relatively well hidden behind the tinted glass but but still reduce the potential for a rear end collision combined with the brighter LED tail light bulbs

Since my 69 has a single dual filament bulbs for turn/brake, I'll probably run a separate circuit off the brake light switch at the pedal.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124985857592

Price was around $100 at the time.

 

Yes, you need to run a separate wire directly from the brake light switch. The problem isn't the two filaments, the problem is that the brake/turn circuit runs through the turn signal switch. That would make your third brake light flash every time you signaled a turn.

 

This reminds me of a recall that I dealt with in the 80’s. I worked for a BMW-Olds-Sterling-Rolls Royce Dealer. Any way, the 3rd brake lights were new to the BMWs in iirc 1986, can’t remember for sure. What happened was the brake light switches were not updated for a CHMSL, large numbers of brake light switches were failing from the increased current load of the CHMSL, taking out all the brake lights.

Though I would guess these old GM switches are probably more robust than those particular BMWs, if you lose your brake lights, this might save some diagnosis time!

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The good news is that LEDs draw a lot less current than do incandescents.

 

I had the Flashback but didn’t consider the LEDs!

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