Rear lights

[PolarBear]

Today I was following Platinum Silver Mazda 5 for a couple kilometers and I noticed that their tailights are not very well visible especially on a sunny day.
I think that location and coloring of tailights will increase chances to be rear ended. What do you guys think about this?

[Zoom5Zoom]

if you can only get close enough to my 5 to see.....lights are fine

[zoomzoom mazda5]

SAME HERE(uhm) , WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN A OLD FART REAR ENDS ME! FROM SUNNY FLORIDA

[PolarBear]

Today I was following Platinum Silver Mazda 5 for a couple kilometers and I noticed that their tailights are not very well visible especially on a sunny day.
I think that location and coloring of tailights will increase chances to be rear ended. What do you guys think about this?

Now being a happy owner Mazda 5 I have to say for sure that rear lights is a weak side of this vehicle at least on Platinum Silver. When I'm changing lanes, more often than usual other drivers do not notice flashing lights and accelerate.

[doctorz]

We had a 1997 Honda CR-V for seven years. It was rear-ended three times. The last time it was rear-ended, my wife was sitting at a traffic light on a clear, dry day, on a street where the speed limit is 25 mph. The guy who bashed into her was apologetic, said he wasn't really paying attention, but it didn't register in his head that a car was sitting there. We really do believe that the tail lights on the CR-V aren't conspicuous enough for other drivers.

Unfortunately, the Mazda5's tail lights remind us of the CR-V in that they're high up and pushed out to the corners. If anything, the altezza lights make them even less visible. I'll let you know when we get rear ended for the first time.

[PolarBear]

We had a 1997 Honda CR-V for seven years. It was rear-ended three times. The last time it was rear-ended, my wife was sitting at a traffic light on a clear, dry day, on a street where the speed limit is 25 mph. The guy who bashed into her was apologetic, said he wasn't really paying attention, but it didn't register in his head that a car was sitting there. We really do believe that the tail lights on the CR-V aren't conspicuous enough for other drivers.

Unfortunately, the Mazda5's tail lights remind us of the CR-V in that they're high up and pushed out to the corners. If anything, the altezza lights make them even less visible. I'll let you know when we get rear ended for the first time.

Actually Honda CR-V is the one that comes to my mind that is even worse.
Well, I hope all your rear ending days are over.
But Mazda definitely should pay more more attention to design of rear lights. It does look cool but safety is more important.

[Mazda5wannabe]

I'm not sure if I follow this properly. I followed a 5 the other day and noticed that the lights were pretty well smack dab in my line of sight, regardless of what color the paint job was. They were bright and quite noticeable.

[brightwhite]

i follow my wife's 5 all the time and the tails are extremely bright, visible and easy to see.

[doctorz]

Actually Honda CR-V is the one that comes to my mind that is even worse.

I thought of one that might be even worse than that. Remember the GM G-body wagons from the late 70s and early 80s? Malibu, Cutlass Cruiser, Century/Regal et al. The tail lights were at the bottom of the bumper.

But regarding the 5, I've only followed one once, and I thought the lights were less visible than average. Given the design of the vehicle, I'm not sure if the location of the lights could be any different, but they could certainly be bigger. I'm sure that lights that are slightly out of the line of sight can result in a fraction of a section of delayed reaction time, which may make a difference. In any case, driving the CR-V made us really wary of potential rear-ending situations.

[Kansei]

The high up taillights are typically pointed out as a safety feature on car.. hence why volvo uses them on their wagons.

[jandree22]

...the tails are extremely bright, visible and easy to see.
I agree. IMO, that's the most imporant thing. Chances are if you're going to get rear ended, it won't matter what car you're in because the other driver simply isn't paying attention anyways. Just my 2 cents on this...

[jandree22]

You know, I realized this on my way into work this morning. Next time you’re on the road, check out the ass end of a Chevy Silverado or Ford F-150. The taillights are higher (due to the truck’s overall height) and spread farther apart (around the wide full sized bed). Honda CRV’s, Volvo’s, and Chevy Lumina vans aren’t the only ones out there that also have similarly positioned taillights… I bet if I kept looking I could find many more examples too. And as far as the silver altezza color, that won’t matter when you tap the brakes because they’ll magically turn from silver to bright red! (lol2) I dunno, sorry to beat a dead horse over this, but just some reasons why I personally can’t put too much stock into this argument.

Oh, and PolarBear, the reason cars accelerate when you put your turn signal is because people are assholes. If they seriously fail to see the 3” diameter rear turns as well as the side markers on your fender, they’re more or less legally blind ;)

[paging_drburgos]

Oh, and PolarBear, the reason cars accelerate when you put your turn signal is because people are assholes. If they seriously fail to see the 3” diameter rear turns as well as the side markers on your fender, they’re more or less legally blind ;)

lol
true dat

[Hughes412]

Today I was following Platinum Silver Mazda 5 for a couple kilometers and I noticed that their tailights are not very well visible especially on a sunny day.
I think that location and coloring of tailights will increase chances to be rear ended. What do you guys think about this?
I don't have a problem seeing them.

[doctorz]

Let me clarify my thoughts on this issue. Of course we can see the tail lights. The question is whether they are as visible for safety as they could be. If you are glancing to the side of the road, maybe to make sure you're not going to hit the jogger who's in the street instead of the sidewalk (one of my pet peeves), and the Mazda5 brakes in front of you, how quickly will you notice the tail lights?

I bet that bigger, better placed tail lights would make you see the tail lights a fraction of a second sooner. That may make all the difference in a rear-end collision, particularly when it's raining and you need the extra stopping distance. Visibility is the reason why center high-mounted stop lights (CHMSL) were mandated in the US in 1986. I know of at least one NHTSA study which shows they really do reduce rear-end collisions.

Speaking of CHMSLs, every time I see CHMSLs mounted at the roofline of a vehicle, I can't help but think how this defeats the purpose of the CHMSL. Isn't the point of the CHMSL to be directly in the line of sight of the driver? Yeah, the Mazda5 is an offender, but the worst ones I know of are the full-size GM vans. Ever notice how high they are? (Then again, GM is the company that had the brilliant idea of using high-beams as daytime running lights, therefore ensuring that you not just notice the oncoming car but are blinded by it as well.)

Oh, and regarding the Volvo 850 wagon tail lights, they run up and down the entire height of the wagon's rear end, which is why they're visible. And the second generation CR-V has bigger tail lights, located lower, and use two lamps per side compared to one for the first generation CR-V (like ours).

No one will ever compile data looking specifically at Mazda5 rear end collisions. But we (both my wife and I) can't help but wonder.