MGB & GT Forum

Greetings

Today I had two near death experiences in my 74 MGB with the same heavy tow truck when trying to make a left turn (no left turn lane). I activated the turn signal a good 500 m before the turn, the tow was 500 + meters behind me. I started braking, down shifted and then accelerated like never before when I saw that the tow start to slow down too late. Fortunately the shoulder was wide. This happened again at the next left turn which I made as there was no on coming traffic.
So, either the driver was not paying attention, hates English convertibles or did not see my tail lights which checked ok before the drive. Also the afternoon sun was behind me. I will hazard a guess that it was the position of the sun that overpowered the incandescent bulbs.
I bought LED lights from Amazon but noticed that they were not as bright as the incandescent ones.

Has anyone else experienced this scenario? Are there any truck drivers in this forum that have driven behind an MGB? Can you see any of the tail lights are on?
Any feedback will be appreciated.


Regards

Tom

I had that happen once but my brake lights weren’t working.

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1978 MGB
When diagnosing issues related to running and stalling, always check to see if you have gas in the tank first.

Your taillights aren't all that bright. Is what it is.


GMc

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Wait for me at the gate Tuffy, because without you they're never gonna let me in.

SDCH WTCH-X Twin Oaks Tuff Nutt
2008 - 2022

If he/she is not paying attention short of an illegal option brightness isn't going to help. IDK anything about your LED options - no link - but there are pictures comparing OEM with classic auto 's offerings (which I think are now sold by BMC). There are also several topics about fitting a CHIMSL.

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Mk1: CKD 11/66 first registered 8/5/67; owned since 3/77. 18GB +40 balanced. Peter Burgess BVFR head. Piper 285. 123. FidanzaFW. 4synch c/r box. Lots more as I did a nut and bolt rebuild; finished 2015. Tartan Red.

GT: December '78. VW Golf guards, flush fit front and rear valances. Torana XU1 vents, frenched indicators & Mk1 rear lights. 'Worked' Rover V8 with Monsoon ECU for EFI. GM4L60E, Lokar tiptronic & Quick4 controller. Vintage Air A/C. FC IFS. CCE 4 link rear. Salisbury with Quaife. Jaguar Storm.

Brake lights are a great invention, but they shouldn't be required to not get rear-ended. I've been behind plenty of cars whose lights weren't working and I never hit any of them. The truck driver was not paying attention, like far too many people on the road. It isn't difficult... eyes forward, hands on the wheel.

I was ahead of a guy in a new Porsche a few years ago. He was texting for several miles in traffic. I decided he was a danger so I moved over to the next lane. 30 seconds later he destroyed the van in front of him. As I slowly drove by, there he was sitting in his smashed Porsche finishing his text.

The lights on these 50 year old LBC’s are about as useful as a chocolate watch in the daylight anyway ..

What was the signed speed of the carriageway ?

Did you check your lights after the incidents or only before ??

500 mtrs for an indicator to be flashing is a long distance ..and would usually dictate to others that it was left on !...500 mtrs …half a kilometre !

If it was repeated in such a short time frame then one needs to look something else other than him initially .

I have always said that if you get in one of these small MGB’s then it is more dangerous than the average late model vehicle ..And owners seem to have inflated expectations of others on the road to be at the same level as being in something larger . I go out expecting to possibly be hit , cut off on a highway and especially to possibly be backed into / run over in car parks from the opposite car park .

With their size and often colour , they can camouflage into the foreground , or to the background at a T intersection ..

What time of the day was it ??..professional drivers arousal times are less in the afternoon or definitely less in the morning if having driven over night ..

Fixation ..if a driver can’t see an obstacle then he can’t respond to it …no arousal , no distance perception .. (Olson & Sivak )
Expectations also flow into thinking all are the same …not unlike the BS saying of common sense !

Distance Perception and Perception response time are not generic !!.. hence people mislead themselves with false expectations that they lead the field in this or that others will be at the same level ...

The well-known phenomenon of vigilance decrement (Mackworth, 1948), a rapid decline in detection,is a disadvantage to professional drivers over casual / recreational , short distance drivers regarding arousal time frames and perception times .. paraphrasing (Olson & Sivak )

Just some sh… to consider rather than the plain old black and white expectations of yesteryear ..
Or maybe he was an idiot …and just f….g with you …it happens !

LED’s seem to be what people here throw to , so maybe install those if it makes you feel more comfortable , but I am in the same boat as yourself with during daylight , incandescent lighting seems to be brighter and LED’s seem to only come to life better at night ..I removed them off my daily and reverted back to incandescents for that reason .

Just be aware, there are drivers with a form of color blindness which diminishes or eliminates their ability to see red. They navigate traffic lights mostly by light position and brake lights with quite a bit of difficulty. Incadescent lights put out other colors than red which they can see, if somewhat dimmer. Because LED brake lights are of one uniform red frequency they often can't see those at all. Protonopia I think it is. Not sure how common that form is, color blindness in males may be as high as 10% of the population. My youngest son has this, it developed when he was an adolescent. Good idea to have yellow turn signals.

Jim

Tom,
Glad you dodged that incident safely. What a scare..!!

While it will not help with a distracted driver behind you, but you may consider adding an LED third brake light. I found the one from a GMC Safari or Chevrolet Astro vans will fit perfectly on the top of the rear MGB cowl. Even the curvature of the light housing matches the curvature of the MGB cowl.
I have yet to install mine, but I did a test fit and it seems to work fine.

Also, there is a multitude of LED third brake lights on Amazon or Ebay.

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My 1958 MGA is not a car, it's a CAREER..!! ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-27 10:40 AM by Ahmed.

I plan on using led lights everywhere: headlights, tail lights, side markers, etc. Besides the cool factor they are more noticeable hence safer IMO.

A lot of semi truck places out there that have a large selection of lights to choose from. My dream part is a sleek sidemarker that has camera built into it for use in lieu of side view mirrors. I would love to weld up those side view mirror holes too.

I've had LED taillights on my 80B for over 10 years. I once had a fellow MGer following me let me know that, in bright sunlight, the brake lights were very hard or impossible to see.

After some research, I bought some Turn Signal Lens Paint. I sprayed a couple of light coats on the inside of the taillight lens and it really made a positive difference.

https://www.amazon.com/VHT-ESP888000-Red-Nite-Shades/dp/B005257R0O/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1M7PJBIJK0PM0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1InJH59vSWEVwwaCMPimWkTjGzoK3KA-nzWj-bCt4_v3NuWAtY5rw2iI7fuQoDva8W2VCS-xko_5jGf6hgrnpevIsp58dgJC_A1mAya6a9axsCDSeJEeTeBaM71coOD09eKqF8XUeA82oIFON-TWNTaMJyKr5bRN1XYTkZiUyK3UyIf5kHWW3-QKHaBNGCWVWBJgv1fKR434KbCxOjqVfSVR3puctooaAmiUPGdp7Sh-CD6CGxmfGFdArXESPQvuUieFWM_aKiImWo6D5EAp6AyGCXHpRwjgFGrKPN-NiOY.8KPUI40iYv6Ce1gaTqcAiz7y4kHdHnlRfC77OwcP1Fo&dib_tag=se&keywords=turn+signal+lens+paint+red&qid=1714237562&sprefix=turn+signal+lens+paint+red%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-4



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-27 12:07 PM by lewisrn.

I run with my head lights on all the time & in town with the window down I will throw my hand out to give the good old hand signal. I am going to add lights to the top of my GT & I am going for tail turn & brake lights, across the back/top of the GT.

Sometimes the drivers just don’t pay attention. I drive like I’m riding a motorcycle. I drove a fire dept ladder truck for 25 years. You learn to drive defensively when you are driving a 40’ long, 9 1/2’ wide straight frame truck weighing 76,000lbs, especially with lights and siren going. Even then I’ve had to make evasive moves.

Less than a week after I spent a year restoring my 69 B, I was stopped at a light. I was about 8 cars back. Big pick up behind me stopped, no problem. About 30 seconds later the light turned green, but before the car in front of me even moved, bang! This damn truck plowed right into the back of me, denting the trunk and bumper. He claimed that he didn’t see me. Wow.

LEDs are not always as bright as incandescent lights. Historically, tail light bulbs and such were rated in watts, such as 7 watt tail, 15 watt brake, or thereabout. However, wattage is a rating of electrical consumption, not brightness. Still, over the extended period they have been used, there has been a relative consistency in incandescent light output such that knowing their wattage also gave a reasonable idea of the brightness.

Not so with LED. LEDs are usually rated in Lumens because their wattage is so low as to be useless in determining how bright they might be. But Lumens are the measure of an LEDs total light output including darker spots and brighter spots, so it, like wattage in an incandescent, is only a general indicator of brightness. Lux measures the brightest output of any light source including LEDs, but few manufacturers rate in Lux because it depends entirely on how the lamp is used as to how much Lux it will produce. Since light manufacturers can't control how their product will be used, they can't give you a Lux rating. So look to the Lumen rating for a general idea.

After that, it depends on how the light is structured whether it will be brighter in a tail light than the incandescent. LEDs that have a diode array around the whole lamp may have the same Lumen rating as one that is flat with diodes only on one side facing outward, but will not be as bright in a tail light application because much of the rated output is lost in a tail light, which usually has a crappy reflector.

If you want LEDs in tail lights, look for LEDs with higher output and direct light not surround lighting.

However, I don't think that LEDs in themselves will substantially improve your tail lights. Better to install a third stop light on the back of the car, and make it as bright as you can find. If it flashes before going solid, even better.

As for NiteShades, I have it, I have used it on sun faded plastic, and it works, but be aware that it is not 100 percent transmissive, so using it also reduces the amount of light seen from behind. Use is sparingly if you use it at all.


GMc

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Wait for me at the gate Tuffy, because without you they're never gonna let me in.

SDCH WTCH-X Twin Oaks Tuff Nutt
2008 - 2022

Without going into the wattage difference which I’ve forgotten, using a 2357 bulb in place of the standard 1157 brake/running light bulb will give you noticeably brighter brake lights as will putting shiny metal duct tape on the reflector of the light in question. The 70-80 lights in particular have a poor reflector; the 62-69 reflector is great, if it doesn’t have a 40 year build up of dirt on it. I’m not convinced that LEDs necessarily do any better than the above.

Some tractor trailer/truck drivers these days are oblivious to everything except the movie they’re watching on their iPad, or the game they’re playing on their phone. That one is a bit more difficult to solve.

I augment my MGB turn signals with good ol' fashioned hand signals.