Extra-bright or strobed backup lights?

[PhotonWrangler]

Anyone know whether there's a DOT-approved alternative to regular white backup lights that's a little mroe attention-getting? I'm getting tired of the doofuses who walk directly behind my car while I'm backing up in a parking lot. I think that regular backup lights just don't cut it, and those audible backup alarms aren't particularly neighbor-friendly.

 

[Ken_McE]

Leave the existing lights to keep the DOT happy, add unshielded LEDs in a line across the top of the trunk to wake up the sleepwalkers. A few strobe lights behind black and white skull outlines would spice things up. Some realistic foam rubber spikes might lend some urgency too. An "I just do what the voices tell me to" bumper sticker would round out the image nicely.

 

[65535]

Some flashing red skull and crossbones should do it.

 

[TorchBoy]

Instead of a reversing beeper, get something that makes the sound of crackling electricity...

 

[PhotonWrangler]

You guys are baaaaaaaad.....

 

[-Virgil-]

Anyone know whether there's a DOT-approved alternative to regular white backup lights that's a little mroe attention-getting?

There isn't. They aren't allowed to flash (not that it would help) and they have to be white. Depending on what kind of vehicle you're working on, you may or may not safely be able to make them brighter. The standards for backup lights really only require a light that alerts an observer that your car is in Reverse. They aren't required to be bright enough to light your way rearward, nor are they required to be especially attention-getting. As for getting people out of your way, unfortunately, the old axiom applies: It's impossible to make anything foolproof, because fools are so ingenious. I agree with you that the commonly-available backup alarms are unnecessarily disruptive to peace and quiet through the whole neighborhood. There is no reason they (or those damn dumb kneeling-bus alarms) need to be so high pitched. A low "burr...burr...burr" or "braap...braaap...braap" would get the job done while being inoffensive to anyone more than about 10 feet away, and inconspicuous more than about 40 feet away. I'm sure such sounders exist, I just don't know where to get them. In the meantime, your most effective solutions might be to wire up another ordinary car horn under your rear bumper...that or install a louder exhaust system!

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Actually there is an alternative to the piezoelectric beeper. It's a device that produces gated bursts of white noise, producing a more subtle "Psst...Psst...Psst" sound. I'm toying with the idea of using something like this, or maybe the talking backup alarm, perhaps in conjunction with some flashing augmentation to the standard white backup lights.

 

[TorchBoy]

Some flashing red skull and crossbones should do it.

And some stencils of pedestrians that have been flattened, like WWII fighter pilots had of planes shot down.

You guys are baaaaaaaad.....

Well, of course. Too many sheep here, eh.

It's a device that produces gated bursts of white noise, producing a more subtle "Psst...Psst...Psst" sound. I'm toying with the idea of using something like this, or maybe the talking backup alarm,

Hm, I wonder what it says. "Look out behind! Blind driver reversing! Make way, lady with pram coming through..."

But you reminded me of the noise made by (I think) Japanese used imported trucks here. It's sort of a "Quack, quack-quack-quack." And what do you know, it's less annoying than the normal beeper.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

...But you reminded me of the noise made by (I think) Japanese used imported trucks here. It's sort of a "Quack, quack-quack-quack." And what do you know, it's less annoying than the normal beeper.

A backup alarm that quacks? I like it. But does it make an echo?