Tempora mutantur – Times change

It’s barely from a century ago – yet the story feels as if it came from another world.
“The Berlin police president, Mr. v. Jagow, has issued the following notice: With regard to the signals that drivers of vehicles are required to give when changing speed or direction, the road traffic regulations stipulate that the intention to stop or slow down must be indicated in good time by holding the whip vertically. (…) Motor vehicle drivers must give a corresponding signal with their hand instead of the whip.” This is what the Neue Wiener Abendblatt reported in December 1912.
Tempora mutantur – times change. For many decades now, brake lights activated by a brake light switch have replaced whips and hand signals. Should that switch fail – due to moisture ingress or scorched contacts – the brake lights may flicker, stay on permanently, or fail altogether. In the worst case, a related fault code can even stop the car from starting.

Whether brake light switches will still be around a hundred years from now is anyone’s guess. But given the rapid march toward autonomous vehicles, it seems unlikely. Until then, however, AIC stocks 53 brake light switches covering 76 % of the vehicles in Europe. Feel free to browse the online catalogue.