Just to light up a point, if one DID use this lamp to "remind" a tailgater, then said tailgater would be blind for more than the time the light was on.  Not a good idea at highway speed.  It might be you he runs over.  mcneely

---- Robert Stevens <mtbiker62@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> I like the idea of a switched 3rd light for tail-gaters and/or high beamers.
>
> I got this for all those reasons, backing in strange, dark areas, tail-gaters, high-beamers:
>
> http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=23283&category_id=&category_parent_id=
>
> Switched separately.
>
> An additional by-the-way about installing a separate back up light: since I camp so much,
> It is a necessary and helpful addition. And, since I've chosen to use a HID light, there is no
> other installation than separate switch, by the nature of the HID.
>
> For people who don't camp, I can see where they might start fabricating imagined stories
> about the possibilities and concerns of "leaving the light on".... but, as I've been camping
> in my 3 different Vanagon's since '88, I've never backed into a camp spot, at night, when
> the light was needed, then left it on while I exited the vehicle, gotten inside the van via the
> side slider, popped the top, then 3 days later driven off with the separately-switched back
> up light on. Pretty dumb and sillly when looked at in a practical sense, innit. ;-)
> Turning a HID on via that switch, takes about 30 seconds for it to "heat up" the gas to
> reach full brightness, so that ONLY happens in camp spots, and is very easy to discern
> that it is on, as it turns dark night into BRIGHT daylight.
>
> I don't drive my vanagon "aggressively", so I don't use practices that would try to piss off
> other drivers. I DO inform people when they are driving in a way that is dangerous or
> distracting, such as with brights on, but then others do the same for me when I make the
> mistake of leaving my brights on when they shouldn't be. Life is a spontaneous, rolling
> journey, and there are many things I don't get to "vote" about, and a few I do. I try to be
> thoughtful about the things I can control, and accommodating and adjustable for the
> others. I might turn on that rear back-up light periodically, but I don't leave it on to
> over-make a point with a driver behind me.
> YMMV,
> Bob

--
David McNeely