I got pulled over tonight (first time in 23 years of driving!) for running a stop sign that, after checking my dash cam, I most definitely didn't run. The cop seemed to genuinely think I'd run it ("blew through", and asking a couple of times if I didn't see it), so it got me wondering whether it's possible that using mostly regen to stop and minimizing use of the brake pedal might (in the dark or from a distance) make it look like you just tapped the brakes for a second, creating the illusion of not stopping.
Has anybody else had an experience like that?
A while ago I tested with someone behind the car and learned that with four chevrons of regen the brake lights do come on, unless you touch the accelerator, which turns them back off (even if it's only lightly so you're still getting most of the regen). What I haven't bothered to confirm is if the brake lights still come on with four chevrons at very low (say, <10mph) speeds, like when you're creeping up to a stop sign and not really getting much regen. If they don't come on (or you only use three chevrons intentionally or by accident), I wonder if that looks to other drivers like you're basically not braking at all.
It's also, of course, possible that the cop mistook my car for a different one in the dark, or that he was just fishing for drunks, since he didn't cite me, but he was pretty friendly and my impression was he honestly thought I'd driven right through it. This for reference is in a small town not known for predatory traffic stops, on a low-speed-limit-road.
Has anybody else had an experience like that?
A while ago I tested with someone behind the car and learned that with four chevrons of regen the brake lights do come on, unless you touch the accelerator, which turns them back off (even if it's only lightly so you're still getting most of the regen). What I haven't bothered to confirm is if the brake lights still come on with four chevrons at very low (say, <10mph) speeds, like when you're creeping up to a stop sign and not really getting much regen. If they don't come on (or you only use three chevrons intentionally or by accident), I wonder if that looks to other drivers like you're basically not braking at all.
It's also, of course, possible that the cop mistook my car for a different one in the dark, or that he was just fishing for drunks, since he didn't cite me, but he was pretty friendly and my impression was he honestly thought I'd driven right through it. This for reference is in a small town not known for predatory traffic stops, on a low-speed-limit-road.