Feds Study if Pulsating Brake Lights Warp Driver Distance Judgment
Published Date: 8/28/2026
Notice
Summary
In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) summarized below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This document describes a new collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval titled "Pulsating Stop Lamps, Flashing Lights, and Distance Perception." A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on this information collection was published on May 26, 2026. Three comments were received in response, providing support for the research and recommending consideration for motorcycles and international regulations related to "emergency stop signals." While these topics are out of scope for this research, NHTSA plans to incorporate the recommended topics into the final report by including them in the literature review and background sections. Incorporation of these inputs into the study does not materially impact the burden on the participants, and therefore the participant burden estimate included in the 60-day notice remains unchanged.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
Volunteer Time Commitments and Burden
You can volunteer for NHTSA's study on pulsating stop lamps, which seeks up to 270 licensed drivers. Participation time is stated as: Part 1 (test track) = 3 hours, Part 2 (online survey) = 0.5 hours, and Part 3 (simulator) = 3.5 hours. The agency estimates 12,470 total responses, 386 total burden hours for the one-time collection (127 annual burden hours based on a 3-year period).
Health and Licensing Eligibility Requirements
You may be excluded from in-person simulator or test-track parts of the study if you do not meet vision, color-vision, hearing, or simulation-sickness criteria, or do not have a valid driver's license for at least one year. The study screens for visual acuity, color vision, hearing, and susceptibility to simulation sickness.
Where Participants Are Recruited
If you live near the testing facilities, you may be recruited for in-person sessions: recruits are drawn from Blacksburg, VA (New River Valley area) and Minneapolis, MN, in addition to a national online crowdsourced sample. In-person parts target local recruits for test-track and simulator sessions.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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