Does the center high-mounted stop lamp reduce rear-end collisions?
Dear Cecil: It has been over ten years since the U.S. government mandated that all cars be equipped with a “center high-mounted stop lamp” or “CHMSL,” as it is referred to in my vehicle’s shop manual. The CHMSL, of course, is the little red brake light that is mounted in the rear window of a car to catch the attention of drivers who might not notice your side-mounted brake lights. Has this invention reduced the incidence of rear-end collisions? — Tom Meyer, Trenton, NJ Believe it or not, there are people whose job it is to keep track of stuff like this. Every year the federal government publishes thousands of pages of regulations covering everything from auto emissions to the privatization of the National Helium Reserve in Amarillo, Texas. Business types have long complained that all this red tape drives up prices and, even worse, doesn’t do any good. So the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and Executive Order 12866 now require federal agencies such as the National Highwa
