Brake lights are pointless on aircraft because aircraft cannot make fast stops (at least without arresting cables like on aircraft carriers).

Brake lights signal that ground vehicles ahead maybe making fast stops. Following cars can then make their own fast stops based on driver evaluation of distance etc.

Aircraft inability to make fast stops is by necessities of the landing process. Too sudden braking while landing could flip or otherwise cause loss of directional control. Remember not all wheels are necessarily touching ground, especially with bouncing and wind gusts. One wheel braking leads to non-Zen results. Plus too firm a stopping action will blow out aircraft tires. Worse there really is not any feedback on braking until tires hit landing strip final time evenly on all wheels and then its too late. So airplane designers remove the landing time hazard by reducing normal braking available (which also reduces weight of brakes and saves fuel/money). Of course the same brakes are in use on taxiways, making slow movement wise.

Furthermore unlike cars, aircraft brakes rely on getting some cooling effects during extended braking. Landing brakes are optimized for much heavier braking by spreading braking over longer time and distance -- remember plane braking starts at speeds 200-75 mph depending aircraft and much heavier plane weight for wheel size etc.

Brakes on ordinary cars will not melt even during emergency braking. And though tire blow outs are possible, the consequences are generally less than aircraft when each starts at ordinary speeds. Semi and race cars are a bit more like aircraft and do not stop as fast without consequences).

Also remember most ground collisions are not rear-end accidents within steadily moving traffic. The vast majority of collisions are due to wrong turns at incorrect intersections into lines of traffic or even onto active runways which are not even looking for that intersection to be in use. Brake lights would not help as nobody is behind colliding planes.

(Ground control normally uses very few of airports possible taxiway turn points on any given day -- fewer = simpler.)

Where rear-end collisions do happen its almost always the same as cars at a stop light that just changed. Usually no time for brake lights to come on or plane behind to react -- once the guy behind guns it way too fast for the conditions (and usually regulations). Usually the guy in front simply does not accelerate as much or as long as expected by the guy behind -- front plane brake lights never would have come on in time even if equipped. Similarly sometimes fog is a factor that makes allowable acceleration hard to judge. But like with cars, fog also tends to negate the value of brake lights except to confirm what you hit was not a building.

Brake lights are pointless on aircraft because aircraft cannot make fast stops (at least without arresting cables like on aircraft carriers).

Brake lights signal that ground vehicles ahead maybe making fast stops. Following cars can then make their own fast stops based on driver evaluation of distance etc.

Aircraft inability to make fast stops is by necessities of the landing process. Too sudden braking while landing could flip or otherwise cause loss of directional control. Remember not all wheels are necessarily touching ground, especially with bouncing and wind gusts. One wheel braking leads to non-Zen results. Plus too firm a stopping action will blow out aircraft tires. Worse there really is not any feedback on braking until tires hit landing strip final time evenly on all wheels and then its too late. So airplane designers remove the landing time hazard by reducing normal braking available (which also reduces weight of brakes and saves fuel/money). Of course the same brakes are in use on taxiways, making slow movement wise.

Furthermore unlike cars, aircraft brakes rely on getting some cooling effects during extended braking. Landing brakes are optimized for much heavier braking by spreading braking over longer time and distance -- remember plane braking starts at speeds 200-75 mph depending aircraft and much heavier plane weight for wheel size etc.

Brakes on ordinary cars will not melt even during emergency braking. And though tire blow outs are possible, the consequences are generally less than aircraft when each starts at ordinary speeds. Semi and race cars are a bit more like aircraft and do not stop as fast without consequences).

Also remember most ground collisions are not rear-end accidents within steadily moving traffic. The vast majority of collisions are due to wrong turns at incorrect intersections into lines of traffic or even onto active runways which are not even looking for that intersection to be in use. Brake lights would not help as nobody is behind colliding planes.

(Ground control normally uses very few of airports possible taxiway turn points on any given day -- fewer = simpler.)

Where rear-end collisions do happen its almost always the same as cars at a stop light that just changed. Usually no time for brake lights to come on or plane behind to react -- once the guy behind guns it way too fast for the conditions (and usually regulations). Usually the guy in front simply does not accelerate as much or as long as expected by the guy behind -- front plane brake lights never would have come on in time even if equipped. Similarly sometimes fog is a factor that makes allowable acceleration hard to judge. But like with cars, fog also tends to negate the value of brake lights except to confirm what you hit was not a building.

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Brake lights are pointless on aircraft because aircraft cannot make fast stops (at least without arresting cables like on aircraft carriers).

Brake lights signal that ground vehicles ahead maybe making fast stops. Following cars can then make their own fast stops based on driver evaluation of distance etc.

Aircraft inability to make fast stops is by necessities of the landing process. Too sudden braking while landing could flip or otherwise cause loss of directional control. Remember not all wheels are necessarily touching ground, especially with bouncing and wind gusts. One wheel braking leads to non-Zen results. Plus too firm a stopping action will blow out aircraft tires. Worse there really is not any feedback on braking until tires hit landing strip final time evenly on all wheels and then its too late. So airplane designers remove the landing time hazard by reducing normal braking available (which also reduces weight of brakes and saves fuel/money). Of course the same brakes are in use on taxiways, making slow movement wise.

Furthermore unlike cars, aircraft brakes rely on getting some cooling effects during extended braking. Landing brakes are optimized for much heavier braking by spreading braking over longer time and distance -- remember plane braking starts at speeds 200-75 mph depending aircraft and much heavier plane weight for wheel size etc.

Brakes on ordinary cars will not melt even during emergency braking. And though tire blow outs are possible, the consequences are generally less than aircraft when each starts at ordinary speeds. Semi and race cars are a bit more like aircraft and do not stop as fast without consequences).

Brake lights are pointless on aircraft because aircraft cannot make fast stops (at least without arresting cables like on aircraft carriers).

Brake lights signal that ground vehicles ahead maybe making fast stops. Following cars can then make their own fast stops based on driver evaluation of distance etc.

Aircraft inability to make fast stops is by necessities of the landing process. Too sudden braking while landing could flip or otherwise cause loss of directional control. Remember not all wheels are necessarily touching ground, especially with bouncing and wind gusts. One wheel braking leads to non-Zen results. Plus too firm a stopping action will blow out aircraft tires. Worse there really is not any feedback on braking until tires hit landing strip final time evenly on all wheels and then its too late. So airplane designers remove the landing time hazard by reducing normal braking available (which also reduces weight of brakes and saves fuel/money). Of course the same brakes are in use on taxiways, making slow movement wise.

Furthermore unlike cars, aircraft brakes rely on getting some cooling effects during extended braking. Landing brakes are optimized for much heavier braking by spreading braking over longer time and distance -- remember plane braking starts at speeds 200-75 mph depending aircraft and much heavier plane weight for wheel size etc.

Brakes on ordinary cars will not melt even during emergency braking. And though tire blow outs are possible, the consequences are generally less than aircraft when each starts at ordinary speeds. Semi and race cars are a bit more like aircraft and do not stop as fast without consequences).

Also remember most ground collisions are not rear-end accidents within steadily moving traffic. The vast majority of collisions are due to wrong turns at incorrect intersections into lines of traffic or even onto active runways which are not even looking for that intersection to be in use. Brake lights would not help as nobody is behind colliding planes.

(Ground control normally uses very few of airports possible taxiway turn points on any given day -- fewer = simpler.)

Where rear-end collisions do happen its almost always the same as cars at a stop light that just changed. Usually no time for brake lights to come on or plane behind to react -- once the guy behind guns it way too fast for the conditions (and usually regulations). Usually the guy in front simply does not accelerate as much or as long as expected by the guy behind -- front plane brake lights never would have come on in time even if equipped. Similarly sometimes fog is a factor that makes allowable acceleration hard to judge. But like with cars, fog also tends to negate the value of brake lights except to confirm what you hit was not a building.