re dumbest automotive concepts of all time no reverse lights are to warn others that you are backing up they aren t bright enough to typically see by without the brake and tail lights craig perhaps instead of this silly argument about what backup lights are for couldn t we agree that they serve the dual purpose of letting people behind your car know that you have it in reverse and that they can also light up the area behind your car while you re backing up so you can see backup lamps on current models are much brighter than they used to be on older cars those on my taurus wagon are quite bright enough to illuminate a good area behind the car and they re much brighter than those on my earlier cars from the s and s insofar as vettes having side backup lights look at a or model or perhaps a year or two earlier too and you ll see red side marker lamps and white side marker lamps both near the car s hindquarters those aren t just white reflectors harv
