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Dear Ian,
Good a.m. and hope you're well. If one light were as good as two, then large trucks (18-wheelers [USA], articulated lorries [UK]) would not have a variety of lights, not only at the back, but also along the sides. The operators do this, so that their vehicle's size and length will be obvious even to far-away drivers.
If the trailing driver knows the upper lights are fog lights, s/he'll know that I'm not applying my brakes, and so keep the "normal" following distance, whatever that might be. This does not increase the risk to me.
If the trailing driver thinks the upper lights are brake lights, s/he'll think I'm slowing, and so decelerate. As I'm not braking, the gap between our cars will widen. How can that be bad for me? It could be bad for the other driver, if s/he slams on the brakes. That could happen, if the trailing driver has be inattentive. Someone, who has been inattentive while driving, imperils all around them.
I do not understand the "trap" into which you have fallen, or into which you fear someone else might fall.
The worst thing, obviously, is no to have no working lights at the back of one's car. Unless the lights are blindingly bright - a problem with mis-aimed and/or too-intense headlights - it is not obvious to me, how extra lights at the back, can in any way be a safety hazard.
Yours faithfully,
spook
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