​A significant number of road accidents occur because one of the parties – be it the driver of a car, truck, or motorbike or even a pedestrian – assumes that a vehicle approaching an intersection is about to stop when, in fact, it’s not. Mr. Phillips is aware of some terrible accidents that occurred that way and has long dreamed of solving what has always seemed to him to be a thoroughly preventable problem. So, as a lifelong creative thinker with decades of auto work experience, Mr. Phillips formulated a solution himself: A pair of side-facing brake lights – on both the right and left sides of the vehicle – that are wired to illuminate whenever the driver steps on the car’s brakes. This is the core of the Side-Safety innovation that Mr. Phillips and his partner Mary Cheney are bringing to market. Of course, this is exactly what the rear brake lights do but, clearly, in many situations, the rear lights are not visible to other parties on the road. 

For example, imagine a pedestrian about to cross a road. She sees a car approaching the intersection and, since the light in front of the car’s driver has just turned red, the pedestrian, unable to see that the brake lights in the back are not illuminated, assumes that the car will stop prior to the intersection. Tragically, that is not the case as the driver is distracted by an angry phone call he’s in the middle of. So, she steps in front of the car and, by the time the driver realizes his mistake, he can only swerve away but he still strikes her, inflicting a serious injury.

Imagine the same scenario above in a world where side-facing brake lights are just as standard as rear brake lights. Under those circumstances, the pedestrian would see that the side-facing lights are not illuminated, meaning that, for whatever reason, the driver has not applied his brakes yet. Consequently, instead of operating under the assumption that the car will stop, she waits to see what the car does at the intersection. If it runs a red light, at least she won’t be in front of the car when that happens. Or, if the car brakes at the last moment before reaching the intersection, she’ll wait for it to stop before beginning her crossing. 

Through the before and after examples above, one can see how Phillips’ side-facing brake light innovation transforms the situation completely. By providing vital and potentially life-saving information that was not previously available to that pedestrian, Phillips’ invention helps minimize the many thousands of side angle misunderstandings each year that turn deadly and/or costly in the form of serious injury, property damage, and the like. As Phillips’ patent application states, “…the invention more effectively communicates the intention of the driver as he/she approaches an intersection, thereby increasing the safety of other drivers and pedestrians.”  

That invention, Side Safety, is now patent-issued (under the more technical moniker of “Side-Facing Side View Mirror Brake Light”).