CHMSL Bulbs

Q--I want to know when they first put brake lights in the middle of the rear window. Why did they do that? It makes it hard to replace the bulb.

A--I don’t know which was the first make or model to have the center high-mounted stop lamp (CHMSL) installed behind the backlight glass. But I do know that the CHMSL was mandated in the 1985 model year as a result of studies on taxi cabs that it reduced rear-end collisions.