Beset by trouble, degenerate shows sign of slowing down (5,5)

I believe the answer is:

brake light

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'sign of slowing down' is the definition.
(a brake light shows a driver is braking)

'beset by trouble degenerate' is the wordplay.
'beset by' is an insertion indicator ('beset' could historically mean 'cover').
'trouble' becomes 'blight' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'degenerate' becomes 'rake' (rake can mean an immoral man).
'blight' enclosing 'rake' is 'BRAKE LIGHT'.

'shows' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for brake light that I've seen is " Device that signals when a car is slowing".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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