Ruling out the bulbs and the fuse, I need to swap out the brake light switch.
Does have cruise control.

But looking underneath, which is tight, yes, I'm wondering how to get the thing out.
Cannot even get my fingers around it from the backside, which means the frontside lower dash has to come apart. Which is seeming to hold at the top - I thing there is a hidden bolt on the leftside - right? But how is the upper right retained? - talking about the single lower panel that rests beneath the dash

Once you get it out, and tighten back up on the brake pedal side, how do you set the correct depth?
Since it can be threaded among some distance/variation. Apparently there's no auto depth.

 

Brake light switches are relatively simple to replace. The turn signal switch usually needs removal of the steering wheel and a special tool to remove the plug from the wiring harness. Either buy a repair guide for your car (about $20 at the auto parts store) or check with a local repair service to see what they'll cost to fix it . If it's a modern car, with an airbag, I wouldn't suggest DIY removal of the steering wheel. Best of luck.

 

Anyway, for anyone else doing - - I discovered that you just have to be careful; removing it from the top as there is a tension spring on either side that fits into rectangular slots.

 

Say is very reasonable.