Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I also have a home in the NC mountains. Traffic laws in our state permit driving with hazard lights flashing, hence the truckers use them with no consequences from the HP officers.
So tell me again why you have a complaint about my using my hazards while driving in heavy downpours? You keep mentioning that it's illegal, yet it's not in my state or many other states. My brake lights work independently from my hazard lights and I am not changing lanes when it's raining so hard that it's difficult to see. The visibility of hazard lights through heavy rain is much better than regular taillights or headlights. It adds another layer of visibility, which makes it much safer to drive.
I will slow down in downpours and all lights goinn just like a christmas tree, I will NOT pull to the side As that IS more dangerous and a huge posibility of getting rear ended..If I am on the road it's because I am going somewhere and normally time is very important to me.
You have no idea what you are talking about. The brake lights and the indicator lights are completely separate lights. Indicator lights = two front, two back. Brake lights = three in back. The indicator lights are wired to your turn signal and hazard light switch. The brake lights (separate from the indicator lights) are wired to the brake pedal. Since my foot stays on the gas pedal all the time, except for when I'm turning sharply, approaching a yellow/red light, or when something/somebody pulls/runs out in front of my car, my brake lights are virtually never on. Especially in the rain. Because jamming on your brakes on a wet surface is just dumb. The fact that you don't understand that, is all the more reason for drivers to use their hazard lights in the rain.
I know exactly what I am talking about. I own a vehicle that disables the brake lights, except for the third high mounted one. I have seen other cars the same way. It's one of the things I don't like about this van. So, don't tell me I don't understand. I first realized this in a funeral line, in aa different car, following a vehicle with flashers on and no third brake light (bulb burned out). Every time they stopped it caught me by surprise because there were no brake lights! Once I was aware of that it was easier to be prepared. There are cars out there set up that way. I will definitely check before buying any other cars.
So tell me again why you have a complaint about my using my hazards while driving in heavy downpours? You keep mentioning that it's illegal, yet it's not in my state or many other states. My brake lights work independently from my hazard lights and I am not changing lanes when it's raining so hard that it's difficult to see. The visibility of hazard lights through heavy rain is much better than regular taillights or headlights. It adds another layer of visibility, which makes it much safer to drive.
First off, I do not "keep mentioning that it's illegal". It is illegal in some states and, as I stated it is perfectly legal in the state where I live.
Do as you please as long as it's legal.
I only stated I won't drive with hazards flashing (with certain exceptions). Hazards indicated to me the vehicle is stopped or near stopped and should be avoided. The last thing I want to do in low visibility is change lanes suddenly because I'm approaching a stopped (or indicated stopped) vehicle in my lane. If I stop also that compounds the problem for those coming from behind.
Hazard lights are not brighter, they work off the same bulbs as your driving lights and/or brake lights. If they are flashing other drivers have no way of knowing if they are indications of a directional change, especially in low visibility weather conditions. (I don't know your intentions, no crystal ball in my vehicles.)
I, for one, believe they serve a purpose if used on rare occasions. NOT every time the rain is a bit hard. They indicated trouble to me.
Again, let me state my conviction on the subject. FOLLOW THE LAW! Apparently that is hard for some on here to understand.
I have been in rain storms where I felt perfectly safe driving at 25 or 30 MPH, yet in the same storm another person might only feel safe at 10 or 15 MPH. I have no idea of their thoughts just as they have no idea of mine. Yet I may be overtaking them at double their speed. I don't want to see flashers, I want to see tail lights, directional signals or even brake lights so I have an idea of what's going on and the current state of their vehicle. Solid brake lights would probably mean they are stopped or on their way to stopped. Driving lights would probably mean they are moving, just slowly based on my approaching them. Flashers tell me nothing, other than the possibility they are stopped dead in my lane for whatever reason and their vehicle may be incapacitated.
With all that said, I do drive in the NC mountains on a monthly basis. I do come across hazard lights flashing on many occasions. I do the best I can to decipher their message. 55 plus years of driving and no chargeable accidents, I must be doing something right. OR, maybe just lucky, eh???
I will slow down in downpours and all lights goinn just like a christmas tree, I will NOT pull to the side As that IS more dangerous and a huge posibility of getting rear ended..If I am on the road it's because I am going somewhere and normally time is very important to me.
Good point on not pulling over, due to the possibility of getting rear ended. I have driven in some terrible blizzard total whiteout conditions, and I wanted nothing more then to pull over. But I didn't, because 1. I didn't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere if I pulled over, and 2. I didn't want to stop too close to the roadway and risk getting rear ended. So I just keep pushing on at about 25 mph with my hazard lights on. Sometimes I was following other cars that also had their hazard lights on, and I'm happy they did. Because I'm alive to talk about it, and others were killed driving in the storm.
I could see some argument for pulling over in a quickie thunderstorm, if you can find a safe place to pull over. But since this thread is about driving in rain in the South, I expect this could be relevant to people driving in hurricane or tropical storm conditions, which might not end soon. What are you going to do, spend the entire day sitting on the side of the road with your hazard lights on? Pulling over is just not always an option.
I've seen it during POURING rain.. Ones where even with the wipers on high you can still barely see.
I use Rain-X, so, never been in that situation myself.. I'm usually cruising along a little slower and still not even running wipers. But.. let's talk about the folks around DC and what they do.. You'll see cars lined up along the shoulder when this happens there.. And if it snows? Abandon the car in the middle of the road.
here in the south, you might see us off the road, having gone through a fence or two and over an embankment.. But we aren't abandoning the vehicle.
No responsible driver abandons their vehicle in the middle of the road, if they can help it.
I'd rather see people park on the shoulder with their hazard lights on, then crash through my fence and end up in my yard or inside my house.
I'm from Ohio and I always noticed that when I'm driving in the south (NC, SC, FL), when it rains people always turn on their hazard lights.
has anyone else noticed that?
If they do its not in the part I live. Where I live Lakeland in Central Fla, its a complete refusal to use turn signals. Even at 4 way stops no signals. I think I'd be thrilled if they used their hazard lights. At least it would show they knew how to do something.
If they do its not in the part I live. Where I live Lakeland in Central Fla, its a complete refusal to use turn signals. Even at 4 way stops no signals. I think I'd be thrilled if they used their hazard lights. At least it would show they knew how to do something.
I suspect that most of Florida is no longer the US South but rather Southern New York and Southern Michigan which is a very different thing.
Yeah, but why trust the professionals who deal with this stuff daily?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
