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If it's illegal then give me a ticket. I'd rather receive a ticket than receive a rear end accident. In very low visibility situations like heavy rain or heavy fog in which I must reduce my speed greatly, I WILL turn on my hazard lights. They increase the visibility of my slow moving vehicle for other drivers who think they have X-ray vision and can drive the posted speed limit or more. When it comes time to turn, I release the hazards and then turn on the turn signal. If on a road with place to pull off to the side, I will pull off the road and stop with the hazards until the fog or rain thins out enough to see the road. The country road on which I live gets very thick fog occasionally. The road is so narrow that in some places it is falling into the ditches. It's safer to put on the hazards and go slow. If more people used their hazards and slowed down greatly for heavy fog/rain, there would be less deadly accidents.
Speed limit 70. Heavy rain, so everybody slows from 75 to 60. No problem until traffic starts backing up. Why??? Idiot in the middle lane driving 45 with hazard lights blinking. Lots of tailgating and brake lights trying to get around the moron.
If the interstate highway has a safe side area to allow a vehicle to pull off the road, then that person should pull off and stop. However, not every road has a safe area to pull off to the side. In those cases, the only other choice is to slow down with hazards and hope to not get hit from behind until it's safe to pull off.
This "flasher person" retired from driving an 18 wheeler with a backside that looks like a white barn door. The last 5 years I drove 750,000 miles. No accidents; no tickets.
I used flashers often. Probably saved some people by doing so, too. My backside is one of the first things to disappear in the mist, even with my tail lights on.
Many people go too fast in the rain. Maybe they are young; maybe they are dumb. Doesn't matter much. I don't want them running into the back of my trailer so I use the flashers.
Mr Maryland acts as if some harm was done by someone using flashers. Nonsense. Use them when you feel the need. You might save yourself, or you might save someone else.
Flasher, I really don't count tractor trailers in the same sphere as passenger vehicles in this debate.
The red tail lights aren't bright enough to warn others in thick fog/rain. However, red tail lights along with flashing turn signal lights are a good warning to other drivers. They'll see it ahead and begin to slow (if paying attention).
I don't think it would be too much trouble for car makers to electrically tie the wiper on switch to the headlights, even if on delay, and not turn them off until a set time delay (say 5 minutes after turning off the wipers for example).
Why would trucks using flashers not encompass the same safety concerns you allude to cars using their flashers, flashers are flashers IMO
Trucks are shaped different, are different sized than passenger vehicles, drive different, handle different, are driven by differently licensed drivers etc. They are different. For this debate I was talking about frightened and overly cautious passenger pigeons flashing their way to a safer driving experience. Those people.
I use my hazards when suddenly entering very low visibility (heavy rain for example), or coming up on a situation where the traffic is stopped or severely slowing ahead and people behind may not notice and therefore rear end me.
The truth of the matter is, it was downpouring in Tampa the other day. It was so bad, that had the guy in front of me not had his hazards on, I probably would've rear ended him. I'll continue to drive in (heavy) rain with hazards. If it confuses you, that's your problem. At least you see me.
I think i've use my emergency flashers once in the last 10 years,it was a sudden torrential downpour on I-95 in SC the flashers were turned on to relay the message to vehicles behind me that i was slowing down big time, i cant imagine this action of turning on the emergency flashers as being construed as dangerous.
Looks like there is a majority here and Mr. maryland isn't a part of it. Hope you don't get rear-ended because somebody didn't see your dimly lit tail lights in a downpour.
Good Luck!
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