quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
I know people say it is illegal in Texas but I would love to see that actual statute.

Ask and you shall receive. Prior to promoting, I taught Texas Transportation Code at one of the Basic Police Academy's in the area. We cussed and discussed this specific statute.

Texas Transportation Code - TRANSP § 547.331. Hazard Lamps Permitted

(a) A vehicle may be equipped with lamps to warn other vehicle operators of a vehicular traffic hazard that requires unusual care in approaching, overtaking, or passing.

(b) The lamps shall be: (1) mounted at the same level and spaced as widely apart as practicable on the front and on the rear of the vehicle;  and (2) visible at a distance of at least 500 feet in normal sunlight.

(c) The lamps shall display simultaneously flashing lights that emit: (1) a white or amber light, or a color between white and amber, if the lamp is mounted on the front of the vehicle;  or (2) a red or amber light, or a color between red and amber, if the lamp is mounted on the rear of the vehicle.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
It is illegal in Texas, but people do it often.

Supposed to be illegal here in Louisiana too. But they still do it

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
If weather is so bad you need your hazards on, you should not be driving at all.

Sooo, if you're ALREADY driving, and the conditions deteriorate rapidly such that you can't get off of the road prior to what amounts to near zero visibility, then what? This can happen at any time, so if you're NOT clairvoyant, what the hell do you do? Stop in an area of poor visibility where you ARE the hazard, or continue driving with your hazards on to alert other drivers to your vehicle until you can get to either a safe area to stop, or the conditions improve?

Hazard lights in Iowa may be used to warn people behind you there's something ahead forcing everyone to slow down. They're basically 'Don't rear end me' lights in many cases since brake lights are more easily ignored.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
In torrential downpours where visibility is highly reduced I absolutely turn on my headlights and hazards on the freeway until you get to better vis conditions. Seems like common sense and even the law recognizes that.

Im on board with you. Lived in Florida for 35 years now. Been in absolute torrential down pours several times per year, with visibility at near zero, and those with hazards on are visible, and those with them off are not. Im ok with flasher use in torrential downpours that we get. If you have never experienced a Florida torrential downpour with no visibility of other cars, you might not understand this.

Yes it "was" illegal, but the law was bad in my opinion.

Michigan like all states requires hazard warning lights on vehicles and allows their use while the vehicle is in motion to warn of a hazard.

This is intended to be used for a short period of time to allow a motorist to clear the vehicle from a motorway, or operate at reduced speed to reach a service facility in close proximity.

As any Trooper, Deputy or Officer will tell you (and often do on the news yearly) turning these lights on is not a license to do whatever you want, whenever you want as many people think.
- It does not give you the right to enter a freeway and drive 35mph for whatever reason, it is intended to allow you to get off the freeway at reduced speed if you have a mechanical or other issue.
- It does not give you the right to ignore traffic control devices, make illegal lane changes, or drive on the wrong side of the road
- It does not allow you to overload a vehicle, or have items protruding from the vehicle in a dangerous way and operate it on the road
- It does not allow you to operate the vehicle in a dangerous condition EXCEPT to get it off the road or to a repair facility in close proximity


Fire Marshals will tell you that use of hazard flashers does not give you the right to park in a No Parking or Fire Lane. This is actually a ticket magnet if one happens to see you.

Most Troopers, Deputes and Officers that I know do appreciate drivers using their hazard lights while diriving if
- They see a hazard ahead and are warning drivers behind
- driving in conditions with reduce visibility and are using them to warn and and identify their location
- approaching a traffic stop or emergency incident are are warning other drivers

This does not however, give you the right to go out into conditions that you are not comfortable operating at normal speeds. It is not a safety bubble around your vehicle. The above is intended to cover unexpected or unavoidable weather conditions. So no, turning your hazards on and driving into white out conditions at 15mph on the freeway in February is not only stupid but also illegal here.

Not a lawyer but that TX statute sure reads to me like you can use hazards.

“vehicular traffic hazard that requires unusual care in approaching, overtaking, or passing.”

That sentence clearly states that under the proper circumstances hazards are ok to be used on moving vehicles that are constrained by a “traffic hazard”. What does that mean? A broken down car, a wide load, low vis? What? Approaching, overtaking, or passing means the vehicle can be moving. What scenario does that statue mean to you? Seems purposely vague as in what does a reasonable person think is a traffic hazard. Snowstorm, low vis, debris on highway, anything that constitutes a hazard. I think you guys are reading too much into that statute.

Plus, and I can’t overstate this, it is idiotic to think in nearly 0/0 visibility conditions some of you are arguing that less lighting is better. That is perhaps some of the least logical shit I have read on this forum. Lol. Using that logic maybe we should outlaw headlight use during low vis rain events. All those laws mandating headlights in when it is raining are stupid and wrong. Except they aren’t. Seeing a car in a downpour is always better than not seeing a car in a downpour. It is just that simple.

Oh, and by the way, in the scenario we are describing you absolutely should slow down. These torrential downpours usually don’t last long and if everybody slows down till vis comes back up everybody wins. Staying at 70+ when you can only see a couple car lengths ahead is not a smart play.

I am starting to think a lot of you have never driven in a Southern thunderstorm. Nothing like them. It’s like somebody is pouring bucket after bucket directly onto your windscreen. Wipers can’t even begin to keep up. I have lived all over this country and nothing matches it for crazy. At least in snowstorms most people tend to slow down. These are the worst conditions I think you can drive in, luckily they are usually short lived. In snow and ice you usually know what you are getting into, with southern thunderstorms you can get drizzle or a monsoon or anything in between and there is no indication which you will get until it starts.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pedropcola,

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
If weather is so bad you need your hazards on, you should not be driving at all.

Sooo, if you're ALREADY driving, and the conditions deteriorate rapidly such that you can't get off of the road prior to what amounts to near zero visibility, then what? This can happen at any time, so if you're NOT clairvoyant, what the hell do you do? Stop in an area of poor visibility where you ARE the hazard, or continue driving with your hazards on to alert other drivers to your vehicle until you can get to either a safe area to stop, or the conditions improve?

The answer is not "continue driving with your hazards on". If it's that dangerous, you should not be moving.

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
If weather is so bad you need your hazards on, you should not be driving at all.

Sooo, if you're ALREADY driving, and the conditions deteriorate rapidly such that you can't get off of the road prior to what amounts to near zero visibility, then what? This can happen at any time, so if you're NOT clairvoyant, what the hell do you do? Stop in an area of poor visibility where you ARE the hazard, or continue driving with your hazards on to alert other drivers to your vehicle until you can get to either a safe area to stop, or the conditions improve?

The answer is not "continue driving with your hazards on". If it's that dangerous, you should not be moving.

Agreed. Pull over, turn on the hazards to signal you are there, stopped, and only continue when safe. If the conditions are that bad, turning on the flashers is not going to make it safe to continue.

quote:

Agreed. Pull over, turn on the hazards to signal you are there, stopped, and only continue when safe. If the conditions are that bad, turning on the flashers is not going to make it safe to continue.

Yes. If it’s too bad to drive the posted limit due to conditions, then pull over, park and wait until you can proceed.

Flashing lights are distractions to the rest of us who can drive in the rain albeit at a slower pace.

I would be fine with driving them off the roadway to their watery graves with no repercussions if it were up to me. Sadly it is not.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
If weather is so bad you need your hazards on, you should not be driving at all.

Sooo, if you're ALREADY driving, and the conditions deteriorate rapidly such that you can't get off of the road prior to what amounts to near zero visibility, then what? This can happen at any time, so if you're NOT clairvoyant, what the hell do you do? Stop in an area of poor visibility where you ARE the hazard, or continue driving with your hazards on to alert other drivers to your vehicle until you can get to either a safe area to stop, or the conditions improve?

The answer is not "continue driving with your hazards on". If it's that dangerous, you should not be moving.

Agreed. Pull over, turn on the hazards to signal you are there, stopped, and only continue when safe. If the conditions are that bad, turning on the flashers is not going to make it safe to continue.

To be parked on the side of the road in an area of extremely poor visibility is absolute STUPIDITY...How do you guys NOT see that?

quote:

Originally posted by KBobAries:
Unfortunately yes, and it's annoying. Hazards are when a vehicle is somehow under duress or creating a potential hazard for others. More and more drivers seem to use it because they think they're safer.

Dan

Frankly, the way many people seem to drive lately, a lot more of them should have their hazards on. Of course, it would be better if they were just not driving. Sigh...

Midwest storms may be a bit like Southern storms. Picture three lanes of traffic going 70mph (speed limit) hitting a heavy thunderstorm and all three lanes slow down to 20 to 30mph where wipers and visibility are reasonable. People seeing the storm ahead or in it have hazard lights on to be more visible. A couple minutes later when they pass the storm, all turn off hazard lights and speed up to 70mph again.

Midwest drivers don't generally pull over if they can drive at slower speeds.

I am reading some absolutely nonsensical comments on this thread. There could be dozens of reasons that traffic slows below “posted speed limits”. To listen to some of you guys, if you can’t go 70 mph then get the fuck off the freeway. That is total bullshit. The reality is there are tons of reasons including limited visibility that any INTELLIGENT driver would slow below posted speed limits. Driving speed absolutely depends on conditions. Posted speed limit is nothing more than the maximum speed allowed. If it is heavy fog and you are still doing the posted speed limit you are the problem. If heavy rain limits visibility and you are still doing 70+, you are the problem. Poor visibility conditions are no time to make it a dick measuring contest on who can drive the fastest in deteriorating conditions.

If you can’t see a safe distance slow the fuck down and put on your hazards if you are so inclined. You will be surprised how helpful that is to everyone.

Yikes. It’s in the fucking name. Hazard lights. If conditions get hazardous it’s not the dumbest thing in the world to use them. It won’t make you less of a man. Lol

I googled Texas and hazard lights and multiple sites including media, lawyers, and traffic schools all were in agreement. The use of Hazard lights in poor visibility including rain is ABSOLUTELY LEGAL in Texas. I couldn’t actually find a single source that said it was illegal.

I’m going to say it is legal based on multiple sources.

Some of you guys are getting way too invested in this.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
If weather is so bad you need your hazards on, you should not be driving at all.

Sooo, if you're ALREADY driving, and the conditions deteriorate rapidly such that you can't get off of the road prior to what amounts to near zero visibility, then what? This can happen at any time, so if you're NOT clairvoyant, what the hell do you do? Stop in an area of poor visibility where you ARE the hazard, or continue driving with your hazards on to alert other drivers to your vehicle until you can get to either a safe area to stop, or the conditions improve?

The answer is not "continue driving with your hazards on". If it's that dangerous, you should not be moving.

Agreed. Pull over, turn on the hazards to signal you are there, stopped, and only continue when safe. If the conditions are that bad, turning on the flashers is not going to make it safe to continue.

To be parked on the side of the road in an area of extremely poor visibility is absolute STUPIDITY...How do you guys NOT see that?

It is safer than continuing to drive in conditions that bad.

But most hazard users just routinely turn them on in anything over a light rain, as if the flashers are a panacea or magic shield against getting in a wreck.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
I googled Texas and hazard lights and multiple sites including media, lawyers, and traffic schools all were in agreement. The use of Hazard lights in poor visibility including rain is ABSOLUTELY LEGAL in Texas. I couldn’t actually find a single source that said it was illegal.

I’m going to say it is legal based on multiple sources.

This appears to be correct. It was illegal, but that seems to have changed at some time after I got my driver's license.

I am still of the opinion that if visibility is so bad that ordinary running lights are not adequate, then flashers are not going to make it safe enough to proceed.

Perhaps it was her first time on the freeway. She didn't want someone to steamroll right up on her.

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
If weather is so bad you need your hazards on, you should not be driving at all.

Sooo, if you're ALREADY driving, and the conditions deteriorate rapidly such that you can't get off of the road prior to what amounts to near zero visibility, then what? This can happen at any time, so if you're NOT clairvoyant, what the hell do you do? Stop in an area of poor visibility where you ARE the hazard, or continue driving with your hazards on to alert other drivers to your vehicle until you can get to either a safe area to stop, or the conditions improve?

The answer is not "continue driving with your hazards on". If it's that dangerous, you should not be moving.

Disagree strongly. Driving on the 101 freeway, grey and ugly, but only light rain, decent visibility, everything moving normally. All of a sudden along comes a macroburst (okay, I made that word up, but it was like a microburst, but bigger). The water was literally bucketing down, it was like driving through a waterfall. An inDUHvidual in the right hand (of two lanes) stopped, all at once, no hazards. As I was in the left hand lane, I continued on (albeit at a slower pace and with hazards) muttering unkind things about the inDUHvidual’s thought process (or lack of the same). In less than a minute, the heavy rain stopped, visibility went back to normal, and I was able to resume a normal speed. Stopping on a 65 mile per hour freeway without moving over (and probably even after moving over) in low visibility is asking to be flattened from behind.