hazard light

[mbeige]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...52C1A964958260

http://www.googobits.com/articles/p4...reme-rain.html

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/24.htm

Use hazard lights only when needed

Many drivers use hazard lights wrongly, switching them on to show other drivers that road conditions are hazardous. Most do this because the drivers ahead are doing it. This is a mistake, because hazard lights can be very distracting and cause glare that limits your vision and confuses drivers ahead and behind you. Only use hazard lights to warn other drivers that your vehicle is, or is about to become, a road hazard – engine is overheating, brakes are faulty, or your wipers are defective – and that you are slowing down to stop. You should also use it when you are in an emergency – feeling sick or rushing someone to a hospital – or when the car ahead of you has an accident and you want to warn other cars behind you. Otherwise, don’t add to the confusion.

Bill Hartford suggests flashing hazard lights for driving in fog (letter, Oct. 26), raising a matter for a national driving code. When hazard lights became standard equipment, I understood drivers were to use them only when stopped, never while moving: they were to signal a disabled or stopped car on the shoulder of the road. Some states mandate this; others do not. Slow-moving drivers on interstates often use them.
To a driver in a dense fog coming up on a car with flashing lights, the signal should be unequivocally clear. However, Mr. Hartford's suggestion to drive with flashing lights invites confusion. Surely the safe solution is for drivers to be assured that nonblinking tail lights indicate a moving vehicle in a traffic lane and that flashing lights indicate one that has pulled out of traffic. GLEN B. RUH Falls Church, Va., Oct. 26, 1992

When in extreme weather, do not use hazard lights unless one is stopped, stalled, or is slowing down ON or NEAR the road due to something beyond one's control. Instead, turn on one's headlamps/foglamps as necessary, and/or rear foglamps if one's car is equipped.

When backing up, believe me, the reverse lights are bright enough with stock wattages to warn incoming drivers. Do not use the hazard lights when backing out just so you can be assured that people will avoid you, because in reality, you're the one who is getting into their lane, so you must still yield, and drive slowly. Wait until one of the vehicles slows down and then once it is safe, proceed backing out completely and getting along.

[Alpha_One]

bro, for me, mas visible kse pag nka hazard lights ka especially pag umuulan ng malakas at malabo ang daan syempre with my regular lights on..

pansin ko kase sa ibang motorists na yung brake lights nila ay malalabo din pag nagbrake sila..

with hazzard lights on during a heavy rain, other motorists also use their hazzard lights.. and other motorist tend to slow down.. at wala nman sigurong 2 cars na magkasunod sa likod pag malakas ang ulan.. halos lahat malalayo ang distansya..

this is case to case basis specially pag malakas ang ulan at hindi visible ang road..

Everybody doing it doesn't mean it's the correct procedure.

Sure, you're more visible, but your speed and distance is actually harder to estimate. PLUS your turn signals get disabled. That's what taillamps and rear foglamps are for, save the hazards for when your car is disabled.

People slowing down and following farther are expected during bad weather. But it doesn't matter kung malalayo ang distansya ng lahat ng tao, kung mahirap malaman kung nasaan ka in the first place.

If visibility is SEVERELY hindered the correct procedure is pull up at the shoulder, turn on your hazards and wait for the weather to be better before proceeding. But you should NEVER use the hazards when driving in low visibility. Case to case basis ika nga.

[mbeige]

bro, for me, mas visible kse pag nka hazard lights ka especially pag umuulan ng malakas at malabo ang daan syempre with my regular lights on..

pansin ko kase sa ibang motorists na yung brake lights nila ay malalabo din pag nagbrake sila..

with hazzard lights on during a heavy rain, other motorists also use their hazzard lights.. and other motorist tend to slow down.. at wala nman sigurong 2 cars na magkasunod sa likod pag malakas ang ulan.. halos lahat malalayo ang distansya..

this is case to case basis specially pag malakas ang ulan at hindi visible ang road..

During heavy rain, even without other drivers using their hazard lights, one should slow down. This allows you to slowly drive along as you can't see much, and this also allows you to see other vehicles around you and hence you have more situational awareness.

In addition to your turn signals being disabled, you are confusing others as to whether or not you are stopped, stalled or in an accident. The standard is to use the hazard lights only during those times (very very last resort to warn others you are a hazard to them, hence telling them to avoid driving near you).

Alpha One is right, doesn't mean if everybody does it, it's the correct thing to do. Malay mo, yung nakikita mo pala yung mga tumirik na sa daan. Like I said, you can't really tell, and this adds more confusion.

[Horsepower]

mbeige: that would be applicable in US, not here (as people here are so different). Thought it's not normal here to have pile-ups like there. LOL!!!!

Often, drivers here dont follow traffic rules so being the odd one will get you closer to accidents. You have to adopt. That is not to say however, that you should violate road rules here too. You should just be more wary and careful.

I also used to use hazard lights when it rains as rains here are really heavy but i realized that i am just confusing people behind me so i opted to change tail lights instead. See, the problem here mainly is, the luminance of tail lights, some cars here are also so old they dont even have 3rd brake lights and are very hard to see at night (even at day, if they're braking or whatever).

LTO (the philippine agency for these stuff) should seek to have a new provision that tests how bright the tail lights are. This can easily be achieved by using a filter (or a series of).

I dont use the hazard anymore during rains because i installed new tail lights for our old vehicles. cost a few bucks but really worth it.

About backing, see, there are a lot of moron drivers here also. One time, i was getting ready to reverse out of parking, some idiot parked at my back. That's with hazard lights already. So imagine pag wala, hehee.

[space invader]

ok.. thanks for the thought..

[Alpha_One]

LTO (the philippine agency for these stuff) should seek to have a new provision that tests how bright the tail lights are. This can easily be achieved by using a filter (or a series of).

While they're at it, how about a provision for exhaust noise. Damn jeepneys and riceboys! :offtopic:

[mbeige]

Alam ko naman yung LTO no, dito you call it DMV.

Somehow, I was thinking along the lines that if you follow your own principle, but also know how the system there works, you can adapt and change your ways slightly to be a better driver (meaning, more defensive/aggressive as necessary).

I remember a few threads back that asked bakit mga tao abroad nagbabago when they go here and go back to their old bad ways? My reply was that they are forced to by the system. While it may be true, I think the hazard lights during unnecessary times are just an additional safety measure para alam mong makikita ng iba. It is not necessary to adapt and use them most of the time, but it's like a secondary weapon just in case the first doesn't work. Still, I would stick with the "primary weapon" and refrain from using them when avoidable para hindi malito yung iba.

About pile ups, well the people here have their own stupidities rin, but that's another topic... but actually you bring a very good point. See, people here in the US somehow let their guard down thinking all is going to be well since most of the time, it is. But there in Manila, you have to fight your way around and the only way to do it is to invest a lot of energy into fighting your way through. This forces one to be aware of what's happening and avoids those pile ups (most of the time).

That is why it can also be an additional level of stress to confuse the other drivers by using the hazard lights since others who follow the standard procedure stick by that, and get confused. Those who follow others who turn on the hazards when unnecessary may be adapting and going with the flow, but they're also adding to the confusion. When this happens there is no more standard to base one's reference to, kaya mas lalo gumugulo dahil sa double standard.

So I stick with my statement that one should only use the hazard lights during emergency situations because this is the standard and does not confuse others. It may not be a form of adaptation but it serves its purpose when needed.

Regarding taillight illumination: Most of the time the lights are dim because of negligence (dirt/oxidation/busted bulb/etc). If people took the time to clean and maintain their lights, this would be much less stressful to other motorists. Knowing how LTO works, I'm sure that the filtration thing you propose may likely be another candidate for under the table income...of course I'd like them to prove me wrong in this case.

mbeige: that would be applicable in US, not here (as people here are so different). Thought it's not normal here to have pile-ups like there. LOL!!!!

Often, drivers here dont follow traffic rules so being the odd one will get you closer to accidents. You have to adopt. That is not to say however, that you should violate road rules here too. You should just be more wary and careful.

I also used to use hazard lights when it rains as rains here are really heavy but i realized that i am just confusing people behind me so i opted to change tail lights instead. See, the problem here mainly is, the luminance of tail lights, some cars here are also so old they dont even have 3rd brake lights and are very hard to see at night (even at day, if they're braking or whatever).

LTO (the philippine agency for these stuff) should seek to have a new provision that tests how bright the tail lights are. This can easily be achieved by using a filter (or a series of).

I dont use the hazard anymore during rains because i installed new tail lights for our old vehicles. cost a few bucks but really worth it.

About backing, see, there are a lot of moron drivers here also. One time, i was getting ready to reverse out of parking, some idiot parked at my back. That's with hazard lights already. So imagine pag wala, hehee.

[pup2]

Pag malakas ang ulan at nakakita ako ng naka-hazard sa gitna ng daan, ina-assume ko na that the car is crawling forward. Idiot naman yun kung pumara sa gitna ng naka-hazard lang o kaya may death wish.

Kung papara ka naman kahit sa gilid, kailangan mag-ewd on top of the hazard. Hindi ka sasantuhin ng truck kahit anong hazard mo.

Practicality lang. Wala naman sa US ng ulan at truck/PUB drivers na gaya dito eh.

[Alpha_One]

Pag malakas ang ulan at nakakita ako ng naka-hazard sa gitna ng daan, ina-assume ko na that the car is crawling forward. Idiot naman yun kung pumara sa gitna ng naka-hazard lang o kaya may death wish.

Kung papara ka naman kahit sa gilid, kailangan mag-ewd on top of the hazard. Hindi ka sasantuhin ng truck kahit anong hazard mo.

Practicality lang. Wala naman sa US ng ulan at truck/PUB drivers na gaya dito eh.

Pwede mo rin idagdag ang stalled, in-an-accident, or otherwise disabled car sa iyong assumptions.

You'd be surprised how many cars don't carry any EWDs. Oo kelangan. Kelangan rin tumigil pag red light, diba?!

Out on the road you can NEVER, NEVER, NEVER make assumptions. People ASSUME right-of-way is theirs. Or ASSUME that they can drive home after a couple of drinks. Others just assume "It won't happen to me"! Riiiight...

These kinds of assumptions are unsafe and totally irresponsible. I don't want to sound preachy, but come on! Sa dami-dami ba naman ng siraulong nagpapalit ng gulong sa gitna ng EDSA, eh maga-ASSUME pa tayo ng tatabi ang mga tao with matching EWD?! Yes they are idiots! Yes idiots exist and there are more of them than you think! While making all these misguided assumptions, you also assume that everyone can make intelligent decisions like you (obviously, they can't)! Think about that for a moment!

Ay hindi pala, we can make one assumption. We must all assume that everyone on the road is an idiotic homicidal maniac who is out to get you. Pag ganoon ang assumption the roads would be really, really safe.

[Horsepower]

Wrong way to use hazard lights. This was done in Skyway, South Expressway.