Nibaq posted today that he believes that people who turn on their hazard lights in poor visibility are idiots. I have to disagree with him regarding this comment because I believe hazard lights have numerous uses. Nibaq believes hazard lights should be used incase of emergency only but I believe it can be used in other non-emergency situations, for example:
During heavy rain
The blinking orange light adds more to your cars visibility during heavy rain which in return is safer for you.
During low visibility
During heavy fog or a heavy dust storm, the orange flasher allows your car to be more visable. When we used to go up the mountain in heavy fog in Lebanon, we used to turn off our cars high beams and turn on the flasher because the white light bounced back off the fog while the orange flasher cut through it. During the dust storm today I had my rear fog lights on while other people had their flashers on. Having your flasher on during low visibility does no mean you are an idiot, it means you are worried some idiot might not see your car and ram into it.
Emergency Braking
When you are driving on the highway you are used to people ahead of you braking every so often. But, when you have to brake suddenly, for example when traffic completely stops in front of you, the hazard light with your braking helps differentiate a normal brake from a very hard one.
I also believe Daylight savers should be standard here in Kuwait. Having a car light on during the day can help in preventing accidents.
4 replies on “Hazard light and Daylight Savers”
Heavy Rain? I studied in an area that would get heavy rain, and no one ever had their hazard lights on. Even when I was driving in Wisconsin and it was raining so bad and so hard that my windshield wipers broke, no one on the road had their hazard lights on. The moment my wipers broke and lost my visibility I turned my hazard lights on to warn the other drivers as I slowed down and moved to right side of the road. If I had them on during the rain, people wouldn’t know the difference between those two moments and be confused on what was happening and could have rammed in to me.
The mountains and fog I am ok with, that is when it is really needed, you can tell who is coming at your or behind you with those mountain curves and narrow roads. Yet when I travel in Europe during the winter and we are driving through the mountains with heavy fog and even snow I never seen them turn on their lights except on extreme situations to really warn of danger.
Emergency braking situation is my pet peeve and I consider it the most dangerous point to turn on your hazard lights on. Like you stated you are braking suddenly, when I brake suddenly I have both hands on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road in order to have full control of the car. So when someone is breaking suddenly and has to move their eyes from the road to move one hand to that button; they become a threat and a danger on the road. For they don’t see what is going on and if they lose control and not braking hard enough or have to veer their car. They will have a slower reaction time to the threat in front of them, and if they have to veer their car they only have one hand on the steering wheel.
My issue with the hazard lights in Kuwait is they have become so common place for any traffic situation that their real meaning to warn others for danger has been diluted so now you can’t tell if it is a real emergency. I agree about the Daylight saver that truck I had earlier had them, and even at night they were on. This would be great with the idiots who don’t have their head lights on at night or just have their fog lights. You can’t even see them coming and I doubt they can see the road in front of them.
Hey. I’ve been following both this blog and “Miskan” for around a month-and-a-half or so now..Just wanted to say that they both are absolutely brilliant–the first thing I do when I wake up everyday is check for any updates! It’s nice to read/see stories/pics of the Gulf (home) all the way here in the ass-freeze that is Michigan.
Anyway, concerning flashing hazard lights during fog or rain…Gulf News, the UAE’s English newspaper, wrote something about that a coupla months ago I think. It’s a fairly common practice in the UAE, too, but the Gulf News was warning its readers agaisnt doing it, and they gave a very good argument: if your orange hazard lights are flashing, how are the cars around you going to know if you’re going to turn?
It rains quite a bit here in MI, in addition to the odd snow blizzard and fog blanket here and there, and I’ve driven in all of these situations. I’ve never seen anyone flashing their hazard lights. Ever.
So..yah. Hope that helps. And keep up the great work!
Talal
Ann Arbor, MI
yeah well in kuwait heavy rain doesnt come a lot so when it suddenly starts to rain heavy and you can barely see infront of you, people start to slow down and turn the flasher as a sign of caution.
about the brake thing, you are not supposed to turn on the flasher before you brake, you brake first then when done u quickly look in your rearview mirror to make sure no asshole is speeding towards you and if he is you turn on your flashers to make him realize you are at a complete stop due to something ahead.
the hazard light has evolved from its original conception to the stage it is now. people use hazard lights more often now but its better to be safe then sorry.
talal using flasher when turning is wrong true, thats why me for example, i turn off the flasher before a turn and when i get to my turn i put on the right or left signal.
Hey, blinking your hazard lights also means you want to race. So that’s another good use for them.