No, Flashing Hazard Lights Are Not Meant for Driving in Poor Weather

Anyone who lives in areas of severe weather has probably seen it. During a thunderstorm or blizzard, cars and trucks driving down the road with their hazard lights on (four-way flashers). Although these drivers may think they’re doing the right thing, it’s actually incorrect, unsafe, and in some places, illegal.

Hazard lights are one of the most important safety features on a passenger vehicle. There are rules automakers must adhere to make sure their function is easy to use, with a red-triangle logo switch of some sort prominently displayed on the dashboard.

Yet so many motorists use hazard lights wrong.

Hazard lights, or four-flashers as some call them, are intended as a means to warn other motorists that there's a hazard, inoperable vehicle, or other obstacle on the road.

From a report on the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, in a legal sense, using Article 1163 (e) of New York State Vehicle and Traffic Laws as an example, there are four main scenarios in which hazard lights should be utilized. The first instance is anytime a vehicle is stopped on a public highway/roadway. Exceptions are when stopped at a red light or stop sign, or when legally parked in a parking space. Any other instance of stopping on the road requires hazard lights, not a turn signal, even if one is checking their phone or entering an address in a GPS.

The second instance is to warn those approaching from behind, usually at a higher rate of speed, that there is an imminent hazard that requires a drastic slowdown and/or stop. For instance, approaching sudden, heavy traffic, a large animal on the road, or any means of official personnel stopping traffic.

The third instance for using hazard lights pertains to your actual vehicle being a slow-moving hazard. Having a flat tire, sputtering engine, a minor accident, and the like. But even then, the point of the hazard lights is to warn other motorists that you are moving your car slowly off the main roadway and out of harm’s way. Not to continue down the road at a low rate of speed, causing a safety risk.

The final situation has to do with towing, especially with large trucks carrying heavy loads. When climbing steep hills, trucks will slow down significantly as they battle gravity. Hazard lights are a means to warn other motorists that they are moving forward, just much slower than the flow of traffic.

What Hazard Lights are Not Meant For

What hazard lights are not meant to be used for is driving in poor weather conditions. As quoted in a CTV News story, Ontario Provincial Police Constable Chris Ciliska reiterates that one of the biggest misconceptions drivers have is thinking hazard lights should be used anytime they slow down in poor weather. “The whole point of having hazards is if you are the hazard,” Ciliska said.

If someone is stranded in poor weather conditions, unable to move their vehicle, then, of course, hazard lights are necessary. But the string of cars driving down the road together, hazard lights blinking away during a snowstorm, that is not okay.

The reason this action is heavily discouraged, or even illegal in some places, is due to the fact that it's confusing and unsafe for other motorists. Hazard lights should indicate there is a hazard at that exact spot on the road. A fully operable vehicle cruising along with hazard lights on means nothing to other drivers, and in all honesty, someone who feels they require hazard lights on while driving in this scenario probably shouldn’t be driving in these conditions to begin with.

More importantly, how will these drivers distinguish, indicate, or warn if a real hazard suddenly does occur on the road ahead?

Hazard Lights Don’t Give You a Free Pass

Using hazard lights in poor weather doesn't give motorists a free pass. If the conditions are bad, flashing these lights will not create an artificial protection against the weather, other motorists, nor the law.

While on the topic of the law, according to Kennedy Johnson Schwab & Roberge, P.C., many USA States discourage the use of hazard lights when a driver/vehicle is:

• Turning
• Driving in heavy rain and/or snow
• Driving around a vehicular traffic hazard
• Parking illegally
• Driving in heavy traffic

In the following States, driving with hazard lights on in the above scenarios may result in a traffic ticket or even a criminal reckless driving charge:

• Alaska
• Florida
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee
• Wyoming

While other States may not have as strict laws on the books regarding the improper use of hazard lights, it’s still up to a police officer’s discretion if they feel a vehicle is being used in an unsafe manner.

So, next time you’re caught in a big thunderstorm or snow squall, do one of the following two things. Either continue driving if you feel safe, confident, and controlled in doing so, or, pull off the road to a safe location out of harms away. Either way, do not continue driving down the road with your hazard lights on at a reduced speed. 

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