[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

The only time I've used hazards is when I had to stop abruptly on the left most lane on a freeway (fast lane in US) as a car in front of me had a tire blast.

What do you think a driver would do on a US freeway (expressway) if he or she has a flat tyre and needs to move slowly to the next exit or some other safe area? They will and do use the hazard lights to indicate a vehicle moving much slower than normal. The same is true in dense fog in India at least until the whole traffic slows down to a crawl.

[adneeraj]

I have to agree. The blinkers were helping when I found myself in dense fog in Lonavala a few years ago. Of course not on my car since I had front and rear fogs on my Swift then.

On the same topic but a bit unrelated, people use blinkers to convey they're not going to move from the lane and you need to switch lanes to overtake. Bizarre!
And don't get me going on people who use blinkers in tunnels instead of turning on their head and tail lamps...

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Pray, not prey.

Thanks for correcting the typo due to auto-correct my response was from a mobile browser.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Didn't undertand what you are trying to say here. Please explain what you mean by 'orthogonal'.
<snipped>

Orthogonal in mathematical sense is at right angle however it has other usage as well specifically in a debate check here

https://english.stackexchange.com/qu...of-mathematics

Yes saw the link you wrote your reasons on why blinkers are hazardous, however as several other people in this threads pointed about US state laws and what is considered hazard so it is not an absolute truth cast in stone.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

In exactly the same way that Chandigarh Traffic Police enforces driving on low main beams only, and banning the use of auxiliary driving lamps and LED bars. The rest of the country and the CMVR do not bother about such things - in fact, the CMVR does not mention anything about auxiliary driving lamps or fog lamps, never mind LED bars (which are strictly banned except for off-road use in the rest of the world).

Well as per current rules installation of any kind of aftermarket fog lamp on roadworthy passenger vehicles is against the law. In fact there was a campaign run by Bangalore police some time back to impose fine on aftermarket lamps.

Until and unless CMVR mandates manufacturers to make rear fog lamps mandatory local police do not have any other option rather to use what is already available. They can only implement existing laws and can not legislate to make everyone install 500 Rs aftermarket rear fog lamp as you suggested.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by avi_swift

What you say is true, but please understand that these lights also serve a very important function of signalling your intent about which way you are going to turn. If you keep them on continuously, others will have no way of figuring that out, isn't it?

I think the below logic has to be implemented by manufacturers if not already implemented.

I assume this is already implemented. Not really tested it.

Logic
When the hazard switch is ON, Even if both indicator lights are continuing to blink, the moment you switch the indicator ON either to left or right, the lights function like indicators only(I mean only one side light blinks). And once turn is complete, hazard light takes its action



This will solve the problem.

[black_rider]

Originally Posted by gkveda

When the hazard switch is ON, Even if both indicator lights are continuing to blink, the moment you switch the indicator ON either to left or right, the lights function like indicators only(I mean only one side light blinks). And once turn is complete, hazard light takes its action
This will solve the problem.

The actual problem here is "incorrect usage of hazard lights". Hazard lights have a higher priority over indicators, because they are an emergency function. And that is why hazard light switch takes priority over indicator switch. With the above suggestion, we would disregard that priority.

The existing traffic rules, written down by people in the business for years, are there for a reason. It is an issue, when everyone starts making their own rules and expecting them to be accepted by all.

[akdwitter]

I agree we use hazards unnecessarily in India especially in tunnels and stuff. However, in the US I have seen hazards being turned on while driving on interstates when someone is not able to maintain the minimum speed or rather is going slower than average speed for the road (which is the case when driving in fog) This is written in the drivers hand book and is rather useful when it helps you judge that the vehicle ahead of u maybe either stopped or is way slower than the average speed i.e. as good as stopped if the relative speed differential is high.

With regards to the rear fog lights I never found this option in cars in USA, though I agree it is really helpful.

[for_cars1]

Some of the previous posts in this thread points to the clear definition of when to use hazard lights and when not to hazard lights in countries such as US or Canada. Having clarity is always good.

In our Indian context, the below ammended MV act 2019 or the original complete MV 1988 has no clear definition of when and when not to use a hazard light.
The motor vehicles ammendment act 2019 (link)
The 1988 motor vehicles act (link).

In the absence of a clear definition, it becomes naturally open to interpretation to suit peoples needs as per their constraints and needs.

Personally I have found using hazard lights to be extremely useful from a safety perspective in the following conditions:
1. While slowing down and crawling over speed breakers (ridiculous but true) on our highways, turn on the hazard lights to alert the speeding motorists behind you about the hump and avoid getting rear ended by them.
2. When its pouring and visibility is low and you still want to crawl through the rain, hazard lights are useful to indicate your presence to fellow motorists (of course one should never use them at intersections or turns)
3. In the absence of rear fog lamps in most cars sold here, hazard lights are a boon while crawling through fog to indicate to other vehicles of your presence and possible obstruction. Found them to be very useful during a drive up Kodaikanal recently.

When the conditions are hazardous (fog, rain etc), is it correct to turn on hazard warning lights and drive at a good speed ? Absolutely Not.
Hazard lights are to be used when your vehicle is potentially in the path of another vehicle and obstructing them either because you have either halted or are going at a slow speed.