[alpha1]

Well since this thread is about hazard lights I think the following usage deserves mention:
parking at no parking place

ME: "Any problem/breakdown with the vehicle?"
SHE: "NO!"
ME: "Ma'am can you please move your vehicle (which is right in front of the gate), you are not supposed to park here"
SHE: "Can't you see the lights blinking ... ?"

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by alpha1

Well since this thread is about hazard lights I think the following usage deserves mention:
parking at no parking place

ME: "Any problem/breakdown with the vehicle?"
SHE: "NO!"
ME: "Ma'am can you please move your vehicle (which is right in front of the gate), you are not supposed to park here"
SHE: "Can't you see the lights blinking ... ?"

Probably from the same batch of drivers who think they're entitled to blindly cut across from the extreme left-to-right to take a U-turn (or any other version of idiotic driving with indicators on), just because they put on the blinkers.

"Didn't you see the indicators?"

[Samurai]

Two days back I had to suffer so many ignorant people on the ghats who think using hazard lights in rain, while driving at normal speed is somehow helpful. To who exactly?

1) It doesn't help the driver himself because he loses the ability to signal a turn.
2) It doesn't help the cars in the rear either, since this car is driving in normal/fast speed. Instead they will suffer the blinking lights for long duration which can make one feel wonky.
3) it doesn't help the on-coming traffic either. They could mistake it for turn signal if they notice only one side.

If it is raining, just turning on the parking lights or headlights will do the trick for vehicle visibility.

The only time one should use hazard lights is when you are a hazard on the road, like (1) Stranded on the road. (2) Driving lot slower than normal traffic.

See how it feels to be behind a hazard light driver who is driving at normal speed. I can't pass him, so I can't escape the blinker torture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAmLu2629V4

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Samurai

1) It doesn't help the driver himself because he loses the ability to signal a turn.
2) It doesn't help the cars in the rear either, since this car is driving in normal/fast speed. Instead they will suffer the blinking lights for long duration which can make one feel wonky.
3) it doesn't help the on-coming traffic either. They could mistake it for turn signal if they notice only one side.

4)And in reality it doesn't help that poor (& logical) fella who may have suffered a Flat tire and attending it by parking the car on the shoulder under bad visibility conditions either as many from the herd (Read those using Hazards just because some ahead is also using it) will easily mistaken a stationary vehicle for something that is again moving at slow pace like others!

[Samurai]

That's true. With so many people using it incorrectly, the one fellow who may be using it correctly will get shafted.

[Chetan_Rao]

It rained a bit yesterday evening, and the blinker morons were out in full-force on Mysore Road. Plus some idiots seem to think flashing high-beams while barreling down the wrong side on a highway somehow legitimizes their idiocy.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Two days back I had to suffer so many ignorant people on the ghats who think using hazard lights in rain, while driving at normal speed is somehow helpful.

I end up in the same situation as yours while driving to Kerala in the rains. Driving on 4-laned highways makes it all the more difficult, because these idiots cannot signal a lane change/turn, and we have to keep guessing what their intention is - all along.

Once, I tried to reason with a relative who would put the hazards on the moment it started drizzling. He said everybody does it, so he thought that's the rule! Heck, I read in the forum about someone who was asked to turn on the hazards to indicate going straight at a junction - by a traffic cop

OT: The contra(ce)ption that's seen coming downhill behind the truck, after 00:34 - isn't that the Toyota Etios Cross?

[sandeep108]

How can we prevent this hazard blinker nonsense? Should T-BHP write a letter to all the RTOs/traffic commissioners? Or ask one of the media houses to insert a public service ad? File a PIL in the Supreme Court for a ban on hazard lights being switched on unless stuck/stranded? Write to the minister concerned for amendment to the MV Act? In most countries it is illegal to use hazard blinkers unless one is actually stuck or stranded!

It has assumed alarming proportions. Heck drivers are using them nowadays even in normal non-rain conditions, thinking that they generate a huge sense of self-importance - I have right of way at all times since I have my hazard lights on.

After such an ad the highway/traffic police should fine all those who use hazard blinkers during normal driving conditions.

[sgiitk]

On the Mumbai-Pune expressway they switch on hazards every-time they enter a tunnel. Very odd!!

[simplyself]

Using hazard lights during rains is very disturbing for the driver of the following vehicle.

What are tail lamps for?

[S2!!!]

I don't know how far this is true but a couple of years ago, we were on a road trip when my friend revealed that on the Gujarat and Rajasthan highways blinking hazard lights for 3-5 sec translates into thanking the driver behind who just gave you way to pass. Showing gratitude?? Seriously??

It was hilarious when I heard it for the first time and just for fun I did that the entire journey while on that trip..

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

Gujarat and Rajasthan highways blinking hazard lights for 3-5 sec translates into thanking the driver behind who just gave you way to pass. Showing gratitude?? Seriously??

Why not when we have folks here using Hazards to signal the traffic behind that they intend to continue straight at an intersection. When it comes to innovative ideas, we Indian drivers rock

[raghu.t.k]

Yesterday one of the motorist decided to use the hazard light when he wanted to stop just beyond an intersection. It would have been ok, if he switched on after stopping the car, rather than switching it on when moving to the left side. I was right behind him and could see only the right blinker (another vehicle blocked my view of the left blinker), and initially wondered why is he 'indicating' right and moving left. Only after crossing him, did I see both the blinkers were switched on!!

[yaniv14]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

On the Mumbai-Pune expressway they switch on hazards every-time they enter a tunnel. Very odd!!

This is something even I have noticed.

The first car to enter the tunnel switched on the hazard light and then the vehicles following too switched on their hazard lights, but surprisingly they still maintained their driving speed. I too unknowingly put them on guessing it might be some new rule

[tilt]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

I don't know how far this is true but a couple of years ago, we were on a road trip when my friend revealed that on the Gujarat and Rajasthan highways blinking hazard lights for 3-5 sec translates into thanking the driver behind who just gave you way to pass. Showing gratitude?? Seriously??

It was hilarious when I heard it for the first time and just for fun I did that the entire journey while on that trip..

Actually this is a convention followed by truckers (18-wheeler semi) in North America. Since it is not easy to judge distance while towing a 53' trailer (overall length of tractor + trailer is 70'), it is not easy to know when to pull back into the slow lane after passing another vehicle.

The passed vehicle (especially if it's another truck) will flash their headlights at the overtaker, signalling that it's now OK to pull back, you have sufficient distance between your rear and my front.

The overtaker (after signalling the lane change and pulling back in) then flashes his or her hazards a couple of times to say Thank You.

Truckers in North America are the drivers with the most training in safety and road-sharing. They are the most courteous drivers I have known.

I used to be a trucker myself, so I know what the training consists of.

Cheers