Hazards on during heavy rain/snow/low visibility....what say you?

[KrisZ]

.. However like people sticking their wipers up in the NE when it snows, it's common practice but albeit useless.

It’s useless to do it on a cold car, however when the cabin is fully warmed up after a commute, sticking the wipers up will prevent them from being frozen to the windshield because the snow melts when it touches the warm windshield, but will inevitably freeze once everything cools off.

 

[Fla]

Illegal in our state to have hazard flashers on while in motion.

In Virginia, “hazard light use is not permitted while driving except for emergency vehicles, stopped or slowed vehicles to indicate a traffic hazard, when traveling as part of a funeral procession, or traveling slower than 30 mph.”

The same in Florida. If conditions are so bad that you need to use your flashers, then you need to pull off of the roadway and stop, not drive at 15 MPH on the roadway. Those creeper drivers are just creating even more hazards.

 

[SeanE]

It’s a good concept, only drawback is cars that use the same bulb for brake lamps as the turn signal.
Queue this video:

 

[buster]

100% agree. I'm trying to understand why some folks get angry about it?

There are many things that can anger me and this doesn't fall in my top 1,000.

 

[Thermo1223]

It’s useless to do it on a cold car, however when the cabin is fully warmed up after a commute, sticking the wipers up will prevent them from being frozen to the windshield because the snow melts when it touches the warm windshield, but will inevitably freeze once everything cools off.

Still useless, A little tap and they are unfroze but it doesn't prevent people from thinking it's the best idea or just warm up the car for few minutes before driving away.

Again it's an opinion and everyone thinks they're right, present company included.

 

[TiGeo]

It’s useless to do it on a cold car, however when the cabin is fully warmed up after a commute, sticking the wipers up will prevent them from being frozen to the windshield because the snow melts when it touches the warm windshield, but will inevitably freeze once everything cools off.

Completely dumb to me to put your wipers up. Get in, turn in car, turn on defrost, start de-snow/ice, when you are done, get in car, wipers are now free. I've never understood this and not doing it doesn't make me any slower to leave my driveway vs. my wiper-up neighbors and I've never damaged my wipers. Just something to tell some kid to bend your wiper over how I see it. I feel this is one of those things folks do b/c others do it, not b/c they actually have thought through it.

 

[KrisZ]

I guess it depends what type of winter one experiences. For me a tap would not free the wipers in a lot of cases, and on few occasions I damaged the rubber blade.

Yeah, to each their own.

 

[thastinger]

Completely dumb to me to put your wipers up. Get in, turn in car, turn on defrost, start de-snow/ice, when you are done, get in car, wipers are now free. I've never understood this and not doing it doesn't make me any slower to leave my driveway vs. my wiper-up neighbors and I've never damaged my wipers. Just something to tell some kid to bend your wiper over how I see it. I feel this is one of those things folks do b/c others do it, not b/c they actually have thought through it.

You have not been here long enough to have lived through the ice storm of 98, those wipers you left down would have been completely entombed in an ice ball.

 

[TiGeo]

You have not been here long enough to have lived through the ice storm of 98, those wipers you left down would have been completely entombed in an ice ball.

I lived through the great ice storm in the mid-Atlantic of '93....I get it. And no, my wipers being down didn't cause any issues that I remember. They would have also been coated in ice sticking up.....

 

[Thermo1223]

I lived through the great ice storm in the mid-Atlantic of '93....I get it. And no, my wipers being down didn't cause any issues that I remember. They would have also been coated in ice sticking up.....

Ya it was that way during our ice storm, didn't matter what you did. Everything had a 1/2 inch layer on it.

 

[tbm5690]

As someone who lives in a climate that has real winters (if your highs are above zero you don't have real winter ) turning on defrost does jack crap on a snow-covered windshield. Wipers up allows for easier brushing off of snow, which is the main reason why I put them up at work. Secondary reason being that if they get stuck with ice I can pull them up but then they don't clear as well because the blades are not as clear, and performance becomes poor. And yes, this all done after I've remote started 20 minutes prior

 

[Thermo1223]

As someone who lives in a climate that has real winters (if your highs are above zero you don't have real winter ) turning on defrost does jack crap on a snow-covered windshield. Wipers up allows for easier brushing off of snow, which is the main reason why I put them up at work. Secondary reason being that if they get stuck with ice I can pull them up but then they don't clear as well because the blades are not as clear, and performance becomes poor. And yes, this all done after I've remote started 20 minutes prior

OK...

 

[AuthorEditor]

I live where there is "real" winter (upstate NY) and I have never put my wipers up. Start car, run engine, clear snow and defrost. You need to do that anyway before you can drive safely.

 

[JHZR2]

Italics mine.

That is precisely what TiG was doing, so, not illegal.

Agree; I was thinking exactly the same thing.

If it gets so bad that I need to severely slow, I will run the flashers primarily for better visibility. Same thing if I see a major slowdown on the road behind me - I need to stop the people behind me, not just me, and they need to know it’s more severe.

Of course there are idiots that think they’re immune to risk and know better than the speed limit or other reasonable speeds for the conditions. Worse are tractor trailers who will barrel through. I don’t know why. I run excellent wipers but often these guys will barrel through way too fast. Worst is on the PA/OH/IN turnpikes in bad weather. Of course I’ve seen a few in bad accidents, one hanging off an overpass on a strong snowstorm.

My rule of thumb is if I need to stop someone behind me, abruptly, when they’re not expecting, I’ll show the flashers. If I’m progressing below the road minimum speed and/or slow with poor visibility, I’ll run the flashers…

 

[doitmyself]

Occasionally, in very hazardous situations that I am concerned about getting rear ended, I apply my brakes intermittently to warn those behind me to start slowing down. This is always when they are quite far away and approaching quickly. Not brake checking in any way, but an attempt to wake up those not paying attention.

 

[HemiBenny]

I don’t have a problem with it in extreme situations where visibility is significantly reduced, I mean anything that helps with visibility in that situation is a good thing for everyone around you. What else is there to say?
I’m sure the “I know how to drive in the rain on sketchy tires and one hand on the wheel” crowd will disagree. I know a few of those types around here,…they’re idiots.

 

[dumkid]

better to use them and not need them than to need them and not use them. in Arizona it rarely rains enough to decrease visibility, and when it does i turn on the headlights and go the speed limit

 

[vavavroom]

That’s what the rear fog light is for.

Unfortunately, one or two rear foglights are not mandatory equipment in the US. Many drivers use them improperly. If I am stopped or at a crawling speed due to heavy traffic on a highway or freeway when visibility is limited, and with no car right behind me at that time, I do turn my flashers on until I see the next vehicle behind me slowing down. I'll also hit the flashers if traffic abruptly slows down from a high speed until I see the cars behind me slowing down.

I was sitting at a red light on a highway intersection yesterday. It was a crystal-clear day and the driver behind me didn't realize I had stopped at a light and he almost rear-ended me. I actually had to bail out by quickly moving one lane over from a stillstand when I realized this guy might not slow down at all. He left 100-foot skid marks behind and ended 3/4 into the intersection. He would have pushed me all the way across the intersection.

 

[4WD]

Let me ‘splain this:

 

[RooflessVW]

Had a HUGE rain last night that caught me coming home from dinner....so 30mph or so max on a 60mph highway. Many folks fuss about people that use their hazards during these conditions driving v. slowly. I personally do not do this typically but also don't have an issue with it b/c you can certainly see the vehicles in front of you better vs. the regular somewhat dull tails. Why does this trigger some folks?

If you're scared, pull over and wait.