Legal use of your hazard lights
Advice for using your hazards
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Legal use of your hazard lights
Your hazard lights are crucial to your safety because they allow you to signal to other drivers that there is a hazard associated with your vehicle and that they should use caution when driving near or around you. If you are in a situation where you are actively driving and are using your hazards, you should be driving slowly (under the speed limit), in the right-most lane and with extreme caution.
There are several situations where it is legal to be using your hazard lights. If your car is disabled or unable to drive on or near a roadway, this would call for legal use of your hazards. If you must pull over onto the shoulder of the road for an emergency, you should legally leave your hazards on. That would include when you are pulled over by the police or if you are changing a tire. In certain situations, you can legally use your hazards during an official funeral procession.
Advice for using your hazards
Always be smart when you are using your hazards. However, it is equally important to be informed about your hazard lights and the laws about the in your area. For example, some US states have laws regarding the speed you must be driving under in order to use your hazards. So, if you are driving over twenty-five miles per hour and using your hazards for any reason, you can be ticketed in those states.
In Puerto Rico hazard light use is never permitted while you are driving. However, this law is not strictly enforced. So, in Puerto Rico, you can use your hazards when you are stopped or pulled over. If you do so while you are driving, you are technically risking a ticket.
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Your hazard lights will give you the best chance of avoiding being struck by another vehicle when you are pulled off on the side of the road for an emergency reason. Be sure that they are always in working order because you never know when you might end up needing them. However, be sure that you do not use them improperly because you can end up getting pulled over and getting a ticket for doing so. In Puerto Rico, it is technically not legal to use your hazard lights when you are driving for any reason. It is legal only when you are stopped or pulled over.
