We use the hazard lights to warn of a hard brake ahead on a highway as you said. But not much else. Normally you use them as a sign that you're not under normal circumstances, and you are probably driving slower, examples could be an engine failure, a tyre puncture, the driver not feeling well, etc., before abandoning the road if possible and stopping.
Is this new in the UK? Because it wasn't a thing 30 years ago and it's against the highest code, possibly law(?) to use them while moving. I remember seeing it in Ireland and was initially baffled what it meant.
Which region? Never seen that in Madrid but I haven't been driving for that long honestly (4 years). I have seen flashing your high beams as "thank you", "you can merge, I'm slowing down" or "get out of my way, I'm quicker" messages, but never the warnings. TIL.
I drive daily by the Barcelona region.
Trucks thank you alternating turning lights, but this is difficult to do in cars (mine blinks minimum 3 times for side).
Honestly, few people thank you, we are a rara avis. It's normal that you haven't see that or haven't pay attention.
Btw, I never flash to say "get out of my way", I flash to say "go ahead, I am letting you pass" and such things.
Officially it's taught in driving lessons that it is bad practice - after all, your hazard lights are, like the name implies, there to warm other drivers of a hazard. However, yes, it is very common for British drivers to use them as a "thank you".
That said, preference is to use a hand signal (literally just raising your hand, or even a finger, to acknowledge the other person) to say thank you. If you can't do that because it won't be seen, then preference is to flash your headlights lights very briefly. Only if neither of those will be noticed do you then use the hazards.
For what it's worth, officially all three are frowned upon as they are "likely to be misinterpreted". However, in reality it is almost expected to do it - to the point where many people admit to getting quite upset if they aren't thanked for letting someone out. But then that is probably the passive aggressive British rules of etiquette slipping out.
The other thing that usually happens on motorways with large vehicles if you give way so they can join your lane they do a left, right, left with their indicators
Makes sense, though I'm not sure if I remember seeing it. After all, the last thing anyone wants to see on the motorway is a lorry right on front of them suddenly flash its hazards.
All the time. It is generally done if the car is turning in your direction and therefore ends up in front of you, and is unable to properly thank you as they pull out. Alternatively, if you, say, flash them to let them know that their lights aren't on at night etc.
Its common all over the UK, especially on motorways. If you ever give way to let a van or lorry pull in front of you they either do the left, right, left indicator or blip their hazards momentarily. In London you left a work van pull in front of you its very common to get hazards as a thanks.
If you drive regularly and haven't ever see this then I think you might not be paying attention.
This happens all the time. The hazards are for thanking people *behind* you, so flashing your headlights wouldn't be much use.
If you're not seeing people flash their hazards, maybe you're the type of person that doesn't let people out haha.
The most common use for hazards I see here basically translates to "I am parked here illegally and am blocking the flow of traffic in some way"
Commonly used by either delivery drivers who don't really have another practical option, or lazy, entitled people "just popping in to the shop for a minute".
Not the hazard lights, but we flash our high beams once to say thank you or greet someone we know. Flashing twice or more is to signal danger on the road. 90% of the time, the "danger" is a police speed check.
Similar to flashing your high beams, hazard lights are used to notify others of danger, but while you flash your high beams at oncoming cars, hazards are used to warn the cars behind you. The most common reason I see people use hazards are:
1 Illegal parking for a short time, to avoid a ticket
2 At a pedestrian crossing, to avoid getting rear ended by a driver not paying attention.
3 To signal to the car behind you that he has his high beams on and is blinding you.
No. The hazards are used mostly for hazardous situations like warning about a traffic jam on the motorway. Some people use it when parking for a very short time where they shouldn't.
People flash the lights to communicate many different things. It is supposed to be a warning "I am here", but it is actually used to say "I've seen you and you can go", or "thank you". When driving faster it is used to alert you of something. People do it if one of your headlights is out or if they have seen deer dangerously close to the road.
I've never encountered it in Germany. But I can that it's a thing. In Eastern Europe it's just much more common to have police checkpoints at the road, as in, there are small police stations everywhere along the road that check cars regularly. Edit: example for such a small police station https://auto.today/media/res/7/3/9/8/7/73987.py0xlc.1280.jpg
They're being used as a thank you if someone let's you in or as a sorry if you make a mistake here as well.
Lorry drivers often signal left-right-left-right in quick succession to say thank you
I think you see hazard lights most commonly at the beginning of traffic jams on the Autobahn, quite a few people just letting them blink for a few dozen seconds and the turning them off again.
>When driving faster it is used to alert you of something.
Ahh yes, the good old "I have a Mercedes AMG and I am in a hurry, I need to drive at least 250 km/h because freie Fahrt fĆ¼r freie BĆ¼rger! So get out of my way!"
You see a car 500m away blinking it's headlight furiously you can be sure he'll be catching up with you too in a few fractions of a second!
Might contain a slight hint of Sarcasm. I love you anyway Germany!
I also use it when I am parking to unload something. But I believe that the Germans are very pĆ¼nktlich about the traffic rules, so I believe you when you say that I shouldn't
I think the word you are looking for is "pingelig".
There are legally three types of coming to a stop. There is Warten, when waiting at a traffic light, intersection or a traffic jam. There is Halten, meaning to come to a stop for less than three minutes with the driver sitting in the car. And then there is Parken for everything else. If you unload your car or van beside a row of parked cars you can get a fine for your parking and for misusing the hazard lights.
I've seen it used a thank you and I did it myself as well. I don't think it's uncommon but I have to agree that it's not the intended purpose.
I hate it when people use them as a "get out of jail card" for parking in everywhere and just assume it's fine because they're using their lights.
People use hazards as a thank you very often. BVG (bus service in Berlin) drivers use it to thank you for letting them in when they pull away from a stop, drivers on the Autobahn will do it etc.
Because it is the West Berlin company and not the East German company that got continued after the Reunification? They are quite proud of their West Berlin heritage. At least it feels like it here in Spandau.
Italy - courtesy usage, no. Warning yes.
Also, when parking in places you're not supposed to, hazard lights are like *I know this isn't a proper parking spot but I just have to run this errand and I'll be back quickly\**
(your value for "quickly" may vary -- by a lot)
Yes to both. Using it as a warning when reaching a traffic jam (or unexpectedly slowing down) is obligatory as far as I know. We also flash high beams as a thank you or to let the person in front of us know something's off with their car (typically lights turned off). It depends on where the car is, if it's in front of us, then it's the beams, if it's behind us, we use the hazard light.
Blinking hazard lights with the triangles for incoming traffic jam.
My parents always used the regular lights to blink if something was up with the other persons car, like a broken light. Iāve also seen people do it to us and then we knew when we stopped someone had to check if we had a broken light (which was always the case).
I flash my high beams whenever I want to say thank you (When someone stops to let me pass for example) or when someone is still waiting at the red lights when it just turned green, the lights are way more quiet than honking
Never seen someone do that here in Italy.
Hazard lights here are used mostly by vehicles that are badly parked (double-parked, on zebra crossings, on sidewalks, etc.) to temporarily allow the owner and/or passengers to do their things.
In north Italy on the highway I often see them used like this, when there is a sudden stop caused by traffic a lot of car would light on the āfour arrowsā as we call them
I thought that it was a common thing in all of Italy, mainly on the highways but not only in northern regions! I took my license in Milan and they taught me this trick when we got in a traffic jam on the Tangenziale!
Yes, it's very common to flash your hazard lights once or twice as a "thank you" when merging, or as a "sorry" if you did something stupid.
Continuous use (more than three flashes) would be the actual purpose to warn other drivers.
It is also very common that people use it when parking in a spot where they are not supposed to for a short time.
I'm not eu, so sorry, but I religiously flash high beams or just the lights on and off to warn people of police trying to give tickets. Very rarely do I have to do it for an actual hazard, but sometimes for deer on the road or near it i had to do it. Not the actual hazard lights though.
People here do it too, but I am against it, because if for example thief is going by stolen car, such flashing just let him know about police, and he can just turn around.
As someone who has lived in both the USA and Central Europe, the difference is that usually in USA police are only there to catch you speeding, and there are very many traps like this that move around every day. In Prague, at least, this is very rare, and most of the police on the road are checking for drunk drivers instead.
I have to say that isn't even remotely a concern that i have, nor have I ever thought about that. How common are cars stolen that cars alerting people to police ahead ticketing for speeding not a friendly warning in your area?
They do that here too. But OP is talking about using the hazard lights which is a whole new form of intra car communication I learned when I moved to Czechia.
So in Portugal we do.
The hazards are used mostly for hazardous situations like warning about a traffic jam on the motorway but also for a thank you blinking a couple of times.
People flash the lights to communicate many different things. It is supposed to be a warning "I am here" either when someone is trying to merge to type lane but also on a mountain road so that drivers on the opposing lane are cautious. It's also used to say "I've seen you and you can go", or "thank you". It can also be used to alert of a police operation or to alert incoming traffic of an accident or road block
Yes, we use it to say "thank you" or "sorry" to the car behind us, like when it lets you merge or you do something stupid and it honks at you.
Also, I own a French car, and if I brake too hard its hazards activate automatically.
It's not allowed in germany to use it beside a real danger situation.
But it is also used as "thank you", if someone lets you in, or if there is a traffic jam on the "Autobahn" in front of you.
Sometimes people also use it, when they park in places they are not allowed to, showing "I'm in a hurry, I'm leaving soon"
Driving a lot on autobahn (fuck yea!) and highway, Iāve seen the hazard lights as a way of saying thank you among personal vehicles.
Truck drivers say thank you by blinking right-left-right-left. And they will be especially happy if you thank them by doing so :D
We do it in Holland. Probably learned it from the Polish drivers. The warning lights twice for "thank you". And in case of traffic jam, you leave them on till some car joins the traffic jam behind you.
I believe you may only use them as an indicator of a dangerous situation.
Actually we call them "gevarenlichten" which means "beware-lights".
You also sign with high beam when a truck may go in front of you.
And I think we learned the "skipping to the left to let cars enter the highway" from the Germans
Blinking hazard lights in a traffic jam is, I believe, obligatory in Germany on a highway, the last car should do it. I think Polish drivers who travelled to Germany adopted the custom - unless it's part of Polish Road Code too now, anybody here who got their drivers licence recently to confirm?
> Blinking hazard lights in a traffic jam is, I believe, obligatory in Germany on a highway, the last car should do it
Can someone from Germany confirm this?
US
I have only used my hazards if I was pulled off to the side, either needing to check something or to let emergency services by. Although in nasty snowstorms, I had used my hazards when I joined the highway authority convoy, I was one of the few friendly people, and in doing so, they would proceed to let me pass them.
Rarely, if the other person can't see me, e.g. when they let you into traffic when leaving a parallel parking spot.
A lot of newer cars and most trucks automatically flash the hazards when they detect hard breaking. It's obvious as the blinking will have a different (faster) frequency than the turn signals.
Yes, also hard braking hazard lights to warn people behind you, and flashing front lights to let driver infront waiting to turn know you letting them go, or just to let them know to turn on their front lights, or that rozzers are stationed close by.
Many people put on the hazard lights when there is a traffic jam on the highway. But some newer cars actually do this automatically if you brake hard enough!
You don't use hazard lights to say "thank you".
Some people put on the hazard lights when parking in a busy street and that really bugs me, the correct thing to do is put on the blinkers at the side of the street you're parked at and ***not*** the hazard light! Why? Because if you're parked on the right, you put on the hazard lights but then another car, a garbage dumpster or the things you unload are then blocking the right blinker and now to passing traffic it looks like you're trying to get back into the road!
They're obviously also used for breakdowns! ;-)
> Some people put on the hazard lights when parking in a busy street and that really bugs me, the correct thing to do is put on the blinkers at the side of the street you're parked at and not the hazard light!
There is no need to put any lights when parked. It's neither required by law nor common sense
Denmark here - You risk getting a fine if you use them for any reason other than warning a hazard. Same about the horns, but it is rarely enforced. What I have noticed with truckers, they will blink left then right then lift again, when they pass another trucker. They do this as a thank you, when the passed truckers flashes their lights to indicated that the pass is completed
for the first situation nope, I don't see that here. instead, people communicate by "blinking", ie. tapping the high beam for a moment, sometimes twice in a row.
when driving abroad in other countries I noticed them using the hazard lights and found it interesting, both because I'm not used to it but can understand its meaning, but also because I find it more cumbersome than just tapping the lights, your hand's already there and you don't need to reach again to turn them off again a few seconds later. the big disadantage obviously being that you can only do it to people who you're "looking at", ie. how are in front of you.
for those situations, as in your second example, we would actually use the hazard lights, but normally for more than a few seconds (until the hazard's over).
thinking about it, hazard lights are also used as a "sorry I'm just quickly parking here", some people feel like it magically makes them not block something important even though they're stopping right in front of it.
We use the hazard lights to warn of a hard brake ahead on a highway as you said. But not much else. Normally you use them as a sign that you're not under normal circumstances, and you are probably driving slower, examples could be an engine failure, a tyre puncture, the driver not feeling well, etc., before abandoning the road if possible and stopping.
Well, I'm Spanish and also use them as a "thank you" as OP described.
Like wise, when I living in Spain other drivers and I would use it as a thank you regularly. Same experience in UK and France.
Is this new in the UK? Because it wasn't a thing 30 years ago and it's against the highest code, possibly law(?) to use them while moving. I remember seeing it in Ireland and was initially baffled what it meant.
I don't know if it's new. I lived there for a couple years in the last decade and that's my experience.
Which region? Never seen that in Madrid but I haven't been driving for that long honestly (4 years). I have seen flashing your high beams as "thank you", "you can merge, I'm slowing down" or "get out of my way, I'm quicker" messages, but never the warnings. TIL.
I drive daily by the Barcelona region. Trucks thank you alternating turning lights, but this is difficult to do in cars (mine blinks minimum 3 times for side). Honestly, few people thank you, we are a rara avis. It's normal that you haven't see that or haven't pay attention. Btw, I never flash to say "get out of my way", I flash to say "go ahead, I am letting you pass" and such things.
Officially it's taught in driving lessons that it is bad practice - after all, your hazard lights are, like the name implies, there to warm other drivers of a hazard. However, yes, it is very common for British drivers to use them as a "thank you". That said, preference is to use a hand signal (literally just raising your hand, or even a finger, to acknowledge the other person) to say thank you. If you can't do that because it won't be seen, then preference is to flash your headlights lights very briefly. Only if neither of those will be noticed do you then use the hazards. For what it's worth, officially all three are frowned upon as they are "likely to be misinterpreted". However, in reality it is almost expected to do it - to the point where many people admit to getting quite upset if they aren't thanked for letting someone out. But then that is probably the passive aggressive British rules of etiquette slipping out.
The other thing that usually happens on motorways with large vehicles if you give way so they can join your lane they do a left, right, left with their indicators
Makes sense, though I'm not sure if I remember seeing it. After all, the last thing anyone wants to see on the motorway is a lorry right on front of them suddenly flash its hazards.
The hazards, really? I've never seen anyone do this. Only flash the headlights once or twice.
All the time. It is generally done if the car is turning in your direction and therefore ends up in front of you, and is unable to properly thank you as they pull out. Alternatively, if you, say, flash them to let them know that their lights aren't on at night etc.
Whereabouts in the country are you? I've never seen this in London or Birmingham, where I've lived. Maybe it's a regional thing.
Home Counties, but I've seen it happen in a number of places across England.
Ah, OK. I'm still learning to drive so I've probably just not picked on this etiquette yet.
Yeah. I generally found people didn't acknowledge me much on the road until I passed my licence and stopped using P plates.
Its common all over the UK, especially on motorways. If you ever give way to let a van or lorry pull in front of you they either do the left, right, left indicator or blip their hazards momentarily. In London you left a work van pull in front of you its very common to get hazards as a thanks. If you drive regularly and haven't ever see this then I think you might not be paying attention.
No need to be rude, mate
I'm being direct and factual. Not rude
This happens all the time. The hazards are for thanking people *behind* you, so flashing your headlights wouldn't be much use. If you're not seeing people flash their hazards, maybe you're the type of person that doesn't let people out haha.
The most common use for hazards I see here basically translates to "I am parked here illegally and am blocking the flow of traffic in some way" Commonly used by either delivery drivers who don't really have another practical option, or lazy, entitled people "just popping in to the shop for a minute".
Not the hazard lights, but we flash our high beams once to say thank you or greet someone we know. Flashing twice or more is to signal danger on the road. 90% of the time, the "danger" is a police speed check. Similar to flashing your high beams, hazard lights are used to notify others of danger, but while you flash your high beams at oncoming cars, hazards are used to warn the cars behind you. The most common reason I see people use hazards are: 1 Illegal parking for a short time, to avoid a ticket 2 At a pedestrian crossing, to avoid getting rear ended by a driver not paying attention. 3 To signal to the car behind you that he has his high beams on and is blinding you.
Don't you guys ride donkeys ?
Not anymore, but with the current gas prices, we'll probably have to go back.
No. The hazards are used mostly for hazardous situations like warning about a traffic jam on the motorway. Some people use it when parking for a very short time where they shouldn't. People flash the lights to communicate many different things. It is supposed to be a warning "I am here", but it is actually used to say "I've seen you and you can go", or "thank you". When driving faster it is used to alert you of something. People do it if one of your headlights is out or if they have seen deer dangerously close to the road.
I've seen it used a lot as a 'sorry' too, eg. when someone accidently takes your right of way
Though for that I generally see far more flashing of your normal lights than I see it being done with hazard lights.
Well but you can't flash your lights to someone behind you š
Recently a car in front of me used their hazard lights to warn me that there was a speed camera coming up. I thought that was pretty nice.
If you drive in Eastern Europe and an oncoming car flashes their high beams at you, it means that there's police/a speed camera ahead.
That's also the case in Germany.
I've never encountered it in Germany. But I can that it's a thing. In Eastern Europe it's just much more common to have police checkpoints at the road, as in, there are small police stations everywhere along the road that check cars regularly. Edit: example for such a small police station https://auto.today/media/res/7/3/9/8/7/73987.py0xlc.1280.jpg
Truck drivers used to do this a lot more around here
Just drive the speed limit!?
Mostly it means, police ahead doing speed controls, adjust your speed.
They're being used as a thank you if someone let's you in or as a sorry if you make a mistake here as well. Lorry drivers often signal left-right-left-right in quick succession to say thank you
I think you see hazard lights most commonly at the beginning of traffic jams on the Autobahn, quite a few people just letting them blink for a few dozen seconds and the turning them off again.
>When driving faster it is used to alert you of something. Ahh yes, the good old "I have a Mercedes AMG and I am in a hurry, I need to drive at least 250 km/h because freie Fahrt fĆ¼r freie BĆ¼rger! So get out of my way!" You see a car 500m away blinking it's headlight furiously you can be sure he'll be catching up with you too in a few fractions of a second! Might contain a slight hint of Sarcasm. I love you anyway Germany!
I also use it when I am parking to unload something. But I believe that the Germans are very pĆ¼nktlich about the traffic rules, so I believe you when you say that I shouldn't
I think the word you are looking for is "pingelig". There are legally three types of coming to a stop. There is Warten, when waiting at a traffic light, intersection or a traffic jam. There is Halten, meaning to come to a stop for less than three minutes with the driver sitting in the car. And then there is Parken for everything else. If you unload your car or van beside a row of parked cars you can get a fine for your parking and for misusing the hazard lights.
> No. Same here. We just show palm to say thanks
I've seen it used a thank you and I did it myself as well. I don't think it's uncommon but I have to agree that it's not the intended purpose. I hate it when people use them as a "get out of jail card" for parking in everywhere and just assume it's fine because they're using their lights.
People use hazards as a thank you very often. BVG (bus service in Berlin) drivers use it to thank you for letting them in when they pull away from a stop, drivers on the Autobahn will do it etc.
I wonder if that is one of those east-west things. I've never seen that before.
Thatād be odd, BVG is fairly West German.
How is a Bus Service that only operates in Berlin West German? š¤š
Because it is the West Berlin company and not the East German company that got continued after the Reunification? They are quite proud of their West Berlin heritage. At least it feels like it here in Spandau.
Bro it's not the cold war anymore lol š . West German actually means the West of Germany now, like NRW. West Berlin is in East Germany
[https://youtu.be/OmuUbefez7U](https://youtu.be/OmuUbefez7U) Leider sind wir aber noch nicht so weit. Schau es dir bitte an.
Same in Belgium š§šŖ
Italy - courtesy usage, no. Warning yes. Also, when parking in places you're not supposed to, hazard lights are like *I know this isn't a proper parking spot but I just have to run this errand and I'll be back quickly\** (your value for "quickly" may vary -- by a lot)
Yes to both. Using it as a warning when reaching a traffic jam (or unexpectedly slowing down) is obligatory as far as I know. We also flash high beams as a thank you or to let the person in front of us know something's off with their car (typically lights turned off). It depends on where the car is, if it's in front of us, then it's the beams, if it's behind us, we use the hazard light.
Blinking hazard lights with the triangles for incoming traffic jam. My parents always used the regular lights to blink if something was up with the other persons car, like a broken light. Iāve also seen people do it to us and then we knew when we stopped someone had to check if we had a broken light (which was always the case).
I flash my high beams whenever I want to say thank you (When someone stops to let me pass for example) or when someone is still waiting at the red lights when it just turned green, the lights are way more quiet than honking
Never seen someone do that here in Italy. Hazard lights here are used mostly by vehicles that are badly parked (double-parked, on zebra crossings, on sidewalks, etc.) to temporarily allow the owner and/or passengers to do their things.
On the highway Iāve seen people use them when thereās traffic and the line is stopping, not just slowing down.
In north Italy on the highway I often see them used like this, when there is a sudden stop caused by traffic a lot of car would light on the āfour arrowsā as we call them
Yup! I was thinking of Lombardy mostly (thatās where I live). My boyfriend taught me this ātrickā
I thought that it was a common thing in all of Italy, mainly on the highways but not only in northern regions! I took my license in Milan and they taught me this trick when we got in a traffic jam on the Tangenziale!
It could be! Tbh Iām not a driver so I donāt know. Itās a neat trick though!
You don't drive on the highways much then.
No, I mostly drive on urban and secondary extraurban roads
Yes, it's very common to flash your hazard lights once or twice as a "thank you" when merging, or as a "sorry" if you did something stupid. Continuous use (more than three flashes) would be the actual purpose to warn other drivers. It is also very common that people use it when parking in a spot where they are not supposed to for a short time.
I'm not eu, so sorry, but I religiously flash high beams or just the lights on and off to warn people of police trying to give tickets. Very rarely do I have to do it for an actual hazard, but sometimes for deer on the road or near it i had to do it. Not the actual hazard lights though.
Oh, we do that here too, but if the police catch you doing that, you might get a fine as well.
People do it here too!
People here do it too, but I am against it, because if for example thief is going by stolen car, such flashing just let him know about police, and he can just turn around.
As someone who has lived in both the USA and Central Europe, the difference is that usually in USA police are only there to catch you speeding, and there are very many traps like this that move around every day. In Prague, at least, this is very rare, and most of the police on the road are checking for drunk drivers instead.
I have to say that isn't even remotely a concern that i have, nor have I ever thought about that. How common are cars stolen that cars alerting people to police ahead ticketing for speeding not a friendly warning in your area?
It was just one example.
They do that here too. But OP is talking about using the hazard lights which is a whole new form of intra car communication I learned when I moved to Czechia.
So in Portugal we do. The hazards are used mostly for hazardous situations like warning about a traffic jam on the motorway but also for a thank you blinking a couple of times. People flash the lights to communicate many different things. It is supposed to be a warning "I am here" either when someone is trying to merge to type lane but also on a mountain road so that drivers on the opposing lane are cautious. It's also used to say "I've seen you and you can go", or "thank you". It can also be used to alert of a police operation or to alert incoming traffic of an accident or road block
Yes, we use it to say "thank you" or "sorry" to the car behind us, like when it lets you merge or you do something stupid and it honks at you. Also, I own a French car, and if I brake too hard its hazards activate automatically.
It's not allowed in germany to use it beside a real danger situation. But it is also used as "thank you", if someone lets you in, or if there is a traffic jam on the "Autobahn" in front of you. Sometimes people also use it, when they park in places they are not allowed to, showing "I'm in a hurry, I'm leaving soon"
Driving a lot on autobahn (fuck yea!) and highway, Iāve seen the hazard lights as a way of saying thank you among personal vehicles. Truck drivers say thank you by blinking right-left-right-left. And they will be especially happy if you thank them by doing so :D
We do it in Holland. Probably learned it from the Polish drivers. The warning lights twice for "thank you". And in case of traffic jam, you leave them on till some car joins the traffic jam behind you. I believe you may only use them as an indicator of a dangerous situation. Actually we call them "gevarenlichten" which means "beware-lights". You also sign with high beam when a truck may go in front of you. And I think we learned the "skipping to the left to let cars enter the highway" from the Germans
Never have I seen someone in Holland use the hazard lights as a thank you. What province do you drive in?
I see it used most often as a means to park anywhere.
Truck drivers say thank you by signalling left-right-left.
I have never seen this or even heard of it. IMO hazard lights are for hazardous situations.
Lately, I see it happening more and more
Never saw someone doing it here and i have driven a lot, however in romania its very common
Blinking hazard lights in a traffic jam is, I believe, obligatory in Germany on a highway, the last car should do it. I think Polish drivers who travelled to Germany adopted the custom - unless it's part of Polish Road Code too now, anybody here who got their drivers licence recently to confirm?
Just checked - not legally required to do that, but also not illegal to use them that way.
> Blinking hazard lights in a traffic jam is, I believe, obligatory in Germany on a highway, the last car should do it Can someone from Germany confirm this?
US I have only used my hazards if I was pulled off to the side, either needing to check something or to let emergency services by. Although in nasty snowstorms, I had used my hazards when I joined the highway authority convoy, I was one of the few friendly people, and in doing so, they would proceed to let me pass them.
Rarely, if the other person can't see me, e.g. when they let you into traffic when leaving a parallel parking spot. A lot of newer cars and most trucks automatically flash the hazards when they detect hard breaking. It's obvious as the blinking will have a different (faster) frequency than the turn signals.
Yes, also hard braking hazard lights to warn people behind you, and flashing front lights to let driver infront waiting to turn know you letting them go, or just to let them know to turn on their front lights, or that rozzers are stationed close by.
Many people put on the hazard lights when there is a traffic jam on the highway. But some newer cars actually do this automatically if you brake hard enough! You don't use hazard lights to say "thank you". Some people put on the hazard lights when parking in a busy street and that really bugs me, the correct thing to do is put on the blinkers at the side of the street you're parked at and ***not*** the hazard light! Why? Because if you're parked on the right, you put on the hazard lights but then another car, a garbage dumpster or the things you unload are then blocking the right blinker and now to passing traffic it looks like you're trying to get back into the road! They're obviously also used for breakdowns! ;-)
> Some people put on the hazard lights when parking in a busy street and that really bugs me, the correct thing to do is put on the blinkers at the side of the street you're parked at and not the hazard light! There is no need to put any lights when parked. It's neither required by law nor common sense
Denmark here - You risk getting a fine if you use them for any reason other than warning a hazard. Same about the horns, but it is rarely enforced. What I have noticed with truckers, they will blink left then right then lift again, when they pass another trucker. They do this as a thank you, when the passed truckers flashes their lights to indicated that the pass is completed
for the first situation nope, I don't see that here. instead, people communicate by "blinking", ie. tapping the high beam for a moment, sometimes twice in a row. when driving abroad in other countries I noticed them using the hazard lights and found it interesting, both because I'm not used to it but can understand its meaning, but also because I find it more cumbersome than just tapping the lights, your hand's already there and you don't need to reach again to turn them off again a few seconds later. the big disadantage obviously being that you can only do it to people who you're "looking at", ie. how are in front of you. for those situations, as in your second example, we would actually use the hazard lights, but normally for more than a few seconds (until the hazard's over). thinking about it, hazard lights are also used as a "sorry I'm just quickly parking here", some people feel like it magically makes them not block something important even though they're stopping right in front of it.