It snowed here in North Carolina yesterday, and, predictably everyone lost their shit. North Carolina, despite getting snow with at least some degree of regularity, if not that much snow, doesn’t deal well with snow at all. I mean, roads get plowed and brine gets sprayed and, generally, the infrastructure works as it should, but nearly everyone who ends up driving seems deeply unhappy. Not just unhappy, though: nervous. And the way many, many drivers express their nervousness is by turning on their hazard lights. This is a terrible idea, and should stop.
I noticed this as I was picking up Autopian co-dummy David from the airport last night. It was dark but clear, and the roads weren’t great. Not terrible, but there were slick patches and it definitely demanded more attention than a normal jaunt down the 40. Visibility wasn’t a problem, which I thought might be a justification for putting on some blinky lights, but that’s not really what people are thinking. They’re thinking this sucks, I don’t feel confident driving in it, so I want people to know. Hence the hazards.
I know some may feel it makes their car more visible in poor conditions. In really awful visibility conditions, a rear fog lamp is a much better solution, but those are not common in the US. Maybe the hazards could help a bit there, but even then, it’s illegal to do so in plenty of states!
I think mostly people just seem to use them when they don’t feel comfortable driving in some crappy situation.
And that’s not necessarily a bad instinct, really! The problem is that when an uncomfortable driver puts on their hazard lights, they’re actually doing more than they realize. They’re also eliminating their ability to indicate when they intend to turn, which is a pretty big deal. Nervous people who decided to turn their hazards on still need to change lanes and exit freeways and make turns, and those hazards are eliminating their ability to do just that.
Driving with your hazards on also diminishes the impact of cars that really need to identify themselves as a true hazard: cars that are stuck or broken down or otherwise immobile.
While it’s definitely more fun to blame those drivers that just use their hazard lights in any kind of bad weather or when they feel Mercury is in retrograde or they had some bad clams or whatever, the truth is that the real issue is with the hazard lights themselves.
Back in the day when they were first mandated, in 1966, blinking all four turn indicators was by far the easiest way to get the desired effect. The turn signals were the only lights already configured to flash, after all. But it’s become clear that they’re not the best choice, because, again, they eliminate an extremely important feature of taillights: turn signals. And for that I will not stand.
We live in an automotive era where it would not be hard to, while still using only existing hardware, find a new way to make hazard lights work. On some cars, I suspect changes could be made with over-the-air updates! Regardless of how it’s done, there are viable options that I firmly think would work better as a hazard indicator than just blinking all the turn signals.
This was an idea David had: blink the indicators as normal, but when the turn signal stalk is moved to actually indicate a turn, switch hazard functionality to the CHMSL (center high-mount stop light). Here’s a mockup of how that may look:
That does preserve the function of the turn signals, but I think it’s a bit too complex. I have another idea: what if we make those reverse lights earn their keep a little bit more?
Reverse lights are nice and bright, they never flash when in actual reversing use, and I think they would definitely get attention. And, of course, all normal functions like turn indicating and braking and normal taillights or whatever are completely intact.
Also, I don’t think anyone will assume the driver is rhythmically shifting into and out of reverse gear, because people aren’t that stupid. Maybe in parking lots some people may get pissed because they see a flash that suggests someone is backing out of a spot, like how GM uses them when a car is locked/unlocked. And no one really likes that. But I think this context and behavior will be different enough (GM tends to keep them on longer, for example) to avoid that issue.
Now, I don’t have a solution for what to do up front; I think for the front, if there is a separate side/parking light/DRL, then that is definitely what should blink; if not, I guess we can grudgingly stay with the indicators. But for new cars, that have to have DRLs already, I think we can demand that! Why not?
So, here’s my proposal: until we change how hazard lights work – which we should, and I think that means blinking the reverse lamps in rear, the DRLs up front – then people shouldn’t use their hazards when they’re just unsure of how they’re driving or are uncomfortable with the conditions. I get that it feels safer and there is some benefit to letting the world know, but it does more harm than good.
I’ll go around to all of my usual taillight bar and bathhouse hangouts and spread the word of flashing-reverse hazard lights, and see how it plays out. But I’ll need everyone’s help if we’re to make this change a reality! Or, if you have a better idea, tell me in the comments! I’ll listen! With my eyes! By reading!
***giggles, double entendre coming out of Torch’s mouth***
I dunno if I agree…In Wisconsin I usually see people throw on the hazards when they see a hazard ahead, like stopped traffic on the highway in slippery conditions. I also see semi’s throw the hazards on during snowstorms all the time.
I don’t know if I’ve ever encountered a situation where there were so many hazard lights on I got confused…if anything it just makes me slow down in general so any confusing situation, should it arise, is easier to address at a lower speed.
Maybe it’s more common to overdo it in non-winter states but i dunno…I’ve never found that it made a situation worse. Sure the different lights would work better than occupying the turn signals but…I dunno I think i’d prefer the notice of potential hazards rather than not. At worst it just means the person isn’t comfortable driving and I can stay away.
(edited for typo)
I also see semi’s throw the hazards on during snowstorms all the time.
I see semis with the hazards on when they’re going slowly, like up a long grade with a heavy load. So maybe some of the NC drivers aren’t freaked out, just trying to communicate , “Hey, I’m goin’ slow up here. Don’t rear-end me.”
That’s how I always look at it. I don’t really get how people having hazards on can be that confusing. You may not know EXACTLY what the hazard is but…you don’t need to. It’s a hazard…slow down. If they change lanes you should already be keeping your distance and, if they’re nervous, they probably aren’t going to make some dangerously unexpected sharp turn.
If you think they’re stopped, you should probably slow down and stop. If you can’t tell if a car is moving or pulled over because it has hazards on, I don’t know how you navigate the road on a daily basis.
If the weather isn’t that bad and people are doing it when there’s no danger I get the annoyance but even then…it’s an annoyance at being over-careful. With how crazy people here in Milwaukee drive, I can deal with a little over-carefulness.
In bad weather I refer to hazards as Idiot Lights- anyone who has them on wants you to know that they’re an idiot.
But a self aware idiot. As frustrated as I get seeing someone struggle in inclement conditions, they very well are the hazard on the road and I appreciate being alerted to it.
You’re the guy in the clapped out Civic zipping past me at 70mph when visibility is down to a car length or two?
No, i’m the guy whos astigmatism makes it even harder for me to see in limited visibility when your hazards are blinking on and off.
The Venn diagram of people who use their flashers in bad weather also overlaps with people who fail to turn on the lights of their Nissan Rogue when it gets dark, as well as those who aggressively decelerate any time they approach either 1) known cop hangouts or 2) gradual bends in the road.
“people who fail to turn on the lights of their Nissan Rogue when it gets dark”
This is so real, specially with cars that use the same bulbs for the DRLs and an always on instrument cluster. I’ve seen Nissans, Hondas, GMs and so on. When I spot one of those I’d quickly switch between off and on low beams and I realized it’s more useful than I thought. Some others never get the memo, though and might think their dull DRLs is what their car comes with as low beams.
I’ve occasionally encountered them without even the DRLs on! And yet, their instrument binnacle is lit up.
Ignoring for a moment the moronic drivers, I’d consider that a design flaw.
I’ve never personally cared much for automatic headlights, but think I’m in the minority on it, and it seems like that’s solved the issue you describe for a lot of cars.
…Except when it comes to Toyotas for some reason, as they are the worst offenders of it in my experience. I don’t know why these drivers seem to be more likely to turn the auto function off than others, but it always seems to be some Camry or something that I know has the feature. It’s worsened by the fact that they usually had the complete off setting also be a DRL off. Other makes were later to add DRLs than Toyota and GM, but most only kill the DRLs with the parking brake on, Toyota doesn’t.
But then it still wouldn’t solve it completely because for some reason Toyota refused for so long (maybe still does?) to put in wiper activation with the auto function.
And in lesser rains it’s always the cars with no lights in shades of gray that seem to have the wipers going at full speed. The lights won’t help them see but sure isn’t helping them be seen.
I love auto headlights. Both of our cars go one step further and have auto high beams too. Comes in handy living in the sticks.
In my daily commute, it’s clear that a large swath of drivers cannot be trusted to properly operate their vehicle, as sad as that sounds.
Once my parents had them, it was basically a requirement. Only non-auto-light vehicle they had was one where the lights would turn on/off with the ignition when left on.
For me like Dan said below, they always seemed to be on at the wrong time and less so when it’s needed. I’m more indifferent on it these days, especially my last car and now this one have wiper activated lights, so they really are more set-and-forget then. I recently got my first car with auto high beams and haven’t been impressed so far, but that might be brand-specific with the tech too or maybe a settings adjustment.
I hate automatic headlights so much. They come on when it’s too light. They don’t come on when it’s raining. I want to control my headlights, not some flaky sensor and software.
Blinking on pulling into a garage and vice versa bothered me unnecessarily, but I’ve cooled on that in recent years especially with LEDs. The wiper activation was a big thing for me, if I still have to turn them on then they’re not really automatic. I haven’t had issues with the wiper activation in different models but have side eyed the switch waiting for enough wipes to turn them on when the rain isn’t heavy enough for a steady speed though, lol.
Mazda CX-5, looking at you. My wife’s first one (2017) did not have auto headlamps, and that resulted in more than one instance of her forgetting to turn the light on.
You see, the instrument cluster is always illuminated, and the DRLs are so bright they are almost like headlamps. There’s the green headlamp indicator that tells you the headlamps are on. For someone who learned how to drive before that became commonplace, especially someone older who uses a car like an appliance, it’s understandable why this can confuse some drivers.
Her last two cars (another CX-5, short lived that got totalled by a young driver in a school zone, and a Genesis) have had auto headlamps, so I don’t have to worry as much when she is on the road at night.
I’m a firm believer of auto headlights. I just leave the switch there to never worry about it.
My wife’s Jetta doesn’t have it, though. But it’s instrument cluster dims if it’s dark outside (it’s got a photosensor in it), so it kind of reminds you to turn that headlight switch on. I mean it’s cool but I’m almost certain it would’ve been cheaper to add an extra notch for Auto headlights to the dial and call it a day. German companies doing German things, I guess
We’re gonna need to disagree on this –
When I’m clipping along in high-speed traffic and there’s a sudden unexpected slowdown/stop ahead of me for whatever reason, one of the first things I do while braking hard is to hit the hazards so that folks behind me will hopefully look up from their phone and get the idea that it’s not a regular braking situation ahead.
And yes – it’s helpful when other vehicles are on their hazards so I can recognize that they’re running well under general road speeds. Oh, they might be turning or pulling off the road ahead? Well, their hazards are on, so it’s probably best not to pass them on the curbside anyway.
I feel like anything we can do to alert those behind us of hazardous situations – (hence “Hazard Lights”) is a Very Good Thing.
Now – you want to tell folks who park on the street that lifting their wipers off the windscreen when it’s snowing is a very stupid thing to do? Or not turning on their headlamps till after dark to “save” their lightbulbs or something is incredibly moronic?
Because you have my full support with those right there.
Ok that’s fine. But just don’t leave the hazards on after the traffic behind you has already slowed down. We got the message. You are no longer a hazard
Which is what I do – as that totally makes sense.
Thanks for putting your phone down long enough to brake and not manslaughter me from behind.
My pleasure. Nothing but crap on Insta today, anyway.
I agree. Several highway hills near me have signs “use flashers under 40 mph” although any semi or whoever struggling to even reach 50 or so usually uses them anyway.
I’ve used hazards in one or two incredible downpours, staying in the right lane, moving slower than the speed limit. I don’t think there’s any harm in that, per se.
I do get Jason’s point and any vehicle I’d design would have separate flasher and turn signal lights, but that’s a different story. And I do begrudge people with hazards on for seemingly no reason, or changing lanes while they’re on. Yeah, that’s dumb/unsafe. But overall, very situational, and I think I’ve seen them used justifiably more often than not.
I discovered a feature in the coding of my Sportwagen that would supposedly turn the flashers on automatically in the event of a panic stop. Forgot about it, till I rounded a curve on I-71 and had to full on panic stop from 75mph because someone’s old Explorer was stopped in my lane. It was fully dark but no lights or flashers on the Explorer. Anyway, the feature worked as advertised and the flashers really do come on in a panic stop, maybe it’s based on ABS use. Thought it was a neat idea, wasn’t pleased that I got to test it. I still turn them on manually if I have to reduce speed considerably.
I always love getting the emergency flasher “thank you” gesture from truck drivers for letting them merge or change lanes.
Oh boy, is this one going to get messy because both sides are correct, but only under certain circumstances. Because of this, there can be no winners, only combatants. Having said such a thing, I’m going to run far away from this one. I’d rather argue about civil asset forfeiture. Lol
Have you met people? They may not think specifically about the ol’ reverse in-and-out, but they will furrow their heavily-ridged brows in an effort to understand the blinkenlights situation.
My thinking as well. I might also get confused, because I’m stupid enough.
Disagree Torch.
Colorado State Patrol had 5 cruisers destroyed this past weekend by being hit whilst on the shoulder. Lucky no one was killed.
Every time I see a cop on the side of the road the flashers come on by default.
As for winter ice and snow it’s common sense to try and warn others behind you of hazards. So they stay off unless I start to encounter black ice or giant frozen slush ice turds in the lanes ahead.
We live in a time of nitwits, agreed.
But most seem capable of turning the hazards off when not actually a benefit to others. YMMV as usual.
Did the cruisers have their lights on?
I’d argue the rear indicators are more important than the fronts. Your headlamps are on, right?
BTW I abhor the GM flashing reverse lamps in parking lots. Are they moving? backing up? unconscious?
Yes, this. Hazards mean that a vehicle is stopped–it does not mean, “I’m scared of the rain.” It’s truly terrible because running your hazards makes it much harder to judge distance at night and in general makes it terrible for people trying to see.
I have run hazards if WAY below the speed limit in bad weather.
I mean, yellow/amber penetrates rain and fog much better than red or white. And I’ve seen it used beneficially, in addition–as others are mentioning–that highways regularly have signs on hills “use flashers under 40” or similar signage.
Uh, Jason, a far easier solution is simply to block the blinking of the off-side lights when the turn signal is enabled.
I’m going to disagree with you on this one, Jason. ‘Flashers under 40’ – use of the hazards when you are travelling significantly under the normal travel speed of the road your on makes sense and is required on interstates under various conditions. Drivers of light duty automobiles rarely encounter this, but truck drivers frequently do – when still accelerating after merging onto the interstate, or when pulling a steep grade with a heavy load.
If you’re driving on the interstate or some other normally-fast road, but you’ve slowed *way* down in order to be safe given the conditions you’re in, having the flashers on is valid, IMO. If you need to signal for changing lanes or turning off the road, then you do have to be mindful to cancel the 4-ways beforehand, that’s true. Heavy trucks normally have a 4-way / turn signal interlock for that reason (i.e. if you turn on your turn signal, it auto-cancels the 4-ways).
Obviously, as with anything, there’s always the wrong way to do things – if folks are driving the speed limit in crappy conditions and just have their 4 ways on anyway, yeah, that’s not the point. But to indicate “I’m travelling way slower than what you normally encounter on this road, watch out!” use of the hazards is valid.
I sometimes see this from truckers in the right lane doing 25 (in a 40+ minimum zone) because they didn’t plan for the hills ahead of time. I feel like to get a lot of that around the South, where it could be 12 hours of really flat ground and then sudden, short-but-steep grades. A lot of drivers aren’t prepared for it the way seasoned Rockies truckers might be.
I think that falls under the reasonable use of hazards—indicating that you’re having vehicle issues and driving significantly slower than traffic. Usually, you see people hugging the breakdown lane or curb in case forward motion eludes them and they need to come to a stop, but a slow-moving truck is effectively no different. The problem Jason seems to be addressing is the idiots whose problem isn’t the vehicle, but inability to drive, often using them at traffic speeds because they’re nervous (even if that speed is low due to conditions).
Amen Jason. A couple of months ago I got caught in the remnants of an early winter “storm” that maybe dumped an inch or two on I-79 in Western PA. EVERYONE was driving about 20 mph with blinkers everywhere, clogging up both lanes. The roads weren’t bad (far worse has happened since) and no one was ditched, but not a single trucklet (all trucklets…) was willing to go much past school zone speeds. I’ve lived in Western PA my whole life, driven in terrible conditions, and have never experienced a mass freak-out quite like it. Hopefully not a harbinger of things to come!
Native Pittsburgher – was this the Jan 30 storm? We were out as well and it’s like the world lost its mind. This IS normal winter weather for this region. We have been spoiled by a few warm winters.
We were on McNight(mare) Road when it hit.
Butler County back in November. Normally it would have barely even registered as a storm. It was a really weird, collective freak out – no one would even speed up once we drove out of it and the roads were clear. I keep wondering if their safety systems kept blinking out or if I had missed some weather warning over the phone or something.
McKnight is awful when it’s 60 and partly cloudy, let alone in the snow. I work up in the north hills and avoid it whenever possible.
If it’s icy my main concern is other people not being careful enough; I assume having my hazards on makes people more wary/careful around me (personally I assume any car with hazards on could blow up at any moment). & so hazards on when icy should make people less likely to rear end me because they were going too fast for the conditions. That’s how I look at it
Also, I think if more cars came equipped with rear fog lights AND people used them sparingly, then we could accomplish the same idea with less confusion. First world problems…
Works just fine in Europe.
So do things like roundabouts, socialized medicine, and family cars the size of a Golf 🙂
Sure, it sounds like a utopia, but every few hundred miles the language changes.
Orange turn signals though. It is pretty nice here.
Pish! As every red blooded ‘Murican knows ‘dem foreigners understand American just fine if you speak it loudly enough.
As for their gibberish, who cares?
Yeah, my Volvo V70 wagon had a rear fog light. It was basically a brighter taillight on the driver’s side mounted high with a dedicated button to control it…and separate amber turn signals.
I’ve seen this even more frequently when traveling in Florida during torrential downpours (Wisconsin tags, usually. Just an observation).
The main problem there is that when I see a car with its hazards on, I expect one or more of the following:
For most rain and snow situations, these things don’t apply, but they do influence how the rest of the drivers treat you.
I’ll grant an exception for Altimas, where hazards usually mean you’re going 20 over the limit. On the shoulder.
I’ve never seen this on surface streets, but I think it’s an understandable – if possibly misguided – action by drivers in blizzard conditions that are causing them to go significantly below the speed limit on a highway. It’s less because they’re feeling uncomfortable and more because they don’t want to get rear-ended by someone overestimating their own capabilities and those of their 4WD SUV.
I could not agree more. Drives me mad when I have to follow one with hazards on.
I will use hazards on, say, interstate in whiteout conditions. I mean real whiteout: I can’t see more than 2-3 car-lengths.
I’m about 2&1:/2 hours north of Jason, and the ones I see using hazards in minor snow are typically beyond retirement age and moving really slow. I can kind of understand them given how the brodozers around here like to bully smaller vehicles.
My current idea if needed is to use a tiny led flashlight on strobe in whiteout/seriously dense fog. Don’t want to blind anyone—or myself, so I need to figure out where/how to put it
You need a euro spec fog light.
CHMSL on constantly does the same job.
I do—but there’s an Aurora A3 in each car already.
I’m not terribly worried about the shabby Subaru, but the Roadster is silver—and I have much more in it. Been considering aftermarket led rear lights for it anyway, but now I’ll also look into a switch for the High Mount. Thanks for that.
Hey Jason, how about an article about strobing brake lights? Good idea in the middle of nowhere, but annoying as heck in stop and go traffic, where the brakes are constantly being applied, released, applied, etc.
I can’t decide if those are aftermarket additions (or just mods of the OEM stuff) or if cars just come like that now. I hate it. We see your stupid brake lights, stop yelling.
When I was trying to buy a car in LA seemed like most of the dealers made it a “mandatory” extra cost add-on. Agree they’re extremely annoying in stop and go traffic.
My understanding is that they’re prohibited in FMVSS for car manufacturers, but since it’s technically after market is less regulated?
Like aftermarket LED headlights installed when a vehicle came with factory halogens, I think it fits squarely in that category of “illegal, but so far down the list of enormously problematic behavior that nobody but the most bored cop in the world could pull you over for it”…and even then, it could be one of those issues that they’re not allowed to pull you over for (without some other reason).
But yes, my understanding is no US vehicles come with those from the factory.
To the best of my knowledge, they’re illegal and don’t come from the factory like that for any vehicle. Aftermarket is a different story. But yeah. I begrudgingly admit it might be a good idea to grab the attention of some people looking at their phones, but it’s dumb when they don’t have something like a 15-second cooldown for the flashing effect.
Like someone signaling with non-amber turn signals in traffic. The red brake lights can have a second or two where they’re both blinking out of time with each other and it’s impossible to know what the hell the person is trying to do.
Modern LEDs would allow any light to change color, so they could flash amber for turn signals, gruesome Hammer Film Productions blood red for braking, and a nice sage green or baby blue for hazard lights that provide an alert but also cast a calming glow to keep other drivers from worrying too much.
But Jason:
What was your life in Los Angeles like before you met Sally? And it seems I might have missed out a little by unsubscribing from the local taillight enthusaists’ e-mail list.
Also thanks to the US still allowing double duty rear brake lights as turn signals, it becomes much harder to identify if someone just stomped on the brake pedal. Admittedly the CHMSL can help differentiate, but that’s more mental processing etc that may need to happen very quickly.
Came here to say this
Also on some vehicles, turning on the hazard flashers also flashes the CHMSL. My old ’86 Chevy Celebrity was like that.
Yup, turns/hazards should be separate, and amber. Never ever red.
You nailed it. Hazards on with combo brake/indicators equals no brake lights when brakes applied. And around me about 40% if the CHMSLs are burned out, so that doesn’t even help.
Counterpoint: In early January I ended up on the interstate in a HEAVY ice storm. Westbound traffic was traveling FAR too fast for the conditions they were entering, so I had my hazards on in an attempt to alert them.
But I guess it didn’t have any impact as I watched crash after crash.
No better ideas, this gets the premise right from the get go.
You’re scared? You’re a bad driver. You know how to fix those things? Focus, pay attention to what your car is doing, and drive. Don’t go 45 under, blinking your lights like a helpless wailing idiot, because of an assertive misting.
Actually, don’t turn them on for anything but your car being disabled or otherwise stopped in an abnormal place or fashion. It’s not a magic traffic repelling light spell. It doesn’t give you permission to park anywhere. It’s not a cheat code to go 125 through Greensboro. It’s a signal that your vehicle is not operating in a nominal fashion and so presents a hazard to other motorists and road users.
If the person driving is not able to appropriately react and maintain control at speed is that not the vehicle being unable to operate in a nominal fashion?
For some people their cars are absolutely something that can be a hazard to others because the person never bought it expecting the current conditions. Someone who bought a Stinger because it was a nice upscale sedan for cheap might not have ever developed the skills to navigate a snowy road with RWD because they’ve only driven FWD hatchbacks and sedans due to market prevalence, and until they learn they feel best to warn others.
My first RWD car was also mid-engined. I commuted on snow just fine despite the previous 8 years FWD only experience.
Just be careful and observant.
Obviously I’m ignoring the high likelihood of there being drivers today whose response to snow is to use their phone to watch a YouTube video of how to drive on snow while trying to drive on snow.
So last week I was driving home to Chicago from Michigan right in the middle of that winter storm that they’ve been warning everyone all over the midwest for many days about.
While I was entering Illinois from Indiana about a third of drivers on 94 were driving with their hazards on, in every single lane, at wildly variable speeds (like doing 30 in the left lane, forcing everyone to brake hard or slalom among trucks in heavy traffic). The visibility was crap, and there was serious snow on the road, to the point where you couldn’t even tell how many lanes there were, let alone which lane you’re in, or wheter you’re actually driving on the shoulder.
I had absolutely no issue with grip, changing lanes at speed, passing on the shoulder, braking hard to avoid the RAV4 drifting across 3 lanes at 25mph etc.
The big secret: snow tires!!
If you don’t know how to drive in a snowstorm and/or can’t be bothered to get snow tires, maybe don’t go driving on the interstate when there’s news everywhere a week in advance about the huge snowstorm about to hit.
And no, just putting your hazards on doesn’t make it ok to endanger everyone around you.
So you expect everyone to be able to get into mechanics with limited time, have spare room to put their summer tires, and in general the money to get all these things done quickly, the time out of work for it since I’ve never met a regular mechanic with weeknight or Sunday hours?
I expect people living in the Great Lakes area to know how the seasons work (winter comes after fall, then spring comes after winter, also winter is the one with snow and freezing temps), and plan ahead a bit.
Also in my little suburb there are quite a few tire shops (big chains like Firestone, also smaller independent ones), and all of them have Saturdays open, while a couple are open until 8pm on weekdays.
If none of that tickles them fancy, then just don’t go driving in a snowstorm.
My least favorite place to drive in the world is 80/94 near the IN/IL border. I’ve driven through that area in snow a million times and it always feels a little post-apolcalyptic– like there are no laws (or lanes, apparently) anymore and everyone is just kind of doing their own thing.
As someone who’s learned how to drive in Europe, I can tell you with absolute certainty implementing (and enforcing) lane discipline in the US would go a very long way in fixing traffic everywhere and crashes on highways.
It was baffling to me when I moved here and learned that ‘left lane – fast, right lane – slow’ is just a ‘suggestion’.. -__-
Agreed, but also it’s a terrible stretch of road even without the snow.
“assertive misting” I’m gonna use that.
I’ll have you know I was NOT using my hazards going through Greensboro, Good Sir!
😉
Damn straight! You gotta go a buck-25 with no hazards, or else lose to that Big Altima, which is truly a fate worse than death. Big Altima Energy seems powerful around Greensboro in particular.
Preach!
Amen