In the state of Pennsylvania, it is perfectly legal to use your hazard lights when you are driving. Awesome! But even though it’s not against the law here to have them on while on the road, you still might be using your hazard lights improperly. Some of the ways people use their hazard lights include:

• Driving on the highway in bad weather

• Going really slowly

• Double parking on a city street

• Indicating that they are pulled over

• Mysterious reasons

These are, generally, wrong ways to use your hazards. You should be instead using them:

• When you are pulled over (yes this one was correct)

• If you are a stopped hazard

Yeah. That list is a lot shorter. One reason why you shouldn’t use your hazards while actively moving is because with them on, you can’t use your turn signals. If you need to pull over, you need to use your turn signals. Instead of turning on your hazards, you should get into the furthest right lane as quickly – and safely – as you can before pulling over to the side of the road. THEN you can turn on your hazards! This is especially important in the dark, and should be coupled with any reflective hazard indicating equipment that you have, like a triangle, or even flares.

If you are going really slowly, just stay in the furthest right lane. Though, if you are going slowly because of mechanical trouble, STOP DRIVING and just pull over to the side of the road to call for help. You do not want to make the problem worse by driving on it!

In bad weather, the same thing applies. If the weather is so poor that you think other drivers can’t see you well without having your hazards on, you should pull over until the weather passes because that is super not safe. If you don’t think other people can see you, that probably means that you really can’t see other drivers either. In bad weather, good places to pull over are under bridges, because they’re the best shelter besides your car itself that you can get on the highway!

Remember that hazards are really supposed to be emergency lights – and as such, should not be used unless it’s an emergency!