TEXAS, USA — If you have been driving around in the rain lately, you have likely come across some cars on the road with emergency flashers on. A few folks reached out to the VERIFY Team wanting to know if that's against the law.
Hazard lights are meant to help keep drivers safe when they have to pull over. But what about while driving in inclement weather?
Beth wrote the VERIFY Team:
“During the heavy rains today many drivers were using their emergency flashers while driving on the freeway. I was taught that this was incorrect.”
Gordon asked, “I see people driving with hazard lights on during heavy rain. Is this a law or something that is recommended?”
Our source for this is the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“A driver operating a motor vehicle on a public road can use the hazard lights in inclement weather to proceed safely on the road to alert other drivers that they may be approaching, overtaking, or passing, or stopped on the side of the road,” Sergeant Richard Sandifer with DPS said.
In Texas, you can even mount extra lamps to your car to make it more visible. But there are rules.
The lamps must be on the same level, evenly spaced and visible at a distance of at least 500 feet.
If the lamps are on the front of your car, they must flash white or amber. On the rear, red or amber.
We can VERIFY in Texas it is legal to drive in the rain with your hazard lights flashing.
That law does not apply to all states. In Louisiana and Florida, it is illegal to use your hazard lights while driving in the rain.