Defensive driving with your Escape

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Jack!

Use of Emergency Flashers in rain storms is now legal in FL. Real handy as it rains so hard here "lights on" is sometimes not enough & flashers help.

Been there. Was in a storm so violent with torrential rain this past July when returning from a trip in VA that it was almost impossible to see other vehicles with tail lights alone. It was dark and everyone had their flashers on so it really helped.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Been there. Was in a storm so violent with torrential rain this past July when returning from a trip in VA that it was almost impossible to see other vehicles with tail lights alone. It was dark and everyone had their flashers on so it really helped.

Unless your the poor guy on the side of the road with flashers on because of a flat or mechanical issue.. They get hit

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Jack!

Use of Emergency Flashers in rain storms is now legal in FL. Real handy as it rains so hard here "lights on" is sometimes not enough & flashers help.

That's what rear fog lamps are for, but that leads to another problem of abuses.

[HABBERDABBER]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

That's what rear fog lamps are for, but that leads to another problem of abuses.

Interesting. Can you describe?

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

Interesting. Can you describe?

most cars in Europe have a switch next to the headdlight switch (or in the case of Mercedes, you pull the headlight knob out two clicks) to enable the rear fog light. its a bright red light on the driver side only, separate from the brake light. Some of these cars still have this feature in their USA configurations (my late 80s/early 90s Volvos all had them, so do my early 90s and 2016 Mercedes). In Europe, turn signals are /always/ yellow so won't be confused with this.

you're supposed to switch off the rear fog when someone comes up behind you, once they are close enough that you can see their headligths distinctly (and presumably they can see your regular tail lights).

[George and Linda]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

most cars in Europe have a switch next to the headdlight switch (or in the case of Mercedes, you pull the headlight knob out two clicks) to enable the rear fog light. its a bright red light on the driver side only, separate from the brake light. Some of these cars still have this feature in their USA configurations (my late 80s/early 90s Volvos all had them, so do my early 90s and 2016 Mercedes). In Europe, turn signals are /always/ yellow so won't be confused with this.

you're supposed to switch off the rear fog when someone comes up behind you, once they are close enough that you can see their headligths distinctly (and presumably they can see your regular tail lights).

Was pulled over by a motorcycle Gendarme in Belgium because I had inadvertently switched on the fog light during a clear day. No ticket! Just another stupid American. C’est la vie!

[Radar1]

If I come up on an unexpected traffic stoppage (which the truckers usually refer to as a "brake check" on the CB), I will turn my hazard lights on until I know the vehicle behind me is coming to a stop. I usually leave plenty of room in front of me so that I don't need to stop too quickly.

On our trip this month, I moved to the left lane since traffic was merging from the right. About the same time, the left lane came to a sudden stop about 5 cars ahead of me for no apparent reason, while the right lane was still moving. I used my flashers so anyone behind me would see that there was a safety issue, turned them off when the car behind me was observed to be braking, and then a driver about 3 cars back that might have had his concentration somewhere else came roaring past on my left as he swerved to miss all the stopped traffic and ended up in the median. Glad he swerved, because at the speed he was going it would have been a chain reaction collision.

[John in Santa Cruz]

If I have to stop unexpectedly, I'll pulse my brakes to blink my brake lights unless its really a screaming hard stop where I need all the braking I can muster to stop in time

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by sofmerc

Unless your the poor guy on the side of the road with flashers on because of a flat or mechanical issue.. They get hit

I wish I had a perfect solution but it seems that may be elusive.

[Clearwater Chris]

A cheap and easy solution to warning traffic if you must pull over for more than a few minutes... get a set of 3 orange reflective triangles that come folded up and fit into a box about 3"x4"x13". Setting them up behind your vehicle or trailer at intervals of 10', 100' and 200' and doing so at an angle that moves traffic away from your vehicle.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

I wish I had a perfect solution but it seems that may be elusive.

My FIL was a trauma surgeon who dealt with these accident casualties frequently (Florida) and forbade his kids to pull over in heavy rain unless in peril

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

If I have to stop unexpectedly, I'll pulse my brakes to blink my brake lights unless its really a screaming hard stop where I need all the braking I can muster to stop in time

It has become common for European cars to include a feature which rapidly flashes the stop lamps in the event of braking beyond a set threshold level. This is bizarre to watch in video of a street car doing race track laps, but should only occur in exceptional circumstances, which is the idea.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

if traffic suddenly starts slowing or I see that traffic ahead is slowing I pump the brakes. Sometimes not even enough to actually start slowing but to pulse the brakes lights and add extra visibilty.

Ron

Works for me.

Ron