Rear Facing Hazard/Emergency Lights

[92silverado1500]

I've been thinking about putting extra rear facing lights for if I'm stuck on the highway changing a tire or broken down so it's more likely that people will see me and hopefully move out of the slow lane to make it safer for me and them. They will be wired through a switch. My main questions are:

Is it a good or bad idea?

Should I use red or amber lights?

Where should I put them?

Should I use the trucks hazard flash pattern or a different flash pattern?

Any opinions and ideas are appreciated, thanks!

 

[deven bullis]

are these to help you see or for other cars to notice you? sorry dumb question

 

[92silverado1500]

are these to help you see or for other cars to notice you? sorry dumb question

For other cars to notice me

 

[deven bullis]

For other cars to notice me

I'm running a led strip under the tailgate that works as a brake light, turn signal, hazards and reverse lights. it flashes in the same pattern as the hazards, it brightens the truck up in the dark, as I've had to use it before, and it works well. id definitely recommend that as a starter.

 

[92silverado1500]

I'm running a led strip under the tailgate that works as a brake light, turn signal, hazards and reverse lights. it flashes in the same pattern as the hazards, it brightens the truck up in the dark, as I've had to use it before, and it works well. id definitely recommend that as a starter.

Thanks. I have one too. I don't think it does quite enough though

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[deven bullis]

Thanks. I have one too. I don't think it does quite enough though

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what about getting a set of leds that aren't very bright and mount them on/next to the hitch receiver and have that wired to the trailer harness to work, only an idea though.

 

[df2x4]

Sounds to me like you want what's known as a rear fog light. They're red, usually mounted slightly off center towards the driver's side in the rear. Big bright attention getter. They're not meant to flash, just give off easily visible bright red light.@shovelbill can probably give you a lot more info than I can, I saw him posting about them at some point in his Spyder Headlight thread.

Here's a link with a little more info, this should at least give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

http://dastern.torque.net/Rearfogs/Rearfogs.html

 

[Bob L]

I ran tow trucks for years with lots of flashing lights, It does not move people over. The brighter the lights you put back there the more it just blinds them so they can't see you at all. I got to where if a someone had a flat or even just out of gas I put them on the rollback and got off the highway to service the car if it was in a tight spot. Our local hiway is two lanes each way and no break down lane. If a car had problems where there was a guard rail they could't even pull off the road. You cannot legally have anything other than red flashing from the rear unless you are an emergency vehicle in most states.

Keep in mind there are plenty of impaired drivers that get even more impaired when you add bright flashing lights. Think about how many cruisers get hit by drunks.

 

[92silverado1500]

Sounds to me like you want what's known as a rear fog light. They're red, usually mounted slightly off center towards the driver's side in the rear. Big bright attention getter. They're not meant to flash, just give off easily visible bright red light.@shovelbill can probably give you a lot more info than I can, I saw him posting about them at some point in his Spyder Headlight thread.

Here's a link with a little more info, this should at least give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

http://dastern.torque.net/Rearfogs/Rearfogs.html

I never thought of using them for this but that's a great idea I'll have to do a little more research

I ran tow trucks for years with lots of flashing lights, It does not move people over. The brighter the lights you put back there the more it just blinds them so they can't see you at all. I got to where if a someone had a flat or even just out of gas I put them on the rollback and got off the highway to service the car if it was in a tight spot. Our local hiway is two lanes each way and no break down lane. If a car had problems where there was a guard rail they could't even pull off the road. You cannot legally have anything other than red flashing from the rear unless you are an emergency vehicle in most states.

Keep in mind there are plenty of impaired drivers that get even more impaired when you add bright flashing lights. Think about how many cruisers get hit by drunks.

Yeah that's true. I guess the only real answer to my question is to just get off the highway. My truck overheated on the NJ turnpike a few weeks ago and the "shoulder" isn't very large. There wasn't really enough space to get out so I just waited for it to cool down a little then pretty much rolled to an exit. I don't know how the Troopers and tow truck drivers do it