4-way flashers are not only for disabled vehicles but are also for use
when going significantly slower than other traffic. On Interstate highways
you often see signs stating: "use of flashers required under 40mph" or
similar. From this 'standard' we might logically conclude that a 15mph
differential is the trigger point for flasher use. Thus if you find that
85% of traffic is coming up on you at 15mph or more, then it should be ok
to turn on your 4-ways.
[ the 85% comes from the 'standard deviation' of all drivers who define
what is 'safe & proper' for any given situation- i.e. 7.5% of drivers are
going too slow, for whatever reason, and 7.5% are going too fast based on
statistical norms. The rest are safely within the bell-curve (85th
percentile) and thus should not be ticketed for speeding/unsafe operation.
These are well-accepted engineering norms which may/should sustain you in
any court. YMMV. ]
4-ways are focussed to the rear where they are needed, and to the front
are actually amber in color and rather unobtrusive. Utility/emergency
vehicles, on the other hand, are exposed in all positions on the sides of
the road thus they require 360 degree beacons. Slow traffic cannot
logically make such a claim. One variation, that of the single-lens amber
flasher (~2 fps) when positioned toward the rear (often mounted in the
rear window) would not be too great a stretch of logic to justify,
especially if switched on only when needed (like the 4-ways). Fog or smoke
conditions would really make these useful and justifiable on any vehicle.
Bill
In <list-1271373@skylee.com>
John Hutterer <john.hutterer@deltec.com> said:
>Jim,
>Yes, of course, we do have four way flashers in America. It's just that
>they are most commonly used by disabled vehicles that have had to pull
>over to the side of the road, not by construction vehicles that may have
>to move occasionally. Also, four way flashers are still red on some
>vehicles. As I mentioned earlier, red is a color that is pretty much
>reserved to emergency vehicles, at least as far as flashing lights on a
>moving vehicle are concerned. Also, four way flashers are generally
>mounted down around the bumper (they are, after all, the vehicles turn
>signals) and they are nowhere near as visible as amber beacons that are
>mounted high on the vehicle are. For whatever the reason, amber seems to
>have become the color of choice for most warning lights in the U.S.
>John
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 08 2001 - 10:58:57 PDT