Portable Emergency Lighting?

[SubLGT]

Are the 4-way emergency flashers that come stock on every passenger vehicle in the USA adequate for the job, or can they be improved upon with an aftermarket LED lamp that sits on top of the car? I am thinking of scenarios such as being on the side of the freeway changing a flat tire in the rain, at 11:00 PM.

I remember reading here that one should avoid strobe lighting for this purpose, so that eliminates the use of the strobe function found on many flashlights.

 

[-Virgil-]

Better: get retroreflective warning triangles. Three of them at minimum. Set one 50 feet back from the car, one 100 feet back, and one 150 feet back, in a line angled so the first one (150 feet back) is closest to the outer edge of the road and the last one (50 feet back) is closest to the travelling lanes. And get a high-visibility, fluorescent yellow vest with white retroreflective stripes. Keep it in the passenger compartment of the car (under the seat is where I keep mine) and put it on before exiting the car at the roadside, night or day.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Better: get retroreflective warning triangles.

rest of post not quoted but it's still just full of win
So much this.

And why? Because reasons! For example, triangles help claim the space immediately behind you, so the drivers who stay in the right lane will not stay there and be mindful, and or will go over to the left lane to give you wide berth. The hi-vis vest lets YOU be seen, even if you move around.

Also, the rooftop light may confuse other drivers, or attract the highway patrol more interested in citing you for "impersonation" or somesuch (no matter the color) than actually helping you change a tire. Also, there're the batteries to maintain for it. The triangles need no batteries.

The suggestion against the xenon (camera flash type) strobes is because the light's origin is hard to pinpoint. You want the other drivers to be aware of where you and your car are, not that there's just a huge burst of light from some hard-to-determine location. You want to be seen, identified, and located, not just for people to be vaguely aware that something weird is up the road.

 

[Berneck1]

Agreed. A strobe would probably increase your chances of being hit. It's meant to disorient.


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[SubLGT]

Thanks for the excellent advice. I found a vest and 3 triangles on Amazon for under $30.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Thanks for the excellent advice. I found a vest and 3 triangles on Amazon for under $30.

You're welcome!

Hope you never need to use them-- but you'll be glad you got them if you do use them.

Another good thing to have which IS a light is a good headlamp (the non-automotive type). Frees both hands for the actual tire changing! Of course, you'll have to keep up with the state of the batteries.

 

[Berneck1]

Whatever light you do keep in your car, I would recommend always using AA lights. Also, keep a pack of lithium primaries with it. Never use alkalines. This will greatly reduce any issues with leaking batteries, and ensure you have a working flashlight when you need it. You can always grab more batteries on the road.


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[Hamilton Felix]

I am rural, and carry a fair amount of gear, probably more than most. I often carry an inexpensive amber beacon, which is only placed on the roof at the scene of an accident or tree across the road, never when moving. Reflective vest or raincoat is great. Wearing only dark clothes in the midst of moving and flashing lighting is a recipe for disaster.

For those who have never taken a Flagger class, see if you can set up a practice scene on a deserted stretch of right-of-way road or some such. Approaching at normal highway speed, you'll see that most people set reflectors, flares, etc. too close together. It looks completely different approaching at speed, compared to standing on the road.

Any time you use reflectors, flares, beacons, emergency scene lighting, etc., always think about how it looks to the approaching driver and whether it blinds him in any way or obscures any part of the scene. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

For those who have never taken a Flagger class, see if you can set up a practice scene on a deserted stretch of right-of-way road or some such. Approaching at normal highway speed, you'll see that most people set reflectors, flares, etc. too close together. It looks completely different approaching at speed, compared to standing on the road.

Definitely. Yes, it's kindof scary walking on the highway while placing the triangles, and then walking BACK after placing the last one (because your back is to everyone) but if you do the triangles wrong it can be worse than not having them at all. People get in a hurry and slap 'em down...

 

[Aonsaithya]

A reflective vest is a life-saver, and it's actually mandatory here to have at least one with you in the vehicle.

A part of the driving school here is a lesson on driving in the dark, which includes a demonstration on the visibility of pedestrians with/without reflectors. It was fairly amazing to realize through first-hand experience that you can spot a pedestrian that's wearing a proper reflective vest from as far away with the dipped beams as you can a non-reflective pedestrian with the main beams.

 

[Marcturus]

A reflective vest is a life-saver, and it's actually mandatory here to have at least one with you in the vehicle.

Safety effect in reality = statistics. You do not want to increase your risk exposure so much that it outweighs any conspicuity benefits (fitting on vests inside the danger zone, risk compensation by falsely assuming that the visibility of your vest will safely keep anybody from crashing into you =
"Honey, where's that darn vest, I don't want to get a ticket."
"I'm not sure how to best wear these, now let's see where the instructions are."
"Without my vest, I wouldn't dare change a tire here.")

A part of the driving school here is a lesson on driving in the dark, which includes a demonstration on the visibility of pedestrians with/without reflectors. It was fairly amazing to realize through first-hand experience that you can spot a pedestrian that's wearing a proper reflective vest from as far away with the dipped beams as you can a non-reflective pedestrian with the main beams.

If your driving school was any good, what you learned from that was to slow way down with your dipped beams + keep them aimed as high as safely and legally possible ... instead of expecting all relevant parts of the environment to adapt to you:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iDB0KV6bzP0/VG3gM8i2EUI/AAAAAAAAcfw/FvcmElLAR_Y/s1600/Zweibeiniges-Reh.jpg

 

[-Virgil-]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iDB0KV6bzP0/VG3gM8i2EUI/AAAAAAAAcfw/FvcmElLAR_Y/s1600/Zweibeiniges-Reh.jpg

You might laugh, but http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-26244339

 

[Supur-Lyte]

Thumbs up or thumbs down for something like these?

 

[Franco]

Thumbs up or thumbs down for something like these?

That seems heavily targeted towards emergency personnel. I don't think that I'd buy one for personal use, though someone may know better than I.

 

[Marcturus]

That seems heavily targeted towards emergency personnel.

How do emergency personnel react to a Y2007 brochure showing nondescript angle microcandelas, kilos of them, of course?

As CPF's Kiessling correctly remarked in 2008 about PF's awful website,
"Their website is really unproductive and annoying."
It still is, at least for the visitors!

Seems they are using cumulative data sheet candelas.
16 leds, one CR123 = on high setting, 4...8 hours output of:
630nm red: 128 cd -- brightest, unless sunglasses or L-cone issues mess up the plan
-- for whatever reason, no orange wavelength product listed --
white: 96 cd
595 amber: 80 cd -- at which temperature?
525 green: 80 cd
464 blue: 38.4 cd
... really?

They had plenty of years to link to independently gathered data. They chose not to. They confuse "whitepaper" and advertisement. Seems they've been making enough money off the taxpayer, I won't ever buy from them.


BTW: If flashing lights do attract drugged drivers, and you only have one unit, a competitor's packaging shows where NOT to place it when intending to replace the tire...
http://www.osram.com/media/resource/lightboxlarge1/388114/ledguardian-road-flare-ledsl301.jpg

 

[Hamilton Felix]

I admit to curiousity about that PowerFlare. Back when I was setting up emergency scenes, I was interested in alternatives to traditional flares, but most blinkers, chemlights, etc. that I tried were just not that bright, particularly with other lighting in the area or during dusk daylight hours.

LED warning lights are getting better, but really good ones are probably still a bit expensive for Joe Average to put in tne trunk of his cars. Also note, very quick flashes are not good. Strobes had barely become popular (much less electrical drain than the old sealed beam rotators), when the manufacturers started coming out with double flash then quadruple descending intensity flash (with catchy names like "comet flash" and the like) in an attempt to give the viewer's eye more time to perceive the strobe.

BTW, something popular on emergency vehicles is an alternate flash between brake and reverse lights. You will see it on stopped police cars. I am not certain of the legality today, and would only use it on a STATIONARY vehicle. I still have a couple of the commercial kits on my shelves, leftover from my VFD days. I think Gall's called theirs "Traffic-Backer." I did this on a 1962 International Scout that had aux backup lights but was made before 4-way flashers. It requires little more than a 537 flasher, DPDT switch and some wire. The alternating red-white catches the eye. If I had kept my 1958 Cadillac, I intended to do this. The car had matching red tail and white backup lights at the base of each tailfin. Again, check on the legality in your area, and don't even think about using it on a moving vehicle.

 

[-Virgil-]

Nonstandard vehicle lights are an extremely bad idea. They force observers to try to figure out what message is being conveyed. Gosh, those red and white lights look almost like a cop car, but that's not a copCRASHBANG. And even if that doesn't happen, persons authorized to have emergency-vehicle type lighting on their cars take a very (justifiable) angry view of unauthorized persons having it.

Make a considered choice about reflective triangles, road flares, beacons, etc., but don't mess with the lights on your car, no matter what you might think "catches the eye".

 

[Alaric Darconville]

(Regarding the "Traffic-Backer" or a homemade one):
Again, check on the legality in your area, and don't even think about using it on a moving vehicle.

With an "endorsement" like that, uhhh, no.

I'll stick with the triangles or the "solid state" flares...

 

[Hamilton Felix]

I honestly am not certain. A flashing red or yellow on a stationary vehicle is fine, and I'm pretty sure white is OK in my state. But it's been years since I did much reading of RCW 46. I don't know of a federal prohibition on stationary blinking white, but perhaps Virgil does. I have no idea what the laws are in other states. BTW I have seen small white strobes atop school buses in my state. In general, if it's not an emergency vehicle, it should not be moving with any flashing lights except turn signals (which may be white on the front of an older vehicle).

Sorry I can't give a stronger endorsement, but I am not currently expert on traffic/vehicle equipment regs.:shrug:

 

[-Virgil-]

I honestly am not certain. A flashing red or yellow on a stationary vehicle is fine

Maybe, maybe not. Be sure not to misinterpret the statute that permits the use of ordinary hazard flashers -- it probably does not authorize any/every arrangement of flashing red or yellow lights on any/every vehicle as long as it's stationary.

and I'm pretty sure white is OK in my state

I doubt it.

I don't know of a federal prohibition on stationary blinking white

Federally, the only lights allowed to be white on a non-emergency vehicle are the headlamps, the front position lights, the daytime running lights, the license plate lights, and the reversing lamps. All of these are required to be steady-burning.

I have seen small white strobes atop school buses in my state.

...whch are also equipped with wig-wag yellow and red lights and fold-out stop signs with their own wig-wag or strobe red lights. Nothing about this means it's OK for any/every vehicle to have them. It's not.