Japanese Drivers & Hazard Lights

[Astro Bear]

Why is the deal with japanese drivers and hazard lights?

Over here you generally only put your hazards on when your car has broken down, but the japanese love using them at every available opportunity.

Is there some sort of etiquette reason or something? I'm curious!

[elrodeo666]

Its the more intelligent japanese drivers way of telling you that they are...

Talking on the phone.

Having a sleep in the car.

Putting on makeup.

Stop outside a shop where there is no parking allowed.

There's something good on tv and they have stopped to watch it.

They dont know where they are.

The list goes on and on..

Usually you will find them stopped in the middle of the road on a blind corner with hazards on talking on the phone and a parking bay less than 100 metres away...I could go on all day !!

What they generally dont use it for is for emergency situation.

[akeenan]

they are used quite often if someone pulls out in front and there may be a need to break. the driver usually flashes them to either apologise and or make the people behind aware. also the above

[toddlls]

Japanese people are usually very considerate when doing something which is not driving in they lane they are occupying they will give warning via flashing hazards- just courtesy, shame we dont all try as hard to be as polite to others on the roads in such circumstances

[Ruffels]

hahah i hired a car in japan when i was over there, and i noticed that they used thier hazard lights all the F***ing time LOL

if i let someone in to my lane, or gave way to them, it seemed the flash of the hazards was a "thankyou"

every car stopped out the front of 7 eleven or any other shop on a main road had hazard lights left on

....

the other thing i found strange was; at an intersection there would be a red light... but at the same time, there would be a left green arrow, right green arrow and straight ahead green arrow .... so what is the red for? i assumed it was red for u-turn... because thats about the only thing there wasnt a green arrow for lol

[Astro Bear]

The japanese sure are a funky bunch. I was in Osaka a few years ago, and I didn't really notice the hazard lights etc. I was too young to drive then though so that's probably why.

[Beer Baron]

they are used quite often if someone pulls out in front and there may be a need to break. the driver usually flashes them to either apologise and or make the people behind aware. also the above

yep, that's my experience too.

I would say they are most often used as a 'thank you' or an 'excuse me' depending on what exactly the motorist has done. a thankyou when you let someone in in front of you. an excuse me when they just push in front of you.

many times if there's been an accident on the freeway as drivers approach they'll put on their hazards to warn drivers behind them that they are about to have to brake from 140kph down to 20kph. it's a good idea and usually as one driver sees the hazards in front and starts to brake then he'll put on his hazards and so on down the line.

they are also used as a 'don't mind me, I'm foreign' signal when say you are white and in a hurry and run a red light with no one coming the other way, or park somewhere you are not supposed to etc.

basically used to let people know you are currently doing, or about to do something dodgy.

of course people use them here when stopping somewhere hazardous to talk on phone etc.

the main difference I've found is the 'thank-you'/'excuse me' usage and the 'sudden braking ahead' usage. that is never done in aus. most of the others people do here too.

[akeenan]

waits for someone to start a thread about japanese drivers / turning their lights off when coming to a stop at traffic lights

so i can tell my story about a trip back home and doing this force of habit and explaing to oz police about why i did this . . .

[Beer Baron]

yeah, that's another good one and a great courtesy.

I'll spell it out for those that don't know.

in japan, when stopped behind another car at night at traffic lights it's considered polite to turn off your headlights. I mean, you don't need them while sitting still do you? and the front car usually (not always) leaves their headlights on so no danger of head ons etc.

I have even heard of a device that dims lights from regular beam to just the running lights/parkers when the car is stationary.

I can imagine after years in japan it'd be a hard habit to break. It is nice though. I mean who wants some clown in a civic with his 10jiggawattt HIDs illuminating my car and my mirrors from behind whilst I'm waiting at traffic lights?

[SL33K]

I have even heard of a device that dims lights from regular beam to just the running lights/parkers when the car is stationary.

Is that why my Skyline has a light reduce switch that reduces the light to parker when at a stop?

[Mr Eps]

haha @ beerbaron's civic scenario

or in australia's (particularly western australias) case where EVERYONE has a 4wd / crossover shaped / car whos lights point directly at the car in front of their's mirrors - and thus into the drivers eyes

i am (obviously) in WA and i use my hazards all the time a-la japan... i got the coutesy factor from malaysia however, they drive also on their freeways with them on to let other cars know that it's "ok to pass/overtake" but i personally switch hazards on whenever i see cars in front of me braking hard so that drivers behind me know a traffic hazard is coming up, or cat runs across road / drunk stumbles onto street / tree arm laying across road etc for cars behind that may not see it... i really should move to japan i think...

[Ruffels]

come to think about it... i first noticed when i was walking out of odaiba super autobacs that the cars at the intersection had switched thier cars off while waiting for the lights to change... seems a bit random!