To answer your first question it would be no. We have never investigated the scenario you present.

There may be some merit in studying this thought. Perhaps the organizations that Joan Claybrook and Ralph Nader represent could be approached about undertaking a study. Here at NCVECS we have been focused on emissions issues so heavily that we have not undertaken safety issues for many years.

Thank you for your interest in NCVECS.

Sincerely,

Mike Cole, Research Associate

National Center For Vehicle Emissions Control and Safety (NCVECS)

1584 Campus Delivery

Colorado State University

Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1584

From: Michael Henk [mailto:michaelghenk@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 8:00 PM
To: Nat Ctr for Veh Emis Ctrl Sfty
Subject: passenger car hazard lights

When driving in conditions with poor visibilty such as a snow blizzard or driving rain, I often use the tail lights of the car in front of me as a guide to stay on the road. I believe that drunk drivers to the same thing, use tail lights to “stay on the road.”

This practice may explain why so often drunk drivers crash into disabled vehicles that are on the shoulder of a highway with their hazards lights flashing. It cannot be a coincidence that the drunk driver strays off the road randomly and just happens to hit a disabled vehicle. I think it is a direct consequence of the drunk driver using the hazard lights to assist in “staying on the road.”

My point is to recommend that hazard lights be a different color than the normal red tail lights. Have you looked into this? Do you have any comments?

Regards,

Dr. Michael Henk