After the first major operation that came out of the summer, the trickle of trips will continue for the next few days on Spanish roads. The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) reinforces its summer campaign with the usual warnings about the risks of speeding, the use of mobile phones while driving or the consumption of alcoholic beverages. But if you are one of those travelers who awaits the arrival of their holidays, it is also convenient that you review other traffic regulations that will help you act correctly in the event of an impossible incident on the road.
The use of emergency lights is one of the most flawed practices of Spanish drivers. They are usually used to alert drivers of arriving at a traffic jam, the presence of a vehicle breakdown or any other circumstance that forces us to slow down or stop suddenly. The truth is that, even though our first impulse is to activate the double blinker, the DGT emphasizes that this is an erroneous way of warning other drivers of sudden braking.
The very circumstances of the traffic or the presence of a breakdown in the vehicle may force the driver to change lanes, stop on the shoulder or even slow down considerably. In any case, other drivers must be alerted by means of optical signals sufficiently in advance, from the detection of the danger until the end of the manoeuvre, in order to reduce the risk of a rear-end collision as much as possible.
According to the Highway Code, the intention to brake or stop the vehicle suddenly must be warned to drivers behind by repeatedly using the brake lights. Always after carrying out the corresponding maneuver and only if you have come to a complete stop, you can activate the emergency lights.
The use of emergency lights is therefore restricted to the moment the vehicle has stopped to signal, together with other elements such as the triangles or the V16 light, that you have suffered a breakdown. We can also activate them if we notice any problem on the road that may reduce the visibility of other drivers or if we are totally stopped in a traffic jam. But before that, the correct method of signaling a stop is to step on the brake intermittently.
