Driving with your hazard lights on in California is generally illegal. California Vehicle Code 25250 bans flashing lights on any vehicle unless another law specifically allows them, and the exceptions are narrower than most drivers assume.1California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 25250 You cannot legally flip them on for rain, fog, or heavy traffic. They’re reserved for a short list of situations, most involving a vehicle that’s stopped, disabled, or passing a specific hazard.
When Hazard Lights Are Legal
Vehicle Code 25251 sets out every scenario where flashing your hazard lights is allowed.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 25251 Each one ties the lights to something concrete other drivers need to see.
Your Vehicle Is Disabled or Stopped
If your car breaks down on the roadway, or you’re disabled or parked within 10 feet of it, you can use your hazard lights.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 25251 If your car has an automatic hazard light system that wasn’t damaged in whatever disabled the vehicle, the statute says the lights shall be activated. Not optional. If the car dies on the shoulder and the system still works, turn it on.
You’re Passing an Accident or Road Hazard
You can flash your hazard lights while approaching, passing, or overtaking an accident or hazard on the roadway.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 25251 This is the exception most relevant to a moving vehicle. It covers debris, a stalled car, a crash scene. The use has to be tied to a specific hazard you’re navigating around, and once you’ve cleared it, the lights go off.
Railroad Grade Crossings
Hazard lights are permitted when approaching, stopped at, or leaving a railroad grade crossing.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 25251 It gives drivers behind you extra warning that you may be slowing or stopping for a train.
Funeral Processions
Every vehicle in a funeral procession can use hazard lights to keep the group visible and intact.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 25251 This is one of the few exceptions that applies to ordinary passenger cars moving at normal speed.
Rain, Fog, and Heavy Traffic Don’t Count
California has no general bad-weather exception. Drivers arriving from states like Florida, which since 2021 has explicitly allowed hazard-light driving in extremely low visibility on high-speed roads, are often surprised by this. California treats hazard-light driving as a safety problem rather than a safety measure, because flashing hazards disable your turn signals. Other drivers can’t tell whether you’re changing lanes, turning, or just uncomfortable in the weather. If your car is moving and none of the statutory exceptions applies, the hazard lights should be off.
What the Ticket Costs
A violation of Vehicle Code 25250 is a traffic infraction. The base fine is $25, but California layers penalty assessments, surcharges, and fees on top of that, pushing the total to roughly $193.3California Courts. Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedules The “$25 fine” line on the code is not what you actually pay.
The citation carries zero points on your DMV record.3California Courts. Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedules It won’t count toward the Negligent Operator Treatment System thresholds that can trigger a license suspension, which for a standard license are four points in 12 months, six in 24 months, or eight in 36 months.4California Legislative Information. California Code, Vehicle Code VEH 12810.5 The real cost is the money and the time.
What to Do in Bad Weather Instead
Since hazards aren’t a legal fog or rain signal in California, you need other tools when visibility drops. Low-beam headlights make your vehicle visible without blinding oncoming drivers, and California already requires headlights whenever you can’t see other vehicles at 1,000 feet. Slowing down and increasing following distance does more than lights ever will.
If conditions feel genuinely dangerous, the safest move is to pull off the road, park somewhere safe, and then turn your hazards on. That use is legal because the vehicle is stopped. The exception for passing a specific road hazard also still applies. If you’re navigating around a crash scene or large debris, your hazards are legal for that stretch. Running them for miles of steady rain is not what the statute covers, and it actively makes you harder to read for the drivers behind you.