What should you do if your rear lights go out as you’re driving home?

[SartresSoul]

DH just called me, he’s about 30 mins away from home and people started flashing him so he pulled over and realised his rear lights were out. He had some spare bulbs so changed both but it came on for 10 seconds then went back out again so it appears there’s a fault. He’s terrified he will get pulled over and have the car taken away/lose his licence so has decided to call RAC. Is he being over dramatic or is this the right thing to do? I’m just sitting here thinking it’s going to take hours for RAC to come out so he’s going to end up sitting there for ages!

I think you can drive if you're heading towards a garage or to have it repaired but it depends on visibility. Since it's dark he'd be a fool to drive in the dark with no lights on

Hazards? I don’t know if that’s the right answer or not sorry

I think he’s doing the safest and best thing.

It's not safe to drive in the dark with no rear lights, so he has no option but to wait for the breakdown co to get to him. Sitting there for ages is better than causing an accident or getting pulled over by the police.

Absolutely right to call out the RAC. I had to do the same when the front lights went suddenly on my car. The switch had failed. It would be madness and so unsafe to drive without lights.

Ahh ok, hopefully he doesn’t have to wait too long then! Thank you for the help.

He's doing the right thing. Hopefully his wait won't be too long.

Fog light working?

Personally I would put on hazards and continue home, contact RAC in the morning from home address or drive there in the daytime to fix it.

He’s doing the right thing. It’s bloody dangerous to drive in the dark with no rear lights.

Plus if multiple bulbs have gone there’s nothing to say his hazards wouldn’t suddenly go too and that would be seriously dangerous.

Get home and book in for repair next morning. Not much else you can do really, is there?

@JustLyra

He’s doing the right thing. It’s bloody dangerous to drive in the dark with no rear lights.

Plus if multiple bulbs have gone there’s nothing to say his hazards wouldn’t suddenly go too and that would be seriously dangerous.

Feel sorry for your DH but this.

I think your dh is right. It's the point of having membership surely

Totally agree with the other comments - definitely did the right thing!

Definitely the right thing to do, unfortunately. My car’s electrics failed on a country lane once and all the lights cut out at about 8pm in the evening. Luckily I was about 5 mins from home and they came back on when I restarted the car but even at that distance I wouldn’t have risked driving home with no lights, I’d be terrified.

@RJnomore1

Hazards? I don’t know if that’s the right answer or not sorry

I've been driving for over 20 years. My worst nightmare is rear lights going.

And yet it's also never occurred to me to use the hazard lights if they did. 🤦‍♀️.

I don't think you're allowed to actually drive with hazards on, only when stationary.

I'm fairly certain you're not allowed to drive with your hazards on. They use the same bulbs as your indicators so other cars wouldn't know when you were about to turn. I think your DH has done the right thing.