A couple of months ago, I was driving down the freeway at about 75mph. As I cleared a hill, there was a car stalled car in the middle of the freeway. A lady standing behind the back bumper waving people to the right so that they would not hit her. In the back seat of the car was a child. I slowed down and as I passed her, I rolled down my window and yelled at her to get herself and her child well clear off the road to the wide grassy median, because she was in danger." She and her child were in mortal danger.
I myself have a child, and this started a train of thought in my mind: THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ME!
A few weeks later, I was driving down some back road when I came across a commercial truck which was stalled at some stop sign -- behind the truck, the driver had set up a set of triangles like the ones pictured here --- WOW, they were bright and very clearly visible.
I have heard about road flares etc and other devices to let people know that they're approaching a broken down vehicle and I remember that as a child, my father owned a set of triangles like the ones the truck was using. At once, I recognized the solution to my problem and how much smarter than me dad really was.
I searched for signal triangles, road flares, etc on Amazon until I came across this set which resembles the set that my father owned so long ago (I'm sure he still has his set somewhere).
I own an SUV and this fits along with my jack and other repair (grandpa stuff) in one of the floorboard compartments....so I can retain some semblance of "coolness" while still having everything I need to get me going if triple A doesn't answer the phone.
I wound up buying them.
Pros:
- Big
- Sturdy
- Highly Reflective
- Heavy (this is good - the bases are filled with sand I think and sealed no sand can leak out)
Cons:
- The box on my father's set had sturdier latches on the box.
The latches on the box being flimsy doesn't really matter, this isn't something that you're going to pull out regularly. This is something that you pull out in the uneventful situation that you should winde up in the middle of the road with your vehicle and loved ones in it.
It comes with directions on how to use these.
Overall, I think this is a must have for any responsible motorist....when I was younger, I didn't carry anything in my car and now I'm turning into my father and my grandfather (who had even more stuff than my dad) --- argh.......but you know what, the those old guys were very wise. I should've paid a lot more attention to them back then.
If you're a professional trucker who stops quite a bit and uses these frequently, just bear in mind that the box will likely not support routine use of taking these in and out (the latches will likely break) and the triangles themselves might now survive rigors of regular use....but hey, I could be wrong.
For the average motorist, they're perfect.