# Warning Lights if only plowing personal driveway



## ramair2k

I have a question about warning lights if I am only plowing my driveway and some friends/family. Would you get a mini light bar to use while plowing if your not commercially plowing? I would only be doing my driveway and some of friends and family.


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## dieselss

Maybe just a magnet mount strobe. That'll be good enough


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## BC Handyman

your driveway no if you do all the plowing on your property, if you got to pull onto a road then yes, so for your friends and fam, you will likely be on road plowing there entrance, so yes get a light, you dont need a minibar, led or anything fancy, a $20 cig plug in light will do you fine.


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## Dogplow Dodge

BC Handyman;1660607 said:


> your driveway no if you do all the plowing on your property, if you got to pull onto a road then yes, so for your friends and fam, you will likely be on road plowing there entrance, so yes get a light, you dont need a minibar, led or anything fancy, a $20 cig plug in light will do you fine.


that's exactly what I have, as it's ILLEGAL here to drive around on the street with any type of flashing beacon on our vehicles, unless we have a special "STATE PERMIT" to do so. You can only get a permit if you're plowing for the state or township, and can provide the state the documentation allowing to obtain the permit. You also can get a permit if you are a trucking company or towing company that needs them, but on average, the regular citizen plowing can't legally use it here.

This is why Mine goes on when I hit the driveway, but as soon as I'm back on the street, it goes off.


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## ramair2k

Well in order to plow the driveway, that would entail plowing the "mouth" of the driveway which is essentially the street. Also, I would be going in and out of the driveways, as in, street to driveway in order to plow completely. Pushing snow out of the mouth of my driveway and neighbors into piles in the street is not out of the question. Guess I should just get a little beacon like you guys said. I was going to get a Whelen mini century with magnet mount and cig plug in.


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## fordtruck661

ramair2k;1660619 said:


> I was going to get a Whelen mini century with magnet mount and cig plug in.


If you are welling to spend the $$ on it then go for it. Yes it might be a little overkill but who cares.


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## mercer_me

In Maine it's the law to have a flashing amber light on your truck when you are plowing. If you're not doing a lot of driveways a magnet mount cigarette lighter strobe will be fine for you.


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## seville009

I just plow my driveway and my neighbor's, but use a magnetic mount for when I'm plowing by the road. Wsnt to make sure people can see me an advance as much as possible, especially when it's snowing hard.


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## Team_Arctic

Check local law.. Wisconsin law requires amber beacon of some sort viewable from 500 feet i think it even goes in to specify how many flashes per second it has to have.


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## leolkfrm

I have been hit by the wing of a state plow not seeing me in the blowing snow at the edge of a driveway.....I use strobe lights!


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## jhall22guitar

Massachusetts requires a light on the vehicle (not sure on the specifics of location) any time the plow is on the vehicle.


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## REAPER

When I first started (20+ yrs ago) most everybody only used their 4 way flashers. Then as I started doing parking lots I got a cheap revolver with magnet, cord in the window to lighter. 

Only in recent years have guys gone crazy with all the lights trying to one up each other. If I am alone in the lot I still don't even turn mine on as it can be distracting. I only use mine now when absolutely necessary and never when driving from lot to lot.


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## dieselss

I agree. If I'm all alone and no one is around then mine are off.


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## mark268

Everyone has their own opinion on this. I suggest you check your state laws and local ordinances. I use mine whenever the plow is pushing snow. Whether I'm alone in a driveway, or in a lot with other vehicles. You just never know when someone is going to drive in and not see you from the blowing snow. As for driveways, backing into the street with blowing snow covered roads, I want to alert other drivers as much as possible. Cheap insurance to help prevent a crash.


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## ramair2k

Didnt realize MA law "required" you to have a light if/when plow is mounted to your truck. Its actually pretty funny. Most of the city trucks where I live do not have or if they do, use, their lights. My city is 90% private contractors, with all types of plow trucks. They even hired a guy with a ford ranger and fisher homesteader. Yes you heard me correctly, he plows commercially with a homesteader. No lights on any of these trucks. Will play it smart and just get one as others have said for cheap insurance.


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## jhall22guitar

ramair2k;1668454 said:


> Didnt realize MA law "required" you to have a light if/when plow is mounted to your truck. Its actually pretty funny. Most of the city trucks where I live do not have or if they do, use, their lights. My city is 90% private contractors, with all types of plow trucks. They even hired a guy with a ford ranger and fisher homesteader. Yes you heard me correctly, he plows commercially with a homesteader. No lights on any of these trucks. Will play it smart and just get one as others have said for cheap insurance.


If I could find the page where I read it I would post a link, but yes they do require it actually. There are some very strange laws for snowplows here, and I think some actually say the plow has to be off a certain amount of hours after the storm. (dont quote me on it, just read that)


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## seville009

NYS Light laws link....

http://www.safeny.ny.gov/emer-vt.htm


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## perrysee

better to be safe and put flashing amber light on truck,4 wheelers and even snowblowers . i almost got hit last winter by people not paying attention where there going. in wisconsin you must have amber lights in 360' veiw.
also i wear safety vest too now.


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## JSutter101

I'd get one no matter what. The cheap ones are about $15-25 and are sold just about everywhere. If you spend a little more you can get a really nice rotating beacon. I picked up a PSE 275 used locally for about $35. It is super bright and built far nicer than the cheap Wolo or Blazer.


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## Maine_Train

jhall22guitar;1668564 said:


> If I could find the page where I read it I would post a link, but yes they do require it actually.


MA motor vehicle stuff would be in Chapter 90, and I don't see anything in there saying vehicles engaged in snow/ice removal must be equipped with warning lights. On the other hand, it looks like they don't prohibit it, either, which is good. If you go onto a public way in the course of plowing a private drive, it would be good to have a light on.



> There are some very strange laws for snowplows here, and I think some actually say the plow has to be off a certain amount of hours after the storm. (dont quote me on it, just read that)


Almost; Chap. 90, Sec. 19K, says any vehicle with a gross weight of less than 26,000 lbs., except for state, county, or municipal vehicles, must have the plow and "hitching mechanism" off the vehicle between May 15 and Oct. 15, unless it snows before 10/15 or after 05/15. I'm pretty sure the part about "Vehicles shall be required to abide by this section within 72 hours of the conclusion of snowfall" just applies to vehicles that had the plow put back on because there was snow during the prohibited period.
The "hitching mechanism" is defined as the lift cylinder and lift arm, but if it's something that was welded or bolted to the vehicle before the section became effective, I think the headgear/frame (whatever it was called in the older Fishers) could stay on.
It does seem kinda strange, but with a couple of mentions of "protruding surfaces" in the section, I think the idea is to reduce the chances of mangling a pedestrian if the truck hit someone.


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## blueline38

I plow my driveway, occasionally my neighbors, my family and sometimes step up for my uncle who plows for a business. I run a roof light and led's in the tail lights. When I'm backing out of a driveway I like to have the lights in the tail because you can't always see my roof light due to snow banks and such! Anyway, I digress, I would use a beacon at the very least!


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## wils5150

I do 2 lots at work,moms driveway and a few friends driveways. I wouldnt be caught dead with out a light. In my neck of the woods people are oblivious when they are snow blowing or shoveling.


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## '08FX4SnoPro3K

In Mass, strobes are supposed to be Amber, no white- if you have commercial plates in the vehicle you don't need a permit for the lights, whether they be roof mounted, or corner strobes- with passenger plates you are supposed to obtain a permit for the lights. 

Here's the catch with the permit- this is just my opinion:
Once you obtain the permit, you created a paper trail that you're plowing. If you're out and about plowing and have an accident, you could easily have a problem with your insurance if you don't carry plow insurance. I'm 90 percent sure that plow insurance requires you to be registered as a commercial vehicle- which is of course more expensive. In my case- I have an '11 F350 6.7 power stroke with a 11400 GVW. (For towing my camper) Because it has single rear wheels and a regular body on it,(no utility body) I can register it as passenger- as soon as I register it as Commercial, a lot changes- first change- the obvious more expensive registration, next more expensive insurance, then commercial inspection which is over $100 vs $29 for passenger. On top of that- since it's over 10K GVW an commercial plates, now you need a dot health certificate, (i have one anyway, and a CDL A) along with a compliment of **** kept on the truck at all times, chock blocks, safety triangles, fire extinguisher, etc. 
It becomes a bit much, makes It almost not worth plowing at all. There's a lot to consider. Makes it fair to the guys who run business's and plow commercially to put food on their tables and keep their guys working year round. Puts everyone on a level field, and harder to run around undercutting prices because your overhead is so far below theirs. Can't just cowboy up and strap on a plow and be in business. By the same token I don't think plowing driveways cuts in too much on the commercial guys- around here anyway, it seems the commercial guys don't want driveways, they want parking lots and roads, driveways are a pain in the ass- I think everyone can agree on that. The handful of driveways I do aren't consistent enough to go full bore, an get all commercial-like, too many of them want to pick and choose which storms they want you to plow, and not plow. If your a commercial guy, and contract for a set price for the season (for better or worse) I think it's easier to justify spending the money to be 100% legit. In my case (and many others) it's actually more financially sound to pay a ticket for not having amber lights- than it is to probably spend more annually than you'd make plowing anyway. The caveat to that is the insurance company risk- if you have an accident while plowing for profit, and don't have the coverage for it, you might be on the hook for a large amount of money.

Metaphor- snowplowing for the pickup truck guy who just throws on a plow and goes; is much like gold mining- no question there's gold there, and the gold is worth money- the question lies with, will it cost more to pull the gold from the ground, than the gold is ultimately worth?


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