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49 CFR 392.22: Warning devices for stopped trucks

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49 CFR 392.22: Warning devices for stopped trucks
Law read on2026-11-06[1]

49 CFR 392.22 addresses warning signals when a commercial motor vehicle stops on a highway's traveled portion or shoulder for a reason other than a necessary traffic stop. Section 392.22(a) requires immediate hazard flashers, while § 392.22(b) governs placement of separate warning devices. Section 392.22(b)(1) requires placement as soon as possible, within 10 minutes, subject to the special rules in § 392.22(b)(2).[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Under § 392.22(a), flashers must continue until warning devices are placed and must operate while those devices are retrieved before movement; additional flasher use does not replace required devices. Section 392.22(b)(2) supplies rules for fusees, daylight, municipal districts, obstructed views, divided or one-way highways, and leaking flammable material. Section 392.25 separately restricts flame-producing signals for specified vehicles and cargo.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Contents

What the cited provisions say

Under § 392.22(b)(1)(i), the near device belongs on the traffic side, 4 paces (approximately 3 meters or 10 feet) from the vehicle toward approaching traffic. Section 392.22(b)(1)(ii) places another device 40 paces (approximately 30 meters or 100 feet) toward approaching traffic, centered in the occupied lane or shoulder. Section 392.22(b)(1)(iii) places the remaining device at that same stated distance in the opposite direction, likewise centered.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

For a stop within 500 feet of a curve, hillcrest, or other sight obstruction, § 392.22(b)(2)(iv) requires the signal toward the obstruction to stand 100 feet to 500 feet away, affording ample warning. On divided or one-way highways, § 392.22(b)(2)(v) instead places devices 200 feet and 100 feet toward approaching traffic, centered in the occupied lane or shoulder, with another on the traffic side within 10 feet of the vehicle's rear.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Who and what the provisions cover

Section 390.3T(a)(1) establishes applicability to employers, employees, and commercial motor vehicles transporting passengers or property in interstate commerce, subject to § 390.3T(f). Section 392.1(a) requires instruction and compliance by carriers and personnel responsible for vehicle management, maintenance, operation, driving, or driver employment and dispatch functions; § 392.1(b) excludes drivers of pipeline welding trucks as defined in the unsaved § 390.38(b).[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Section 390.5T defines a commercial motor vehicle as a self-propelled or towed highway vehicle transporting passengers or property in interstate commerce that meets a specified criterion: the greater applicable weight or weight rating is 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more; compensated capacity or use exceeds 8 passengers including the driver; uncompensated capacity or use exceeds 15 passengers including the driver; or qualifying hazardous material requires placarding. Section 390.5T defines driver as a person operating a commercial motor vehicle and highway by public-travel availability, including qualifying roads on private property.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Conditions and exceptions

Section 392.22(b)(2)(iii) exempts device placement within a municipality's business or residential district unless lamps are required and lighting cannot make the vehicle clearly discernable at 500 feet. Section 390.5T defines residential district as highway territory outside a business district primarily improved with residences along 300 feet or more.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Subject to that district exception, § 392.22(b)(2)(ii) requires three bidirectional reflective triangles or three lighted fusees within 10 minutes when lamps are not required; fusee-only use requires a burning fusee at every prescribed location throughout the stop or parking. For fusee-only equipment, § 392.22(b)(2)(i) requires lighted fusees at the general-rule locations throughout the stop, then extinguishment and removal before movement.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Unless otherwise specifically provided, § 390.3T(f)(1)-(5) excludes school bus operations as defined in § 390.5T, subject to the listed regulatory exceptions; transportation performed by the Federal government, a State, a State political subdivision, or an agency established under a congressionally approved interstate compact; occasional transportation of personal property by individuals neither for compensation nor in furtherance of a commercial enterprise; transportation of human corpses or sick and injured persons; and operation of fire trucks and rescue vehicles during emergency and related operations. Section 390.3T(f)(6) conditionally excludes vehicles designed or used for 9 to 15 passengers including the driver, without direct compensation, that otherwise fall outside the commercial-motor-vehicle definition, while retaining listed requirements. Unless otherwise specifically provided, § 390.3T(f)(7) exempts a driver of a commercial motor vehicle used primarily to transport propane winter heating fuel, or a driver of a motor vehicle used to respond to a pipeline emergency, if the regulations would prevent that driver from responding to an emergency condition requiring immediate response as defined in § 390.5T.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Section 392.25 prohibits a driver from using or permitting flame-producing emergency signals to protect a commercial motor vehicle transporting Division 1.1, Division 1.2, or Division 1.3 explosives; a cargo tank motor vehicle used to transport Class 3 or Division 2.1 material, whether loaded or empty; or a commercial motor vehicle using compressed gas as motor fuel. Section 392.25 requires reflective triangles, red electric lanterns, or red emergency reflectors instead, positioned under § 392.22(b). Under § 392.22(b)(2)(vi), if gasoline, another flammable liquid, or combustible liquid or gas seeps or leaks from a fuel container or a commercial motor vehicle stopped upon a highway, no flame-producing emergency warning signal may be lighted or placed except at a distance from the liquid or gas that assures prevention of fire or explosion.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Section 392.2 requires compliance with operating-jurisdiction laws, ordinances, and regulations, but requires compliance with an FMCSA regulation imposing a higher standard of care. Section 390.3T(d) permits employers to enforce more stringent operational and employee safety requirements.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Source date and limits

The saved-source date is 2026-11-06. This entry has a statute-only scope: it summarizes the supplied federal regulatory units, without judicial interpretation or verification of today's law. The source material comes from the eCFR maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register. The amendment citations accompanying § 392.22 are source-history references, not an independently established effective-date analysis.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Section 392.22(b)(1) identifies § 393.95 as the source of required warning-device specifications, but that provision's text was not supplied. Section 392.1(b)'s reference to § 390.38(b) likewise does not supply the pipeline-welding-truck definition. Neither unsaved provision is interpreted here. The saved § 390.3T(f) exclusions also retain cross-references whose substantive requirements are outside this entry. This stopped-vehicle warning summary provides general reference information, not legal advice or a determination of liability, fault, insurance coverage, or damages in an individual event.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

On related publications

Law checked on against the primary sources cited below. Statutes and rules change; read the current official text before relying on a deadline or rule.

References

  1. abcdefghijklmn "49 CFR 390.3T, General applicability". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  2. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 390.5T, Definitions". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  3. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 392.1, Scope of the rules in this part". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  4. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 392.2, Applicable operating rules". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  5. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 392.22, Emergency signals; stopped commercial motor vehicles". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  6. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 392.25, Flame producing devices". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record