Certain vehicle operators must use warning devices when lighted lamps are required, and operators of disabled vehicles on roads outside urban districts must place specific warning devices at set distances and within 15 minutes. Explosive cargo vehicles may not use flame-based warning devices.
Sec. 547.504. DISPLAY OF DEVICES WHEN LIGHTED LAMPS REQUIRED. (a) Unless sufficient light exists to reveal a person or vehicle at a distance of 1,000 feet, the operator of a vehicle described by Section 547.503(b) or an explosive cargo vehicle shall display warning devices that comply with the requirements of Section 547.502: (1) when lighted lamps are required; and (2) under the conditions stated in this section. (b) Except as provided by Section 547.506 and Subsection (d), the operator of a vehicle described by Section 547.503(b) or an explosive cargo vehicle that is disabled, or stopped for more than 10 minutes, on a roadway outside an urban district shall: (1) immediately place a lighted red electric lantern or a portable red emergency reflector at the traffic side of the vehicle in the direction of the nearest approaching traffic; and (2) place in the following order and as soon as practicable within 15 minutes one lighted red electric lamp or portable red emergency reflector: (A) in the center of the lane occupied by the vehicle toward approaching traffic approximately 100 feet from the vehicle; and (B) in the center of the lane occupied by the vehicle in the opposite direction approximately 100 feet from the vehicle. (c) Except as provided by Section 547.506 and Subsection (d), the operator of a vehicle described by Section 547.503(b) or an explosive cargo vehicle that is disabled, or stopped for more than 10 minutes, on a roadway of a divided highway shall place the warning devices described by Subsection (b): (1) in the center of the lane occupied by the vehicle toward approaching traffic approximately 200 feet from the vehicle; (2) in the center of the lane occupied by the vehicle toward approaching traffic approximately 100 feet from the vehicle; and (3) at the traffic side approximately 10 feet from the vehicle in the direction of the nearest approaching traffic. (d) As an alternative to the use of electric lamps or red reflectors and except as provided by Subsection (e), the operator of a vehicle described by Section 547.503(b) may display a lighted fusee to comply with the requirements of Subsection (b)(1) or liquid-burning flares to comply with the requirements of Subsections (b)(2) and (c). If the operator uses liquid-burning flares to comply with Subsection (b)(2), the operator shall also, after complying with Subsection (b)(2)(B), place a liquid-burning flare at the traffic side of the vehicle at least 10 feet in the direction of the nearest approaching traffic. If a fusee is used to comply with Subsection (b)(1), the operator shall comply with Subsection (b)(2) within the burning period of the fusee. (e) The operator of an explosive cargo vehicle may not display as a warning device a flare, fusee, or signal produced by flame. Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.