Loads and flags — Utah Permit Test

A Utah vehicle carrying a load extending four feet or more beyond its bed or body must display two flags or lights on the rear of the load.

Four feet of timber past the tailgate is invisible at dusk, and the flag is what stops somebody driving into it.

FLAGS AND LIGHTS FOR EXTENDING LOADS—Each vehicle that carries a load extending four feet or more beyond the bed or body of the vehicle must display two flags or lights located on the rear of the load.

A Utah load flag may be used only during the daytime and must be at least 12 inches square.

A flag is useless after dark, which is why the rule switches to lights rather than leaving it to the driver.

The flags may be used only during the daytime and must be at least 12 inches square.

Lights on a Utah extending load are for nighttime use and must be visible for at least 500 feet.

Five hundred feet gives a following driver time to see the overhang rather than the vehicle it is on.

Lights are for use during nighttime and must be visible for at least 500 feet.

Utah trucks, truck tractors, and buses must carry three flares, portable red emergency reflectors, or red electric lights, and two red flags with standards.

Three devices is one for each direction and one to spare, which is what a roadside breakdown actually needs.

FLARES, REFLECTORS, ELECTRIC LIGHTS, AND FLAGS—Trucks, truck tractors, and buses must have three flares, portable red emergency reflectors, or red electric lights, and two red flags with standards.

Utah emergency flares, reflectors, and lights must be visible and distinguishable at a distance of not less than 600 feet.

Six hundred feet is further than a headlight reaches, which is the point of carrying them at all.

Emergency flares, reflectors, and lights must be capable of being seen and distinguished at a distance of not less than 600 feet.

Utah flares must be capable of burning for 12 hours, and fuses must burn for at least 15 minutes.

A flare has to outlast the wait for a tow truck, and twelve hours covers a night on a mountain road.

Flares must be capable of burning for 12 hours. Fuses must meet the New York Bureau of Explosives Standards and burn for at least 15 minutes.

At what overhang must a Utah load display flags or lights?

Four feet or more. Four feet of timber past the tailgate is invisible at dusk, and the flag is what stops somebody driving into it. Utah Driver Handbook 2026-2027, p.91: “FLAGS AND LIGHTS FOR EXTENDING LOADS—Each vehicle that carries a load extending four feet or more beyond the bed or body of the vehicle must display two flags or lights located on the rear of the load.”