What to Do When You're Caught in a Haboob While Driving

Every summer, Arizona's monsoon season delivers some of the most dramatic—and deadly—driving conditions in North America. A haboob can drop visibility to zero in seconds, turning a routine freeway drive into a life-or-death situation. If you don't know the right steps before one hits, the instinctive move (pull onto the shoulder and keep your hazards on) is actually one of the most dangerous things you can do.

Here's what Arizona's own Department of Transportation says to do instead.

What is a haboob?

The National Weather Service (NWS) defines a haboob as a sudden, advancing wall of dust and debris driven by thunderstorm outflow winds. It can arrive with almost no warning, stretching miles across the landscape. The word "haboob" comes from the Arabic term for an intense dust storm. Arizona's official monsoon season runs June 15 through September 30 — a fixed 108-day window the NWS established in 2008, replacing an older dew-point-based start date.

During those months, any afternoon thunderstorm over the desert can collapse and send a wall of dust racing across the valley at highway speeds.

The five steps: ADOT's Pull Aside, Stay Alive

Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) launched the Pull Aside, Stay Alive campaign to give drivers a clear action sequence. Follow these steps in order:

1. Check traffic and start slowing down immediately

Don't wait until you can't see. The moment you spot a dust wall on the horizon or notice visibility dropping, check the traffic around you — front, back, and sides — and begin reducing your speed. You need room to maneuver safely before the dust reaches you.

2. Exit the highway and get completely off the paved roadway

This is the step most drivers get wrong. ADOT is explicit: do not stop in a travel lane, and do not stop on the shoulder or emergency lane. Get your vehicle completely off the paved surface — onto a dirt median, a frontage road, or a parking lot exit — if at all possible. If another driver loses visibility and drifts right, they'll hit the shoulder first. You want to be past it.

3. Turn off ALL your vehicle lights

This is counterintuitive, but it's the most important single action: turn off your headlights, taillights, and hazard lights entirely.

ADOT's stated reason: in near-zero visibility, other drivers instinctively follow a light source, assuming it's a moving vehicle ahead of them. If your lights are on, they will steer toward you — and may hit your stopped car at highway speed. Turning every light off removes that false guide.

4. Set the emergency (parking) brake and take your foot off the brake pedal

Once you're stopped and lights are off, apply the parking/emergency brake and lift your foot completely off the brake pedal. This is a second part of the same logic: your brake lights are red and visible. Even a faint red glow in a dust storm can draw another driver straight into your rear bumper. The emergency brake holds the car without illuminating any light.

5. Stay in the vehicle with seat belts buckled

Do not get out of the car. Remain buckled and wait for the storm to pass. Pedestrians on a roadway during a haboob face extreme danger from traffic; the inside of your vehicle is far safer than the roadside. Haboobs typically pass in minutes, though some last longer.

The quick reference card

Step	Action
1	Check traffic — slow down now
2	Exit completely off the paved roadway
3	Turn off all lights (headlights, taillights, hazards)
4	Emergency brake on — foot off the brake pedal
5	Stay buckled inside the vehicle

What about flash floods?

Monsoon storms that generate haboobs also produce sudden, intense rainfall — and with Arizona's hard desert soil, that water doesn't sink in. It runs. Dry washes fill in minutes. The NWS Turn Around, Don't Drown® rule applies: never drive into a flooded roadway or wash. According to the NWS, roughly 12 inches of moving water can carry away most cars, and about 2 feet can sweep away SUVs and trucks. You cannot see whether the road surface beneath the water has washed out entirely.

Arizona's ARS § 28-910 — commonly called the "Stupid Motorist Law" — makes a driver who enters a flooded, barricaded roadway liable for the cost of their own rescue, up to $2,000 per incident, on top of any other liability. The barricade isn't a suggestion; crossing it has real financial consequences.

The most common mistakes — and why they're dangerous

• "I'll keep my hazards on so people can see me." ADOT's guidance says the opposite — lights on in a dust storm make you a target for distracted or blinded drivers. Turn everything off.
• "The shoulder is safe enough." The emergency lane is still paved, and still where drifting cars go first. Get fully off the road surface.
• "My SUV can handle a flooded wash." See the 2-foot figure above. It can't.
• "Monsoon season starts when it gets muggy." The NWS fixed the window: June 15 – September 30, regardless of humidity or dew point.

Stay informed all season

The conditions that produce haboobs — afternoon convective storms — are predictable by season but not by hour. Check NWS Phoenix forecasts and ADOT's AZ511 road-condition alerts before any afternoon or evening drive between June and September.

For a broader look at all the hazards Arizona's monsoon season throws at drivers, read our full guide on Arizona monsoon driving safety.

And if a monsoon-season incident results in a traffic citation, see whether the Arizona Defensive Driving Program could keep the ticket off your record.

Important: Driving conditions, road closures, and wash levels change rapidly during monsoon storms. Always check current conditions through the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and the National Weather Service Phoenix before and during travel. Nothing in this post constitutes legal advice; traffic laws and ADOT guidance can change — confirm the current rules with the governing agency.