Flashing Headlights Protected by First Amendment

[Racket_Man]

Flashing lights was also used and still used in areas to let Semi's know they can safely get in front of you.

That is one technique that I always saw/used on long trips on the interstate.

When I legally passed a truck (me in the left lane of course and on the particular streach of I-55 between Chicago and St. Louis trucks had a slower speed than smaller veichles 65mph vs 55 mph) truckers would always flash or turn their lights off/on when it was safe distance for me to merge into the right lane.

Subsiquently when I had a truck pass me (them in the left lane) and I deemed them a safe distance ahead of me I would blip my lights.

I never had a problem with either the local/county/state cops.

and yes IF I saw a police car sitting in the medium I would sometimes flash my lights for on-coming traffic to warn them.

[draco664]

I've always thought that flashing headlights was meant to communicate something. Like if someone has their headlights off. That's happened to me before.

Premade excuse: "No officer, I wasn't flashing my headlights to warn drivers about the speed trap, I was signalling that driver back there that he didn't have his lights on."*

* Excuse may not work during daylight hours...

[SongsOfDragons]

We flash our lights in the New Forest to warn others that there are horses or cows in the road coming up.

[Greenday]

A driving safety instructor (in California as it happens) told me he likes speed detectors. He told me drivers that use them tend to use more awareness of their surroundings, and the false positives many models get forces them to slow down; they often don't go as fast as they otherwise might. I thought that interesting.

Certainly doesn't describe me. I have a radar detector. It's really only useful on major highways. A lot of security systems broadcast on the same wavelength as certain radar guns so they'll trip it. Besides, I don't speed in heavy traffic areas. But you can be that if I'm on a mostly empty highway and the speed limit is 65, I won't be doing 65. I'll most likely be doing at least 75 (Or faster, depending on how fast everyone else is going). And the detector certainly works too. It takes a few seconds for the radar to hit you and register what your speed is giving you time to hit the brakes and slow down to a better speed. And as long as the cop can't visually see you slowing down because they are in their hiding spot, it's all good.

[Andara Bledin]

It's worth noting that if you hit your brakes enough for hitting your brakes to actually slow your car, anyone who can see your car can tell you've hit your brakes. Cops don't care about your brake lights as much as they care about whether they can see your front end dip as the weight of your car shifts from being pulled to being pushed back against.

I don't know the distances involved, but from my recent trip back from Yosemite, the distance between the signs to slow from highway speeds to township speeds was just great enough that merely removing my foot from the gas was enough to slow my car sufficiently. If I was doing 55 at the 55 sign and didn't maintain that in any way, then by the time I reached the 45 sign, I was doing 45, and likewise for the 35 sign. 25, however, required active braking, as the base engine push when idling runs about 12 or so.

Thankfully, most of the police I've seen on the roads were more interested in dangerous drivers than speeders. I've seen them pulled over for weaving through traffic, for failing to turn on their lights after full dark, for unsafe passing in heavy fog, for rolling through stop signs (that was just last week), for non-functioning lights (that was me, in my mother's car, and the fact she had 2 lights out irked me mightily), and I got pulled over once for an unsafe lane change. That last only netted a warning because I guess the motorcycle cop realized that there was no way I could possibly have seen him change lanes into my blind spot; he didn't even ticket me for speeding, despite my readily admitting that I was (lying at that point is pretty stupid).

[HYHYBT]

I've almost never seen headlights flashed except to indicate either that you've forgotten to turn yours on or to dim them, and wouldn't think to in other situations. But I *have* been pretty embarrassed from time to time by flashing them accidentally while putting on the turn signal or wipers. I hate potentially confusing other drivers, but there's no way I know of to say "sorry, didn't mean that." It would, though, be a decent excuse if you ever did it on purpose and were pulled over for it. "I was washing bird droppings off the windshield and pushed the stalk too hard."

[Andara Bledin]

I suspect that most cars separate those functions, now. In fact, in my car the lights themselves are a dial on the left with push/pull for the high beams. There is zero chance you can flash your headlights at anyone without doing so quite purposefully.

[Greenday]

I suspect that most cars separate those functions, now. In fact, in my car the lights themselves are a dial on the left with push/pull for the high beams. There is zero chance you can flash your headlights at anyone without doing so quite purposefully.

My car is a 2013 and the high beams are controlled by the turn signal lever.

[kamn]

In my country, it is legally required to have your lights on, if the vehicle is moving. I (and those around me) signal any irregularities using the long beams. Be it radar, debris, gas port sticking out (my bad), open door (almost ripped it off as I passed it), any and every abnormality. The usual response when it happens is that people slow down to below the speed limit, and do a quick checkover. If no one else flashes on the way, keep going, if someone else does flash (or if no one is on the other lane), stop on the side, check.
It isn't exactly rocket science, flashing lights get people's attention, and make them more focused, even for a second (that's why turning signals are always flashing). Barring an immediate reason for said focus, people then check why the other driver wanted them more focused. Why would a complex system of warning lights and patterns be needed when we can rely on basic human physiology?

[wolfie]

Flashing lights was also used and still used in areas to let Demi's know they can safely get in front of you.

In North America, when signaling for this purpose, the PREFERRED signal is to briefly douse your low beams. Since this isn't always possible (daytime running lights), an accepted alternate is to flash your high beams. The low beam signal is preferred because it is just as visible, but has less chance of producing glare.

[Aethian]

In North America, when signaling for this purpose, the PREFERRED signal is to briefly douse your low beams. Since this isn't always possible (daytime running lights), an accepted alternate is to flash your high beams. The low beam signal is preferred because it is just as visible, but has less chance of producing glare.

Yea...I don't think any car I've had before has had low beams. Even though my car now has low beans I still do high beams because its quicker for me to do then my others which have a twist, pull, push, twist. Where high beams have a quick pull on the lever.

[Andara Bledin]

Yea...I don't think any car I've had before has had low beams. Even though my car now has low beans I still do high beams because its quicker for me to do then my others which have a twist, pull, push, twist. Where high beams have a quick pull on the lever.

Low beams are your regular headlights. In contrast to high beams, which are both angled higher and are much brighter.

As I have an automatic setting on my lights, it's a double-click twist to go from "auto" past "parking" to "on," making giving a brief pull on the lever to do a quick flash of the high beams much more useful during daylight hours.

Howver, if it's dark, then it's a single click to go from "auto" to "off" or from "on" to "parking," both of which will douse the primary lights and are much more effective than going from low to high and back and less likely to annoy the hell out of every other driver in their glare.