Flashing High Beams for Speed Trap Warnings

[TurboDan]

Yesterday, I was on a local road with a speed limit that is far too low.  I saw a marked car hiding behind a bush in a town parking lot clocking cars that were driving by.  I was OK, since I had just turned onto the street and hadn't gotten up to speed yet, but my fellow drivers would be easy victims to the trap.  Once again, this is a road with a terribly artificial speed limit in a town whose officers are well known for being quite merciless. 

As I passed several other cars in the upcoming stretch of roadway before I turned off the road, I flicked my high-beams on and off, in hopes of warning them of the trap ahead.  It was during the day.  I don't see alot of this anymore, and I'm not sure why.  I don't even know if many people would even know what my "signal" meant.  Is it just this area, or is this a practice that has gone to the wayside in most areas?

[J86]

good on  ya dude, good karma

[IrishGuy]

Yesterday, I was on a local road with a speed limit that is far too low.  I saw a marked car hiding behind a bush in a town parking lot clocking cars that were driving by.  I was OK, since I had just turned onto the street and hadn't gotten up to speed yet, but my fellow drivers would be easy victims to the trap.  Once again, this is a road with a terribly artificial speed limit in a town whose officers are well known for being quite merciless. 

As I passed several other cars in the upcoming stretch of roadway before I turned off the road, I flicked my high-beams on and off, in hopes of warning them of the trap ahead.  It was during the day.  I don't see alot of this anymore, and I'm not sure why.  I don't even know if many people would even know what my "signal" meant.  Is it just this area, or is this a practice that has gone to the wayside in most areas?

My thought is this: I would hate to think that I warned someone who's guilty of some criminal action (not necessarily speeding) that the police are ahead.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I almost never see this anymore. When I do get flashed, I figure there's a 50/50 chance there's either a speed trap ahead, I'm dragging a dead body under my car.
I'll flash if I can clearly see there is a speed trap, but usually I'm afraid to flash people because there is always that chance that they will take it as a personal insult and try to attack me. It's happened before.

[TurboDan]

My thought is this: I would hate to think that I warned someone who's guilty of some criminal action (not necessarily speeding) that the police are ahead.

Eh, there's no crime anywhere near where I live.  And if there is a criminal wandering down the road, it'll catch up with him eventually.

[CJ]

One reason people don't do this, at least in Texas, is because it isn't legal. 

[TurboDan]

One reason people don't do this, at least in Texas, is because it isn't legal. 

Eh, this was a two-lane road in a small town.  There weren't any other cops ahead.  You could see for a mile if there were anyway.

[JYODER240]

I do it.

[L. ed foote]

One reason people don't do this, at least in Texas, is because it isn't legal. 

It isn't legal here either (improper use of high beams), but that never stopped people from doing it.  I think because flashing high beams is often linked to "road rage" or "agressive drivng" you don't see many people doing it anymore.

[dazzleman]

I've heard that flashing lights to warn oncoming drivers of police presence is illegal in Connecticut -- something like "interfering with government administration."  I know of somebody who supposedly got a ticket for it.

This was a big practice when I first started driving.  My driver's ed teacher even told me about it.  It involved flashing lights, not necessarily high beams.  Back then, on most cars, the high-beams didn't work unless the low-beams were already on, so during the day, if you wanted to warn oncoming drivers about speed enforcement, you just turned your headlights on and off.

You're right Dan in noticing that it seems to have fallen into disuse.  I still see it occasionally, and did it myself a couple of weeks ago when I saw a speedtrap in the other direction.  Still, I don't do it very much at this point, even if I pass a speedtrap.

[ifcar]

I'll flick my lights if there's a potentially dangerous situation ahead, like a car stopped on the road just around a blind turn, but not for a speed trap. I mostly see speed traps on the interstate anyway.

[footoflead]

One reason people don't do this, at least in Texas, is because it isn't legal. 

Is it really now??  Never heard of it being illegal, plenty of people have flashed.  But most are too stupid and lazy to warn others.

There is some stupid rumor going around about cars driving around with their brights on or no lights at all and waiting for people to flash them and then they follow them home and shoot them as part of a gang initiation.  But i have heard no proof of this other than word of mouth, and we all know this is always 100% true.

[footoflead]

I'll flick my lights if there's a potentially dangerous situation ahead, like a car stopped on the road just around a blind turn, but not for a speed trap. I mostly see speed traps on the interstate anyway.

I did that just the other day...truck lost sight of the road and stuck the first half stuck in the ditch on a unlit road.  So i flashed a few people to let them know there was something ahead

[Eye of the Tiger]

One reason people don't do this, at least in Texas, is because it isn't legal.?

I'd like to know if anyone has ever been ticketed for flashing their high beams a few times.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I also flashy my lights if there is a deer in the middle of the road, but I never know if people understand what I'm doing. 

[footoflead]

I'd like to know if anyone has ever been ticketed for flashing their high beams a few times.

As would I.  How would they enforce this?

[ifcar]

Is it really now??  Never heard of it being illegal, plenty of people have flashed.  But most are too stupid and lazy to warn others.

There is some stupid rumor going around about cars driving around with their brights on or no lights at all and waiting for people to flash them and then they follow them home and shoot them as part of a gang initiation.  But i have heard no proof of this other than word of mouth, and we all know this is always 100% true.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/lightsout.asp

[footoflead]

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/lightsout.asp

I didn't think this was true.

[Tave]

Usually when people do it for me it takes me awhile to realize what's going on. I think:

"What the hell is his problem, I don't have my lights on? Does someone in front of me have them on? Someone behind? I can't see. What the hell could he be talking about? Is he just nuts? Maybe there's an accident.........................



"Oh, maybe there's a trooper clocking --"

-- and then I see the cop.

[TBR]

I actually had someone flash their brights at me today warning of a state trooper sitting on the road. But, I don't think he was clocking people as he was on the shoulder with parking lights on early. In fact, I would tend to think that there wasn't even a person in the car. Additionally, it was probably half a mile before the speed limit went down, not a logical place.

[bing_oh]

I'd like to know if anyone has ever been ticketed for flashing their high beams a few times.

Why, YES, I have ticketed somebody for flashing their high-beams at me! Some rocket scientist flashed their brights to warn me of another officer who was running a little radar. Apparently, he didn't notice the reflective "POLICE" on the car and the lightbar on top (not to mention I didn't need the warning...I knew exactly where those sneaky cops were  ). He got a ticket for Failure to Dim. I suppose I could have been really nasty and arrested him for Obstructing Official Business, but I wasn't feeling quite that mean that night.

[Eye of the Tiger]

  

[Raza]

It doesn't seem to happen very often, you're right.  Whenever I do it, maybe one car in 10 sees it, realizes what it means, and then either flashes back or waves, and then slows down.  I think it should be a very common practice.  There's no seems to be very little camaraderie left on the roads nowadays. 

[SaltyDog]

I think that's generally a good thing to do.  However, if you save the group of cars you are passing from a ticket, then the cop will just get someone from the next group.  So it's not really preventing any tickets, it's just postponing the ticket and giving it to someone else.  That brings up the question:  should we only flash our lights at crappy cars, with the thinking that the driver is more likely poor and will be hurt more by the ticket?  Nothing against rich folks, and of course gauging a persons financial worth by the car they drive isn't very accurate, but I would rather see a rich person get a ticket if someone has to get it.  Also, this is assuming that the only "crime" being commited is minor/safe speeding.

[Eye of the Tiger]

There's no seems to be very little camaraderie left on the roads nowadays.?

I blame it on the SUV's.

[etypeJohn]

Is it really now??? Never heard of it being illegal, plenty of people have flashed.? But most are too stupid and lazy to warn others.

Yes, it's illegal.  Considered the same as you going down the road a couple of miles before a speed trap and standing on the side of the road with a big sign that says,  "Traffic radar ahead, slow down."  Cops don't like that, despite the fact you are actually causing people to obey the speed limit, at least for the next couple of miles.   

[etypeJohn]

I suppose I could have been really nasty and arrested him for Obstructing Official Business, but I wasn't feeling quite that mean that night.

Don't you mean impeding local jurisdiction revenue enhancement?   

[ChrisV]

Don't you mean impeding local jurisdiction revenue enhancement?   

And that's the thing. If speed traps were about slowing people down, then ANYTHING that got people to slow down would be ok. The fact that it's illegal means they don't want to slow you down (or let you slow others down), they want to make money off of people. And as you say, it impedes them making money if you actually tell/remind people to slow down.

Any wonder why some of us say it's all about the money and not about safety? If it WAS about safety it wouldn't matter HOW that safe driving came about. Whether it was you flashing your lights or them seeing an officer beside the road.

[Raza]

Don't you mean impeding local jurisdiction revenue enhancement?? ?

That's exactly what it is.  It should be no more illegal than driving the speed limit. 

[bing_oh]

And that's the thing. If speed traps were about slowing people down, then ANYTHING that got people to slow down would be ok. The fact that it's illegal means they don't want to slow you down (or let you slow others down), they want to make money off of people. And as you say, it impedes them making money if you actually tell/remind people to slow down.

Any wonder why some of us say it's all about the money and not about safety? If it WAS about safety it wouldn't matter HOW that safe driving came about. Whether it was you flashing your lights or them seeing an officer beside the road.

I'll just get this out of the way right off the bat. I could really care less how much money the city or the local courts make off of each citation I write. It's not as if I get a bonus check for each ticket, so I'm not padding my paycheck or anything. In my area, the court gets the vast majority of the fines, and the rest (as little as it is) goes to the state and into the city's general fund, so my department doesn't directly benefit from the fines either. In the end, even if I write 1000 tickets a month, it would neither put me in a new vehicle in my driveway at home nor would it get me a new cruiser to drive at work. Compaired to the amount of the department's budget that just comes from taxes, the cash we get from fines is laughably paltry.

Speed enforcement and the fines related to getting a ticket are intended to change driving behavior. Punishment is one way to do that. We all know that the warnings we're talking about don't change behavior any longer than till that cruiser has disappeared from the rearview mirror, so saying that they accomplish the same thing is just rationalization.