I’ve done it on rural highways where you typically go 10 to 15 km’s faster then the speed limit on a nice day. I never do it for people who are speeding in construction zones or school/playground zones. I actually honk my horn at people who are speeding through the school/playground zones and motion for them to slow down.
I actually flash my headlights way more often if there are animals in the road. If I pass a bunch of deer on the side I flash the next few drivers and they always slow down.
Never heard of this.
The only reason I’ve seen a driver flash their lights (as a passenger) is when people have their high beams on and haven’t turned them off.
I do it.
Yes I do it, yes I see it all the time. As a matter of fact, it is the odd car that will NOT flash when there is a speed trap ahead in my area. It is like neighbors protecting neighbors.
Recently there was a cow in the 55mph road that leads to my neighborhood. (There are pastures on either side). I had no idea what to do to warn people so I kept flashing my lights. I figured they would think it was a cop and slow down so as to notice the cow before it became a hood ornament.
On the central coast of California, the deer I saw were the size of large dogs. Had some close calls, but assumed a busted light or broken windshield was the worst to expect. I moved to TN. The deer were the size of elephants. I noticed people flashing their lights–quickly realized it denoted deer ahead. Saw lots of vehicles on the side of the road with the front ends caved in and covered with fur and blood.
I don’t flash for speed traps–If I can drive for 31 years and 750,000 miles without a single ticket for a moving violation–so can you.
Speed limits are way lower than they should be. Cars handle better at high speed than they did when most of the limits were legislated. The only rationale for keeping them low is for the sake of poor drivers. I’m a cautious driver, but I do 5-10 over the limit (like a good three quarters of all drivers on major highways do) and I flash to warn others routinely.
The autobahn is really the model for highway driving. One, rather than having extremely long straight stretches, it’s gently curved to keep drivers from developing tunnel vision and losing concentration on the road. Two, its meticulously maintained to avoid accidents. Three, instead of assuming safety can be increased by arbitrary speed limits, regulations instead penalize truly unsafe driving practices, most notably tailgating. Tailgating is a serious offense on the autobahn. Driving too slow can also be dangerous and is fined. Three, fines are scaled according to your income, so the wealthy are forced to comply (and the money helps pay for the expensive upkeep of the road). Consequently, people get where they are going faster and safer than in the US.
US highways and speed limits stink.
Always, and yes.
If the goal of speed enforcement is to slow people down, I’m content with slowing them down and keeping the money in their pocket. Mission accomplished. Of course, that’s not the goal of speed enforcement, so I’m even happier keeping the money away from the revenooers.
You can get in trouble for it. A while back they made it illegal in Pennsylvania because it was cutting into their take. I believe that that is still the case, but I can’t be sure and I don’t have time to look. Anyway, I still do it, but I always look around to see if there’s another cop trying to nab flashers.
Not that it makes any difference. It’s so rare that hardly anybody even knows what it means anymore. Those that do get to keep a little coin in their pockets, and I’m content with that.
I know people who flash their lights when they see someone obviously speeding regardless of whether there was a cop or not. That seems like a good act of road safety. The speeder never quite knows when it’s “safe” to speed up again.
In my experience, even suggesting that fines (here in the US) should be based on one’s income is like saying you think babies taste great when fried up with onions.
Personally, I think it’s a good idea, for the reason you listed. The fines, not the babies.
[SUB]Everyone knows that babies taste best with carrots and potatoes.[/SUB]
I did it just yesterday.
I have a hard time believing it’s possible to prove that the intent of someone flashing their lights is to warn others of speed traps. I sometimes accidently flash mine when I use my turn signal.
OK, I found the relevant PA statute.
There is at least one court case where someone was charged with improper use, as apparently danger to finances via police fundraising does not constitute an emergency or a hazard for anybody.
As a fellow resident of Massachusetts, I couldn’t agree more. There is a stretch of road near my parents were the speed limit drops for no apparent reason. The real reason for the change is that a city counselor, who bought a house on a busy street, doesn’t like cars to go past it. So he managed to get the speed limit changed. He hoped it would limit traffic. All it did was prevent him from being reelected as everyone was pissed at him.
That being said, I can’t remember the last speed trap I saw, as I don’t drive much currently.
Ah, but that’s the thing.
See my above post.
A cop can write a ticket for the action, sure, but when that ticket is fought, he has to prove that the intent of the driver was not to warn of any other possible dangerous condition but specifically that the intent of the driver was to warn an oncoming driver of the speedtrap.
At least the cop gets court pay out of it, but I don’t see this as being as easy as it sounds. Of course, “obstruction” sounds (a) official; (b) legal; and © what you were doing anyway, so it’s unlikely that too many people would fight it.
That reminds me of some neighborhood streets in Charlottesville VA. They added a bunch of unnecessary Stop signs to get people to slow down, turning 2-way stops into 4-way stops. I don’t think I would like it if I lived near one of the new Stop signs, because I’m sure they hear cars accelerating away from the Stop signs all day and night, whereas before cars would just drive by.
I always flash to warn people. I think the failure to do so is just another sign of the breakdown of American society. Used to be, we were all in it together, and you did what you could to help your neighbors. I’ve been saved from tickets countless times by thoughtful, like-minded motorists that had the decency to warn me. That doesn’t happen nearly as often as it used to, though, and I’ve only been driving 22 years.
The people that don’t and are proud of it (the “Fuck 'em” contingent), sort of remind me of that oft-characterized kid in school who kissed up to the teachers, and he’d fuck you over or otherwise start shit with you then fall back to hiding behind the teachers’ skirt when you tried to retaliate against him. He grows up to be the guy that runs the homeowner’s association and calls the police on you when you have a Forth of July BarBQ.
This sentiment really confuses me. Not aiding people in breaking the law is part of the breakdown of society?
Here is a previous thread about the legalities of flashing the headlights to warn of speedtraps: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414485&page=1&pp=40
Yeah, that’s right. It’s civil disobedience, and I’m proud to admit it. We live in a society where so much has been criminalized everyone is a criminal. I think the system is corrupt. I think the police are corrupt and are all lawbreakers themselves but are in a priveleged position. I think the local governments are corrupt and use the ticket income to cover shortfalls caused by stealing and misappropriation. I think the police act as handmaidens to the insurance companies who’s sould mission is to seperate you from your hard-earned dollars by way of insultingly inflated insurance rates that get driven ever higher with every single traffic infraction.
People used to have some inkling that they were being bent over and fucked in the ass by our government and it’s agents every time the opportunity presented itself. Then something happened - a kind of stupidification of America - and suddenly we’re a nation of apple polishing cowards that mindlessly accept whatever bullshit our corrupt leaderships stuff up our collective rectum. Bullshit social programs, political correctness, endless illegal wars, and so on.
I say fuck that. The police are agents of a corrupt system that systematically steals from me and takes away a little bit of my freedom every day. I’m not going to go all Waco, or go live up at Walden Pond, but if I can keep a few bucks from finding their way into the coffers of these fucking crooks, by Jebus, I’m gonna flash my lights.
As a motorcyclist, I always warn other motorcyclists of Police in the area. If you ever drive by a motorcyclist and see him touching/patting the top of his helemt (as a sign to other bikers) - that’s what it means.
Is it against the law? Don’t know, don’t care.
Around here–as with several others in this thread–the flashing lights mean “be careful, there’s a deer/cow/tractor/wreck/whatever in the road ahead.” I like it that way.
Several “flash for the speed trap” (snicker) advocates here talk about the sense of community and protecting your neighbors. I generally drive within 5 mph of the speed limit (which won’t get you a ticket for the most part). If people constantly flashed lights for speed traps, I’d start to ignore the flashing, and might end up running over someone else’s dog or hitting a deer.
YMMV. Our county has approximately 3.5 deer for every person, so they’re a serious concern. I really appreciate someone flashing their lights to indicate that if I go over the next rise at 65 mph I’m going to plow into a herd.
Generalize much? Around here the police don’t like the insurance companies any more than we do!