Because they are not legal in all US jurisdictions. As I cited above, some jurisdictions do not allow this sort of signaling for any reason.
What do you mean by “headlight flashers” anyway? I’m referring to just clicking your brights on and off. Are there vehicles that automatically flash the high beams for you? I wouldn’t be surprised if these were European vehicles, if there are, because there the signaling is a little different, and (depending on where you are), flashing to pass is not necessarily seen as an aggressive move, whereas in the States it often is. I don’t disagree with you that flashing to pass is a useful signal that should not carry a connotation of aggression, but that’s just not the case in the US.
BTW, the Washington Post article you linked to is an oped, which is not exactly a factual source, and, even if that piece does cite local law, it does not cover all the jurisdictions in the US.
I’ve been driving since the 70’s, and that’s outright bullshit. Whereas I was actually taught to flash my brights to let someone know they had left theirs off, I never even heard of flashing your lights to indicate that you deserve the left lane more than the person who’s already in it until the 90s. I actually thought you were being sarcastic, and whooshing the thread until you kept up your bizarre position. (I have to admit, I see no purpose in paying for an article that is one journalist claiming another is wrong.)
I won’t claim I’m old enough to have invented high beams, but the inventors clearly knew that while rural people, at least, would find them handy, they had to be turned off quickly, which allows flashing. (My '67 Dart had a foot pedal, which doesn’t allow the quick flash of a stem on the steering column, but you could still flash your high beams.)
Using your high beams to signal intent to pass is codified in some states laws in specific circumstance. (See, for instance, California.) But I can’t see anything in, say, Illinois’ laws about it, and the rules of the road for Illinois, for example, only mentions “blinking your headlights” in the section about passing trucks. The law itself says no high beams within 500ft of oncoming traffic and 300ft when approaching someone from behind, no exceptions for flashing as a signal to pass.
What I mean is the same as you, clicking your high/low beams on and off with the flicker that is often on the turn signal wand. Depends on the make of the car.. in older cars it used to be a button on the floor that you operate with your left foot.
Also… that you should mention European cars - I learned to drive in Germany… it is common and it is law… the flasher is used to signal the driver in front of you to move over as you intend to pass. Almost always on the autobahn. Obviously you would not do this on one lane roads (one lane in each direction that is). I’d be very willing to argue with any state trooper in any jurisdiction of the US who says that the flasher is for some other purpose.
I’ve already shown you links where in other jurisdictions it is allowed expressly for other purposes. See Wisconsin, for instance. Here is the statute:
Emphasis mine. Interestingly, no exemption there for flashing high-beams as a signal to pass.
There is an important difference between intended usage and what people actually use it for.
It is very common to flash brights in order to alert oncoming traffic to various hazards. Whether this is the intended purpose of the feature and whether this is condoned by law enforcement is irrelevant to the OP’s question of what people use them for.
I have personally been ticketed for flashing to warn about a speed trap :smack:
I’m not convinced there was any “intended” purpose behind the ability to flash your lights. My guess–and I’d be happy to be shown otherwise–is that it’s just a signal that developed out of the design of the high beam mechanism on most cars, when they moved it to the steering column so it reacts like a turn signal. The same sort of signal can be conveyed by flashing your low beams on and off. I don’t think it has an inherent purpose, just something that naturally developed, like flashing your hazards or cab lights or headlights or whatever after passing a vehicle to say “thank you.”
Yup, your drivers ed course in NC knows the right answer.
Tailgating and honking was the result of the person in front not moving over to the right lane, and is more of a sign of aggressive driving than the asshole doing the honking and tailgating.
Flashing your headlights to signal passing is typically only going to happen on divided highways, like I95 from NYC to Miami. Cars going to other direction wouldn’t even notice.
Sorry you got a ticket… but it is against the law. (Although I heartily help out my fellow drivers and flash all day to warn of cops. ) We’re not talking about collateral uses… we’re talking about the intended use.
Sorry but that Wiki article is incorrect (imo). It also says flashing is used to warn drivers of cops, and that is against the law in 50 out of 50 states.
That is pulled directly from the Wisconsin statute, not Wikipedia. Flashing to warn of cops is not illegal in 50 out of 50 states, either, but I’m not arguing about that use of flashing lights.
But since you mentioned it, I mean, come on: look here
Well okay. Strikes me as odd that a Wisconsin cop would say “sure! go ahead and warn other drivers that we have a radar trap here! Flash, whistle, trumpet, cheese slices whatever!”
These are the only two reasons I flash my lights at other cars. If someone flashed their lights at me and I already had my lights (and not my brights) on*, I’d be very confused and not know what message they were trying to give me. If I was trying to change lanes/pass on a highway and they were behind me in the lane I was going into, I’d speculate that they were letting me know I could move over, but wouldn’t be sure, since I’m not driving a big truck.
*which I always do, because I never turn my lights off. They go off automatically when the car turns off. My husband’s car doesn’t do this and I hate it.
What are you talking about? Where have I said anything about cops other than in my first post (where I agreed that flashing lights is a common signal indicating this, but did not opine about its legality) and the last one (where you specifically said it was illegal in all 50 states, which is factually incorrect. I can dig up more states and more cites that is legal in other jurisdictions, if you’d like, but that’s not a point I’m interested in arguing.) I’m arguing against your point that the only legal reason to flash your brights is to signal to pass is utterly, and factually incorrect. How many more citations do you need?
You want something more recent? Let try November 2011 of this year then:
But, once again, I really don’t give a shit about warning other motorists about cops. I don’t do that personally. I’m talking about other uses like flashing for lights out or to get someone to drop their high beams.
I wasn’t saying it is illegal to flash to get someone to move over. I’m just saying that it is in no way, shape, or form, is Lukeinva’s statement that "The purpose of the “flasher” feature of headlights is to signal your intent to pass. That’s it, that’s the list. " correct. The purpose, as much as there is one, is to allow you to turn off your high beams quickly.
What are you talking about? Where have I said anything about cops other than in my first post (where I agreed that flashing lights is a common signal indicating this, but did not opine about its legality) and the last one (where you specifically said it was illegal in all 50 states, which is factually incorrect. I can dig up more states and more cites that is legal in other jurisdictions, if you’d like, but that’s not a point I’m interested in arguing.) I’m arguing against your point that the only legal reason to flash your brights is to signal to pass is utterly, and factually incorrect. How many more citations do you need?