That’s flashing your high beams. The poster was talking about actually turning lights on and off, as they said not flashing your high beams on and off. I flash high beams fairly regularly to communicate with another driver: you may proceed (as I mentioned in my last post), you forgot to turn your headlights on, or there’s a cop down the road. I don’t turn my headlights on and off (well, I actually lied a little on that – I sometimes do that for trucks trying to merge in, but I’m the only person I know who does the lights-on-lights-off thing. It’s just something a trucker once taught me and I do it when I’m board hoping to get a flash of the cab lights as a “thank you” in return, and feel like I’m part of a secret society. 
)
No, flashing your high beams is for letting someone know they have their high beams on when they shouldn’t, and blinking your lights off and back on is for letting them know their lights are off. At least as far as I’ve always known. I mean, it makes sense-- A=A, B=B.
I’ve flashed my brights at trucks to let them know they’re clear to change lanes in front of me, and I’ve had them turn their lights on and off (flashing the taillights) to acknowledge me. In my car when someone let’s me in I’ll give a wave, so there’s no need to flash my taillights.
My old (2000) semi-analog Suburban is just computered up enough to have an extremely dangerous bug. There has never been an update or recall. Lights can be in auto, park, or on. Auto is off during the day (running lights only). If you want your lights on during the day, turn from auto to on. If it is night and the lights are set to auto, so they are all lit, turning the knob to “on” sometimes causes the lights to turn off, and the only way to turn them on is to turn of and restart the car.
Yeah, I had a 75 Ranchero, my parents had a 75 and a 77. There’s no need to worry about the doors when loading it. It’s basically a station wagon with the roof cut off.
I know that. Not my point.
Yeah, this has been the practice all my long life.
I blink my headlights to indicate I’m yielding. For example, at a stop sign (during night when a friendly wave is hard to see) to the let the other car know they can go. Also, to let a truck, or someone pulling a trailer, or a motorcycle that I see them and I’m letting them do whatever they’re trying to do.
Flashing your lights can sometimes work, but it’s usually aggressive assholes who flash. Blinking your lights is always friendly.
Huh. Here in Chicago I’ve been taught flash highs for both and have only observed it that way. I don’t recall ever seeing anyone quickly turn their lights on and off.
Well, my ancient old-fashioned car is sitting safely in the garage with no wireless connection to anything, it’s inaccessible to the manufacturer or anyone else, and I’m guaranteed that the next time I get into it everything will look and function exactly as it did before. And that’s how I like it. Others may feel differently and they’re entitled to their opinions.
As an aside, though I’ve never driven a Tesla I once had a VW Jetta as a rental which had a big multi-function screen in the middle of the dashboard. Navigating that thing was a nightmare. It seemed to be able to do a bazillion different things, but the trick was how to convince it to do anything. I finally managed to set it to my favourite radio station and adjust the volume, and never touched it after that. Thank God there was a normal instrument cluster or I wouldn’t have been able to drive the thing.
When I rent a car my usual practice is to choose “whatever you have that’s cheap” and honestly, if that turned out to be a Tesla, I’d probably refuse it, mainly on the grounds of safety due to being distracted by all the unfamiliar gadgetry.
I get it but the things that you typically use while driving don’t change on a Tesla either. The hysterical hyperbole that you’ve heard is overblown. The climate system and the entertainment system are easy to use and haven’t changed other than the entertainment system has added more options. It’s as easy as carplay but you probably wouldn’t like carplay either.
I’ve had the Tesla almost a week now (getting part for a 23 Leaf is apparently a nightmare), and I’m getting used to it finally, but it was only yesterday that I figured out how not to have to re-enter as address every time I did something that overrode that GPS screen I had up.
It may be that people who chose Teslas after test-driving, reading about them, test-driving other electric cars, and perhaps needing the range of the Tesla, and now have had one for a year don’t think twice about the screen.
I drove manuals for 30 years until I bought my only ICE automatic in 2016, because there were no more manuals, and my next cars after that was the Leaf. I never thought twice about shifting-- in fact, it took a looooong time to get used to not doing it, and I still drive with just my left hand on the wheel.
But rental car places have not had manuals in their fleets since about 1985.
And it is probably too early for them to have Teslas. Teslas have a sharp learning curve, like manual transmissions did, and take longer to master than the length of most rentals.
That is my conclusion now, several days after starting this thread,
I continue to think that Teslas are mostly hype. They may have been the first in line with practical electric cars; and they may come standard with a lot of things that are considered either “luxury,” or “sporty” like all the adjusters-- seat, mirrors, wheel, locks, being fully electric; but the myth is giving way as electric cars become more and more accessible.
Everyone I know who bought a Tesla before 2020 bragged, and especially people who bought them when they were brand new. But who brags about buying a Leaf? it’s the Chevette of electric cars, and all the luxury and sporty ICE cars are way more expensive, not to mention the SUVs.
That’s where I am now.
No. The rental companies that have bought Teslas are selling them off as fast as they can!
Why the “No”? the rest of your response seems to be agreeing with me.
BTW, interesting link
I understood you to be saying that it’s too soon for rental car companies to be offering Teslas. The link says that at least one of the big majors has tried, and it didn’t work out for them.
That is exactly what I said. You responded “No,” as in, “No; rental companies should have Teslas.”
Yes. Literally everyone in this thread thinks that and said that. Way too early.
So, what is the hype?
One of the biggest hype things is FSD. It has serious issues, has killed people who used it, and should not be relief upon.
(“Full Self Driving”, or autopilot)
Human powered driving has killed a gazillion more people yet we rely on it. That’s why I rely on my dog to do the driving.
What kills more people per mile, FSD or regular driving? How many fatalities were there in 2024 by people who were using FSD and how many total fatalities were there in total in the US? Please show your work.
I have that commercial saved in my “fantastic videos” collection! Great to see that it’s still online!
As to the extent to which FSD is better or worse than human driving, it’s like all the rest of AI – it’s different, and we have to make sure that it’s not dangerously different. We are still very far from that point, despite what Elmo “Mars Boy” Musk claims.