What's Normal? - Do you flash your lights to warn other drivers of police? (1 Viewer)

[headcrack]

All the time. Golden Rule - I would want people to do it for me.

 

[wlwiles]

I only do it if I'm on a 2 lane country road/backroad where it's common to speed and cops like to hide and set up traps. I've been saved by other flashing me so I try to do the same.

 

[Sand]

Correct. A cop might still pull you over and may try and give you a ticket for it, but it'll almost certainly get thrown out. Doesn't mean they won't stop you and try and find something else, but the actual flashing of the lights isn't fineable.

The process is the punishment. We see this time and time again with government.

Aside from revenue, the obnoxiously slow process is the secondary goal of tickets imo. Just run my plates, give me the ticket and let me resume speeding, please.

I've known of more than one occasion of friends getting tickets with the officer knowing it would get thrown out, but the punishment of making them go to court was the whole point.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

No. All I need is that ticket in front of one of my judges.

Though completely unrelated funny, to me, story. Driving wife's car while she was pregnant and had to run out for some craving or another. Got pulled over because I swerved or something. Probably thought I was drunk.

Officer asks for paperwork. Can't find a thing. I know I gave her all her paperwork for the car. I know it should be there. I know I'm not delusional. But....nothing. ii apologize tell him it's my wife's car, I have no idea what she did with docs and I'll just take my ticket. He writes more than he should have. And one required an appearance.

Go to court (never told wife because again, pregnant) tell the Prosecutor the story. She laughs. Tells me just appear before judge and whatever the judge wants to do is fine. Judge calls me by name to handle my cases. But I only had me that day.


Counsel, whose your client

My client is an idiot judge. It's me.

He looks up, laughs, pulls the file.

Do you have all the paperwork now?

Yes judge, right here. I apologize.

How's your wife?

She doesn't know any of this and I'd like to keep it that way.

Ok, just pay the court costs, the state has no objection to dismissal so case dismissed.

Thank you judge.

Ugh.

 

[Keith R]

I do. Here's my logic;

A speed trap can only catch one speeder at a time. An impaired driver (whether impaired by alcohol, THC, prescription meds, sleep deprivation, texting or whatever) is less likely to heed my warning than a mere speeder who is otherwise an attentative driver. Therefore, if I warn speeders and some heed my warings while others don't, the people who get pulled over are more likely to be impaired than if I hadn't warned anyone at all. And that is an outcome I fully support because those are the most dangerous ones.

 

[Bozeman Bruiser]

I used to but can't remember the last time I did it, most cops stopped doing speed traps for some reason around here.

Nowadays I am more likely to flash people because there are deer or elk in the road.

 

[belljr]

My wife used to love to flash her highbeams........ was very straining to our marriage

 

[nirad3]

I don't, and honestly if someone flashed their beams at me I would just think my lights were off or one lamp was out and they were just letting me know.

 

[Raging weasel]

Voted no never heard of this being a thing

 

[El Floppo]

I did on a crosscountry trip with wide open roads.

But never otherwise.

I think as we get older we're less prone to help others get away with potentially dangerous things

 

[Terminalxylem]

No. All I need is that ticket in front of one of my judges.

What does this mean? I take it you’re a judge - how frequently do you see people who’ve flashed their lights ticketed?

 

[Terminalxylem]

Correct. A cop might still pull you over and may try and give you a ticket for it, but it'll almost certainly get thrown out. Doesn't mean they won't stop you and try and find something else, but the actual flashing of the lights isn't fineable.

The process is the punishment. We see this time and time again with government.

Aside from revenue, the obnoxiously slow process is the secondary goal of tickets imo. Just run my plates, give me the ticket and let me resume speeding, please.

I've known of more than one occasion of friends getting tickets with the officer knowing it would get thrown out, but the punishment of making them go to court was the whole point.

In my case, I know I‘m speeding, and have gotten away with doing so frequently, so I don’t ever fight tickets.

I’m polite to the officer, but really wish they’d just eliminate the nonsense (Do you know how fast you were going/why I pulled you over?, repeated trips back to their vehicle, etc.), and allow me to resume unlawful driving.

Having been caught in speed traps, I know the process doesn’t have to take very long.

 

[Gally]

In my case, I know I‘m speeding, and have gotten away with doing so frequently, so I don’t ever fight tickets.

I have gotten tickets when I should have gotten tickets and I am fine with that. I have also gotten tickets when every car on the highway was flying past me and for some reason the cop pulled me over (I was in a Toyota Sienna Mini-van going 72 in the middle of Los Angeles (on the 405) in a carpool lane at 7:30 in the morning). Cars were blowing past me and nobody was on my tail pushing me to go faster so I wasn't impeding traffic either. Then out of nowhere some cop lights me up and pulls me over. I was pissed. No way I should be getting a ticket in this case. This is the type of thing that is wrong.

 

[Rustoleum]

2) I think it’s a fineable offense.

I thought I read several years ago about a case going all the way to the Supreme Court and flashing your lights to warn other drivers of police ahead is covered under freedom of speech.

The wikipedia link above says as much.

Unless I'm reading it errantly, the link says it went to the federal court (likely the district that Missouri is in). As such, that's not a Supreme Court decision and therefore not binding on all states. In my state, I could definitely see an obstruction of justice charge or a violation of the traffic code.

Yeah. friend got ticketed for this and went to court for it where the judge basically laughed at him and upheld the ticket.

”Improper driving”.

 

[Terminalxylem]

In my case, I know I‘m speeding, and have gotten away with doing so frequently, so I don’t ever fight tickets.

I have gotten tickets when I should have gotten tickets and I am fine with that. I have also gotten tickets when every car on the highway was flying past me and for some reason the cop pulled me over (I was in a Toyota Sienna Mini-van going 72 in the middle of Los Angeles (on the 405) in a carpool lane at 7:30 in the morning). Cars were blowing past me and nobody was on my tail pushing me to go faster so I wasn't impeding traffic either. Then out of nowhere some cop lights me up and pulls me over. I was pissed. No way I should be getting a ticket in this case. This is the type of thing that is wrong.

Meh. It’s not like you didn’t deserve a ticket - you were speeding. And the others should have been ticketed as well.

Being unlucky doesn’t negate the crime, nor does the existence of worse offenders. Surely there have been situations you’ve dodged the proverbial bullet, when you should have been ticketed?

 

[AAABatteries]

I try to get them to speed up.

Slow your asses down.

 

[jhib]

On highways I just use Waze and will mark police on there if they aren't already marked. On country roads where Waze isn't always as useful, I'll still flash the headlights. I do the same for deer on the side of the road, which is more common near me than a police car.

 

[Navin Johnson]

Rarely do I try to do this but when I do I turn on my wipers by mistake.

Did this a lot driving in Antigua and Ko Samui

 

[GroveDiesel]

I did BC (before Covid). After Covid it seems like way more people drive way too dangerously. I’m not enabling people to drive dangerously. Also, stay off my lawn.

 

[Courtjester]

I did BC (before Covid). After Covid it seems like way more people drive way too dangerously. I’m not enabling people to drive dangerously. Also, stay off my lawn.

This.

I used to flash my lights before, but since I have gotten older and with Covid hitting, it just seems like people have lost their minds on the roads. I am always a 10 MPH over type driver, but these days it seems I am getting run over on city streets. There is a stretch of road I take coming home from my mom's where you can see a good mile ahead of you. Speed limit is 65 and I tend to do 80 out there. The other day I was really moving and I looked down and was close to 90, but I was getting passed like I was standing still--including by a work van that had to be doing well over 105--110. Forget that, those people deserve tickets.

 

[Tecumseh]

I used to, but don't any more.

This. Voted “no”.

I’m not getting involved.

I might flash my lights if there is a hazard and maybe there’s a car heading towards it and I think it would be safer for everyone if that driver slowed down.

Same. I’ll flash lights to warn when there’s a deer or turtle or something in the road, but if someone is obviously speeding and I could warn them? Nope. Eff ‘em.

 

[Rand al Thor]

I used to do it and appreciated it when someone would return the favor. Nowadays I figure there's a >60% chance that the oncoming driver is a d-bag (90% chance if it's a Dodge Ram) and I hope he gets a $300 ticket. I haven't had anyone flash their brights at me in probably 15 or 20 years.

 

[Chemical X]

yes

 

[FiredMartz]

With motorcyclists its a tap on the top of the helmet

 

[belljr]

With motorcyclists its a tap on the top of the helmet

It's pretty dangerous to tap a guy on his head while speeding