The various meanings of flashing your high beams

[jeffandnicole]

I've seen other drivers flash their high beams to inform drivers on the opposite side of the road that there is a police car logging speeds up ahead.

While I hear this reason many times for flashing your high beams during the day, there has only been ONE person who has been kind enough to warn me of such a speedtrap. When I was a kid driving with my parents, it was much more common for people to flicker their hi-beam lights to signal a police car. I don't see it much anymore though. However, if possible, I try my best to advise fellow motorists of law enforcement looking for speeders, especially if they're hidden.

Probably due to the media reports of cops looking for people flashing their high beams. 

I, for one, am glad people have cut down on doing it.  On several occasions I've seen people flashing their high beams.  The cop car may be miles down the roadway (how long am I supposed to slow down...forever?), or has someone pulled over...on the other side of the road...with a concrete barrier preventing crossover access.  Those motorists alerting me to that are probably the same people that slow down to 45 mph in the left lane when they see a cop outside the car on the opposing lanes.

I try to keep my speed fast, but not be the fastest on the roadway.  And I keep an eye out far ahead for brake lights for no obvious reason. Chances are those motorists spotted a cop, and I'll slow down in preperation for a possible cop.

[briantroutman]

How do you communicate to someone behind you that their brights are on? I've tried pointing/waving, flashing brake lights or taillights... It's easy to do for oncoming traffic, but I can't just swing my car around 180 and flash them.

You don't have one of those scrolling LED signs in your rear window like they use in the store window of dry-cleaners and the like?

About 15 years ago when ZDTV was still around, I remember seeing a news story about a guy trying to market an LED text sign to to be installed in cars' rear windows. In an attempt to promote courtesy–and because people obviously shouldn't be typing while driving–it was controlled by a few buttons on the dashboard which brought up pre-programmed messages that could not be changed by the user. I think the messages were "Sorry", "Thank you", and "My fault" or something like that. The reporter concluded that it the product would be immediately hacked and the messages changed with less friendly ones.

So I guess that product never went anywhere.

[Pete from Boston]

Speaking of - that's another reason to flash your lights - to try to get the person to understand that only their DRLs are on.

that, or their headlight switch is on that intermediate setting that every damn car seems to come with between "lights off" and "lights on".  not once in my life have I intentionally used it, but there have been times (including once getting pulled over) where I thought I had turned the dial two full clicks, but it was only one.  I fail to see what the purpose of it is other than inviting mistakes.

I think in my first few weeks of driving I turned these on at twilight.  Sometime since then it has become very common to use headlights 24/7, and any real usefulness of an intermediate setting is long in the past, IMO.

[theline]

Speaking of - that's another reason to flash your lights - to try to get the person to understand that only their DRLs are on.

that, or their headlight switch is on that intermediate setting that every damn car seems to come with between "lights off" and "lights on".  not once in my life have I intentionally used it, but there have been times (including once getting pulled over) where I thought I had turned the dial two full clicks, but it was only one.  I fail to see what the purpose of it is other than inviting mistakes.

I think in my first few weeks of driving I turned these on at twilight.  Sometime since then it has become very common to use headlights 24/7, and any real usefulness of an intermediate setting is long in the past, IMO.

My dad called them "parking lights," with the idea that you use them while parked. They keep interior lights and taillights on for safety and convenience when you don't need headlights. I usually just keep the headlights on anyway, like Pete said.

The only time they've been really useful in recent years is while parked in front of a house with a really elaborate Christmas display. You keep the taillights going for safety, while extinguishing the headlights as a courtesy to others.

[Alps]

I use parking lights whenever I want to be visible (cloudy, dawnish/duskish) but my headlights are not needed for illumination. As for high beams, I have secondhand knowledge of someone pulled over for attempting to warn other motorists. (In other words, I know someone who saw it happen.)

[corco]

I use parking lights whenever I want to be visible (cloudy, dawnish/duskish) but my headlights are not needed for illumination.

I don't know what the law is in NJ, but just a heads up- that's a ticketable offense in many states, as those lights are designed to indicate a stationary vehicle (if you're pulled over on the side of the roadway in the dark, turn your parking lights on).

[Alps]

I use parking lights whenever I want to be visible (cloudy, dawnish/duskish) but my headlights are not needed for illumination.

I don't know what the law is in NJ, but just a heads up- that's a ticketable offense in many states, as those lights are designed to indicate a stationary vehicle (if you're pulled over on the side of the roadway in the dark, turn your parking lights on).

So I'm better off not turning on any lights on a cloudy day. The law is stupid sometimes. (I'm not using headlights if they give me no benefit, as I find oncoming headlights during daylight actually hurt my vision.)

[kphoger]

I use parking lights whenever I want to be visible (cloudy, dawnish/duskish) but my headlights are not needed for illumination. As for high beams, I have secondhand knowledge of someone pulled over for attempting to warn other motorists. (In other words, I know someone who saw it happen.)

I use parking lights when it's dark and I'm probably going to blind or annoy someone by using my headlights.  Common settings include the following:

- Pulling up behind someone at an ATM after dark, I dim to parking lights.

- Driving in a parking garage, I turn on my parking lights but not my full headlights.

- Coming home, if it's after 10:00 PM, I dim to parking lights before backing into the driveway, as a courtesy to the neighbors across the street.  In the winter months, when it's still dark when I go to work, I also don't turn my lights on all the way till I'm already driving on the street, for the same reason.

- Driving in a crowd after dark, such as after a sporting event, I use my parking lights so my headlights aren't shining in the eyes of people walking to their cars.

[jeffandnicole]

I've used parking lights at night...during snowfalls, when no one else is around.  The headlights reflect off the snow, producing a blinding effect.  The parking lights actually provide more illumination thru the snowflakes. 

[Pete from Boston]

I use parking lights whenever I want to be visible (cloudy, dawnish/duskish) but my headlights are not needed for illumination.

I don't know what the law is in NJ, but just a heads up- that's a ticketable offense in many states, as those lights are designed to indicate a stationary vehicle (if you're pulled over on the side of the roadway in the dark, turn your parking lights on).

Wipers on, lights on is the law in NJ. 

Proper headlights don't bother me during the day, and often shorten the time it takes to notice a car in my mirrors.  The idiots who drive around with high beams on during the day (you know who you are) do.

[kphoger]

I've used parking lights at night...during snowfalls, when no one else is around.  The headlights reflect off the snow, producing a blinding effect.  The parking lights actually provide more illumination thru the snowflakes. 

In heavy snow, if my headlights are blinding me, I switch to parking lights plus fog lights.

[Brandon]

I use parking lights whenever I want to be visible (cloudy, dawnish/duskish) but my headlights are not needed for illumination.

I don't know what the law is in NJ, but just a heads up- that's a ticketable offense in many states, as those lights are designed to indicate a stationary vehicle (if you're pulled over on the side of the roadway in the dark, turn your parking lights on).

Wipers on, lights on is the law in NJ. 

Ditto in Illinois.  If your wipers are on, your lights must be on.

I just do that as good practice anyway.  If I deem the level of light to be too low, I will turn my lights on.  One's headlights are not on the car to see, they are so that you can be seen.

[Zeffy]

One's headlights are not on the car to see, they are so that you can be seen.

Unfortunately, for people driving on a one lane road, not seeing them is virtually impossible.

[Pete from Boston]

I've used parking lights at night...during snowfalls, when no one else is around.  The headlights reflect off the snow, producing a blinding effect.  The parking lights actually provide more illumination thru the snowflakes. 

In heavy snow, if my headlights are blinding me, I switch to parking lights plus fog lights.

I like that idea.  I wonder how hard it would be to rewire my fog lights to run with headlights off.

[empirestate]

I use parking lights whenever I want to be visible (cloudy, dawnish/duskish) but my headlights are not needed for illumination. As for high beams, I have secondhand knowledge of someone pulled over for attempting to warn other motorists. (In other words, I know someone who saw it happen.)

I was pulled over for that once, having accidentally flashed my brights at a cop while trying to locate the wiper control on a car I'd bought that very day, when it started to snow lightly.

[signalman]

I was pulled over years ago for flashing my high beams at a detective in a Ford Taurus.  I had no idea it was a cop that I warned.  After I flashed the Taurus to warn him of the marked police car up the road who was running radar the Taurus made an aggressive u-turn and pulled me over.  He flashed his badge, looked at my credentials and told me to never help out law breakers and sent me on my way.  This was about 10 years ago and I've never tried to warn another driver of a patrol car up ahead.  I got his message loud and clear.

[kphoger]

I was pulled over years ago for flashing my high beams at a detective in a Ford Taurus.  I had no idea it was a cop that I warned.  After I flashed the Taurus to warn him of the marked police car up the road who was running radar the Taurus made an aggressive u-turn and pulled me over.  He flashed his badge, looked at my credentials and told me to never help out law breakers and sent me on my way.  This was about 10 years ago and I've never tried to warn another driver of a patrol car up ahead.  I got his message loud and clear.

I suppose one could, if his lights are off, turn his low beams on and off again a couple of times; or, if his lights are on, he could turn them off and on again a couple of times.  Neither scenario involves using high beams, but would still warn other drivers.

[Pete from Boston]

I was pulled over years ago for flashing my high beams at a detective in a Ford Taurus.  I had no idea it was a cop that I warned.  After I flashed the Taurus to warn him of the marked police car up the road who was running radar the Taurus made an aggressive u-turn and pulled me over.  He flashed his badge, looked at my credentials and told me to never help out law breakers and sent me on my way.  This was about 10 years ago and I've never tried to warn another driver of a patrol car up ahead.  I got his message loud and clear.

It makes other drivers slow down.  My answer would be, "Whenever I see a lot of speeders, I flash my brights, and *poof!* there are fewer speeders, and no valuable police resources diverted from more important work.

I suppose if I was in Ohio, I'd say, "Just like that fake drug checkpoint you guys put up -- I'm following your example to lie in the name of safety."

[J N Winkler]

I suppose one could, if his lights are off, turn his low beams on and off again a couple of times; or, if his lights are on, he could turn them off and on again a couple of times.  Neither scenario involves using high beams, but would still warn other drivers.

The issue here is obstruction of justice, not whether high or low beams were used.  I am reasonably sure that the DA would have discarded any obstruction charges the police officer tried to file, but I totally understand Signalman not wanting to get caught up in the legal process and risk spending a night in a jail cell.

[Zeffy]

Saw this on MSN, and is totally relevant to this topic.

http://now.msn.com/michael-elli-missouri-driver-files-class-action-lawsuit-in-support-of-headlight-flashing

[1995hoo]

The obstruction-of-justice claim some cops make strikes me as absurd because you're not preventing the cops from doing their jobs in that you're not interfering with the process of writing a ticket or making an arrest or whatever; rather, you're eliminating the need for them to do it at all. It's a significant difference. A cop writes a speeding ticket if he clocks the motorist at a speed in excess of the posted limit. Flashing your lights to warn of a speedtrap simply means the other driver won't be exceeding the speed limit when he passes the cop. In other words, the cop's job is to clock motorists' speed at a designated spot and to pull over motorists going too fast if any such appear. The driver who warns of the speedtrap is not interfering with the cop's ability to clock motorists' speed at that designated spot. He's not interfering with pulling people over because the cop never had a "right" to encounter speeding motorists in the first place–for example, some roads are known enforcement spots where many, sometimes most, local drivers just slow down automatically anyway.

[roadman]

The obstruction-of-justice claim some cops make strikes me as absurd because you're not preventing the cops from doing their jobs in that you're not interfering with the process of writing a ticket or making an arrest or whatever; rather, you're eliminating the need for them to do it at all. It's a significant difference. A cop writes a speeding ticket if he clocks the motorist at a speed in excess of the posted limit. Flashing your lights to warn of a speedtrap simply means the other driver won't be exceeding the speed limit when he passes the cop. In other words, the cop's job is to clock motorists' speed at a designated spot and to pull over motorists going too fast if any such appear. The driver who warns of the speedtrap is not interfering with the cop's ability to clock motorists' speed at that designated spot. He's not interfering with pulling people over because the cop never had a "right" to encounter speeding motorists in the first place—for example, some roads are known enforcement spots where many, sometimes most, local drivers just slow down automatically anyway.

I think the proper term here would be "obstruction of revenue collection", not "obstruction of justice".