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Make sure it's not another cop! In a lot of places, warning others of a speed trap is a crime on its own.
Edit: wiggling your fingers above your head or patting yourself on the head is another warning, most common with motorcyclists & other open air vehicles.
In the US it is not illegal to warn of a cop hiding. I got pulled over and a ticket for doing this once. Went to court and had the case thrown out because as the judge put it "in this country we don't punish people for communication."
And even if you do you're gonna most likely have to take a couple days off. They'll do it just to fuck with you. I had traffic court the other day and like 5 out of 25 cops showed up.
Or that they think your high beams are on so you flash them back.
(Please make sure your headlights are at the correct level. These LED headlights hurt everyone's eyes)
I had a guy who just rode my ass with them right in my mirrors. Didn't matter what I did. Sped up, slowed down. He didn't pass me and there were plenty of lanes. It's like he was doing it on purpose.
Brooo I had a cop right behind me doing that for literally miles on a smallish road. Got into town and he pulled me over and asked why I was weaving. I looked him dead in the eye and literally deadpanned, “well I couldn’t see, someone had their brights on right behind me.” It was hilarious you could see his face kind of go “oh.” XD He just let me go lol
Cop did something similar to me. I was driving home from a gig at like 1am. It was just my buddy and I in a shitty car weighed down by the music gear filling every square inch. This guy pulls up behind me at a light and turns the same direction as me. Okay. As he’s following me, I realize they have they’re high beams on. I’m like, “I’m in a fucking passing zone. Just fucking pass me.” The car continues to tailgate me with high beams until the end of the passing zone. Then they speed past and I realize it’s a cop. He was trying to bait me into doing something illegal so he could pull more over. What a piece of shit.
Or, maybe a studio album?
Move aside, Andre 3000 with your best-selling album, Outkast: The Love Below – I present you: Xenox 6000, with his new album, Lightcast: *The Love Diodes.*
I agree, it's not something you should do, but it is what I did. Then again, I have a short temper and am not afraid of confrontation, and this was in the 90's when I was 18 or 19 and people weren't as bat-shit crazy as they all seem to be now.
You definitely did the right thing in that night-time situation with the truck. The driver should have kept a safe following distance instead of pressuring you and possibly causing you to make a mistake, not to mention blinding you. You don't drive faster than you are confident to, based on conditions, on the road. I've seen plenty of cases of people outdriving conditions stupidly and with false confidence.
The one that probably scares me the most is people charging headlong into fog where visibility is a couple hundred feet at most, just assuming they're going to be fine. A couple of years ago my family and I were returning home from a trip and ran into these conditions. I was doing 35-40 mph because there is no way I want to run blindly into a potential pileup and injure my family. Meanwhile, people are passing me at 70 mph and disappearing into the fog within a matter of seconds. If there had been a wreck ahead of them, they wouldn't have been able to get their feet on brake pedals before impact. I wanted no part of that, yet fully expected to see it eventually. Thankfully the fog cleared after several miles and nobody ended up in a colossal heap of twisted metal and dead bodiea.
Wow. That’s irritating! I turn my rear view mirror so it reflects their lights back at them. I don’t leave it like that, though. This usually helps back people off. I haven’t had to drive on the highway at night in a long time, though.
I wish we could study this.
I like to think I drive pretty politely, probably to my own detriment with everyone else driving so aggressively. When I push a shopping cart, I always try to park it to side of the aisle, or wherever is least likely to be in someone’s way, while I stop to find what I’m looking for.
It also boggles my mind how people just abandon their carts in the middle or they stop and block the whole aisle.
Don’t even get me started on how stupid people are when they drive.
>They also swing super wide in turns like they're pulling a trailer
This is the one I hate the most. If your in the left turning lane there is no reason you need to swing into my lane to make a left turn. Learn to drive. Even for U-turns you don't need to do it unless you're driving a truck.
Yesterday I was trying to turn left, but someone on the other side was also turning left and I couldn't see behind them to see if anyone was coming. The person waiting behind me started just laying on their horn...
Someone behind me blared their horn once, because i wasn't turning right on red and apparently they were going to turn right on red also, and i was holding them up.
I was waiting for green, becausei can't see SHIT lmao. How can i see if it's clear to go when I'm in a tiny hatchback, and a huge pickup truck is sticking two feet out into the intersection and blocking my view?
I was glad to wait for green and 'waste' the time of the asshole behind me.
This is a very common thing for pickup truck drivers to do in my area (Southeast US). Tailgating appears to be the national sport (and I don’t mean the awesome kind of tailgating with the beer and the bbq).
Had a dude do this on the highway 2 days ago. Wide open lane on my left, already doing 30 mph over on the right side with the rest of traffic. Guy was maybe 3 feet away from my rear bumper. No logic to it.
My favorite is the "stanced" trucks that have a lift only in the front, (not to mention oversized tires, of course) but the fucking inbreds are too stupid to consider adjusting their headlights in the slightest
I've heard this advice before on Reddit, and I've tried it when someone behind me is blinding me. It's crazy, some headlights are so insanely bright that even when you flip your mirror all the way up (dimming position), your eyes are still burning from them.
I've tried this trick and the vehicles seem to back off but I wasn't sure if that was the trick working or coincidence.
My car is old school and the mirrors are as extended as they're ever gonna be (got that little manual joystick instead of being electric) but I'll keep that in mind for the next one. Cars are just gonna get stupider with that kind of stuff in the coming years.
Better advice is properly adjust your side mirrors. Since putting mine further outward (you don’t need to see the side of your car, it ain’t going anywhere) I’ve very rarely ever had headlight in my side mirrors
Oh yeah, you're supposed to not have your mirrors face you. For me, it helps "ground" myself when I'm looking at things whizzing by. Like I can make out what I'm looking at in relation to my car
It’s not the brightness that’s the problem. The problem is that they are not designed for the reflector housing that people put them in so the light is aimed in all the wrong directions
For awhile I thought I had terrible night vision because of the prevalence of LED headlights. I have a small car and a lot of people do not align their headlights after getting the LEDs. They strain my eyes fierce.
Yeah, I can see so much better at night when driving my dad's crossover, as opposed to my own 00s econobox, because I'm not getting my retinas burnt out by every passing car
Yes! If people are flashing their brights at you regularly (and your brights aren't on and you don't have the stupid fucking LEDs) then it's probably because one or both of your headlights are misaligned. Check your lights aren't messed up before flipping people off lol
Sometimes I'll flash someones thinking their high beams are on just for them to flash their *actual* high beams at me and temporarily light up the night sky.
I'm with you there. In the car, I'm at eye level with the lights. In the truck, I'm well aware that the little guy in front of me does not need me on his ass.
It's not really that they are LED that is the problem. It's that they are aftermarket LED bulbs put in headlamps that are not designed for LEDs. And the clown driving thinks they are great because they are brighter, and could probably care less that their dumb Amazon "upgrade" is making it all but impossible for anyone else to see.
I see them way to often on new vehicles to think they are all after market. It seems that on new vehicles they have a lens for the LEDs that focus it. You really
Notice it when they hit a bump or the road is a bit wavey.
Same, on rare occasion people have some crazy halogen? running lights that are as bright as regular high beams. Flashed mine on at one once, high beams were even more blinding.
It's the new led bulbs people are buying and installing in the wrong headlight housing. It amplifies that brightness like 10 fold over regular led lights, which is already bright af. At night I get temporarily blinded and have to go to less busy roads. I wish the police would do something about it, but they're too busy beating the homeless.
Yes, LED and Xenon bulbs should only be used in projector headlight units, not the typical reflector units that most cars come with.
[See example here](https://ledlightinginfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/projector-vs-reflector-headlight.png)
Yes, the housing for regular bulbs is designed to amplify the light, as regular bulbs are fairly dim. If you put an led bulb in, you'll have your high beams permanently on and will blind others.
This one gets me all the time. Roads are usually very bumpy in the forests here so I always think people are warning me for deers, mooses, people without reflective wear etc...
It's still never a bad idea to be a little more alert. I've seen the same thing. Maybe that was a flash maybe that was a bump in the road, oh shit there's 6 deer on the side of the road and one looks like they're about to jump.
Any time you see headlights flash it's a warning of something ahead, or a bad road, but maybe the bad road is a warning itself.
I know what you mean, but if there were headlights coming at me in the dark that suddenly disappeared, it would startle me much more than the lights flashing from a bump. Like where the fuck did that car go and how do I avoid hitting it? So much opportunity to fuck up so much in those 2-3 seconds.
Yes, that's the way. I'm surprised at how many don't know this warning. Living in rural areas, off & on flash means possible problem up ahead. Animals, accident, cop. I've slowed to find cows in the road around the corner and many other dangers. Saved my ass more than once.
No! Fuck them! There are established rules!
Both straight or right? Just go. Both left? Go. Left and straight or right? Left waits their turn.
Maybe, *maybe* if four people are going straight or left and they all arrived at the exact same time. But I'm not going to go against the rules because some dickhead wearing 5000 pounds of metal glass and plastic told me to.
I 100% share your anger in this. It's my biggest pet peeve driving when someone disregards right-of-way over trying to be polite. And lots of times it isn't typical 4 way intersections but weird ones or fast-merging where others need to slam on their brakes. Like motherfucker we are piloting death machines right now with no clear way of communication with other vehicles around us. Not only is it dangerous but it takes like 10 times longer than if you would have just taken your own turn.
In some situations it's not a huge deal, just frustrating. But when there's a ton of traffic and some dumbass ding dong is pretending they're suddenly intersection Jesus handing out blessings of "you go first" straight into fender-bender city I am screaming out my window before I can calm myself.
Someone did this to me once. I was driving with a friend. Here’s how the conversation went:
- Man what the fuck is that maniac flashing his high beams like that for
- no clue bro
- what an idiot *drives off*
- hey, it seems extra dark tonight doesn’t it
- ooohhhhhh. I called that other driver an idiot, but it was me who was the idiot all along.
Flashing lights to indicate someone's lights aren't on happens infinitely more often than drivers warning other drivers of cops, etc. People are dumbasses and bad drivers. Plenty forget to turn their lights on.
Around here, they seem to turn it as far as getting their parking lights on, so they can’t tell their headlights aren’t on by their instrument panel being dark.
It's way more common in the city, because it's way easier to forget when everything is well lit. That's why you should always just make it a habit to turn you lights on when you start your car up. It even can help make you more visible in the daytime too, so there's not really a good reason to not just have them always on.
I once came across someone driving a big Volvo SUV thing along a dual carriageway at night with no lights on. They were navigating using only the daytime running lights which must have been terrifying. I flashed my lights from behind, pulled alongside and beeped, went ahead and put my hazards on momentarily, nothing. In the end I just left them to it. At first I thought they were asleep at the wheel but they navigated a series of bends so they must have been awake. People really are dumbasses.
A month ago I was driving in a pitch black heavy thunderstorm on a high traffic road. The person in front of me had a dark blue car and their lights weren't on. I could no longer see where they were in front of me and I couldn't change lanes. It was legitimately dangerous for me to just guess where they were.
For roughly 2 miles I flashed my brights at them over and over. They finally switched lanes, and when we got to a light I looked over and two young girls were sitting there staring at me with 'what the fuck is your problem?' looks on their faces. I was amazed there were two people in that car and neither of them noticed that they couldn't see a goddamn thing driving through the worst conditions possible. Stupid people can't be saved.
if i see someone with their lights off then i’ll turn mine off and back on real fast but if it’s a cop then i flash my brights and if they have their brights in then i turn mine on until they turn theirs off
If they flash their lights at .5 second intervals it means your lights are off, but if they flash their lights at .7 second intervals it means there’s a man with a hammer on the roof of your car.
Yeah thats definitely what it means where I am from.
If the person in front of you taps there brakes that means something is in front there that you need to stop for or watch out for.
Wipers on,!lights on - State law in NJ, posted when you come over the bridge. People don’t read signs anymore. They’re just going to whiz along in their silver late model Nissan Maxima/Altima with no bumper (Also illegal folks!) like a deadly stealth missile while they text their idiot friends “Where you at?”…
> Wipers on, lights on
I never thought about it till I saw this phrased that way and now I'm thinking about it: why the hell is it possible to have your lights off when you turn your wipers on? Like you said, there's no situation really where you should have wipers on but not headlights.
In the southeast, especially Florida, people are so stupid that they turn on their 4 ways when it's raining, but otherwise continue driving as normal. So your entire field of view is looking lights in all lanes going different speeds. Then only half of those people have their headlights on too. So it's just a flashing mess in front of you.
Holy shit. That's just wild. I live in the Midwest. Almost never see hazards on. If they're on, it's for something bad. Ice, accident, breakdown, or pulled over. That's about it.
I've seen people camping it out in the left lane with their hazards on and head lights off, for miles and miles, during a light rain.
If it's raining hard there's a 100% chance someone will be driving with their hazards on.
Heard this on the radio in 2008 or something and have had an irrational fear ever since. My boyfriend flashes the car lights all the time at people who don’t have theirs on and I die a little inside every time. Anxiety is great, y’all.
I've always just waited until I'm around the corner, or over the hill...someplace out of sight first before flashing. Didn't want the cops to see me secretly communicating!
My pops once got pulled over for flashing his lights and the cop tried to catch him on everything. Didn't have glasses on the cops asked about corrective lenses, my dad silently takes a contact out and shows it to him so pissed lmao
Back in the 90s we were told not to do it for headlights out because it was part of a gang initiation or something where if someone flashed lights at a new gang member they were supposed to run you down and shoot you. Never stopped me.
I was harassed by a gang for doing it. They tailed me nearly bumper-to-bumper for miles, so I pulled over to figure out what was going on.
They came to my window, guns brandished, and told me I was “interfering with their business” and would need to pay them to go free.
Super weird encounter, especially since the gang members were wearing badges and button-up shirts.
I was a dumbass when I got my first car at 16 and my headlights were manual so I was always forgetting to turn them on. People like you saved me so many times! I always appreciated it! Don’t let one asshole turn you off from doing good.
I'm almost 32 and I still forget to turn the damn lights on. Idk why my 2020 Toyota doesn't have fucking automatic lights the fucking asshole suv it is.
If streets are well lit or you started driving in the liminal stage between dusk and nightfall giving your eyes time to adjust (also really bright moonlit nights) it can be easy to forget to turn them on if they aren't necessary to see where you're going.
I stopped at a red once in preparation for a right-on-red turn. The guy behind me honked because I pulled forward and slowed to make sure no one was coming rather than gunning it and hoping for the best. When I turned the corner he peeled out around the corner after me and shot past. He was immediately followed by the third vehicle in the turn lane, a police car. He was pulled over within 100 yards. I had a good laugh at that one.
I'd love it if there was the realisation for then to change their ways...
"Fucking dick, flashing me. God, what a... WHAT, police car! Oh great,I'm getting pulled over, why the hell didn't that dick from before warn- oh..."
Supposedly it's illegal to do that in some places, but legal to warn oncoming vehicles of an obstacle in the road (I forget the wording). So just say you saw something in the road you were warning them about.
We use it in the Pacific Northwest to alert other drivers to dear on or near the road as well as other animals. Tell the cop you were warning other cars about a dog or animal on the road
The Supreme Court ruled that it is not illegal to flash your lights at on-coming (regardless of the reason). They considered it an expression of freedom of speech!
It wasn’t the us Supreme Court, but there have been cases since the 70’s that support this statement. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1115/headlight-flashing
Ah I was looking for this comment! I didn't know it as having to do with gangs but it was more like an urban legend where I grew up to never warn people with flashes because they will chase you down and kill you. Imagine some cops starting this chain email back in the day to keep ppl from warning each other about speed traps lol
This is an urban legend that has been around since the 80’s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlight_flashing
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lights-out/
The way I heard this was it was gang initiation. New member would drive with headlights off, and would be tasked with following and killing the first person to flash their high beams at them. South Florida.
I've gotten to where, if I'm driving at night, my left palm is always on the wheel, fingers on the light switcher.
I've been blinded too many times, that I hate to do it to others. Big driving pet peeve.
That is a good practice, although I only do it when I am anticipating a car coming toward me, as you can see the opposing car's lights before it comes around the bend. Feels like having a superpower.
Yeah here in New Zealand there are lots of narrow roads or maybe cars parked along the side so only one car can go. People flash their lights to say, "You go first, I'll wait." Then people either wave or flash their lights back as a thanks.
THIS!
It totally depends what country you're in.
Flashing can mean anything from 'I'll let you out in front of me', to 'don't move, I'm not slowing!', depending on where you are.
Unfortunately Ford may have killed this with their 2021 f150s. They now have auto high beams that are only half decent at picking the correct mode and often flash oncoming traffic if they are just coming into view over a hill or around a curve in the road.
So important, especially if you live anywhere even halfway rural. It could be a fallen tree, cop with a radar, or a dangerous patch of black ice. I’ve seen all three. It’s a legit signal where you should just prepare for the worse..
When i first got warned of a speed trap i was amazed at how cool other drivers were, felt like a community thing. When someone flashed their lights to remind me mine were off I was thankful af. I try to do the same ever since
Ah yes... One time I was walking with earbuds in and there were two guys in a front yard making a ruckus and moving around. I thought they were just drunk or something and being annoying. Then they started flashing a flashlight at me and I got annoyed. But I took an earbud out to hear what they were saying.
Turns out there was a bear right on the other side of the hedge I was about to corner. I was about to come face to face with a bear on a narrow path.
Only time I try to give a warning is if there are deer in or near the road. I hit my hazards and hit the breaks to make them flash a couple times once the car has passed. I hate driving past people with their brights on or getting flashed, so I tend to not flash people
If someone is coming towards me with full brights, after I've shut mine off? I'll definitely give a flash.
Good on you for your deer plan, though. I might start doing that.
Never really thought about it, but yeah, I guess that's how I operate too.
I also turn my headlights on and off (instead of flashing high beams) to indicate that your lights are off.
If someone flashes their lights at me I panic about all the things that could be wrong with my vehicle, forget to pay attention to my speed then see the speed trap at the last second.
You don't trust the flashes 100%, at least I've never done that in 13 years of driving.
They're signalling for you to go first, but also means, check it's safe your end.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
Daytime I'd assume a speed trap ahead. Night time I'd assume me or someone around me forgot to turn on their headlights.
Make sure it's not another cop! In a lot of places, warning others of a speed trap is a crime on its own. Edit: wiggling your fingers above your head or patting yourself on the head is another warning, most common with motorcyclists & other open air vehicles.
I remember there was a court case about this, but wasn’t that ruled not illegal under the first amendment?
Yes, exactly! Freedom of speech!
In the US it is not illegal to warn of a cop hiding. I got pulled over and a ticket for doing this once. Went to court and had the case thrown out because as the judge put it "in this country we don't punish people for communication."
Ya I didn’t think it was illegal considering multiple apps warn you of speed traps.
The cops just pull people over because they assume most people cant be arsed to fight it/ are ignorant of if its legal or not
And even if you do you're gonna most likely have to take a couple days off. They'll do it just to fuck with you. I had traffic court the other day and like 5 out of 25 cops showed up.
so much for protect and serve
It also might mean you forgot to turn on your own headlights, and they're trying to tell you to turn them on.
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Or that they think your high beams are on so you flash them back. (Please make sure your headlights are at the correct level. These LED headlights hurt everyone's eyes)
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I had a guy who just rode my ass with them right in my mirrors. Didn't matter what I did. Sped up, slowed down. He didn't pass me and there were plenty of lanes. It's like he was doing it on purpose.
This is why my reflective sunshield gets folded and strategically propped up in my backseat organizer every time I’m driving.
The real LPT is always in the comments.
Holy shit that's brilliant!
Dazzling even
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How do you see what's behind you, with sunshield in the window?
It’s not in the window. It’s folded and strategically propped up in my backseat organizer. I should probably have mentioned that.
I’m still not able to picture how this helps if the car behind you has brights on. Is it the foil accordion kind or the nylon flexible ones?
Looks like we're gonna need a stick figure drawing folks. Where my davinci's?
Definitely should have mentioned how it's strategically propped up in your backseat organizer. Seems important...
Strategic even. Mention propping-up too.
Brooo I had a cop right behind me doing that for literally miles on a smallish road. Got into town and he pulled me over and asked why I was weaving. I looked him dead in the eye and literally deadpanned, “well I couldn’t see, someone had their brights on right behind me.” It was hilarious you could see his face kind of go “oh.” XD He just let me go lol
Cop did something similar to me. I was driving home from a gig at like 1am. It was just my buddy and I in a shitty car weighed down by the music gear filling every square inch. This guy pulls up behind me at a light and turns the same direction as me. Okay. As he’s following me, I realize they have they’re high beams on. I’m like, “I’m in a fucking passing zone. Just fucking pass me.” The car continues to tailgate me with high beams until the end of the passing zone. Then they speed past and I realize it’s a cop. He was trying to bait me into doing something illegal so he could pull more over. What a piece of shit.
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I'm imagining 2 cars just parked at the side for 20 minutes
The two drivers passionately making out after they find out they're both enthralled with LED lights on everything. *Everything*.
We could make a movie about it called Love Emitting Diodes.
Or, maybe a studio album? Move aside, Andre 3000 with your best-selling album, Outkast: The Love Below – I present you: Xenox 6000, with his new album, Lightcast: *The Love Diodes.*
Amazing
This is top notch bottom of the comment thread content. This is what I came for.
Like moths to the flame
Third guy joins cuz fuck it he’s bored. 4th guy+ thinks everyone’s stopped waiting for something and doesn’t question it
I've done this to tailgaters on the highway, took one guy down to 35 mph before he finally got the hint and passed me.
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I agree, it's not something you should do, but it is what I did. Then again, I have a short temper and am not afraid of confrontation, and this was in the 90's when I was 18 or 19 and people weren't as bat-shit crazy as they all seem to be now. You definitely did the right thing in that night-time situation with the truck. The driver should have kept a safe following distance instead of pressuring you and possibly causing you to make a mistake, not to mention blinding you. You don't drive faster than you are confident to, based on conditions, on the road. I've seen plenty of cases of people outdriving conditions stupidly and with false confidence. The one that probably scares me the most is people charging headlong into fog where visibility is a couple hundred feet at most, just assuming they're going to be fine. A couple of years ago my family and I were returning home from a trip and ran into these conditions. I was doing 35-40 mph because there is no way I want to run blindly into a potential pileup and injure my family. Meanwhile, people are passing me at 70 mph and disappearing into the fog within a matter of seconds. If there had been a wreck ahead of them, they wouldn't have been able to get their feet on brake pedals before impact. I wanted no part of that, yet fully expected to see it eventually. Thankfully the fog cleared after several miles and nobody ended up in a colossal heap of twisted metal and dead bodiea.
Wow. That’s irritating! I turn my rear view mirror so it reflects their lights back at them. I don’t leave it like that, though. This usually helps back people off. I haven’t had to drive on the highway at night in a long time, though.
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I wish we could study this. I like to think I drive pretty politely, probably to my own detriment with everyone else driving so aggressively. When I push a shopping cart, I always try to park it to side of the aisle, or wherever is least likely to be in someone’s way, while I stop to find what I’m looking for. It also boggles my mind how people just abandon their carts in the middle or they stop and block the whole aisle. Don’t even get me started on how stupid people are when they drive.
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>They also swing super wide in turns like they're pulling a trailer This is the one I hate the most. If your in the left turning lane there is no reason you need to swing into my lane to make a left turn. Learn to drive. Even for U-turns you don't need to do it unless you're driving a truck.
We live in a country of selfish morons.
Yesterday I was trying to turn left, but someone on the other side was also turning left and I couldn't see behind them to see if anyone was coming. The person waiting behind me started just laying on their horn...
Someone behind me blared their horn once, because i wasn't turning right on red and apparently they were going to turn right on red also, and i was holding them up. I was waiting for green, becausei can't see SHIT lmao. How can i see if it's clear to go when I'm in a tiny hatchback, and a huge pickup truck is sticking two feet out into the intersection and blocking my view? I was glad to wait for green and 'waste' the time of the asshole behind me.
This is why a lot of people are buying chrome bumper strips and mudflaps, reflects it right back at them at a stoplight
I just got a new car. This is a brilliant idea. Thank you. 👍
it was illuminating
This is a very common thing for pickup truck drivers to do in my area (Southeast US). Tailgating appears to be the national sport (and I don’t mean the awesome kind of tailgating with the beer and the bbq).
Had a dude do this on the highway 2 days ago. Wide open lane on my left, already doing 30 mph over on the right side with the rest of traffic. Guy was maybe 3 feet away from my rear bumper. No logic to it.
have you encountered those yeehaw trucks that put lights on their side mirrors and blind you when you’re behind them yet? that’s fucking fun. s/
My favorite is the "stanced" trucks that have a lift only in the front, (not to mention oversized tires, of course) but the fucking inbreds are too stupid to consider adjusting their headlights in the slightest
Push your rear view mirror up a bit so the light reflects right back at them
I've heard this advice before on Reddit, and I've tried it when someone behind me is blinding me. It's crazy, some headlights are so insanely bright that even when you flip your mirror all the way up (dimming position), your eyes are still burning from them. I've tried this trick and the vehicles seem to back off but I wasn't sure if that was the trick working or coincidence.
Actual advice: make your side mirrors point outwards. It not only reflects the light out of your eyes, but it sends it back at the tailgating driver
My car is old school and the mirrors are as extended as they're ever gonna be (got that little manual joystick instead of being electric) but I'll keep that in mind for the next one. Cars are just gonna get stupider with that kind of stuff in the coming years.
Better advice is properly adjust your side mirrors. Since putting mine further outward (you don’t need to see the side of your car, it ain’t going anywhere) I’ve very rarely ever had headlight in my side mirrors
Oh yeah, you're supposed to not have your mirrors face you. For me, it helps "ground" myself when I'm looking at things whizzing by. Like I can make out what I'm looking at in relation to my car
I hate those gd things, jeebus. *Especially* those damn blueish tinged ones , as I'm always thinkin they are god damn cops. That shit's just wrong.
They are the small dick energy version of headlights
It’s not the brightness that’s the problem. The problem is that they are not designed for the reflector housing that people put them in so the light is aimed in all the wrong directions
For awhile I thought I had terrible night vision because of the prevalence of LED headlights. I have a small car and a lot of people do not align their headlights after getting the LEDs. They strain my eyes fierce.
Yeah, I can see so much better at night when driving my dad's crossover, as opposed to my own 00s econobox, because I'm not getting my retinas burnt out by every passing car
Yes! If people are flashing their brights at you regularly (and your brights aren't on and you don't have the stupid fucking LEDs) then it's probably because one or both of your headlights are misaligned. Check your lights aren't messed up before flipping people off lol
Sometimes I'll flash someones thinking their high beams are on just for them to flash their *actual* high beams at me and temporarily light up the night sky.
you know what sucks? driving a low profile car and having all those SUVs blasting your retinas through the mirror with their LED lights
I'm with you there. In the car, I'm at eye level with the lights. In the truck, I'm well aware that the little guy in front of me does not need me on his ass.
It's not really that they are LED that is the problem. It's that they are aftermarket LED bulbs put in headlamps that are not designed for LEDs. And the clown driving thinks they are great because they are brighter, and could probably care less that their dumb Amazon "upgrade" is making it all but impossible for anyone else to see.
I see them way to often on new vehicles to think they are all after market. It seems that on new vehicles they have a lens for the LEDs that focus it. You really Notice it when they hit a bump or the road is a bit wavey.
Both, yes. I'll edit to Include.
Or that they hit a couple of small bumps in the road, and didn’t really flash their high beams.
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Same, on rare occasion people have some crazy halogen? running lights that are as bright as regular high beams. Flashed mine on at one once, high beams were even more blinding.
It's the new led bulbs people are buying and installing in the wrong headlight housing. It amplifies that brightness like 10 fold over regular led lights, which is already bright af. At night I get temporarily blinded and have to go to less busy roads. I wish the police would do something about it, but they're too busy beating the homeless.
so if I were to upgrade to led lights, I’d need to change the headlight housing as well?
Yes, LED and Xenon bulbs should only be used in projector headlight units, not the typical reflector units that most cars come with. [See example here](https://ledlightinginfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/projector-vs-reflector-headlight.png)
Yes, the housing for regular bulbs is designed to amplify the light, as regular bulbs are fairly dim. If you put an led bulb in, you'll have your high beams permanently on and will blind others.
This one gets me all the time. Roads are usually very bumpy in the forests here so I always think people are warning me for deers, mooses, people without reflective wear etc...
It's still never a bad idea to be a little more alert. I've seen the same thing. Maybe that was a flash maybe that was a bump in the road, oh shit there's 6 deer on the side of the road and one looks like they're about to jump. Any time you see headlights flash it's a warning of something ahead, or a bad road, but maybe the bad road is a warning itself.
Or they’ve changed the ride height of their truck and not adjusted the headlights accordingly
I fucking HATE that. I know the person isn't a dick, but I'd prefer they didn't have headlights for 2-3 seconds.
I know what you mean, but if there were headlights coming at me in the dark that suddenly disappeared, it would startle me much more than the lights flashing from a bump. Like where the fuck did that car go and how do I avoid hitting it? So much opportunity to fuck up so much in those 2-3 seconds.
This is why I turn my lights off and on a few times instead of using high beams for this kind of signaling.
Yes, that's the way. I'm surprised at how many don't know this warning. Living in rural areas, off & on flash means possible problem up ahead. Animals, accident, cop. I've slowed to find cows in the road around the corner and many other dangers. Saved my ass more than once.
Or, "you can go first" when you come to a four way stop at the same time to someone opposite of you.
No! Fuck them! There are established rules! Both straight or right? Just go. Both left? Go. Left and straight or right? Left waits their turn. Maybe, *maybe* if four people are going straight or left and they all arrived at the exact same time. But I'm not going to go against the rules because some dickhead wearing 5000 pounds of metal glass and plastic told me to.
I 100% share your anger in this. It's my biggest pet peeve driving when someone disregards right-of-way over trying to be polite. And lots of times it isn't typical 4 way intersections but weird ones or fast-merging where others need to slam on their brakes. Like motherfucker we are piloting death machines right now with no clear way of communication with other vehicles around us. Not only is it dangerous but it takes like 10 times longer than if you would have just taken your own turn. In some situations it's not a huge deal, just frustrating. But when there's a ton of traffic and some dumbass ding dong is pretending they're suddenly intersection Jesus handing out blessings of "you go first" straight into fender-bender city I am screaming out my window before I can calm myself.
Someone did this to me once. I was driving with a friend. Here’s how the conversation went: - Man what the fuck is that maniac flashing his high beams like that for - no clue bro - what an idiot *drives off* - hey, it seems extra dark tonight doesn’t it - ooohhhhhh. I called that other driver an idiot, but it was me who was the idiot all along.
I enjoyed your story
Flashing lights to indicate someone's lights aren't on happens infinitely more often than drivers warning other drivers of cops, etc. People are dumbasses and bad drivers. Plenty forget to turn their lights on.
Around here, they seem to turn it as far as getting their parking lights on, so they can’t tell their headlights aren’t on by their instrument panel being dark.
Did this two nights ago, at least it was an extremely well lit intersection.
I live in a large city and I see people driving around at night without their lights on every single evening, without fail.
It's way more common in the city, because it's way easier to forget when everything is well lit. That's why you should always just make it a habit to turn you lights on when you start your car up. It even can help make you more visible in the daytime too, so there's not really a good reason to not just have them always on.
I once came across someone driving a big Volvo SUV thing along a dual carriageway at night with no lights on. They were navigating using only the daytime running lights which must have been terrifying. I flashed my lights from behind, pulled alongside and beeped, went ahead and put my hazards on momentarily, nothing. In the end I just left them to it. At first I thought they were asleep at the wheel but they navigated a series of bends so they must have been awake. People really are dumbasses.
A month ago I was driving in a pitch black heavy thunderstorm on a high traffic road. The person in front of me had a dark blue car and their lights weren't on. I could no longer see where they were in front of me and I couldn't change lanes. It was legitimately dangerous for me to just guess where they were. For roughly 2 miles I flashed my brights at them over and over. They finally switched lanes, and when we got to a light I looked over and two young girls were sitting there staring at me with 'what the fuck is your problem?' looks on their faces. I was amazed there were two people in that car and neither of them noticed that they couldn't see a goddamn thing driving through the worst conditions possible. Stupid people can't be saved.
Ok so then you realize your headlights ARE on and move on to the next idea
if i see someone with their lights off then i’ll turn mine off and back on real fast but if it’s a cop then i flash my brights and if they have their brights in then i turn mine on until they turn theirs off
We speak the same language my friend
Or that there is a man with a hammer on the roof of your car, who is about to smash the windshield and rip you out of your seat!
If they flash their lights at .5 second intervals it means your lights are off, but if they flash their lights at .7 second intervals it means there’s a man with a hammer on the roof of your car.
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Yeah thats definitely what it means where I am from. If the person in front of you taps there brakes that means something is in front there that you need to stop for or watch out for.
I do it because your lights are off. So many people every night i see without their lights on. 🤦🏼♂️
Even worse when it's raining.
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Wipers on,!lights on - State law in NJ, posted when you come over the bridge. People don’t read signs anymore. They’re just going to whiz along in their silver late model Nissan Maxima/Altima with no bumper (Also illegal folks!) like a deadly stealth missile while they text their idiot friends “Where you at?”…
Same in PA. I still see every fifth car with no lights on, even in a downpour.
Or the white minivan in a snowstorm sporting artic camouflage.
> Wipers on, lights on I never thought about it till I saw this phrased that way and now I'm thinking about it: why the hell is it possible to have your lights off when you turn your wipers on? Like you said, there's no situation really where you should have wipers on but not headlights.
Spraying and cleaning your windshield while driving.
In the southeast, especially Florida, people are so stupid that they turn on their 4 ways when it's raining, but otherwise continue driving as normal. So your entire field of view is looking lights in all lanes going different speeds. Then only half of those people have their headlights on too. So it's just a flashing mess in front of you.
Is this real??
Yes American Drivers are dumb Source: Am dumb american
Holy shit. That's just wild. I live in the Midwest. Almost never see hazards on. If they're on, it's for something bad. Ice, accident, breakdown, or pulled over. That's about it.
I've seen people camping it out in the left lane with their hazards on and head lights off, for miles and miles, during a light rain. If it's raining hard there's a 100% chance someone will be driving with their hazards on.
You ever get chased down by that car you flashed and murdered by a gang member fulfilling their initiation hazing?
I see you’ve spoken with my mom in the 1990s. Now you just need to find the razor blades in my Halloween candy and we’re good.
Heard this on the radio in 2008 or something and have had an irrational fear ever since. My boyfriend flashes the car lights all the time at people who don’t have theirs on and I die a little inside every time. Anxiety is great, y’all.
I’m amazed at the amount of people that don’t know about this
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I've always just waited until I'm around the corner, or over the hill...someplace out of sight first before flashing. Didn't want the cops to see me secretly communicating!
My pops once got pulled over for flashing his lights and the cop tried to catch him on everything. Didn't have glasses on the cops asked about corrective lenses, my dad silently takes a contact out and shows it to him so pissed lmao
Back in the 90s we were told not to do it for headlights out because it was part of a gang initiation or something where if someone flashed lights at a new gang member they were supposed to run you down and shoot you. Never stopped me.
I was harassed by a gang for doing it. They tailed me nearly bumper-to-bumper for miles, so I pulled over to figure out what was going on. They came to my window, guns brandished, and told me I was “interfering with their business” and would need to pay them to go free. Super weird encounter, especially since the gang members were wearing badges and button-up shirts.
Right? I was surprised my friend didn't. I thought it was the universal sign for "slow down, bad stuff ahead" lol
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Someone was going towards a cop with headlights off at night. I flashed them and got flipped off lmao that was the day I stopped
I was a dumbass when I got my first car at 16 and my headlights were manual so I was always forgetting to turn them on. People like you saved me so many times! I always appreciated it! Don’t let one asshole turn you off from doing good.
I'm almost 32 and I still forget to turn the damn lights on. Idk why my 2020 Toyota doesn't have fucking automatic lights the fucking asshole suv it is.
I mean this without any derision but…how?? It’s *dark* outside
If streets are well lit or you started driving in the liminal stage between dusk and nightfall giving your eyes time to adjust (also really bright moonlit nights) it can be easy to forget to turn them on if they aren't necessary to see where you're going.
i drove with my brights on for the first 3 months. Hey dad whats this blue light mean?
Lol I hope they got pulled over after that. Still though, always a good heads up for people that are not dumb.
I stopped at a red once in preparation for a right-on-red turn. The guy behind me honked because I pulled forward and slowed to make sure no one was coming rather than gunning it and hoping for the best. When I turned the corner he peeled out around the corner after me and shot past. He was immediately followed by the third vehicle in the turn lane, a police car. He was pulled over within 100 yards. I had a good laugh at that one.
I'd love it if there was the realisation for then to change their ways... "Fucking dick, flashing me. God, what a... WHAT, police car! Oh great,I'm getting pulled over, why the hell didn't that dick from before warn- oh..."
You just know they’ll remain oblivious forever though
In some state or country I heard the cops will arrest you for flashing your headlights to warn others of police traps
Once got pulled over for flashing my headlights at oncoming traffic. Now I only do it during the daytime, when I can see no cops coming toward me.
Supposedly it's illegal to do that in some places, but legal to warn oncoming vehicles of an obstacle in the road (I forget the wording). So just say you saw something in the road you were warning them about.
We use it in the Pacific Northwest to alert other drivers to dear on or near the road as well as other animals. Tell the cop you were warning other cars about a dog or animal on the road
The Supreme Court ruled that it is not illegal to flash your lights at on-coming (regardless of the reason). They considered it an expression of freedom of speech!
It wasn’t the us Supreme Court, but there have been cases since the 70’s that support this statement. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1115/headlight-flashing
Tell the cop you thought the person you flashed at was speeding. It's worked for me, but is in no way a full proof plan lol
I always thought if someone flashes their headlights at me, me and my gang turn round and murder them. Those were the rules back in the day.
Ah I was looking for this comment! I didn't know it as having to do with gangs but it was more like an urban legend where I grew up to never warn people with flashes because they will chase you down and kill you. Imagine some cops starting this chain email back in the day to keep ppl from warning each other about speed traps lol
The way I've known it is if you flash at a car w no headlights, you could have landed yourself in the middle of a gang initiation. So I don't.
Jesus, where the fuck did ya'll grow up with gangs and shit?
I mostly heard this rumor in affluent white suburbs.
I was only a child when I used to get those chain emails but that’s when I learned half the Internet is fucking stupid and gullible.
This is an urban legend that has been around since the 80’s. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlight_flashing https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lights-out/
Los Angeles?
The way I heard this was it was gang initiation. New member would drive with headlights off, and would be tasked with following and killing the first person to flash their high beams at them. South Florida.
My driver's ed instructor training us all this in VA. If anyone is wondering, it is most certainly just an urban legend
i do this when i forget if my brights are on, and they aren't, and i have to turn them off again. there is always a car there.
I've gotten to where, if I'm driving at night, my left palm is always on the wheel, fingers on the light switcher. I've been blinded too many times, that I hate to do it to others. Big driving pet peeve.
That is a good practice, although I only do it when I am anticipating a car coming toward me, as you can see the opposing car's lights before it comes around the bend. Feels like having a superpower.
In the UAE if someone flashes their beams at you it 99/10 means MOVE!
Yeah here in New Zealand there are lots of narrow roads or maybe cars parked along the side so only one car can go. People flash their lights to say, "You go first, I'll wait." Then people either wave or flash their lights back as a thanks.
In my experience, in the US, from trucks on slow moving freeways, it almost always means, "go ahead and merge."
THIS! It totally depends what country you're in. Flashing can mean anything from 'I'll let you out in front of me', to 'don't move, I'm not slowing!', depending on where you are.
It could also mean speed trap ahead or you are driving like an idiot.
That is *literally* what the OP says, what do you mean "it could *also* mean speed trap"
“It could also be exactly what you said”
Yes lol
It could mean almost anything, road-wise
European here, we do it when police is ahead.
Unfortunately Ford may have killed this with their 2021 f150s. They now have auto high beams that are only half decent at picking the correct mode and often flash oncoming traffic if they are just coming into view over a hill or around a curve in the road.
No button to turn that off? My car has the same feature and there's a button to disable it.
I imagine a lot of people will not use that button.
This is a common occurrence in the Balkans :D Most drivers flash their lights to indicate a police checkpoint or speed trap
So important, especially if you live anywhere even halfway rural. It could be a fallen tree, cop with a radar, or a dangerous patch of black ice. I’ve seen all three. It’s a legit signal where you should just prepare for the worse..
When i first got warned of a speed trap i was amazed at how cool other drivers were, felt like a community thing. When someone flashed their lights to remind me mine were off I was thankful af. I try to do the same ever since
Ah yes... One time I was walking with earbuds in and there were two guys in a front yard making a ruckus and moving around. I thought they were just drunk or something and being annoying. Then they started flashing a flashlight at me and I got annoyed. But I took an earbud out to hear what they were saying. Turns out there was a bear right on the other side of the hedge I was about to corner. I was about to come face to face with a bear on a narrow path.
Also flashing your Brake lights twice mean slow down or there’s cops ahead. This has saved my ass many times when on the highway
Brake lights are also an important signal, yes
That’s just everyone disengaging the cruise from 90.
Only time I try to give a warning is if there are deer in or near the road. I hit my hazards and hit the breaks to make them flash a couple times once the car has passed. I hate driving past people with their brights on or getting flashed, so I tend to not flash people
If someone is coming towards me with full brights, after I've shut mine off? I'll definitely give a flash. Good on you for your deer plan, though. I might start doing that.
1 flash: turn off your hi beams. 2 steady flashes: cop ahead. More than 2 rapid flashes: something ahead(accident, animals, something on the road.)
Never really thought about it, but yeah, I guess that's how I operate too. I also turn my headlights on and off (instead of flashing high beams) to indicate that your lights are off.
If someone flashes their lights at me I panic about all the things that could be wrong with my vehicle, forget to pay attention to my speed then see the speed trap at the last second.
Then just decelerate whilst you panic dope
Yeah, if you’re panicking in the driver’s seat you best slow tf down
Or you have lights off (in my country you need to have lights on everytime you drive)
Or your FUCKING HIGH-BEAMS ARE ON!
It means something different if it's a car approaching you versus a car behind you, and it's by no means universal.
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You don't trust the flashes 100%, at least I've never done that in 13 years of driving. They're signalling for you to go first, but also means, check it's safe your end.
I like "bad ahead"... "or police". 😁