Ticketed for warning other drivers

[snopes]

Comment: I keep hearing this rumor that revolves around speed traps and
motorists flashing their vehicle's high beams to warn oncoming traffic,
and getting tickets for it.

The rumor is that motorists caught warning oncoming traffic can be
ticketed for (isert reason here - obstructing justice, causing
distractions, etc), but to date in my research, other than one British man
who held up a sign before a UK speed trap and persisted in agitating the
police even after being warned, there are no documented incidents of
motorists getting ticketed for warning oncoming traffic of these speed
traps by flashing their vehicle's high-beams, whether in the USA or any
other country.

[Morning]

A friend of mine told me that he was stopped for flashing his high beams, supposedly to warn other drivers about a state highway patrol vehicle ahead. He convinced the officer that his foot slipped while driving an unfamiliar vehicle and accidently pressed an on-floor high beam activator.

I believe his story to be true because he called me right after the incident to rant. This happened in Ohio around 1992.


Morning

[Nonny Mouse]

Correct me if I'm wrong -- not a driver -- but isn't using your high beams when other cars are approaching illegal because it's dangerous, as it flash-blinds the oncoming drivers?

Nonny

[Morrigan]

Yes, Nonny. And I suspect that that's the reason that Morning's friend was pulled over.

Morrigan

[Eddylizard]

If the oncoming motorist - the one flashing his beams - has seen the speed trap, then he has already passed it, and the police who are operating it. So how do they detect his actions? Unless it is dark, and they monitor him after he has driven by which doesn't seem likely.

Also, at least here, people flash their beams for all sorts of reasons. Whereas you are only supposed to flash your beams to let other motorists know you are there Highway code, section 90 just as you are supposed to use the horn, in reality flashing beams are used for all sorts of purposes - from "I am conceding the right of way to you", through "I have spotted a defect on your vehicle which you may not be aware of" or "There is a hazard ahead" through to "I am seriously pissed off with you - please sell your car and start walking everywhere." Proving the intent of the signal would be very difficult. In the case of the speed stop, it might be valid to signal - "Hazard ahead, just round the bend there may be stopped vehicles, I advise you to slow down."

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by Nonny Mouse

Correct me if I'm wrong -- not a driver -- but isn't using your high beams when other cars are approaching illegal because it's dangerous, as it flash-blinds the oncoming drivers?

Nonny

It is illegal to deliberately dazzle other drivers. This would be putting your high beams on constant towards oncoming traffic, or using your front or rear fog lights except when there is fog or snow (sadly that one isn't enforced.)

But a flash of the high beams under the correct circumstances is a valid traffic signal.

[DarkDan]

[Washington County Sheriff Brian] Rahn says you can actually -- at least theoretically -- be pulled over for it.

There is no statute that specifically outlaws it, but there is one that appears to preclude flashing lights in general except under certain circumstances. While Rahn says he has never cited anybody -- and it's unclear whether the charge would be upheld by a judge -- he doesn't exactly appreciate it. And he's not alone.

A colleague of mine says he was once told a story -- whether apocryphal or not we don't know -- about a cop who pulled a guy over for flashing.

"Who in the hell do you think you are?" inquired the officer. "Paul #$%#*& Revere?"

...

Ozaukee County Sheriff Maury Straub dislikes radar detectors, but he believes headlight flashing can actually be seen as a positive way of getting people to slow down.

Link here.

I have always been told not to flash others because it's illegal. I do have to admit with the high and bright headlights on new SUVs and cars, I sometimes flash people to alert them that their highbeams are on, and then they turn on their actual highbeams. :o

ETA: Another article from Florida where it says it's illegal.

I'd always heard that the "secret signal" for a speed trap was to turn your headlights completely on and off; not to flash your highbeams.

[RichardM]

Originally Posted by Nonny Mouse

Correct me if I'm wrong -- not a driver -- but isn't using your high beams when other cars are approaching illegal because it's dangerous, as it flash-blinds the oncoming drivers?

Nonny

Okay, you're wrong. Usually, this is done during the day.

Actually, it can be blinding if it is dark and you leave the high beams on. But during the day, it does not affect the vision of on coming traffic at all. And at night, even if the other driver doesn't connect the flashing high beams with a warning that the police are waiting ahead, they will slow down any way to let their vision recover. Mission accomplished.

[Sunny Lea]

There was this story -- I'm sure I heard it on NPR -- not too long ago about a man (who didn't live too far from here, if I remember correctly) who had a case reach some high court on this issue.

I remember the officer cited him and that in court the man won. I'll see if I can find it.

Found it:

Robert Siegel talks with Harlie "Bill" Walker, from Franklin, Tenn. Mr. Walker flashed his car headlights at other motorists this past August to warn of a speed trap ahead. The city said Walker had violated an ordinance, and fined him $10 plus court costs. He and a town attorney appealed to the circuit court, where Judge Russ Heldman cleared Walker of all charges, saying that flashing lights to warn of a police officer is protected by the First Amendment.

from NPR

And, of course, by recently, I apparently meant in 2003, but since my sense of the passage of time isn't that appalling, maybe I heard a rebroadcast. At least I was right about it being near here. Franklin is practically a suburb of Nashville.

[Sunny Lea]

Originally Posted by Class Bravo

I'd always heard that the "secret signal" for a speed trap was to turn your headlights completely on and off; not to flash your highbeams.

Nah, that means their headlights aren't on. At least, that's the unofficial code I was taught.

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by Class Bravo

I'd always heard that the "secret signal" for a speed trap was to turn your headlights completely on and off; not to flash your highbeams.

Interesting. Alongside the other things I mentioned, flashing the high beams is used as a signal to appreciate a curtesy.

A few years back I let a police car have my right of way, and in return they turned off their dipped lights briefly and turned them on again.

I have been using this method ever since, since it seems to make sense.

[Troberg]

Correct me if I'm wrong -- not a driver -- but isn't using your high beams when other cars are approaching illegal because it's dangerous, as it flash-blinds the oncoming drivers?

Only at night, and most speed traps are during the day, at least around here.

I'd always heard that the "secret signal" for a speed trap was to turn your headlights completely on and off; not to flash your highbeams.

Around here, a common signal is the flash and holding the hand on the wheel with two fingers (index finger and the one next to it that I don't know the English word for but which is commonly used for signaling in traffic) stretched out. Somewhat like an inverted V sign on the top of the wheel.

Alongside the other things I mentioned, flashing the high beams is used as a signal to appreciate a curtesy.

I usually use the warning blinkers for that.

Originally Posted by Class Bravo

I'd always heard that the "secret signal" for a speed trap was to turn your headlights completely on and off; not to flash your highbeams.

It depends. In Canada, we have mandatory Daytime Running Lights. The operation of them varies, but for my car, and a couple I've owned before them, I just leave my lights in the on position, as they do not operate unless the car is running. As soon as the car starts, my lights are on. So, for me, the only way to alert is to use high beams flashing, I can't turn my lights off.

[Dreams of Thinking Machines]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

If the oncoming motorist - the one flashing his beams - has seen the speed trap, then he has already passed it, and the police who are operating it. So how do they detect his actions? Unless it is dark, and they monitor him after he has driven by which doesn't seem likely.

I can supply (I think) a plausible example.

If you're ever in America, and decide to drive through a place called Florala (In Alabama) on any given holiday, you will undoubtedly come upon several speeds traps along the road. Each speed trap is perhaps a minute from the other. You see, there is a lot of traffic going to, and coming from, Florida that passes through the town. The local police are more than happy to receive some revenue from passing motorists. There are so many police along this road that I think that the police at the next speed trap would notice if you flashed your beams.

I don't think the police in Florala would like it if people went about "warning" other drivers.

[jimmy101_again]

"Speed trap" is probably the wrong term for the OP.

According to AAA, a "speed trap" is a speed enforcement zone that illegally induces drivers to speed so that a ticket can be issued, or a zone with a speed limit set specifically to induce speeding instead of for safety reasons. For example, the speed limit drops from 55 to 35 MPH but there is a tree in front of the sign making it impossible to see. The AAA used to list Speed traps in the USofA on their web site. I don't believe there were ever more than a couple on the list at any time.

What the OP is referring to should be called a "Speed Enforcement Zone". It isn't a "trap". A cop can sit where ever they like to catch speeders and other scofflaws.

According to Wiki, California outlaws "speed traps" and uses a different definition. In this case "trap" means a defined distance over which the speed is determined by timing. (A "speed trap" in a laboratory uses two gates and a timer to measure speed.)

The average joe probably uses "speed trap" to refer to "NFBSKing police officers who have the audacity to ticket'm for excercising their god given right to speed".

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by jimmy101_again

...The average joe probably uses "speed trap" to refer to "NFBSKing police officers who have the audacity to ticket'm for excercising their god given right to speed".

My aren't we high and mighty...

From the usage I've heard, a speed trap is setup when a police officer sits right on the line where the speed limit goes drastically down. Thereby catching drivers that are speeding along with those that just didn't brake fast enough.

[Lainie]

The ultimate speed trap.

Most folks I know consider almost any rural "wide spot in the road" to be a speed trap. There are two towns between Little Rock and a lake destination where the speed goes from 55mpg to 35mph. The towns have tiny populations (like 500 maybe?) but always have at least 2 police cars ticketting folks along the couple miles of slow speed. It's amusing, it's the only place I've ever seen almost everyone drive exactly the speed limit. (oh, and they also have a limit on the amount of beer you can carry....29.)

I believe there is a state law (which was recently challenged) limiting the amount of city funds that can come from traffic violations.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Beachlife!

From the usage I've heard, a speed trap is setup when a police officer sits right on the line where the speed limit goes drastically down. Thereby catching drivers that are speeding along with those that just didn't brake fast enough.

That's one specific definition of "speed trap" (perhaps even the original one), but in my experience the term is now used generally to refer to any instance of police cars parked along roadsides for the purpose of catching speeders.

- snopes