Do People Understand Flashed Headlights?

[mr_boring]

Almost all cars have auto headlights these days and even still people are too stupid to put the switch in the auto position.

GM and Honda do it right, the switch defaults to auto. You can turn it off for one drive, but the switch always goes back to auto next time the car is started.

Add Ford to that list. I thought mine was messed up until I delved into it.

I would have checked the owners manual but alas, Ford no longer provides a hard copy with the Ranger and Mr_Boring has not the fortitude to 'read' the digital copy I can access though the big old tablet thing that came smooshed into the dash.

 

[Hall]

Doing it as "Hey get out of the fast lane, because here I come" is road rage. Always try to get out of the fast lane when someone is coming up fast behind you, because you really want those bozos in front of you where you can keep an eye on them.

Many years ago, this was very common, understood, and (most) people followed it. Today, it seems to be a waste of time. I've been in the far-left lane going faster than the car camped out in the same lane and I'll flash my brights way far back telling them, "I'm coming up to you....".

Flashing your lights at a big truck always means "you may cut in front of me" so be prepared for that.

I know this one and use it. 90% of truckers acknowledge you too.

 

[dishdude]

Add Ford to that list. I thought mine was messed up until I delved into it.

I would have checked the owners manual but alas, Ford no longer provides a hard copy with the Ranger and Mr_Boring has not the fortitude to 'read' the digital copy I can access though the big old tablet thing that came smooshed into the dash.

Have you driven a Ford....lately?

Clearly I have not

 

[hemitom]

All of my fords from 2009 and up have had auto headlights .
And once being set to auto I don't ever recall ever turning any of them off.

 

[Marcozi]

There are a lot of brain dead people sharing the roads with us. I used to also flash such drivers but have given up and just go around them as quickly as possible.

This is a daily occurrence on the highways in the metro DC area. People are oblivious.

 

[Astro14]

We were driving last night and in spite of it being fully dark, the vehicle in front of us did not have its lights on. I flashed my headlights several times and got no response.

When someone flashes their headlights do people understand this means danger - your lights are not on, there is a crash ahead, animal on the road, etc.

Or do people just think you're being annoying/creepy?

I think the problem is you ascribe a specific meaning to your headlight flash, and they ascribe a different meaning.

Put another way, you give them an ambiguous signal and are surprised when they don’t interpret it the way that you think they should.

To me, flashing your headlights means either “your high beams are on”, or, “there’s a speed trap ahead”.

If I wanted to show somebody that their lights are off, I would turn my lights off and back on a couple of times.

When you deal in ambiguity, you can’t be surprised that people don’t understand you.

 

[ecotourist]

Many years ago, this was very common, understood, and (most) people followed it. Today, it seems to be a waste of time. I've been in the far-left lane going faster than the car camped out in the same lane and I'll flash my brights way far back telling them, "I'm coming up to you....".

In Europe it's unthinkable to be camped in the left lane and blocking traffic.

As I understand it, you are not allowed to pass on the right - ever. And people get the heck out of the left lane as fast as possible. Low speed cars passing a truck in the right lane for example have an "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" signal (they use their turn signal as I recall) when briefly blocking the left lane. Flashing headlights behind you mean someone is coming up at speed and is about to cut you in half. Blocking the left lane will quickly earn you a traffic ticket. Though they aren't perfect there either, drivers in Europe are much better behaved than what I see in North America.

 

[Astro14]

In Europe it's unthinkable to be camped in the left lane and blocking traffic.

As I understand it, you are not allowed to pass on the right - ever. And people get the heck out of the left lane as fast as possible. Low speed cars passing a truck in the right lane for example have an "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" signal (they use their turn signal as I recall) when briefly blocking the left lane. Flashing headlights behind you mean someone is coming up at speed and is about to cut you in half. Blocking the left lane will quickly earn you a traffic ticket. Though they aren't perfect there either, drivers in Europe are much better behaved than what I see in North America.

European licensing requirements are far stricter than they are here.

The laws are the same in both places about passing, and keeping in the right lane, etc.

But the drivers actually follow those laws with a much higher rate of compliance in Europe.

Interestingly, one of the big complaints from Germans, following the creation of the EU, which allowed other drivers from other countries to operate on the autobahn, was their lack of lane discipline and their failure to understand the meaning of flashing high beams.

 

[John Galt]

Am I showing my age when I remember that flashing the lights on an oncoming car also had the potential meaning that one of your headlights was out. Driving a “pididdle” as we called it, meant that the cops had a valid reason to pull you over. Because of that reason broken headlights were usually fixed quickly.

On the flip side, when driving with your girl friend seeing a Pididdle coming at you, gave you kinda of a Sadi-Hawkins excuse to lean over and get a kiss. It was understood by everyone, that was what a couple did when a one headlight car drove at you. Even my mom and dad did that when they were driving us kids around.

 

[Pablo]

I had a guy try to pass me on the left, two lane road...........when I had my left turn signal ON and started to execute my left turn.............

Think about how stupid and reckless people are.

 

[RaymondP]

For oncoming traffic....
1. Headlights on "bright". You're blinding me.
2. No lights at all. Driver forgot. Rare these days with automatic lights.
3. Speed trap ahead.

 

[CleanSump]

Driving a “pididdle” as we called it,

Gosh, I haven't heard pididdle since I was a kid in the '60s. We used to see who could count the most on a trip. Didn't have cell phones and ipads in those days, we had to play with each other and read books.

 

[Mackelroy]

I think the fact that they didn't turn them on after you flashed them repeatedly increases the likelihood that their headlights were non-functional. I'm not saying that's definitively what happened, just saying it's more likely than you might think.

I have a 2019 company car, and I didnt know it, the auto on headlight function does not work. I have to manually turn the headlights on.

This after people flashing me, i discovered.

 

[Mackelroy]

I had a car coming at me in a 4 way stop. Old guy, alone at the wheel. He flashed his lights to indicate "Hey it's my turn, look out, I'm coming through!" The standard is, of course, "go ahead in front of me" or "danger ahead out of sight." He must go home and drink and complain to his wife about how "everyone's a bad driver these days."

Semi drivers know what's up and seem shocked when my ordinary car knows their secret language. They respond with happy trailer light flashes.

Todays Truck driver, is not the driver of 50 years ago.

half dont even speak english

 

[Mackelroy]

I had a guy try to pass me on the left, two lane road...........when I had my left turn signal ON and started to execute my left turn.............

Think about how stupid and reckless people are.

yep

 

[MyWifesBoyfriend]

I wrote to Transport Canada about 'ghost cars' problem about 10 years ago. I explained that perhaps because Canada had mandated Daytime Running Lights, and this meant - ironically-that the dashboard display was lit up all the time, that people had no idea that their headlights and running lights were off. TC assured me that they were aware and were working with all OEM's to fix this problem. Clearly I was either lied to, or the TC person was grossly optimistic at the timing of this correction.

In my area, it's an epidemic for new Canadians to show their ignorance of how their cars work by driving in darkness, the same people let their kids ride bikes without helmets.. but I digress.

Something changed in 2021: https://www.caa.ca/news/new-safety-regulation-to-prevent-phantom-vehicles/

DRLs + always illuminated instrument clusters were a terrible combination back then. Now the current issue are blindingly bright and poorly aimed headlights.

 

[97prizm]

We were driving last night and in spite of it being fully dark, the vehicle in front of us did not have its lights on. I flashed my headlights several times and got no response.

When someone flashes their headlights do people understand this means danger - your lights are not on, there is a crash ahead, animal on the road, etc.

Or do people just think you're being annoying/creepy?

Unfortunately alot of newer vehicles have drl's on with the dash lights on. People Unfortunately assume the headlights are on. It should be very obvious that they aren't.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

post deleted

 

[tcp71]

It's a bit of an epidemic here. New (adult immigrant) drivers without a clue how their own vehicle operates. We hand out licences on the back of cereal boxes. DRL and lit dashes = no taillights at night, snowstorms, etc.

 

[ecotourist]

I had a guy try to pass me on the left, two lane road...........when I had my left turn signal ON and started to execute my left turn.............

Think about how stupid and reckless people are.

British Columbia has really gotten into re-testing seniors so they can keep their driver's licences. One of the requirements is to shoulder check with every lane change and on every turn. Three misses over the course of the test and you fail. And after a couple of failed tests you get to surrender your driver's licence.

According to the BC senior's driver's re-test requirements, a driver would have seen that clown passing you on the left as you turned left. I guess it's safer that way but realistically who does this - shoulder check on the right before turning right from the right hand lane, shoulder check on the left before turning left from the left hand lane. Just make sure you do it every time if you ever face the BC senior driver's re-test.

I'm currently training myself to do it automatically. Seems a bit far fetched but .....

From what I've heard it's a really hard test. Maybe everyone should have to take the same test periodically, and with their driver's licences on the line too. Especially the politicians.