Flashing lights to warn others about the police

If I see them up in front of me, I will double tap my brake lights to try and warn people to slow down.

logically speaking, those who do not flash light on speed trap will support the use of speed camera.
Not sure if there are exceptions...

or those that don't warn refuse to support irresponsible behavior.

I still do it and i'm always happy when someone else does it to warn me.

But... do you know that it is illegal and you can get a ticket here in Canada.

they call it:"Interfering with the duties of a police officer".........

But i still do it.

Would you warn an oncoming motorist of a deer in the road?

How about if there was an accident just around the corner?

In other Asia country, driver also wave their hand out the window to signal other driver incoming police ahead.

Normally you flash your lights to try to get some other drivers attention that they have their high beams on and I've also had truckers flash their light to know that I've cleared their truck to get back in front of them.

This is something new for me.

You have to be old(er) to remember this...

I haven't seen that done for a long time, at least not in my part of Canada (Winnipeg). Not sure if it is illegal, or if it has just died out.

Just when I was feeling (slightly) less "seasoned"! Yikes!

Bud, I'd hate to be a 'kid' these days. I'm glad I'm a veteran of the 'old' days. Better than the alternative, right?

LOL... +1 here. Amazing how there are only 2 types of people on the road. The idiots going faster than you and the jerks going slower. LOL... at least, that's what I got from reading these posts.

It's been a while since I've seen anyone flashing their lights but I haven't seen as many speed traps as before. In DC, they have live moving speed cameras and they just send you the ticket with pictures. They don't even bother stopping you anymore.

yes. thinking how much time an officer needs to finish writing a citation vs. how many tickets a speed camera can produce at same time. How productive machine generates revenue than human being does.

I flash when its late at nite on the freeway and theres no one around.

I will flash my headlights on isolated highways but not in town.

I guess you've never seen a police car at the scene of an accident?

is considered an obstruction of justice and therefore is illegal.

The topic has to do with warning an oncoming driver that may or may not be speeding about approaching a location where a law enforcement officer is measuring speed. The topic has nothing to do with warnings about accidents, possible obstructions, clearances or any other reason you may have to flash your headlights in warning.

Now, with those ground rules regarding the topic in place, what does your comment about:

have to do with the topic of warning others that may be approaching an officer measuring speed?

I know of someone who got a $100+ dollar ticket for flashing in such instance.

I wonder how many people that argued against the flashing practice, also, come on this site and make good use of the speed camera POIs?

I personally, almost never speed and do not flash. I sometimes find the flashing distracting, especially at night on smaller roads.

I just saw someone flashing their lights a day or two ago. But I seldom see anyone doing it anymore. I don't know if its law enforcement ticketing people, or just moving from a rural area to more suburban area that has made the difference.

Personally, I use the files as a reminder to watch my speed, and give myself some extra room at the red light cams so I don't get rear-ended, and not to avoid a ticket.

I also appreciate Aardvarks logic.

Reminds me of several large metro spots -removing- red light cameras, and their admitted reasoning was "revenue is down".

Pretty crazy days we live in, WRT our benevolent government "enforcement" . . .

And I quote:

Use Your Headlights

•When it is cloudy, raining, snowing, or foggy. If weather conditions require you to use your windshield wipers, you must turn on your headlights — it’s the law.
•On frosty mornings, when other drivers’ windows may be icy or "fogged."
•Any time conditions prevent you from seeing other vehicles. Other drivers may have trouble seeing you, too.
•On small country or mountain roads, even on sunny days. This helps other drivers see you and may help you avoid a head-on crash.
•When necessary to get another driver’s attention.

I think that the last bullet point may have some relevance here...

I am not a lawyer (nor do I play one on TV!)

Those might be your ground rules, but this is an open forum and the nature of forums like these is to introduce thought and viewpoints. I feel sorry for you if those notions are foreign to you.

The topic is "Flashing lights to warn others about the police" and makes no mention of speed.

I remember about ten years ago someone flashed their lights at an oncoming car with no lights on and all that happened is that the young lady ridding with the good Samaritan god shot by the &ss hole who was driving with no lights. Hell, I'll take my chances with the cops.

I've heard that flashing can get you arrested no matter if it's on the highway or on the street corner. You'd better be careful.

I see flashing lights occasionally on the highways here in California. It's usually when a car on the left lane is going too slow and the car behind it flashes their headlights to get the slow car's attention to move over to let the car pass. I don't see anything wrong with using lights to get attention. That's better than using the horn that is usually rude and annoying if the driver can even hear it above the loud music in their car. Using headlights is more effective than horns. Is there anywhere one can find unwritten headlight codes for the road on the internet? Couldn't find anything on the California Drivers Handbook.

We used to do this in Europe years ago to foil the gendarmes. I'm not a law and order person but why do I want to protect a speeding driver who might kill or injure some one? No light flashing for me.

I was stopped by the HWY Patrol on Hwy 50 going towards Clermont when I spied a local cop taking pix of East Bound traffic....I flicked my lights a couple of times. The road is really hilly there so when I approached the top I was met by a State Trooper going down. He flicked on his lights and stopped me shortly thereafter. He said I was a Saftey Hazzard and quoted some FL statute to back himself up...So now I'm reluctent to warn my fellow travelers that they maybe in jeopardy.

and might hurt or kill someone...I might be right, huh?

A friend of mine was returning from vacation when he saw a highway patrol radar set up.

He stsrted flashing his lights at oncoming traffic another HP officer saw him turned around and pulled him over and asked why he was flashing his lights.

My friend said "I saw a pig on the side of the road and thought I should warn oncoming traffic".

He did not get a ticket but was there quite awhile while the officer searched every inch of his car.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/lightsout.asp

Seeing brake lights on a highway in front of me, when there is no traffic issue, is a pretty good indicator that I'm approaching a trap.

Seeing others self-preservation is more reliable than waiting for them to warn me.

The last time I did this I did it to a Sheriff. I was lucky. He drove on by me. I have not done it since.

Just my luck I seen a cop parked on the side of the road at night so I flashed the next car I saw and it happened to be another cop. Ticketed for "dazzling headlights".

in the last ten years. Those times I questioned why I was being flashed. It really made me worry unnessarily since I do not typically go over the posted speed by more than 4miles an hour. Because I was unaware of the code other thoughts like is one of my headlights out, does a tire look like it's going flat.. lol or is wobbling crossed my mind. I prefer people on the road keep their flashing to themselves.

We have several speed traps in our village that basically nabs out of town-ers that are unaware of them for revenue generation. Speed drops dramatically twice within a very short distance as you enter village. Police just sit there and pick off anyone they want. I will still flash to warn those that are unaware.

I've done it my whole life. Seems to be done by others less frequently nowadays. I do it to warn oncoming drivers that an LE vehicle might suddenly pull out in front of them in pursuit of someone else. A safety precaution.

it's simple. you make the cars going faster to slow down. and that is considered (morally) good, however from legal point of view is bad (police looses potential revenue from ticketing).

sad world we are living in.

EDIT:
and by going further. since you made the car to slow down, police cannot ticket him, so they have an option to ticket you instead, weird ... very weird actually.

The Rosebud TX people put up a sign, "Speed trap ahead." A cop tried to take it down. Read all about it.
http://www.kxxv.com/story/14294713/central-texas-officer-fir...

so many things, I fear this ancient highway custom is relegated to the past! I haven't done this for years. It's enough to be alert for drivers texting while driving, talking on the phone while driving, people reading while driving, eating their breakfast Mac while driving, picking their nose while driving, etc. etc, etc., the bloody list goes on and on, that we should concern ourselves with alerting a youthful lawbreaker that the local "fuzz" is lerking silently behind a hidden clump of protected chapperal...

Not anymore. Too many crazy people out on the roads today. I got to take care of myself first and family and not worry about warning other drivers.

It is rare, but still exists. These days I rely on my radar detector and a bit of common sense when trying to find them hiding...

When I was in in Drivers Education class about a millennium ago, we were tought to flash headlights to warn oncomming traffic of impending dainger. Now you can get a ticket for it. Times are achanging!

I still do if I'm off the cops view. If they see you doing that you can get ticketed.

I always tap my brake lights tol let drivers know behind me if i see a police officer ahead.

YES M. juggernaut. Its is the same in Quebec. I find it dangerous to take my morning walk in a residential area.

Humans are ridiculous..To much TV garbage on their brains.