Those who warn you of cops ahead by flashing lights.

JOERM · May 1, 2009

I sort of have mixed feelings about folks who warn you of a cop around the corner by flashing their head lights at you or waving their hand up and down to slow down. It may even be illegal, not sure. If I were a cop I'd be hot to trot to nail the warning guy, I even thought about stopping and telling the cop but never did or would.

I do have to tell ya though that the warning guy did get me to slow down and avoid a ticket!! Still....

USAF385 · May 1, 2009

Would it be illegal to suggest someone slow down? I'm not the one to ask.

However, people also flash for other reasons.. like an animal on/near the road or an obstruction. Perhaps there is construction around the corner and they see someone flying. Or maybe it's getting dark and someone forgot to turn their lights on.

sar4937 · May 1, 2009

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Maybe the guy was just testing out his headlights, or his arm was stiff.

dlstewart01 · May 1, 2009

There was a case in Franklin, Tn a few years back were an older man flashed his lights to warn people of radar. The police gave him a ticket,of course he lost in the lower court,but apealed and won on the grounds that it violated his 1st admendment rights. It was in the Tennessean news paper.

guntownuncle · May 1, 2009

My ideas on the subject have kind of changed over the years. I used to appreciate someone letting me know so I could slow down. Now that I worry about my wife and kids being on the road, I kind of like the cops busting as many speeders as possible. Maybe it will make the road a safer place.

morsecode · May 1, 2009

Twenty five years ago my wife got a ticket for doing that on the interstate. Her ticket ended up costing more than the one handed out to speeders. Maybe the law has changed since then?

parallel · May 1, 2009

The point of speeding tickets is to get people to drive at what has been deemed a safe speed. A speeding ticket is not meant as a punishment, it is meant as a deterrent. Many departments will put units out in plain sight again as a deterrent. A person flashing lights at a speeder is no different than the decal on the patrol unit making the people slow down. Only the departments who give speeding tickets as a means of revenue will be upset by people slowing down befofre being issued a ticket.

Guest · May 1, 2009

I drive and always have driven pretty much the same way I do now and I see no point in slowing down just because somebody flashes their headlights at me. If it's my "turn" to get a ticket then so be it, if I'm actually doing something wrong such as Speeding. If I wasn't willing to accept the 'Ticket' I wouldn't be driving at the speed I do nor would I be doing anything else that I wasn't supposed to be doing.

As far as flashing my headlights at some idiot who can't figure out for themselves that their headlights should be on, well, that's the job of LEOs. These people don't belong on the road to begin with and I could care less if they get a ticket.

If I want to "Warn" someone of something ahead that might be dangerous - such as critters crossing the road or poorly marked construction zone or an accident etc. - I'll turn on my Four-way Emergency Flashers. They're called "Emergency Flashers" for a reason!!!

Andy Griffith · May 1, 2009

People flash their lights for many reasons, but always it's meant to mean slow down.

Animal in the road (live or dead)
Debris
Obstruction
Accident
Water
Bridge out
or the occasional speed trap.

There still are "speed traps" operating in the fine state of Georgia.

When, within a mile, speed goes from 65 to 30 on a four-lane highway (especially when the lowest limit through this particular one-horse town should be 45!) that is a speed trap.

KKG-
I did get a ticket while changing a tire two years ago in Florida...for having my flashers on. It seems that is against the law to have your hazard lights on when a vehicle is not moving.

s&wchad · May 1, 2009

Those who warn you of cops ahead by flashing lights.

Thank you!

Wheelgunner840 · May 1, 2009

Originally posted by morsecode:
Twenty five years ago my wife got a ticket for doing that on the interstate. Her ticket ended up costing more than the one handed out to speeders. Maybe the law has changed since then?

Exactly what law is being broken when signaling a driver to slow down? I do it all the time, and I appreciate when someone warns me. The speed traps around here are usually set up in 25 MPH zones. It is very easy to be traveling at 35 MPH and not even realize it. It's not like a bunch of people are cruising the secondary roads around here doing 50.

It's a money making deal for the towns, and I don't have a problem giving people who are just going about their business a little help in keeping their money. No offense meant to the LEOs here.

This should be an interesting thread.

WG840

Indiana George · May 1, 2009

I live in a relatively rural area.

This past winter, I flashed my lights repeatedly at an oncoming mini van.

Young lady glared at me when she sped past.

I turned around and drove back when I saw the brake lights, steam and that she was stopped in the middle of the road.

She glared at me again when I told her "No" that I was NOT going to help peel the smashed deer out of her grill.

dsoza2003 · May 1, 2009

I appreciate the warning...as I also warn others....There are plenty of things Law enforcement can be doing besides sitting on an empty roadside giving tickets to people so they can make quota's......In Los Angeles there are plenty of gangs, drug dealers, robberies...But half the police sit on the side of the road and give tickets to speeders....10 miles over the limit in a 35 zone...cmon....do we really need someone protecting us from that....Lets start going after gang infested neighborhoods...We got plenty of work their...Unfortunately that does not bring in the revenue so were stuck with roadside police force.

dlstewart01 · May 1, 2009

From The Tennessean:

Police to stop citing drivers who flash lights

By MITCHELL KLINE
Staff Writer

FRANKLIN — Police Chief Jackie Moore said Franklin officers should discontinue the practice of issuing citations to people who flash their headlights to warn other motorists about a speed trap.

Moore's decision came yesterday shortly after a Williamson County judge dismissed the city of Franklin's case against a man who flashed a warning and was charged and found guilty of interfering with a police officer's performance of duty. He appealed.

Judge Russ Heldman dismissed the city's ruling that Harlie ''Bill'' Walker, 75, violated a Franklin ordinance Aug. 14, when he flashed his lights at oncoming traffic to let drivers know there was a police car ahead.

''It's my constitutional right to blink my lights, and the city of Franklin overturned that right,'' Walker said. ''I'm overjoyed this (hearing) ended in my favor.''

Joe Baugh, Walker's attorney, argued that by flashing his lights, Walker assisted in slowing down oncoming traffic.

''People should be free to express that kind of communication,'' Baugh said. ''Police have to err on the side of letting citizens communicate.''

Walker had been pulled over by Officer Chris Marlow, who testified at yesterday's appeal hearing that he also issued the same citation to four others for the same action and that other Franklin police officers also issued such citations. The ordinance that Walker was accused of violating prohibits anyone from knowingly interfering with a police officer performing or attempting to perform his duties.

''Where we stand is in support of the court's decision on this,'' Moore said.

''Any law we have on the books, the manner in which is it enforced is subject to review by the court of appeals. I have no problem whatsoever with that system and support it 100%.

dsoza2003 · May 1, 2009

By the way, half my friends are cops and I tell them the same thing...I respect them, and love them "most of the time" but seriously lets focus on cleaning the streets of gangbangers instead of having the primary focus be revenue....

kennyb · May 1, 2009

yep...lets have the police focus on the gang boys and ignore speeders ....then when one of your loved ones are struck as a result of someone speeding and is killed......its a sad day indeed when a LEO has to knock on a parents door to tell them their child has been struck and killed for no reason other then the driver was speeding...i have been in the position on a number of occasions to do just this...believe me...its something you never forget...well...hopefully you see the point (many will not) suddenly traffic enforcement takes on a differant meaning.....its an endless circle...the speeders want law enforcement to lean on the gang bangers...the gang bangers want them to lean on the drug distributors (you know,territories) the drug guys say drugs should be legal...go after the sexual predators...the predators say go after the ones who murder...the ones who murder say they didn't do it and on and on....truth me known...law enforcement enforces the laws that are enacted on a state,federal,local level....bottom line is either to lobby to have the law changed...or simply stay within the legal parameters...

feralmerril · May 1, 2009

There is a small old mineing town in nevada on hyw 50, where some mad citizen has a sign in his yard by the road, "Warning speed trap ahead". I belive it is eureka nevada. I bet he is popular with the town cops! You wind off switchbacks and hit the old mineing town. Brakes hot, and you are there! Its a natural.

bk43 · May 1, 2009

As far as flashing my headlights at some idiot who can't figure out for themselves that their headlights should be on...

A couple years ago I was the idiot and appreciated another flashing their lights. I was on well lit streets in a newly rented car driving with no lights. I had not driven a vehicle that didn't have auto on lights for many years so hadn't given turning on the lights manually a thought. Smart, no, but understandable.

On topic, warning other drivers of any "hazzard" ahead is thoughtful and makes us all safer on the roads.

Bob

truckemup97 · May 1, 2009

Originally posted by bk43:

On topic, warning other drivers of any "hazzard" ahead is thoughtful and makes us all safer on the roads.

Bob

That's the way I see it. I don't often flash my lights for a "speed trap". I do flash my lights to warn others of problems ahead. Occasionally the problem is that drivers are braking ahead because there is a speed trap. I've also used my truck to block the road so that people won't go speeding around a blind corner into an accident. Was that legal? Probably not, but the couple in the car I blocked were appreciative when I explained why I blocked the road.

ladder13 · May 1, 2009

I'll flash for dangers in the road, NOT for speeders. People drive way too fast.Let them get ticketted.
Seen plenty of cars wrapped around telephone poles. Every time we went out on an auto accident, some of the guys on the job didn't know if it was their kids we were going to see all broken up inside a car and/or laying out side on the pavement.

Those who warn you of cops ahead by flashing lights.

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