Whatever happened to the road courtesy of flashing headlights as a warning?

Lots of road courtesy has gone by the wayside over the last decade...and cellphones are not the only culprit to blame. Drivers' education, respect for fellow man (or woman), and lack of proper highway policing are indeed also to be mentioned.

However, I'm specifically curious as to what happened to that good old courtesy of flashing headlights at oncoming drivers approaching a police speed-trap that one driver has just passed. Do you remember the day and age where you couldn't drive anywhere at night without someone flashing you about the police up ahead?
Additional Details
I too have heard that it has become illegal, but have never had a law resource cited to me. I have heard cops say they would pull someone over for warning another driver, but when I ask in response "for what charge" there is no valid answer I've been given. Also, many of my responders should note the difference between criminal and motor vehicle laws, and laws which are created for "mala in re" and "mala prohibita" purposes. Traveling too fast is not paramount to bank robbery.

Patrick W

You are absolutely right. Now, people want the opposite it seems like and use their cell phones to call the police in hopes of being a busy body because they get something out of it. And how about people blocking roads or driveways at red lights. They have nowhere to go but will have no problem getting in the way so they can be 2 feet away from the car in front of them while they sit there.

Heinz M

I still do it. ~

EvilWoman0913

I do remember that, and if I'm not mistaken, some states passed laws concerning just that subject several years ago. Seems they didn't appreciate drivers warning one another of impending radar patrol.

jen

it is illegal to warn others in some states. as for the rest, people seem to think only of themselves on the road (as in, not letting people in front of them, talking on their phones and 'trying' to drive, honking, etc).

Caramieanne

I don't know about the rest of the drivers out there, but when I let someone in front of me I will flash my high beams to let them know it's safe for them to get in front of me. I usually get a response of them tapping their brake lights to say thank you and truck drivers will turn their running lights on and off also thanking me for letting them change lanes.

Joe M

People still do it around here - but I have noticed it getting less common.

I don't know what has made people become so anti-social when driving though - it seems the bigger the vehicle someone has, the more isolated from reality they become.

Gary V

I blame the urban legend that used to pop up in emails in the begening days of the internet, the one about someone driving with their headlights off at night and if you flash them with your headlights you become the target of a gang and they come and kill you. Complete hogwash but I bet is scarred a lot of poeple.

applegreen0623

Yeah, I remember when people use to do that. I think that went away when people started saying don't flash your lights anymore, because of some urban legend. The world has gotten crazier...

Seth E

its illegal and you get a pretty big fine if you get caught doing it

Amanda E

Let me guess.. you got pulled over?

Good question though.. I wonder that all the time. The city I live in is crazy... I dont' think any of them know how to drive. I however do still flash my lights as a warning. We're still here! Just fading by the second.

Eskimo Mom

I still do it, but if no one is in front of me. Flashing headlights is still used to tell the driver passing you that they are cleared to move back into your lane. I am a truck driver & run wih a CB radio (down low most of the time), so I can warn the drivers coming my way about "bears", road hazards, etc. Courtesy in general has gone out the window. Too many people are wrapped up in their own lives to be thinking of others. It's sad to think of it that way.

smurfee68

I do, but I don't usually get it in return. There was an Internet story a few years back saying that if you flashed your lights at a gang member that had stolen a car ( because he jimmied the ignition, he had the high beams on) and if you flashed them, they would choose you as their victim, to do whatever. . kill, road rage stuff.

So people stopped courtesy flashing for everything.

deiracefan_219

As a driver myself, I will not warn any drivers of a speed trap. The best thing for ppl speeding is to be caught and ticketed. All to many times we read about a person speeding that claims the lives of innocent victims. As a matter of fact, I've called 911 ,<cell phone> to report such actions on our local roadways.

If anything, more speed traps should be used on our roadways. And I'm sure those ppl who lost a loved one due to a speeder's actions would agree.

â™¥

yeah and you can get pulled over for that...i knew someone who did that and the person he did it to happened to be a police officer...and he got pulled over.

ya7te7uja02

It could be cited as Obstruction of Justice because you have interfered with the apprehension of law breakers.

Fred C

In some areas it is illegal. My feeling is, if you are speeding, that is an activity you are participating in willingly, and you deserve to get caught or not based on your own level of stupidity. Flashing lights at speeders is not a lot different from yelling at a bank robber that the cops are coming. It never has been a really common activity. In well over a million miles of driving, I bet I haven't seen it more than a dozen times, of course where I learned to drive, they pulled over and ticketed the drivers who flashed warnings. My last speeding ticket was over 20 years ago, and the one before that was about 9 years earlier yet. I don't need warnings. Anybody that does should perhaps look at the speedometer once in a while.
Understand I don't condone actual speed traps, where they set up radar at a spot with a sudden speed limit change for no reason. My 1985 ticket was for doing highway speed in town, but I was 5 miles outside the town. That was a speed trap. Radar set up to catch regular speeders is not a trap, simply an enforcement. There is a difference.

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