Driving Lesson - Flashing Headlights

Ivory_Tinkler

Freddie I think you need to get down the pub and chill out quick. To have an altercation with another driver and then come onto a public forum 2 hours later to moan about it (on a Friday too) is a little worrying. What's more worrying is your general attitude towards women drivers "darling nice Girl" is patronising to say the least. How would you feel if you came onto a forum to see "a sad old git in Stroud flashed at me today"

wallbash

the only time i see flashes used properly is to tell people of a speed trap ahead (Warning them of it)
and technically thats not right. lol

Got flashed at yesterday slowed down :rolleyes:

After driving around the bend ..... took it in my head to flash a van going the other way
( just returning the favour ):D

sarahg1969

I don't understand why you were flashing the other driver, OP.

Had she already started to turn? If so, she wasn't mistaking your flashing for a signal to go, as she'd already commenced the manoeuvre.

If she was just sitting there, waiting, why did you need to flash?

olly300

I thought cars came with horns as well?

Much easier to interpret.

Sooler

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

111

Never assume that flashing headlights is a signal inviting you to proceed. Use your own judgement and proceed carefully.

So if you flash your lights you need to prepared for the other driver using their own judgement - whatever it may be, wise or unwise.

Poppy9

Well I've read this thread and I still don't know why you flashed your headlights at the drive.

Like 99.9% of drivers on the road I too would have thought you were flashing me to indicate you were giving way to me, but hey what do I know - I'm just a Silly Female driver who has held a clean licence for about 28 years. The only accidents I've had involved two male drivers not paying attention. One pulled out of a side road right into my side and the other was a white van driver who hadn't noticed that all the traffic was stationery at a red light and drove into us all! Guess this is why females get cheaper insurance than men:p

Jakg

Irrespective of what the highway code says, if most people think of flashing your lights as letting someone out then you need to make sure if they do make this mistake it wont affect you. It doesn't matter who's to blame when your dead.

The highway code also says anyone who isn't indicating approaching a roundabout is therefore going straight over - but we all know this isn't true at all a lot of the time as people forget how to indicate somehow!

As was pointed out to me in my CBT - officially if i'm going past a t-junction where I have right of way, and a driver seems to not notice me and start to pull out, I should flash my lights to say "I am here". In practice, however, he will likely take this is as me letting him through - which will likely end up with me hitting his front wing and ending up with lots of and lots of broken bones whereas he probably won't even notice and blame my speed or inexperience...

Freddie_Snowbits

Ivory_Tinkler wrote: »

To have an altercation with another driver

I did not have an altercation. I pointed this out, because the other driver, girl, shook her fist at me! If she had not, I would not had mentioned it!

Poppy9

Are we ever going to know why the OP flashed his headlights?

marleyboy

McKneff wrote: »

As a driver of 40 years, I'm with Chri5 on this one I'm afraid that its a commonly accepted signal of courtesty,

This may be true to your interpritation of it, however LEGALLY it is NOT! One could easily (and do) fail their driving test for accepting it as courtesy, suggest you check this up.