Driving signal for "go ahead"

[ktang 34]

I was taught that flashing your lights signals "go ahead", e.g. when a truck is merging into your lane ahead of you, turning your lights on-off-on-off-on-off or, with daylight driving lights, on-daylight-on-daylight-on-daylight (but not high-beaming, especially at night) signals to the trucker that he has enough room to merge in. Or, if somebody is turning left in a clogged intersection, flashing your lights means "go ahead".

I was driving on the highway and the left lane was clogged. A young female driver was coming quickly from behind us, fast, in the right lane, flashing her lights. So, the car 4 spots ahead of us sees the signal and merges right, and there is a hard collision. I suspect that the driver coming up behind us meant that she was coming up fast, and NOT to merge.

I have seen the same mixup at clogged intersections, too, where somebody is barreling through the intersection flashing their lights. The people turning left go, and there are close calls.

Maybe we need a signal at the front of the car (perhaps blue, because there are a lot of green colour-blind people driving) that means "go ahead". Of course, there are some areas / drivers where this signal would never get used...

[Monty22 833]

Sounds like the young female in the right lane can't drive't.

[dangle 0]

Maybe we need a signal at the front of the car (perhaps blue, because there are a lot of green colour-blind people driving) that means "go ahead". Of course, there are some areas / drivers where this signal would never get used...

Blue lights are illegal on any car while driving other than Police cars.

[chk hrd 164]

if your in the far left lane (the fast lane) and some pulls up behind you and flashes thier lights they want you to move over because you are going to slow.

[mrusse01 0]

if your in the far left lane (the fast lane) and some pulls up behind you and flashes thier lights they want you to move over because you are going to slow.

I agree.

If someone flashes their lights at you (usually from the front) at an intersection or something similar, I take it to mean 'you can go ahead'.

If someone was barreling up behind me, flashing their lights in any lane, I wouldn't pull in front of them.

I always said there should be brake lights on the front of cars, I have no idea why that just never caught on. In this situation the guy probably wouldn't have pulled out in front of the girl because he would have seen her brake lights weren't on and thus that she wasn't slowing down.

[Thockey17 1]

I flash high beams in 3 situations.

A. Get out of my way. Happens the most, seeing as how i have a heavy foot.

B. To tell an incoming motorist their highbeams are on. Probably doesnt work too well.

C. Warn others of a speed-trap. If my Valentine 1 is going crazy, i'll let others know.

Around town, if i want to let you go, i'll give you the wave.

[greech 4]

I flash high beams in 3 situations.

A. Get out of my way. Happens the most, seeing as how i have a heavy foot.

B. To tell an incoming motorist their highbeams are on. Probably doesnt work too well.

C. Warn others of a speed-trap. If my Valentine 1 is going crazy, i'll let others know.

Around town, if i want to let you go, i'll give you the wave.

I'm the same. I'm not being an asshole, though, but I rarely let people go unless traffic is extremely thick. Nothing bothers me more than when I'm on a side street, and the one car in the main road stops to let me go. It would take less time for them to just take the left and me to take a left once they're done, but everybody has to do something 'nice.'

[dalebert 8]

I have just one more to add to the list and that is if they don't have any lights on at all. If flashing doesn't work I'll either get closer and do it a little more rapidly or if I don't feel like risking road rage I'll pull next to them and let them know.

[Caustic Mick 0]

We use an extended middle finger showing the back of our hands here in the States... :P

[ktang 34]

I was thinking that the high-beaming in the fast lane could be kept for signaling "get out of the fast lane". That might have been what that young woman was thinking when she was going past in the right lane, but I'll never know...

Waving somebody over wouldn't work too well at night, and would be hard for 18-wheel truckers to see, which is why they and other drivers use the on-off-on-off-on-off signal when the merging truck is clear (high-beaming in this circumstance would dazzle the driver's night vision through the mirror).

Maybe the signal light would have to be green, if blue is reserved for the police...

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

Maybe we need a signal at the front of the car (perhaps blue, because there are a lot of green colour-blind people driving) that means "go ahead". Of course, there are some areas / drivers where this signal would never get used...

Blue lights are illegal on any car while driving other than Police cars.

Not true. Volunteer firefighters can use them.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Maybe we need a signal at the front of the car (perhaps blue, because there are a lot of green colour-blind people driving) that means "go ahead". Of course, there are some areas / drivers where this signal would never get used...

Blue lights are illegal on any car while driving other than Police cars.

Not true. Volunteer firefighters can use them.

What about those blue tinted headlamps?

[juiced 0]

What about those blue tinted headlamps?

aren't those LEDs? LEDs are naturally that colour.

[lotus 2]

Yeah that's just the bulbs, Xenon lights probably. Also technically illegal depending on where you are and how much the police care.

Though I believe if you can prove that the lights are factory installed, then it is not illegal for you to have them. Same goes for factory tinted windows if they fall below the state limit. (In the U.S. of course, don't know how it is for our northern friends).

I've been pulled over before and questioned about the tints + lights ("Your windows are a little dark and your lights are a little bright!"). I just stated that they came as an option from the factory. No further questions. That time at least :P.

[Race4LastPlace 31]

I always said there should be brake lights on the front of cars, I have no idea why that just never caught on. In this situation the guy probably wouldn't have pulled out in front of the girl because he would have seen her brake lights weren't on and thus that she wasn't slowing down.

Illegal in most states to have red lights on front of non-emergency vehicles. Exception to school buses.

Maybe we need a signal at the front of the car (perhaps blue, because there are a lot of green colour-blind people driving) that means "go ahead". Of course, there are some areas / drivers where this signal would never get used...

Blue lights are illegal on any car while driving other than Police cars.

Not true. Volunteer firefighters can use them.

Most states only allow blue lights for police or DOC vehicles. Yellow for public service, Red for emergency vehicles.

[TBLfan 25]

The hood lights(washer fulid sprayer thing) are illegal in some areas too. Blinker colors are also supposed to be yellow, the clear ones are illegal. Honking your horn when not in an emergency situation is illegal as well. I don't know if flashing the lights is illegal but it's not a legally "acceptable" sign of anything. Some of these may vary from area to area but that is my understanding of the laws in FL.

[LkptTiger 1]

I got brights, horn honking and frantic waiving as "don't do it" signals from some guy as he hit a good patch of ice and slid through a four-way stop (coming through from my left-hand side), then spun out of control and popped a car on the other side of the intersection.

The look on his face as we went through the intersection was absolutely priceless. In all seriousness, though - winter driving isn't rocket science; I don't understand how there can be so many people living in this area of the continent (this particular incident occurred in southern Ontario...but there are morons everywhere) can go so long without acquiring the skills necessary to keep their car under control when there is even just a dusting of snow on the ground.

[team50 20]

QUOTE (dangle @ Dec 30 2008, 05:53 AM)

QUOTE (ktang @ Dec 30 2008, 04:14 AM)

Maybe we need a signal at the front of the car (perhaps blue, because there are a lot of green colour-blind people driving) that means "go ahead". Of course, there are some areas / drivers where this signal would never get used...

Blue lights are illegal on any car while driving other than Police cars.

Not true. Volunteer firefighters can use them.

Snow plows I believe use blue warning lights.

[Rustpot 1]

I got brights, horn honking and frantic waiving as "don't do it" signals from some guy as he hit a good patch of ice and slid through a four-way stop (coming through from my left-hand side), then spun out of control and popped a car on the other side of the intersection.

The look on his face as we went through the intersection was absolutely priceless. In all seriousness, though - winter driving isn't rocket science; I don't understand how there can be so many people living in this area of the continent (this particular incident occurred in southern Ontario...but there are morons everywhere) can go so long without acquiring the skills necessary to keep their car under control when there is even just a dusting of snow on the ground.

Shit happens. It's the idiots who think they don't have to alter their driving at all who piss me off. I was leaving Philly a week ago on 476 and the roads were icy as hell. Cars were spread out doing 55 tops on the 55 mph road. A Jeep Commander came barreling up behind me, I checked my mirror and clipped some ice, went flying sideways across 3 lanes of traffic in my rental car. Luckily I had the bright idea to drive with no one near me since just about everyone was a little skiddish on the road.

AWD or 4WD does NOT mean you can barrel across ice and snow.

But back to the original post; I HATE with a passion people clogging the left lane. It's always one idiot wanting to pass at 0.5mph faster than the car in the right lane causing massive back ups. Or worse, the person who just hangs out in the left lane going the limit or less.

[Guitarmy 0]

But back to the original post; I HATE with a passion people clogging the left lane. It's always one idiot wanting to pass at 0.5mph faster than the car in the right lane causing massive back ups. Or worse, the person who just hangs out in the left lane going the limit or less.

This is what pisses me off the most. WTF are they doing driving in left lane, when there are people going as slow as them on the right? I don't get it.

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

Some people haven't seemed to have grasped the concept that the left lane is for passing. If you're in the left lane and you're not passing somebody, or if somebody is coming up behind you, move to the right. It's not rocket surgery.

:lol:

[15yearsofhistory 0]

Some people haven't seemed to have grasped the concept that the left lane is for passing. If you're in the left lane and you're not passing somebody, or if somebody is coming up behind you, move to the right. It's not rocket surgery.

:lol:

Rocket surgery?

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

Brain science? :P

[lotus 2]

hahah @ the last few posts.

I was coming back from school with my girlfriend a few weeks ago on the Palisades Parkway, for those in the NY NJ area. Horrible snow storm had just started and we're in her 94 accord. I won't complain since at least it's manual.

Anywho, rather close to our exit, 2 cars ahead of us a Mustang spins out of control and is just kicking snow everywhere. Both cars in front of me slam their brakes, one goes into a ditch (at a rather slow speed) and the other in front of me spun just a little. I downshift, hit the brakes (as there's no room to pass thanks to ol' mustang) and that was that, no more control.

As I'm busy trying to get the car moving, the two cars behind me stop. Behind them, a hummer easily doing 50 damn near slams into our passenger side, was easily one of the closest calls I've had to a serious accident. Guy didn't even move, just kept going speedin along. I'm sure he would have been fine if we slid a quarter inch further than we did, but I don't even want to think about what would have happened to my GF.

yay AWD.

[/story]

Oh and I view high beams from behind as a get to the right side, and from ahead a slow down because there's either a cop, a deer, an accident, or some ice, etc. And if it's nothing then it's time to make sure there's not a zombie hanging on to the roof of my car :P. That or a headlight is out =\

[gelowitz 0]

edit: someone got it before me.