Flashing headlights

[PT1029]

Going back to the OP. When the lorry driver flashed his lights, was he inviting the driver out of the drive, or was the lorry driver inviting you to continue to cycle along, while being unaware or the intentions of the car driver, who mis interpreted the lorry drivers light flashing as an invitation for her to exit the drive?
Law of unintended consequences and all that.

[Postboxer]

What about the way people are now using hazard lights and indicating the other way to say 'thanks'. Surely this will lead to accidents where people didn't take note of hazard lights because they assumed they were saying thanks. Boy who cried wolf sort of problem. My other issue with hazards is when you can only see one on a parked vehicle, always the one the side the road is on, so the one which would be an indicator when the parked vehicle tries to set off.

I've often thought that we could do with some kind of international highway sign language to convey messages other than what the indicators convey, perhaps 'I will wait for you' could be one of them, not the same as 'you can go'. Mainly I was thinking of 'Check your lights', 'Check your load' etc. I was thinking about this once after passing a car towing a trailer on the motorway with a wiring problem, the car would signal left to pull in a lane, the trailer would signal right. Only me in the car so wasn't sure of any way to communicate this to the other driver.

[Jdsk]

What about the way people are now using hazard lights and indicating the other way to say 'thanks'. Surely this will lead to accidents where people didn't take note of hazard lights because they assumed they were saying thanks. Boy who cried wolf sort of problem. My other issue with hazards is when you can only see one on a parked vehicle, always the one the side the road is on, so the one which would be an indicator when the parked vehicle tries to set off.

I sometimes use one flash of hazard warning lights for thanks.

And totally agree about that potential confusion if they're used when parked.

I've often thought that we could do with some kind of international highway sign language to convey messages other than what the indicators convey, perhaps 'I will wait for you' could be one of them, not the same as 'you can go'. Mainly I was thinking of 'Check your lights', 'Check your load' etc. I was thinking about this once after passing a car towing a trailer on the motorway with a wiring problem, the car would signal left to pull in a lane, the trailer would signal right. Only me in the car so wasn't sure of any way to communicate this to the other driver.

This morning's walk was very misty and I did a whole pile of pointing at my eyes and their lights alternately to drivers with no lights on.

For that trailer once in front I'd have used my hazard warning lights and possibly a lasso signal with my hand.

Jonathan

[Bmblbzzz]

Going back to the OP. When the lorry driver flashed his lights, was he inviting the driver out of the drive, or was the lorry driver inviting you to continue to cycle along, while being unaware or the intentions of the car driver, who mis interpreted the lorry drivers light flashing as an invitation for her to exit the drive?
Law of unintended consequences and all that.

It doesn't make much difference. In both cases, the lorry driver thought they were aware of and had allowed for the behaviour of all people there, but they were wrong. Whether the person they'd overlooked/failed to see/not taken account of was the cyclist or the driver or had been someone else again, doesn't alter that.

[squeaker]

I've often thought that we could do with some kind of international highway sign language to convey messages ....

Morse code? Would add another dimension to the driving test

[mjr]

Same thing, could happen at a small roundabout.

Just say there are four equally spaced exits.
One car arrives at each exit at exactly the same time.
At a roundabout, you give way to the traffic on your right. ie the exit on your right has priority over you.

The result with the above scenario, is stalemate.
Someone has to go first.

Who flashes who?
Perhaps they all flash!

Nooooo. All four drive forwards slowly until their way ahead is blocked by the vehicle pulling out of the next turning. Then the mini-roundabout is gridlocked and taken out of motorised service until one of the vehicles rusts away, further incentivising a modal shift to cycling which can filter past!

Going back to the OP: I had the situation where an overtaking vehicle in the next lane flashed at an oncoming vehicle to encourage them to "right cross" me. I signalled right and changed lane to in front of them (they had almost stopped to let the oncoming vehicle turn) to make the point that there was another road user in the lane to their left and they had no business flashing as a come-on. Of course, they were then stuck behind me at 15ish mph until there was an opportunity I thought safe (no left turn for them to flash someone across me again...) to change lanes back left again. I suspect they might check the left lane before flashing in future!

[ChrisP100]

Flashing headlights are more often than not misconstrued in the same way green traffic lights are. A green traffic light always means proceed with caution, but people still don't bother to slow down or look.

[Bowedw]

A well known insurance scam I believe, flash someone and continue driving to crash into them, deny all knowledge of flashing and collect the insurance payout on their older car which would usually be deemed to be unviable to repair. Difficult to get out of the habit of automatically turning though.

[tatanab]

A cautionary tale - a few years ago I was driving in a strange area after dark. I waited behind an obstruction on my side of the road. An approaching car flashed headlights, I hesitated, another flash so I proceeded. This led to a full beam display and a hand on the horn. The driver had not flashed the lights at all, they had been driving over speed bumps which of course, as a stranger, I knew nothing about.

[Cyril Haearn]

Easy to get in to the habit of ignoring such signals, and not trusting other drivers

[Cyril Haearn]

What about other 'communications'? What should I do if the driver in front flashes her brake lights?

Well, options that spring to mind are:-

..
c) Follow her to the pub, assuming its a come-on of a different kind ..

Plus One, that seems most likely
Actually it was a 'trick' question, very unlikely to happen, I always leave plenty plenty of room (only a fowl keeps the two-second rule, I leave much more space)