Judge Dismisses Headlight Flashing Citation

News Channel 5 Nashville TN ^ | 11/4/2003 | AP

[bassmaner]

A Williamson County judge has dismissed a Franklin police citation against a man who warned other drivers of a speed trap.

He flashed his lights at them.

Harley “Bill” Walker says it cost him about a thousand dollars to appeal a City Court judge’s ruling against him.

County Judge Russ Heldman yesterday ruled Walker was right about the citation violating his free speech guarantees.

Officer Chris Marlowe wrote him a ticket for interfering with a police officer’s duties on August 14th.

The Franklin city police chief has now written a memo to officers, telling them not to cite drivers for flashing their lights in warning.

Heldman invited appeal of his ruling, saying it’s an issue scholars may want to investigate.

For his part, Walker is pleased to win his case, but says he’ll flash only his brights next time. He says the only way Marlowe knew he was flashing his lights was because his tail lights were going on and off.

[bassmaner]

Finally, some common sense in a courtroom: cops certainly are not God Almighty and they have no right ticketing someone for flashing their lights.

[TomGuy]

hahaha...

I did that years ago. Passed a State Patrol car. Was a not-real-busy 2-lane highway. Being nice, I flashed the next car I saw about 3/4 miles away. As I passed, it was a second State Patrol. He smiled and I saw him slow to turn around (next drive way was about 1/2 mile for him). I turned off onto a dirt road and backroaded my way to the next town (I knew most of those dirt roads.)

By the time he turned around, I was long gone. Thankfully, we had had a bit of rain earlier, so he couldn't even see my dust trail on the dirt road.

[Orangedog]

Officer Chris Marlowe wrote him a ticket for interfering with a police officer’s duties...

Correction: He was written a ticket for interfering with a cop's ability to make his quota.

[LimitedPowers]

I was riding in a tour bus in East Germany (back in the Bad 'Ol Days) when the bus driver did this. He got pulled over and issued a ticket. I don't know whether West Germans routinely paid East German traffic tickets, but being a tour bus driver I'd expect he would have. (Anything to get that hard Western currency.)

[Fpimentel]

Funny, I do the same thing whenever I am being tailed.
Better to avoid the patrolmen, than for them to cite
you on an obscure or made up law.