Flashing lights is the traditional way of letting someone know that you want to pass. That's illegal now? How about flashing lights to tell someone they left their turn signal on?
Posted on 06/17/2009 5:23:50 AM PDT by La Lydia
Mark Zaid was driving to a baseball game recently when a driver coming in the opposite direction flashed his lights. It was a warning: Montgomery County police had set up an enforcement zone. As a common courtesy, Zaid says, he flashed his lights back. A police officer saw it and issued him a $50 citation, telling Zaid that it was illegal in Maryland to flash headlights while driving and that he could actually be charged with something worse: "obstructing a police investigation."
That officer might have picked the wrong guy to ticket: Zaid, of the District, is a lawyer who represents government whistleblowers. He believes he did nothing wrong. "The more I thought about it, I realized I'm going to make an issue of this," he said.
Zaid appeared in Montgomery County District Court yesterday to fight the ticket. The officer who issued the citation, near Westlake Drive in Bethesda, did not appear -- he is on military leave, according to Montgomery police -- so the judge dismissed the ticket. Now Zaid is demanding an apology and says he will file a lawsuit if he doesn't get one.
Montgomery County police defended the citation, saying Zaid was violating a state law that prohibits driving with flashing lights.
Zaid isn't alone in his anger. The issue of whether motorists have a right to warn others about enforcement zones has been the subject of much debate across the United States and Canada, though there has been no definitive court ruling. In Franklin, Tenn., one man spent more than $1,000 to fight a $10 ticket....Lt. Paul Starks, a Montgomery police spokesman, said the law does allow an officer to issue a ticket for warning drivers of an enforcement zone. "It's very general," he said...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I was just thinking about this the other day, as I flashed an approaching driver to warn him of a speed trap (in Illinois). Hardly anyone does it anymore.
I don’t do it until I’m sure the cop can’t see me anymore.
Yes, but in this case the “mistake” seems to be returning an acknowledging flash, which I would never do for just this reason. Don’t tip off that you’ve been tipped off.
The warnings actually perform an important safety function, which is that they cause people to slow down. The citation was issued because the county's primary interest is in ticket revenue, not highway safety.
If someone flashes to me...I worry more about my lights being on or some other “lights” problem first...
I’d be interested to see if this would fall under 1st Ammendement Rights. Wonder if someone would push it that far? I drive a truck, we flash our lights when one truck passes another to tell them is clear to move back over, would they have a problem with that as well? I think not. This is about interfering with revenue, period.
I wish there were some way of knowing of the oncoming auto had an Obama sticker on it so I could refrain. B-D
We have a winner!
These "revenue enhancement" zones have really picked up around here since January.
What’s needed is a universal hand gesture. This would accomplish the same but wouldn’t it be interesting to see that one brought to court?
Flashing lights is the traditional way of letting someone know that you want to pass. That's illegal now? How about flashing lights to tell someone they left their turn signal on?
First, I think there are many more productive things police officers could be doing rather than sitting on the side of a road waiting for revenue...I mean speeders. Of all the traffic accidents in the area, the vast majority are attributable to a) drunken driving, and b) lack of paying attention. Speed is a distant third, so I don't buy the public safety argument. There is more than enough robbery, drugs, prostitution, domestic violence etc. that they should be going after.
Two, hey, if it were me approaching the speed trap, I'd hope someone else would do me the favor. ie. the golden rule. I don't generally speed, but I will go with traffic since that makes you less of a hazard on the road. Sometimes that does mean pushing over the limit.
Three, I view it as a safety issue. I've followed cars into speed traps. Often the first thing a speeding driver (even many that aren't speeding) does when he/she sees the trap is slam on the brakes in hopes they haven't gotten a speed reading yet. (this goes to that whole paying attention thing - they don't even know how fast they are going) Fortunately, I've always been paying attention and haven't hit anyone. Usually, a speed trap means people will be slowing down suddenly, possibly swerving a little as they pay more attention to watching the officer (is he coming out after me?) etc. That makes them far more dangerous on the road. Hence, I warn drivers of a potentially dangerous situation ahead. That I will continue to do, flashing-light law or none.
I remember an interview on the radio with an officer in a major east-coast city a few years back. He said on the one major highway, they simply wouldn't pull anyone over for anything less than 20 over. He said pulling someone over on that busy road was just about a guarantee of causing an accident from rubber-neckers.
When in a line of city traffic, when I spot a lone car signalling his intent to turn through MY line of traffic, when safe to do so I slow down and FLASH MY LIGHTS, so as to say, I see you and clear you to turn across my path. Most of the time I get a hand wave or a FLASH of LIGHTS.
For the same reason, drivers “tap” their brakes, to alert with the use of brake lights the car behind to “something”.
When I, too, pass a truck in my car, I use the blinker to indicate turning in ahead of him, and glance in the mirror for his light blink saying, It is safe to slide over. It does make life a lot safer.
The state has the right to setup a speed trap, I have the right to let my fellow citizen know that they are there.
I’ll take the ticket.
Big brother government.....it’s too big, too intrusive, too expensive.
I respect a respectful law enforcement, but when they overstep their bounds and it becomes official oppression, then that’s where I personally draw the line.
Just flash them at on-coming traffic when the cop is behind you. Just wave or something else to the people who flash at you.
Near the city where I work, the state HP routinely sets up a speed trap coming around a corner. I’ve been tempted to make up a set of throw-away signs that could be pounded into the ground by the side of the road on both sides of the speed trap, about 1/2 mile down each way, that would say “WARNING! SPEED TRAP AHEAD 1/2 MILE!”
I can just see the cop sitting there wondering why the revenue generation has been so dry all day.
As for this though, I would say our right to free speech trumps this stupid law.
The double nickel as we used to call it. We used to flash all fingers on one hand twice for the "55", but that changed to the "V" now.
I do flash my headlights when I see some idiot flying down 1431 at 65 or 70 in the bad curves. I love to look in the rearview mirror and see the brakelights on and the front of the car / truck almost scraping the road surface.
Indeed.
Ask the police why they set up speed traps and they will tell you that it is all about public safety. Here we have one citizen reminding another citizen to slow down, and the police cite him for a crime. One would think this promotes public safety, no? Yet they give him a citation.
What if he stood in the median with a sign that said, "Slow down." Would this too be a threat to the public?
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