Headlight flashing
The signal stalk configuration was later wired to permit the momentary activation of the high beams regardless of whether the headlamp switch was turned on or off.
Indeed, some car owner's manuals identify headlight control on the steering column as the "optical horn".
On the other hand, if such a driver keeps his or her current speed and flashes headlights, they intend to communicate "Stay back, I am not slowing down!
The high beam is however insensitively misused as the standard for night time driving by a substantial number of vehicles, given the proportionately poorly lit roads and highways.
[26] Headlight flashing is understood and practiced differently in the Philippines compared to the usual global context.
Drivers in the Philippines use headlight flashing to inform vehicles and pedestrians of their presence, which may mean simply yielding to others or asserting one's right of way.
[27][28] Though not all of its rules represent law, the Highway Code states "Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there.
[35][36] In Alaska, a State Trooper has been found to have probable cause to stop a driver who flashes both a vehicle's high beams and his "moose lights" based upon a violation of 13 AAC 04.020(e)(1).
[42][43] In Illinois, a "flashing to warn" citation was successfully defended on 7 May 2015 in Boone County, via People vs. White, as the bench trial judge found the use of Illinois Vehicle Code 12-212(b) addresses lighting equipment, but not motorist behavior relative to usage of lighting systems.
[citation needed] In Louisiana, drivers who flash headlights are typically cited for a violation of Louisiana Revised Statute Title 32:327, Section C which states: Flashing lights are prohibited except on authorized emergency vehicles, school buses, or on any vehicle as a means of indicating a right or left turn, or the presence of a vehicular traffic hazard requiring unusual care in approaching, overtaking or passing.
[8] The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland challenges the current interpretation of the law, contending the law refers to an adjective and not a verb; that automatic flashing lights on non-emergency vehicles are illegal, but the act by a driver of manually flashing a vehicle's headlamps is not.
[8] Though ticketing was common in the 1990s, Maryland and Washington DC police say that flashing one's headlights was not against the law in either place.
If the motorist denies this, the officer can ask if the vehicle has defective lights, which is a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 7.
[55] In 2009, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division (Fourth Department) held that the flashing of lights alone is not a violation of New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 375 [3], that stopping a vehicle based upon that is illegal, and all evidence gathered as a result of the illegal stop should be suppressed.
[62] The court of Jackson County has ruled that flashing a vehicle's headlights to warn others about the presence of law enforcement is protected free speech under Article I, section 8, of the Constitution of Oregon.
[63] The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has ruled that flashing one's highbeams during the day to warn of speed traps is legal.
[64][65] In Tennessee, flashing headlights to warn oncoming traffic of a police car ahead is protected free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
[66][67] Headlight flashing to warn of police activity is not against the law in Virginia; however radar detectors remain outlawed.
[74][75] The story originated in Montana in the early 1980s, where it was rumored that the Hells Angels bike gang was initiating recruits in this way.
In February 1994, a resident of Massillon, Ohio, revived the rumor by issuing flyers which claimed that killings would take place at Westfield Belden Village.
[73] The rumor once again spread in October 1998 with a new fax, this time claiming to originate with a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officer in Texas.
The rumor spread further when officials in the San Diego government circulated the fax among city agencies; this version of the fax, though quickly dismissed within city government when it was found that the Sheriff's office had no real connection to it, now appeared to be a legitimate government-issued document.
Police dispatcher Ann Johnson had thought the message urgent enough to send, but had not bothered to check its legitimacy.
[73] The rumor provided inspiration for the 1998 film Urban Legend,[73] and served as a plot device in Mark Billingham's 2008 novel In the Dark.
