Please read this before answering the poll.

Flashing High-Beams sparingly is defined as:

• Flashing at other vehicles only when you honestly fear a collision
• Nightime use on an open road when the beams are not hitting another vehicle (not really flashing, but defined as "used sparingly")

NOT DEFINED as "sparing use"

• Flashing high-beams to express displeasure at other vehicles (Yes, we have all done it - the question is it recommended for traffic safety?)

 

i confess, i am guilty of the second. when someone comes at me with about 8 lights on, including high intensity fog lights, even though it's clear, i feel they have it coming. tit for tat, eh?

 

Recently this topic came up. Googling this validated my conviction that flashing high-beams, using horns, and airbags should be done so sparingly.

• Road Rage incident involving high-beams
• Road Rage incident where an SUV was mistaken to high-beam
• High-beaming in Canada illegal
• High-beaming in India.... another link
• Proposed device to avoid road rage by low-beaming

Many law enforcement sites discourage high-beaming to avoid a road rage incident:

• http://www.netcopspsi.com/netcopstips/roadragetip.html
  
• http://www.opkansas.org/_Res/Police_...n/roadrage.cfm
  
• http://www.police.ufl.edu/csd/commun...adrageinfo.htm
  
• http://www.mrtraffic.com/rage.htm
  
• http://www.iglou.com/cintipd/rage.htm
  
• http://www.camdentoncity.com/rage.htm
  
• http://whitehallpolice.com/viewthistip.asp?id=23
  

 

Of course we (myself included) have all used high-beams more than sparingly. What I'm trying to do is provide links from law enforcement, driving experts, etc. that state high-beaming should be sparing.

Couple of days ago, two members were advocating a generous use of high-beams: the above links should make it clear it's improper use. In other words, the impatient, agressive driver that flashes at a slower vehicle is improper use.

Advocating frequent use of high-beams is worse than promoting agressive and gas-wasting driving - it promotes road rage and collisions.

Laurie, you are definitely not one of those kind of drivers. Get my drift?

 

More on road rage...
http://www.driveandstayalive.com/art...dly-threat.htm

 

when i get high beamed for displeasure i slow down... causing further displeasure.

when i was in europe, flashing the high beams was a means to communicate to the other driver that you are passing him/her. so it was used in the name of safety.

here, it's essentially a big F.U.

The only time i use my High Beams is to indicate to a fellow driver that he/she can proceed with their turn and I'll wait. For example, at intersection, the person in the other lane heading towards me wants to take a left (crossing over my lane), i see the indicator, I flash to let them know I'm waiting for you to make your move first.

Apart from that, I stay away from my high beam even if I'm cut off.

 

I have to mention that if I'm on the highway and want the person in front of me to speed up to get out of the fast lane, I use my turn signal... indicating that I'm "passing". That seems to work sometimes... and has no ill effects.

 

Good link, dcf

As usual, the poll question needs tweaking....

Nearly all of us had high-beamed disfaction...

Yes, in America high-beaming at another driver is taken as an epithet - something a couple of members Monday were attempted to say was an acceptiable way for an agressive driver to plough thru traffic...

 

I am confused by this. I have flashed the high beams, and been flashed, in two situations - (1) when I am approaching a car that appears to have ITS high beams on, as a "reminder" to turn them off, and (2) as a signal to someone in a passing lane, being approached from the rear, that another driver would like to pass (so "please move to the right").

I feel both are appropriate. The only thing that really steams me is when someone thinks *I* have my high beams on, so they wait until they are just in front of me and turn on - and leave on - their highs. Most of the time I *don't* have my beams on, my FEH is just higher than some other cars so it can seem like that. (Actually I have less trouble with this in the Escapes than I have had in some other cars/small SUVs, maybe the beams are better adjusted.)

Around here, though, one flash is usually met by either turning the beams down, or flashing back, to show that they are already down. And the passing flash is usually met by the person moving over as soon as possible. I guess we are just pretty polite out here in the country.

High beam abuse can certainly cause accidents, whether from road rage or simple blinding. I don't get it. Jerks are jerks, and will use whatever's available. Common sense and common courtesy are all that is required to get along.

 

They are commonly used by truckers in the U.S. to signal ok to pass, or come over. Most automobile drivers in the U.S. just haven't caught on.