Flashing your headlights to warn of cops

[george formby]

Concur with the poster about people being reticent to flash for speed traps. I've seen 2 drivers pulled over for it.

In recent years most of the flashing up here has been for genuine hazards. On my silly o'clock commute recently it was like driving through a disco. I passed 2 accidents within a few km's of each other, still fresh, with people wandering on the road and read of 2 more at the same time. The culprit was diesel for miles.. Sorry for mixing my measures.

I'm not a flasher. If you want to exceed the speed limit you should have the ability to spot or anticipate the cameras. Being smart enough to do it when nobody is looking is even better.

[Ocean1]

Bollocks. You are basing that on the high profile nature of a crash involving a cop doing a u-turn and ignoring the fact that people cross the centre line and cause head on crashes daily, so frequently in fact that they only make the news now if the crash involves tourists, babies or a high body count.

I'd be interested in seeing how many demerit points some of these drivers have on their licence. I suspect a number would be close to 100 points and have only managed to hold on to their licence for so long because people have warned them about cops ahead. Thanks for that. I like sharing the road with people who have shown that they don't give a shit.

Which would be a fucking excellent point, if speed cameras pinged people inappropriately crossing the centerline.

It wouldn't even be a bad point if speed cameras could be shown to either control speed in general or indeed improve safety on the road in any way at all.

[F5 Dave]

People now believe that speed equals crashes cause the TV said so. So now public perception is that exceeding the speed limit is more dangerous than being inattentive or angry.
Good work guys.

[pritch]

Bollocks. You are basing that on the high profile nature of a crash involving a cop doing a u-turn

You seem to think this only happened once? There was the idiot in the Buller Gorge who took out multiple bikes. There was another at Te kauwhata who killed a motorcyclist doing A u turn to chase a ute?

Absolutely unprofessional.

[oldiebutagoody]

I do seem to remember a court case where a driver who was flashing in warning was found not guilty by the magistrate by reason of their stated intent being:

"Attempting to assist fellow road users to abide by the speed limits"

Was a long time ago, in my youf, and probably that loophole has been closed by a gubbermint working party at some point.......

[Berries]

You seem to think this only happened once? There was the idiot in the Buller Gorge who took out multiple bikes. There was another at Te kauwhata who killed a motorcyclist doing A u turn to chase a ute?

Absolutely unprofessional.

Agree, utterly unprofessional for someone supposedly working to make the roads safer. But even if it has happened ten times there are so many other things to worry about on the road that are more likely to get you. I'd flash if there was loose stock, a crash or a genuine hazard out there, if I hadn't stopped to try and deal with it which I have had to do on occasion. I don't think of a cop at the side of the road as a hazard to anything but your licence and on that you are on your own as far as I am concerned.

Somewhat hypocritically though, if I pass a stationary cop and then see a sports bike coming the other way who looks like he might be giving it some I will give them the old rotating hand/finger sign to warn them.

I do seem to remember a court case where a driver who was flashing in warning was found not guilty by the magistrate by reason of their stated intent being:

"Attempting to assist fellow road users to abide by the speed limits"

Was a long time ago, in my youf, and probably that loophole has been closed by a gubbermint working party at some point.......

I struggle to see what offence you would be committing by flashing your lights as a warning to another motorist if you use the same defence.

[FJRider]

I do seem to remember a court case where a driver who was flashing in warning was found not guilty by the magistrate by reason of their stated intent being:

"Attempting to assist fellow road users to abide by the speed limits"

Was a long time ago, in my youf, and probably that loophole has been closed by a gubbermint working party at some point.......

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10752126

[Zedder]

But even if it has happened ten times there are so many other things to worry about on the road that are more likely to get you.

Police being a hazard, shouldn't even be on the "list" of things to worry about.

[oldiebutagoody]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10752126

Well there ya go, its still defensible IMHO.

If your intent is not to dazzle excessively, but police the road rules (as in "the Police are the public, and the public are the Police" ) I reckon a good advocate could get you off. The catch here is the cost of doing so is going to be more than the infringement......so they got ya either way.

That absurdity of a reason for pulling that driver over would see the officer laughed out of court. Magistrates used to frown on excessive use of Police powers, where no infringement has been actually committed.

[Berries]

Police being a hazard, shouldn't even be on the "list" of things to worry about.

I'm sorry, but if that is on someones list as a hazard I would hate to think how long the list is. I'd wager a bet that more people have been hurt by falling trees.

[oldiebutagoody]

I'm sorry, but if that is on someones list as a hazard I would hate to think how long the list is. I'd wager a bet that more people have been hurt by falling trees.

Funny thing irony,......

Just today between my last post and this I was confronted with the Police as a hazard.

Took the little 600 for a jaunt into town and was on my way back out from the roundabout at the 100kph signs, winding out as you do, when a traffic patrol car pulled out from the side of the layby which hides them. They came out enough to cause me to brake hard, and then they floored it when they saw me and caused me to brake more/more/more. That was what I call inconsiderate and probably careless driving.

The irony of this happening while I was following this thread struck me, as well as the bees on my visor. You see my little 600 revs quite high so they were obviously sitting in a trap awaiting a speeder, heard my engine revving quite high, timed their exit to get a jump start on the chase but were confronted with me being below the speed limit and slower than they anticipated. This must have caused them to brake to avoid blocking my lane entirely, but changed their mind and stomped on the gas instead.

Sadly my gopro is on the other bike currently so missed videoing it. Police driving can be just as error prone as the rest of us. That is why they are not immune from being ticketed or prosecuted themselves.

[Zedder]

I'm sorry, but if that is on someones list as a hazard I would hate to think how long the list is. I'd wager a bet that more people have been hurt by falling trees.

Police being at fault in 500 out of 800 crashes doesn't look very non hazardous:http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/nation...ce-car-crashes

[Autech]

Once had a cop pull a u-turn in front of my car then give ME a ticket for daring to be on the road with him.


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[PrincessBandit]

I actually commented to Balu only a couple of weeks ago that there seems to be much less headlight flashing on the road these days. I had just done it to warn oncoming traffic about an accident we'd passed which was creating queues but, tbh, I haven't done it as a cop warning for ages.

[FJRider]

Police being at fault in 500 out of 800 crashes doesn't look very non hazardous:http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/nation...ce-car-crashes

Superman wears a Red and Blue uniform. Police just wear the one shade of Blue. So ... Police are not Supermen. If they make the difficult decisions and get it wrong ... they end up in court (jail ??) just like every other human. They make those decisions daily. Only the one's that go pear shaped and feature in news articles ... do you ever hear about.

Those that think they'd be better at the job than most of those currently sworn in ... join the Police. They're recruiting ...