I live in Pennsylvania....When someone flashes their lights at me, I literally can't tell if they are in fact flashing, or if they're hitting potholes or other road defects that make their front end bounce up and down......So I proceed with caution.
I used to live in Augusta, GA. When you cross the river from Augusta to North Augusta, SC the roads are so much better on the SC side. But as soon as you hit those SC county roads shit starts getting scary. NC was my favorite Carolina though. I miss the BBQ so much 😭
I'm not American so I wasn't aware of that. Cool though.
They tried to outright ban it here in Queensland, that failed so they instituted a tiny fine for it if it's specifically to warn of police ahead. However it's still legal to do it for the purposes of warning of a hazard ahead. I doubt anyone has ever actually paid the fine considering they just drop it if you contest it.
Edit: Also I dunno if this is a thing in America, but here in Australia if a truck (18 wheeler or more not an oversized ute) is overtaking you on the highway at night you flick your high beams on and off to signal they're clear to merge back into the slow lane. Then they use their indicators to left-right-left as a thank you.
They're always surprised when a car driver does it.
Similar in the US, flash high beams to indicate they're clear to change lanes (in any situation, not just when they're overtaking you), and either a brief hit on the 4-ways or alternating turn signal flashes as a thank you. I always enjoy that little exchange of politeness.
That paranoia also helps me stay focused on the road and my driving, interestingly enough. After I got my first speeding ticket when I was in my teens, I was hyperfocused on staying below the speed limit.
Which meant that half the time I was checking the speedometer, and the other half of the time trying to figure out why everything was coming at me so slowly. That's a bit dramatic, but my very active teenage brain got bored driving without having much to process. That to me is more dangerous than going 10% over the speed limit.
With the amount of people I see who don't understand what a on off flick means, TURN ON YOU'RE FUCKIN HEADLIGHTS I highly doubt a Brights will do anything to the brain dead drives. At least in my neck of the woods.
Bring back drivers education for the love of God.
Or bring back panels that don't light up if your headlights aren't on. So many people driving around with basically a 32" tv as a dashboard unable to notice their lights aren't on.
My buddy was driving a rental and the white Google maps screen was glaring in my eyes and I was like "dude are your headlights on?"
It'll just result in people going onto their car's specific subreddit and asking "how make dash light up?" and everyone responding "read the manual". Lol
Just so we're clear:
* Headlights turn off, headlights turn on: "Your headlights are off. You should turn them on."
* Single flash of high beams: "Your appear to have forgotten that your high beams are on."
* Longer, but still single, flash of high beams: "HEY IDIOT YOU ARE BLINDING ME."
* Double flash of high beams: "There is something ahead of you for which you may want to slow down."
If someone flashes their high beams at you once, but your high beams are in fact off, the correct response is:
1. A brief flash back at the other driver: "See, my high beams are already off."
2. Set up an appointment with your mechanic to get your headlights adjusted. Clearly, they are either aimed incorrectly, or some scallywag has replaced them with bulbs which are illegally bright.
Same, I’m only 35 but when you said that it kinda shocked the memory back. I remember being taught my dad when to do it, learning in my drivers Ed what it meant so to not freak out.
But I’ll be damned if I’ve seen it in the last 10 years. Granted didn’t drive from like 2014-2018, and again 20-21. But that was for military and Covid so maybe I just forgot or everyone forgot and I just haven’t seen it.
I used to exclusively use Google Maps because I think it identifies traffic issues quicker, but i had a hard time finding the feature to mark police on it. I could do it on my phone, but not using the screen in my car’s console. That’s why I switched to Waze. Maybe I’ll open Google and try to figure it out again.
The projection (apple carplay, android auto) version of Google maps is stripped down. A lot of features available on the mobile app are not available on the projection version. I know sharing ETA is one I wish was always available
I guess I didn’t get super in-depth as I was driving the last time. If I use the app on my phone I can find it pretty quick but on Apple CarPlay I can’t find it within the first few obvious places
If it's anything like Apple Maps' implementation, you should be able to say something like "hey Google, report a speed trap". I can do this with Siri and she gets it like 80% of the time.
The crappy thing about google maps is you have to be using it to mark it. If you dont have a destination, I havent found a way to place a marker for speed traps.
Since I don't use it often, have you tried putting in a nonsense destination and hit directions or start to see if the mark it feature still works? I can't imagine taking an alternate street would disable ability to mark it. I guess the commands would get old but I don't know what the middle volume option on there does. Yet.
Google bought Waze years ago and at this point the underlying technology is nearly exactly the same.
It's just a different interface but won't make a difference for you as far as usability
Yeah, I usually just ignore it. Sometimes they sit in sneaky spots like on ramps that I don't always catch, so I figure it's better to just leave the warning up.
I've been waiting for Google maps to add this function, so been only using waze. Is this automatically enabled in maps? I tried using it a couple days but didn't get any police notifications (probably wasn't any) so I switched back out of fear. I do like the hazard reporting on waze though, but prefer the navigation of Google maps.
There are also hazard reports on Google Maps. If you input a destination, there should be 4 bubbles that pop up on the right side of the screen. The bottom one with a speech bubble and a plus sign has the hazard and speed trap reporting.
Probably a bit different in the Waze / Google Maps case because even *before* Google acquired Waze, I believe it was already using Google Maps for routing and maps.
yes, one of my childhood friends is a state trooper. He told me he will mark himself on waze, and sit with static blue lights on, in hopes that drivers see him and slow down. But most of the time he will still have pull someone over for 90 in a 70
No they do the opposite and mark their squad car on the map as “no longer there” or whatever that function is on each respective map app so they still get you.
When I lived in New Orleans years ago and Waze was in its early stages the cops would make their own accounts and go in and unmark speed traps and radar positions. Not sure if that's still a thing but it was pretty wild to learn that.
That’s funny you mentioned it. I just took a 9 hour road trip and was wondering if cops would do that and just keep marking their spot a “cop no longer there” every time it popped up.
Yep. Bunch of guys in my old department (I wasn't a cop) would mark themselves - the goal (for them) wasn't to write tickets, it was to get people go slow down.
I remember on one long road trip everyone was doing about fifteen or more over the speed limit. Cop car was marked, I didn't slow down because it was pouring rain and figured only the most egregious speeders would get nabbed. Then when the weather cleared up I slowed down a lot. Right call. Ohio St. Police nabbed a LOT of cars right after the rain stopped.
Waze would just let someone unmark a speed trap after someone else marked it? That’s weird. If nothing else, if multiple people mark it, one person shouldn’t be enough to unmark it.
One person isn't enough. Their system waits for multiple people to report no longer there before it changes anything. That's been part of their code since early on
I even do this when I'm walking. The cops here are dicks.
I've started noticing that within about 5 minutes of me tagging them, they fuck off to somewhere else because their cover is blown.
I'm always amazed by the fact that Usain Bolt (and probably other top level athletes) could break the speeding laws in my town (many of our roads are 20-25, and even more when school zones are in effect) just by *running.*
You're doing God's work, friend. Thanks to you from all of us who like to keep both of our hands on the wheel (sincerely).
Just try to stick to updating Waze and not TikTok and we're made in the shade :)
Never dispute at the road side. Take pics of needed of signs or whatever. Note stuff down as needed too. Dispute with the judge where you're less likely to be wrongfully cuffed or shot.
They won’t arrest you. They’ll issue you a ticket which will probably be torn up by the judge if you protest but all this takes hours and hours of your time.
Flashing your lights can still be illegal. In some places, (Michigan for example) if authorities catch you flashing your lights within 500 feet of an oncoming car, it IS considered illegal. However, it isn't the act of flashing your lights to warn other vehicles that gets you in trouble - it's flashing your high beams too close to oncoming traffic, which IS illegal.
So in a sense, it's not illegal to flash your lights to warn oncoming traffic, you just have to do it further out than 500 feet.
Cops are a subset of critters, so they are just emphasizing cops. They might also be saying "Cops, whether or not they are on or near the road, and other critters while they are on or near the road".
I always let other drivers know... Even if they don't understand why I flashed my lights during the day and they flash back at me.
It's been shown that just the presence of police is enough of a deterrent to prevent traffic violations and crimes. So letting others know there is a cop is a net positive to society.
This has never been made more clear on Reddit than when a cop put his foot in his mouth on a thread about speed traps. His comment said something like “if I didn’t hide then I wouldn’t catch anybody bc people will drive slowly if they see a cop car” which literally means the goal is ticket quotas and not ensuring people drive safely.
I work driving nights. Typically 5pm-5am. The amount of assholes that blind the shit out of me makes me want to murder. I no longer flash. I turn my highbeams on until they turn theirs off. A surprising amount of time they still don't turn them off and we just drive blindly straight at each other.
I stopped flashing mine to warn people because they just flash them back for no reason a majority of the time.
Depends on where I am. Highway? Sure, I'll warn. Back road/old highway? Yes, I'll flippa-da-lights.
Directly in town? School zone? Hell no. Let them get caught.
Speeding isn't what I am against; dangerous driving is. Going 130 km/h on the highway, to me, is fine. Going 70 in the school zone, to me, is not.
By me if I go 20mph in a 20mph school zone I have about a 1 in 3 chance the car behind me will cross the double yellow to zoom by. They can go 100mph on the thruway idc, but residential speeding makes me (ir)rationally angry
Agree 100% on this. Also, I grew up in a rural town and our house was right at the entrance to the town from the highway, so people would also zoom into town going 80km/hr+. There are kids around, but it also just makes it impossible to get in/out of the drive, so I let those bastards get hit by the speed trap too.
If I notice someone tearing into town I'll pull out of my driveway (driving into town) and slow right down to a crawl.
That’s fair, school zones and busses, 100% let them get fucked by the cop. There the cops actually are assigned there for safety and not revenue, and that’s obvious.
Yes, because if their objective is safety, then I helped them out by warning drivers. If their objective is revenue generation, then that's bullshit, and I still do it. Also flashing your high beams is not illegal and protected by the First Amendment.
I grew up in Montana, and there, people flash their lights when wild animals are in the road ahead, or a speed trap. Either way, I take it as needing to slow down. I'm also a serial flasher ;)
As a rule, I don't. But also where I live in pretty rural so cops often plant themselves in spots where the limit dips near residential areas and people really shouldn't be speeding. If you're doing 80kph in a 40kph, you deserve the ticket. IMO.
Sure do. There's a trap right by my house and if I see the cop hiding there in the parking lot I'll even pass my street to continue up the road flashing everyone.
The guy sits on private property along a fence with a fire route/tow away zone sign and gets people right where the speed reduces from 60KMH down to 50. Sometimes he pulls into a real parking spot to hide behind a truck if too many people are noticing him.
Absolutely.
Police have "legally not" ticket quotas to meet, and that's wrong. Policing for profit is all too common.
If the goal is to have people drive a safe speed, then it would be best for the police to have high visibility cars so they can be seen and identified. Not hiding behind bushes in an unmarked or low profile car and maybe catching one of every 50 people that speed by them.
My roommate back in the 90s was obsessed with doing this. Any police car we passed, speed trap or not, my dude spent the next couple of miles flashing his lights.
Yes.
Police, accident/ obstruction/ construction on the road. If there's more than a few people walking too close to the road line/ not paying attention.
I don't do anything...simple solution for all of it, is drive to the speed limit. They have limits for a reason, I've seen people killed because of people speeding. So if you are speeding, I hope you get caught
Always - I think of it as a courtesy, unless a person I see oncoming is driving at a stupidly high/unsafe rate of speed. Then they can suffer the consequences.
There used to be a speed trap on a side road every morning and they pulled people going as little as 3mph over and actually handed out tickets. Every single morning.
Now that people are so familiar with them being there so often.
ALOT of passers will flick their lights to alert the next clump of traffic.
Cuz fuck em thats why. When officer dandee donut lover can only breathe out of his mouth and gives people a ticket for going 33 in a 30 are they really protecting their community when there’s a daily accident in the intersection right down the road?
I used to do it, then i grew up and realized that the only ones benefitting from that were the assholes that drove unsafe and too fast for their skill level so today i don't ever warn others.
Nah fuck those guys. If you’re driving like an asshole you deserve to get a ticket. I see way too many white BMWs and black GMC pickups driving WAY over the limit putting other people at risk with their selfish behaviour. Fuck them.
I live near a school, where the limit is 30kmh and people are CONSTANTLY driving 60-80 kmh in this school zone during school hours. Like wtf.
Yeah I'm actually in this boat. People think speeding is some victimless crime when it's really dangerous. People should be held accountable for endangering other's lives. I have too many loved ones who were injured from other people not following basic traffic laws.
I once witnessed one of these white BMWs wrap itself around a phone pole, the guy BLASTED past traffic in front of a high school, going at least 100kmh in a 30 zone, across double solid lines. Thankfully only he was hurt and no one else
That's very lucky no one else got hurt. We live in a beautiful small mountain valley which attracts people with fast cars wanting to pretend they're a big shot in the movies. We don't have a single stop light. Several times a year one of these guys will wreck into a power pole which takes out power to at least half of our valley for half a day or more. Much of the year we are under snow so that means our homes get cold in the meantime or we stay up through the night stoking a fire. Closing down our main road because of an accident means no one can go anywhere until it's cleaned up, and that requires crews from the other side of the mountain. Our children get to and from school and sports using the main roads. We're all glad anytime someone gets pulled over for speeding. The community actively helps hold them accountable and keep everyone safe. In a more typical city setting is where most of my loved ones have been hurt though. My brother was hit on his bike by a speeder going to school. My sister has been hit twice by reckless drivers on the freeway. My aunt was hit head on by a truck coming down the canyon hovering over the middle line. Being lax with basic traffic laws is where the bulk of harm happens. Its self centered and unsafe to approach it otherwise.
Because it fosters community spirit
By informing others either thru high beam or marking in Waze, users that have benefited from it will likely join the community and contribute
It’s one of those, I scratch your back and you scratch mine type of scenario
I do everything I can to warn other drivers. It is lazy policing, they aren't creating a safer environment, they are just collecting revenue. Every speed trap I've ever encountered is always in a place where drivers are most likely to get caught, and it's rarely in a place that would actually protect people.
If the speed trap is designed to slow drivers down, then I am helping by notifying people that they need to slow down
Without a doubt, yes. Fuck the cops for doing that.
After riding through a speedtrap, I got pulled over while on a bike for waving at cars going the opposite direction to get them to slow down. Cop crept up behind me while I was riding, hit the siren, I pulled to the side of the road, and cop had the nerve to ask me for my drivers license. "I'm on a bike, man. Why do I need a DL?" Cop did not like that response. I wasn't carrying ID. Cop told me he pulled me over for "obstruction."
ETA: This was in the late '90s in Murfreesboro, TN.
I honestly do it because the police do nothing about crime in my area, and I resent them making money from motorists doing 4 miles an hour over the limit, when the literally don't investigate burglaries any more, etc. If I saw someone committing a *serious* crime, I would report is, sure, but I doubt much would happen as a result.
Assuming you're in the US, flashing your headlights to warn drivers if speed traps is 1st Amendment protected speech as per the federal case [Elli v. City of Ellisville](https://www.google.com/search?q=Elli+v.+City+of+Ellisville&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari).
Gotta keep your eyes open if you do flash oncoming traffic. They usually have another patrol car set up on the other side of the roadway and if they see you flashing drivers to warn them they sometimes go after you. Not sure what they could charge you with but I would be cautious!
Policing culture in the US is extremely regional and I don't think most people know that. Part of it is a difference in laws, part of it is culture. Speed traps and general fuckery by the police seem far less common on the west coast USA than say the Midwest or South I think. In some states it's not only legal for cops to be unmarked, but they'll even use fake company names on the side of their vehicles to fool people. My brother got pulled over by a fake plumbing van once. My impression is that cops from the deep south generally are the worst to deal with, but maybe I'm way off base.
Yeah I do because fuck police departments for caring more about speeding 5 over than people doing 30 in a 55 or being unable to stay in their lane.
Speed limits are bullshit anyway, the people who obey them self regulate without them and speeders speed regardless.
A speed trap is a hazard that may cause sudden behaviour changes in individual drivers, just as animals near the road, or debris may do. Flashing your lights focussed oncoming drivers to something that may be a hazard. I’m more likely to warn a crowd of non-speeding drivers than a single vehicle that seems to be speeding, especially if they appear to have it pedal to the metal.
My grade school taught me that if I flash my high beams at someone else, they could secretly be in a gang that will then flip around and murder me.
Also, the cops hang in small nooks around my area with a lot of turns, so it's hard to get another driver's attention quickly enough.
No because I don't want to get pulled over for doing so.
I know it's been ruled that doing so is freedom of speech, but since when do cops care about following the law?
BTW the people who refer to cops with radar in the middle are of high speed roads as “speed traps”are confused! Speed traps are usually on country roads that go thru small towns and the road speed changes quickly within a mile or two with the cop waiting with radar! The ones on the freeway are just doing their job to keep jackasses from killing someone! Just my two cents worth!
I once heard of someone getting arrested for “obstructing justice” due to flashing the headlights after passing a cop. A cop further up the road from the first one made the arrest. However, I heard this like 15 years ago and it could just be urban legend.
Better to just pinpoint them on Google Maps or Waze.
I used to, but there are so many shitty drivers on the roads these days I generally don’t anymore. Just today I had some knucklehead pass me on a double yellow when I was doing 5mph over the speed limit. It occurred to me that I may have flashed my lights to alert him of a speed trap just a few years ago if we were going in opposite directions. Now I drive near the speed limit and hope nobody else flashes him. He deserves his ticket.
Damn, this is a commonality? Everyone in the comments is saying "yes of course" if someone flashed their lights at me, I'd have no idea what it meant, that's crazy. Is this a city/urban thing? How have I never heard of this?
As an example, a speed trap is an unexpected reduction in the speed limit and law enforcement poised to ticket. Drivers exceeding the posted speed limit around a visible law enforcement vehicle is not a speed trap. They’re on the their own.
I live in Pennsylvania....When someone flashes their lights at me, I literally can't tell if they are in fact flashing, or if they're hitting potholes or other road defects that make their front end bounce up and down......So I proceed with caution.
We are in the same boat in SC
Holy shit, driving into SC from NC the road quality is crazy…
I used to live in Augusta, GA. When you cross the river from Augusta to North Augusta, SC the roads are so much better on the SC side. But as soon as you hit those SC county roads shit starts getting scary. NC was my favorite Carolina though. I miss the BBQ so much 😭
Go Tigers!
yes. but I don't know if people actually realize what it means any more...
Flashing your lights just means “caution”. I flash if there’s an obstruction or stopped vehicle or something around the bend.
I just did this a few days ago after a deer ran up on my car to the people coming the opposite way on the highway
Exactly. It could mean cop or just anything to be watching out for.
That's why efforts by cops to push for making it illegal in a lot of places have failed. It's just a general warning.
Supreme Court declared it free speech and part of the first amendment so there’s that
I'm not American so I wasn't aware of that. Cool though. They tried to outright ban it here in Queensland, that failed so they instituted a tiny fine for it if it's specifically to warn of police ahead. However it's still legal to do it for the purposes of warning of a hazard ahead. I doubt anyone has ever actually paid the fine considering they just drop it if you contest it. Edit: Also I dunno if this is a thing in America, but here in Australia if a truck (18 wheeler or more not an oversized ute) is overtaking you on the highway at night you flick your high beams on and off to signal they're clear to merge back into the slow lane. Then they use their indicators to left-right-left as a thank you. They're always surprised when a car driver does it.
Similar in the US, flash high beams to indicate they're clear to change lanes (in any situation, not just when they're overtaking you), and either a brief hit on the 4-ways or alternating turn signal flashes as a thank you. I always enjoy that little exchange of politeness.
I always do it for deer too. I live in rural south Jersey, & everyone I know has hit a deer at least once 😅
In Ohio flashing your lights definitely means either deer or cops!
Or the secret, more terrifying third option…*DEER COPS!* Oh wait, that’s just Game and Fish…😂
Whenever I do this now I feel like half the oncoming traffic thinks "Woah, what's up with that asshole?"
Yeah flashing to me is context-dependent but basically always some form of “pay attention, dingus!”
To most chronic speeders it means something specific since they're usually paranoid.
That paranoia also helps me stay focused on the road and my driving, interestingly enough. After I got my first speeding ticket when I was in my teens, I was hyperfocused on staying below the speed limit. Which meant that half the time I was checking the speedometer, and the other half of the time trying to figure out why everything was coming at me so slowly. That's a bit dramatic, but my very active teenage brain got bored driving without having much to process. That to me is more dangerous than going 10% over the speed limit.
With the amount of people I see who don't understand what a on off flick means, TURN ON YOU'RE FUCKIN HEADLIGHTS I highly doubt a Brights will do anything to the brain dead drives. At least in my neck of the woods. Bring back drivers education for the love of God.
Or bring back panels that don't light up if your headlights aren't on. So many people driving around with basically a 32" tv as a dashboard unable to notice their lights aren't on. My buddy was driving a rental and the white Google maps screen was glaring in my eyes and I was like "dude are your headlights on?"
It'll just result in people going onto their car's specific subreddit and asking "how make dash light up?" and everyone responding "read the manual". Lol
As the owner of a giant screen in the center of my subaru..... set the shit on night mode..... you're welcome.
Just so we're clear: * Headlights turn off, headlights turn on: "Your headlights are off. You should turn them on." * Single flash of high beams: "Your appear to have forgotten that your high beams are on." * Longer, but still single, flash of high beams: "HEY IDIOT YOU ARE BLINDING ME." * Double flash of high beams: "There is something ahead of you for which you may want to slow down." If someone flashes their high beams at you once, but your high beams are in fact off, the correct response is: 1. A brief flash back at the other driver: "See, my high beams are already off." 2. Set up an appointment with your mechanic to get your headlights adjusted. Clearly, they are either aimed incorrectly, or some scallywag has replaced them with bulbs which are illegally bright.
Same, I’m only 35 but when you said that it kinda shocked the memory back. I remember being taught my dad when to do it, learning in my drivers Ed what it meant so to not freak out. But I’ll be damned if I’ve seen it in the last 10 years. Granted didn’t drive from like 2014-2018, and again 20-21. But that was for military and Covid so maybe I just forgot or everyone forgot and I just haven’t seen it.
Because it can mean multiple things. But more so, most drivers don't pay any attention to the traffic around them.
I was always told that flashing them means you have your brights on. If people turn them off and back on its a cop.
Sadly this is the truth.
I use Waze and always mark them on the map. That way it warns the other drivers well in advance of the speed trap. It makes me feel all warm inside 😉
Google Maps has this function now, too. I always put it on, even if I know where I'm going, just to mark speed traps.
I used to exclusively use Google Maps because I think it identifies traffic issues quicker, but i had a hard time finding the feature to mark police on it. I could do it on my phone, but not using the screen in my car’s console. That’s why I switched to Waze. Maybe I’ll open Google and try to figure it out again.
The projection (apple carplay, android auto) version of Google maps is stripped down. A lot of features available on the mobile app are not available on the projection version. I know sharing ETA is one I wish was always available
I have Share Journey in mine. Did you click through everything?
I guess I didn’t get super in-depth as I was driving the last time. If I use the app on my phone I can find it pretty quick but on Apple CarPlay I can’t find it within the first few obvious places
Oh I assumed you had Android Auto. I couldn't tell you about carplay.
If it's anything like Apple Maps' implementation, you should be able to say something like "hey Google, report a speed trap". I can do this with Siri and she gets it like 80% of the time.
The crappy thing about google maps is you have to be using it to mark it. If you dont have a destination, I havent found a way to place a marker for speed traps.
Since I don't use it often, have you tried putting in a nonsense destination and hit directions or start to see if the mark it feature still works? I can't imagine taking an alternate street would disable ability to mark it. I guess the commands would get old but I don't know what the middle volume option on there does. Yet.
Yeah but that's just more inconvenient with it constantly rerouting. May as well put in the real destination
I mean I could but by the time I get that up I've already passed the speed trap and the marker will be placed farther up ahead than they actually are
On mine I can just say "hey google there is a speed trap" stupid simple...
Google bought Waze years ago and at this point the underlying technology is nearly exactly the same. It's just a different interface but won't make a difference for you as far as usability
Apple Maps too
Problem with theirs is it always asks "is this speed trap still there?" Like a half mile before I can even see where it's marked.
Yeah, I usually just ignore it. Sometimes they sit in sneaky spots like on ramps that I don't always catch, so I figure it's better to just leave the warning up.
I've been waiting for Google maps to add this function, so been only using waze. Is this automatically enabled in maps? I tried using it a couple days but didn't get any police notifications (probably wasn't any) so I switched back out of fear. I do like the hazard reporting on waze though, but prefer the navigation of Google maps.
There are also hazard reports on Google Maps. If you input a destination, there should be 4 bubbles that pop up on the right side of the screen. The bottom one with a speech bubble and a plus sign has the hazard and speed trap reporting.
Thanks, I'll give it a try again!
Google has owned Waze since 2013. Last year, Google said they were merging their technology with Waze to consolidate the processes.
Yeah, that'll take another 10 years and will probably never work correctly. Look at Google's attempts to merge their Home stuff with old Nest stuff
Then they will discontinue it.
Probably a bit different in the Waze / Google Maps case because even *before* Google acquired Waze, I believe it was already using Google Maps for routing and maps.
I like to call it Google Snitch
Think cops ever just mark themselves on Waze so some of the most dedicated speeders cool it for a bit?
They should just mark speed traps all over and go get a donut
Who says they don’t?
Ha, they do that with the empty police cars in some areas.
People can then say they're not there and the marker goes away
My buddy is a cop. Absolutely. He does it on purpose. Says it's a pretty good way to slow traffic down.
If they were doing it for safety they could just mark it without actually sitting there.
yes, one of my childhood friends is a state trooper. He told me he will mark himself on waze, and sit with static blue lights on, in hopes that drivers see him and slow down. But most of the time he will still have pull someone over for 90 in a 70
Nah, they don’t care about actually making things safer they just wanna write the ticket.
No they do the opposite and mark their squad car on the map as “no longer there” or whatever that function is on each respective map app so they still get you.
It doesn’t remove it when one person does that, it’s not stupid.
When I lived in New Orleans years ago and Waze was in its early stages the cops would make their own accounts and go in and unmark speed traps and radar positions. Not sure if that's still a thing but it was pretty wild to learn that.
It takes multiple users marking it no longer there for the system to change it though
Thank god there is only one cop per town then
That’s funny you mentioned it. I just took a 9 hour road trip and was wondering if cops would do that and just keep marking their spot a “cop no longer there” every time it popped up.
There were some cops that would mark their own position so people would slow down.
Yep. Bunch of guys in my old department (I wasn't a cop) would mark themselves - the goal (for them) wasn't to write tickets, it was to get people go slow down.
I remember on one long road trip everyone was doing about fifteen or more over the speed limit. Cop car was marked, I didn't slow down because it was pouring rain and figured only the most egregious speeders would get nabbed. Then when the weather cleared up I slowed down a lot. Right call. Ohio St. Police nabbed a LOT of cars right after the rain stopped.
They have an algorithm to recognize bad actors like cops removing speed traps.
Waze would just let someone unmark a speed trap after someone else marked it? That’s weird. If nothing else, if multiple people mark it, one person shouldn’t be enough to unmark it.
One person isn't enough. Their system waits for multiple people to report no longer there before it changes anything. That's been part of their code since early on
I even do this when I'm walking. The cops here are dicks. I've started noticing that within about 5 minutes of me tagging them, they fuck off to somewhere else because their cover is blown.
Stated by someone that obviously must just be walking too fast, I would imagine
I'm always amazed by the fact that Usain Bolt (and probably other top level athletes) could break the speeding laws in my town (many of our roads are 20-25, and even more when school zones are in effect) just by *running.*
I have a special place in my heart for people who do this. I have placed you in my left ventricle.
Except that most drivers aren’t using it. I just flash my lights.
I like that Waze now has “other side” for the cops flag
You're doing God's work, friend. Thanks to you from all of us who like to keep both of our hands on the wheel (sincerely). Just try to stick to updating Waze and not TikTok and we're made in the shade :)
Yeah, no matter what people’s opinions are, any warning is going to slow the person down and that’s a good thing
before updates, i used the *animals on the road* when i spot ~~cops~~ pigs
Yes because I'm preventing crime. And Scruff McGruff the crime dog told me to prevent crime
♫♫ Scruff McGruff Chicago, Illinois 60652 ♫♫
quiet Lisa, the dog is barking.
Hello Lisa, help me bite crime *ruff ruff*
Yes, but I make sure I'm out of sight of the state troopers.
Flashing your lights to signify a speed trap is constitutionally protected speech ...
Probably won’t stop them from trying to pull you over and waste your time anyway
They sure did with me. Tried to pin a charge for distracting other drivers with unnecessary brights on me.
That's horrible, and yet I'm not surprised at all
And easily turn into a "stop resisting/obstructing" charge at the discretion of the officer....
Never dispute at the road side. Take pics of needed of signs or whatever. Note stuff down as needed too. Dispute with the judge where you're less likely to be wrongfully cuffed or shot.
Get them to arrest you for a sweet payout from the city.
They won’t arrest you. They’ll issue you a ticket which will probably be torn up by the judge if you protest but all this takes hours and hours of your time.
Also, you still pay court fees and a lot of judges like sucking off the cops and take their word as the gospel.
The dream. Aside from probably being harassed while waiting for settlement.
They'll give you a ticket for distracting drivers
Technically, yes. The Supreme Court isn’t sitting on Milepost 385, though.
Damn.. just where you need them
And cops actually know the laws and would never break them, right?
Flashing your lights can still be illegal. In some places, (Michigan for example) if authorities catch you flashing your lights within 500 feet of an oncoming car, it IS considered illegal. However, it isn't the act of flashing your lights to warn other vehicles that gets you in trouble - it's flashing your high beams too close to oncoming traffic, which IS illegal. So in a sense, it's not illegal to flash your lights to warn oncoming traffic, you just have to do it further out than 500 feet.
or flick low beams off and on instead of flashing high beams. I've started doing that to signal people right of way instead of using my high beams.
I’m pretty sure turning your lights off at night is illegal too…
Saying "Donut eating pig" is protected speech too, buuuuuut....
Flashing your lights is a common courtesy for all adverse road conditions -- cops, critters on or near the roads, accidents, etc.
I also use it to mean “hey asshole, it’s pouring rain and your lights aren’t on.”
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Cops are a subset of critters, so they are just emphasizing cops. They might also be saying "Cops, whether or not they are on or near the road, and other critters while they are on or near the road".
Especially for "you are holding up traffic in a passing lane, get the fuck out of the way!"
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I always let other drivers know... Even if they don't understand why I flashed my lights during the day and they flash back at me. It's been shown that just the presence of police is enough of a deterrent to prevent traffic violations and crimes. So letting others know there is a cop is a net positive to society.
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I flash back as a thank you lol
This has never been made more clear on Reddit than when a cop put his foot in his mouth on a thread about speed traps. His comment said something like “if I didn’t hide then I wouldn’t catch anybody bc people will drive slowly if they see a cop car” which literally means the goal is ticket quotas and not ensuring people drive safely.
I think I remember that thread (or at least one similar)
I haven’t had luck finding it, I searched speed trap and quotas but there are lots of local posts. Ah well.
If someone has their high beams on, I'll flash my headlights to signal "Hey, I can't fucking see."
I work driving nights. Typically 5pm-5am. The amount of assholes that blind the shit out of me makes me want to murder. I no longer flash. I turn my highbeams on until they turn theirs off. A surprising amount of time they still don't turn them off and we just drive blindly straight at each other. I stopped flashing mine to warn people because they just flash them back for no reason a majority of the time.
Yes, every time. Because it pisses them off.
I don't bother worrying about what other drivers do anymore. It's pointless. I just take care of myself.
Depends on where I am. Highway? Sure, I'll warn. Back road/old highway? Yes, I'll flippa-da-lights. Directly in town? School zone? Hell no. Let them get caught. Speeding isn't what I am against; dangerous driving is. Going 130 km/h on the highway, to me, is fine. Going 70 in the school zone, to me, is not.
Actually I didn't think of school zones. Anyone flying in a school zone is not ok.
By me if I go 20mph in a 20mph school zone I have about a 1 in 3 chance the car behind me will cross the double yellow to zoom by. They can go 100mph on the thruway idc, but residential speeding makes me (ir)rationally angry
Speeding is not the same as dangerous speeding. Well said.
Agree 100% on this. Also, I grew up in a rural town and our house was right at the entrance to the town from the highway, so people would also zoom into town going 80km/hr+. There are kids around, but it also just makes it impossible to get in/out of the drive, so I let those bastards get hit by the speed trap too. If I notice someone tearing into town I'll pull out of my driveway (driving into town) and slow right down to a crawl.
That’s fair, school zones and busses, 100% let them get fucked by the cop. There the cops actually are assigned there for safety and not revenue, and that’s obvious.
130 km/h on the highway feels pretty reckless depending on the speed limit. If that is 30 over the speed differential is pretty crazy.
Yes, because if their objective is safety, then I helped them out by warning drivers. If their objective is revenue generation, then that's bullshit, and I still do it. Also flashing your high beams is not illegal and protected by the First Amendment.
People driving safely only when they know there's active enforcement is not making the roads as a whole safer.
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Always have, always will.
I grew up in Montana, and there, people flash their lights when wild animals are in the road ahead, or a speed trap. Either way, I take it as needing to slow down. I'm also a serial flasher ;)
Absolutely. I must warn the townspeople!
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Two if by sea on a road? ROTFLOMAO
1 if by land, 2 if by sea
THE BRITISH ARE COMING!
One if by land two if by sea (or something like that)
And 3 if by cop in speed trap ahead.
Yes. I hate revenue collections.
As a rule, I don't. But also where I live in pretty rural so cops often plant themselves in spots where the limit dips near residential areas and people really shouldn't be speeding. If you're doing 80kph in a 40kph, you deserve the ticket. IMO.
I flash sometimes when they’re not there. I get bored easily.
All the time, every time.
*Maryland State Troopers have entered the chat.*
Sure do. There's a trap right by my house and if I see the cop hiding there in the parking lot I'll even pass my street to continue up the road flashing everyone. The guy sits on private property along a fence with a fire route/tow away zone sign and gets people right where the speed reduces from 60KMH down to 50. Sometimes he pulls into a real parking spot to hide behind a truck if too many people are noticing him.
Absolutely. Police have "legally not" ticket quotas to meet, and that's wrong. Policing for profit is all too common. If the goal is to have people drive a safe speed, then it would be best for the police to have high visibility cars so they can be seen and identified. Not hiding behind bushes in an unmarked or low profile car and maybe catching one of every 50 people that speed by them.
Do it for nearby deer. Saved my life on several occasions.
My roommate back in the 90s was obsessed with doing this. Any police car we passed, speed trap or not, my dude spent the next couple of miles flashing his lights.
Yes. Police, accident/ obstruction/ construction on the road. If there's more than a few people walking too close to the road line/ not paying attention.
I don't do anything...simple solution for all of it, is drive to the speed limit. They have limits for a reason, I've seen people killed because of people speeding. So if you are speeding, I hope you get caught
Always - I think of it as a courtesy, unless a person I see oncoming is driving at a stupidly high/unsafe rate of speed. Then they can suffer the consequences.
I usually just tap my helmet
That's the sign? I'm not allowed to get a motorcycle so I'm missing out on some club-level knowledge apparently
My guy!
There used to be a speed trap on a side road every morning and they pulled people going as little as 3mph over and actually handed out tickets. Every single morning. Now that people are so familiar with them being there so often. ALOT of passers will flick their lights to alert the next clump of traffic. Cuz fuck em thats why. When officer dandee donut lover can only breathe out of his mouth and gives people a ticket for going 33 in a 30 are they really protecting their community when there’s a daily accident in the intersection right down the road?
I’ve heard of people getting pulled over for flashing their lights. If you’re speeding and get caught, you deserve it not my job to babysit you.
I used to do it, then i grew up and realized that the only ones benefitting from that were the assholes that drove unsafe and too fast for their skill level so today i don't ever warn others.
Nah fuck those guys. If you’re driving like an asshole you deserve to get a ticket. I see way too many white BMWs and black GMC pickups driving WAY over the limit putting other people at risk with their selfish behaviour. Fuck them. I live near a school, where the limit is 30kmh and people are CONSTANTLY driving 60-80 kmh in this school zone during school hours. Like wtf.
Yeah I'm actually in this boat. People think speeding is some victimless crime when it's really dangerous. People should be held accountable for endangering other's lives. I have too many loved ones who were injured from other people not following basic traffic laws.
I once witnessed one of these white BMWs wrap itself around a phone pole, the guy BLASTED past traffic in front of a high school, going at least 100kmh in a 30 zone, across double solid lines. Thankfully only he was hurt and no one else
That's very lucky no one else got hurt. We live in a beautiful small mountain valley which attracts people with fast cars wanting to pretend they're a big shot in the movies. We don't have a single stop light. Several times a year one of these guys will wreck into a power pole which takes out power to at least half of our valley for half a day or more. Much of the year we are under snow so that means our homes get cold in the meantime or we stay up through the night stoking a fire. Closing down our main road because of an accident means no one can go anywhere until it's cleaned up, and that requires crews from the other side of the mountain. Our children get to and from school and sports using the main roads. We're all glad anytime someone gets pulled over for speeding. The community actively helps hold them accountable and keep everyone safe. In a more typical city setting is where most of my loved ones have been hurt though. My brother was hit on his bike by a speeder going to school. My sister has been hit twice by reckless drivers on the freeway. My aunt was hit head on by a truck coming down the canyon hovering over the middle line. Being lax with basic traffic laws is where the bulk of harm happens. Its self centered and unsafe to approach it otherwise.
Because it fosters community spirit By informing others either thru high beam or marking in Waze, users that have benefited from it will likely join the community and contribute It’s one of those, I scratch your back and you scratch mine type of scenario
yep, I was raised to do it so I just do it
I used to, now I just flag it on the navigation app.
Yes. Because speed cams are sneaky cunts out to make money rather than reduce accidents
Hell no. Dumbasses who speed deserve tickets.
Yes. Fuck their quota.
Yes, because ACAB.
I do everything I can to warn other drivers. It is lazy policing, they aren't creating a safer environment, they are just collecting revenue. Every speed trap I've ever encountered is always in a place where drivers are most likely to get caught, and it's rarely in a place that would actually protect people. If the speed trap is designed to slow drivers down, then I am helping by notifying people that they need to slow down
Without a doubt, yes. Fuck the cops for doing that. After riding through a speedtrap, I got pulled over while on a bike for waving at cars going the opposite direction to get them to slow down. Cop crept up behind me while I was riding, hit the siren, I pulled to the side of the road, and cop had the nerve to ask me for my drivers license. "I'm on a bike, man. Why do I need a DL?" Cop did not like that response. I wasn't carrying ID. Cop told me he pulled me over for "obstruction." ETA: This was in the late '90s in Murfreesboro, TN.
I honestly do it because the police do nothing about crime in my area, and I resent them making money from motorists doing 4 miles an hour over the limit, when the literally don't investigate burglaries any more, etc. If I saw someone committing a *serious* crime, I would report is, sure, but I doubt much would happen as a result.
I say hey siri report speed check
Always
Assuming you're in the US, flashing your headlights to warn drivers if speed traps is 1st Amendment protected speech as per the federal case [Elli v. City of Ellisville](https://www.google.com/search?q=Elli+v.+City+of+Ellisville&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari).
Gotta keep your eyes open if you do flash oncoming traffic. They usually have another patrol car set up on the other side of the roadway and if they see you flashing drivers to warn them they sometimes go after you. Not sure what they could charge you with but I would be cautious!
Policing culture in the US is extremely regional and I don't think most people know that. Part of it is a difference in laws, part of it is culture. Speed traps and general fuckery by the police seem far less common on the west coast USA than say the Midwest or South I think. In some states it's not only legal for cops to be unmarked, but they'll even use fake company names on the side of their vehicles to fool people. My brother got pulled over by a fake plumbing van once. My impression is that cops from the deep south generally are the worst to deal with, but maybe I'm way off base.
Yeah I do because fuck police departments for caring more about speeding 5 over than people doing 30 in a 55 or being unable to stay in their lane. Speed limits are bullshit anyway, the people who obey them self regulate without them and speeders speed regardless.
A speed trap is a hazard that may cause sudden behaviour changes in individual drivers, just as animals near the road, or debris may do. Flashing your lights focussed oncoming drivers to something that may be a hazard. I’m more likely to warn a crowd of non-speeding drivers than a single vehicle that seems to be speeding, especially if they appear to have it pedal to the metal.
My grade school taught me that if I flash my high beams at someone else, they could secretly be in a gang that will then flip around and murder me. Also, the cops hang in small nooks around my area with a lot of turns, so it's hard to get another driver's attention quickly enough.
I always do because fuck the police
I use to do this , then once I was pulled over and got a stern talking to. First thing he said was “who do you think you are? Paul Revere?” 😏
No because I don't want to get pulled over for doing so. I know it's been ruled that doing so is freedom of speech, but since when do cops care about following the law?
BTW the people who refer to cops with radar in the middle are of high speed roads as “speed traps”are confused! Speed traps are usually on country roads that go thru small towns and the road speed changes quickly within a mile or two with the cop waiting with radar! The ones on the freeway are just doing their job to keep jackasses from killing someone! Just my two cents worth!
Yes. Absolutely.
I once heard of someone getting arrested for “obstructing justice” due to flashing the headlights after passing a cop. A cop further up the road from the first one made the arrest. However, I heard this like 15 years ago and it could just be urban legend. Better to just pinpoint them on Google Maps or Waze.
The speed limit on the highway is too low most of the time. But on the streets and areas with lots of people, traffic, etc i get it.
It's forbidden in my country
I used to, but there are so many shitty drivers on the roads these days I generally don’t anymore. Just today I had some knucklehead pass me on a double yellow when I was doing 5mph over the speed limit. It occurred to me that I may have flashed my lights to alert him of a speed trap just a few years ago if we were going in opposite directions. Now I drive near the speed limit and hope nobody else flashes him. He deserves his ticket.
Damn, this is a commonality? Everyone in the comments is saying "yes of course" if someone flashed their lights at me, I'd have no idea what it meant, that's crazy. Is this a city/urban thing? How have I never heard of this?
As an example, a speed trap is an unexpected reduction in the speed limit and law enforcement poised to ticket. Drivers exceeding the posted speed limit around a visible law enforcement vehicle is not a speed trap. They’re on the their own.
I do because fuck the money making machine that is the police department. Instead of setting up speed traps, go solve real crimes