We’ve all done it before, flashing our brights twice to warn oncoming traffic that there’s a cop sitting up the road a bit and to slow down. Now Florida is giving tickets to those who do.
I view it as a First Amendment issue. We have freedom of speech and of the press in this country. If the cop doesn’t want us exercising that freedom to report the news of their location, then they should hide better.
The practice of warning other motorist of our location never bothered us personally nor the chief we had at that time. The net effect was the same. Drivers slowed down. Now, if the intent was to “collect fines” Shadowfox is right. They should hide better or use more un marked cars. I flash my lights if there is a road hazard, but never if there is a cop.
Speeders deserve no consideration but I feel everyone has the right to make that choice for themselves. But as usual, the working cop is caught in the middle of the politics.
I had a friend who was pulled over for flashing his lights about 35 years ago, in Wisconsin.
He had a can of contact cleaner in a satchel on the passenger seat.
He showed it to the trooper and said he was cleaning his headlight switch…
And the trooper believed him!
This happened in NY some 30 years ago…Man fined for flashing lights…Went to court…and WON.
Each state my act differently though.
I got a $25 ticket for flashing my lights (to warn oncoming cars about radar) on I95 in Connecticut back in 1976. I reluctantly paid the fine.
Then about a month later, I read in the Connecticut papers how someone fought the same offense in court and won. The higher level court agreed with the driver that flashing lights to get oncoming drivers to slowdown was not against the law.
I agree it’s a freedom of speech issue. Police may not like it, but as far as I know, there is no law against it.
I got pulled over for it once in Texas, but I didn’t get a ticket. I was foolishly doing it wrong. I was flashing my lights after dark, and the proper way to warn drivers after dark is to flash your high-beams, with your headlights on. Turning your lights off and on at night means you are trying to signal an emergency, so the officer had good reason to pull me over.
I believe you have the right to warn others, but I also think it is foolish. as someone who occasionally helps an officer of the law meet his monthly quota (that was for you dagosa) I would rather someone else get the ticket that I may richly deserve.
It also seems that these fools flick their headlights for 20 miles down the road every time they see a cop, so when I see someone flicking their headlights, 95% of the time, the cop has left the area by the time I get to them, or I haven’t driven far enough to find the “speed trap”.
The act’s legality will vary from state to state, but my impression is that Florida much have a budget crisis going on. It’s unfortunate that traffic laws get mixed in with revenue generation but it’s also common.
Yep, I agree Florida as a non income tax state looks for any way to raise money and this is one of them. Mostly lights flashing in Minnesota means a hazard ahead. We don’t have many speed traps except for some locals. The issue though was one person got a ticket and fought the charge and won on a free speech basis. Then the law firm decided to go after a class action suit based on the precident. I did get stopped in Iowa once because I flashed my lights at a trooper coming down the exit ramp the wrong way. He pulled me over and didn’t site me for flashing lights but for a high beam headlight malfunction.
It’s unfortunate that traffic laws get mixed in with revenue generation but it’s also common.
There are towns in MA an NH that have traffic tickets as part of the towns budget revenue.
Florida’s budget crisis has been solved through budget cuts. In fact, experts predict we might have a surplus next year.
Outstanding. I hope the experts are right. Perhaps those budget cuts affected the cops and they’re just action out their frustration.
I’m just wildly guessing, but usually when a change in enforcement occurs there’s a root cause.
About 22-23 years ago, a local city (Pittsburgh) policeman told me they ticketed people for warning others of a speed trap because it was “Obstruction of justice”. For all I know, it may never fly in court and he may have been pulling my leg. I don’t warn people. I figure if you’re gonna speed, you should be ready to pay the price.
That’s the charge they wrote me up on when I got my ticket for warning motorists. Thing is, I wasn’t warning motorists of the cop - I hadn’t even seen him. I was warning them about deer that were standing next to the road.
I took it to court and won. I argued that 1) the cop couldn’t prove that I was flashing my headlights to warn people about him, and 2) even if I had been, which I wasn’t, it was protected speech under the first amendment.
Whitey; If the class action suit gets a favorable verdict, Florida might need that surplus to pay for all the people who file for it.
Sounds like the cops in Florida are a bunch of poor losers to me. If this wasn’t just a revenue issue, I doubt this would be happening. While you could argue that people shouldn’t speed, this is little better than highway robbery IMHO. (no pun intended)
Hmmm. Budget cuts simply means that spending plans are reduced to equal expected revenue. So reduced budgets caused by reduced revenue means that efforts are stepped up to try and pull in more revenue from whatever sources there are. The poorer the state, the more they have to rely on other sources such as tickets and lottery games.
With all the retirees in Florida, perhaps they’d make more revenue by ticketing people who are driving too slowly instead…
You could claim you were “crying wolf” to slow down a car that you felt was speeding dangerously.