asl
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:14 PM |
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Flashing oncoming drivers to warn of speed trap?
Just out of interest, how many of you flash oncoming drivers to warn them of a speed trap?
I've noticed that people generally don't tend to do it much anymore.
About 3 years ago I was doing my fellow driver duty of flashing on coming drivers when I noticed a jam sandwich parked 'downwind' watching
for this very thing. He pulled me over and gave me quite a ticking off!
So, do you do it? Do the ole bill take action against it and if so what is the crime?
PS for the surrey boys be careful on the A320 between guildford and woking as there is an unmarked white van with very sinister looking blacked out
rear windows and over half of surreys finest waiting round the corner!
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MikeCapon
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:17 PM |
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Over here it happens all the time. Even little old ladies warn you!! I've got back into the habit too.
When you live in a country where speeding is pretty much the norm it's just so much fun to cruise by the feds at just 1km/hour under the limit.
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iscmatt
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:19 PM |
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No, if someone flashed me coming the other i would just think they are being a t**t. And flashing others coming the other way would probably result in
the same reaction.
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UncleFista
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:19 PM |
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I always flash a couple of times to let people know, I seem to get more dirty looks than owt else though. I reckon people just think I'm mad
'til they get to the speed trap...
Tony Bond / UncleFista
Love is like a snowmobile, speeding across the frozen tundra.
Which suddenly flips, pinning you underneath.
At night the ice-weasels come...
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tegwin
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:27 PM |
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Depends really...
If the car comming t'other way looks like its being driven enthusiastically...and looks like the sort of car to be driven by someone who might
have a clue.... then I will flash and give them the slow down gesture... (not to be confused with any other similar jestures!)
I would hope other people do the same thing in return...
Its so tempting to drive around with some popup signage in the boot..
If you spot a speed trap.. Stop downwind, setup the big sign warning drivers to watch out for the tits in a van.... that way the van will only catch
morons 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:37 PM |
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there is a notorious road here where they camp a lot. i drove past and flashed the very next oncoming car who was moving clearly too fast. He slammed
on the anchors and waved thanks. It was only then i noticed it was one of the local coppers off duty!
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Steve Hignett
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:37 PM |
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As above, I just flash the cars that are driving toward the trap over the limit.......
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Neil P
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:39 PM |
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quote:
When you live in a country where speeding is pretty much the norm it's just so much fun to cruise by the feds at just 1km/hour under the
limit.
Just how annoyed are they when they see you obeying the speed limit?
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JoelP
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:40 PM |
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i flashed someone the other day and possibly saved them too! Was a long down hill straight in a 30 zone, with a small sized van at the bottom -
you'd have very little chance of seeing them and they had a clear view for miles. Anyway flashed someone as soon as i was out of sight and in my
mirror i saw them on the brakes, so maybe it worked.
You get charged with assisting an offender even if they cannot prove who you assisted, or indeed if there was an offense being comitted. I read of a
chap who was on foot with a sign, who got points on his license - can you imagine going for a walk and getting points?!
Beware! Bourettes is binfectious.
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MikeR
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 09:42 PM |
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I seem to recall the police have prosecuted someone for doing this - something to do with aiding and abeting a crime or stopping a policeman
performing his duty. Can't quite remember which.
i'm undecided, if i think someone is a couple of mph over the limit i'll probably flash. if someone is clearly speeding (and bear in mind
on my route they're usually just on the exit to a small village with twisty roads and difficult junctions) i'll probably let them get
caught.
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turbodisplay
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 10:07 PM |
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I flashed for a trap that was in a 30 zone just before it goes to nsl. For all intents and purposes should be nsl, not 30, so clearly a means of
effectively trapping people.
Also in a 40 that should be a 50.
If in a genuine 30 zone then i wouldn`t or is someone is going at a dangerous speed as that is irresponsible.
Darren
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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robinj66
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 10:11 PM |
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There have been several attempts to prosecute this for Perverting the Course of Public Justice. however i am nor aware of any case going the whole way
under this (extremely serious) charge.
It is usually dropped to Obstructing a Police Officer in the execution of his Duty, if it is proceeded with at all.
Very difficult to prove and more of a scare tactic than anything else.
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turbodisplay
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 10:32 PM |
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But what if you are stopped, you say "i was warnng of a child that might run into the road?"
I don`t realy flash in my gt4 as it takes time for the pop up lights to rise, and every time they move up and down i cant help thinking "thats
one more time the headligh motor has operated in its finte life"
Darren
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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roadrunner
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 10:32 PM |
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But if you flash someone to slow them down, then surely you are stopping a crime being committed and not aiding and abetting.
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zilspeed
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 10:40 PM |
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You'll all hate me.
It's my responsibility to know the speed limit for the road I'm on and stick to it.
The same applies for everyone else.
I got an SP30 once from a well known and well signposted fixed GATSO around here - my fault, nobody else's responsibility but mine.
Much as it might be an unpopular point of view, the same applies to everyone else, so that's why I don't flash my lights. If it's a
30mph limit, there will be signs to tell you that - same for every other speed limit in force.
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Miketheconn
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| posted on 29/7/09 at 11:27 PM |
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One of those vans sits on the A5 in Weston near Telford. Its only 30 for about a1/4 of a mile. I travel to Telford twice a week for work.
I a very nice man in a white van flashed me on my approach past Weston park just as it turns 30. I then flashed quite a few cars as I got through the
other side where it changes from National speed limit to a 30 to notify them of the change of speed limit and a posible accident hotspot as I am
assuming thats why the police would set up a camera there. Everyone I flashed gave me a jolly wave and appeared to be most appreciative
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Canada EH!
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 12:59 AM |
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A police officer in Toronto Canada, stopped a motorist for flashing his lights at a well known radar fishing hole and was sent for a mechanical
inspection for faulty lighting.
The news media picked it up and embarrassed the police to no end, haven't heard of another similar incident.
P.S. I have been known in the past to use one of those pesky radar units and still flash my lights.
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LBMEFM
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 06:03 AM |
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Surley the police cannot prove you were flashing a warning, you maybe flashed because you knew the guy, Keep on flashing is what I say.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 06:29 AM |
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Up to a £1000 fine, IIRC.
Some old codger was prosecuted a while back - made the papers.
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nstrug
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 07:42 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by LBMEFM
Surley the police cannot prove you were flashing a warning, you maybe flashed because you knew the guy, Keep on flashing is what I say.
'Because you knew the guy' is not correct use of headlights though is it? According to the highway code:
110 Flashing headlights. Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there. Do not flash your headlights to convey any other
message or intimidate other road users.
Actually, reading that, 'I knew the guy and wanted to let him know I was there' could be a valid reason
I can confirm that flashing oncoming cars for speed traps is the norm in France, particularly as the Gendarmerie have taken to hiding behind bridges
in unmarked cars in the past few years.
Nick
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hughpinder
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 07:46 AM |
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I always flash if I believe there is an abnormal situation the person coming the other way needs to know about e.g an accident round the next bend,
something on the road, dog loose, speed camera etc as people invariably slow down when flashed.
Regards
Hugh
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efiniste
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 08:52 AM |
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I passed a speedtrap a few years back. It was at the end of a longish straight and they were pulling bikers up left, right and centre.
After I'd passed the trap I flashed a biker coming off the roundabout at some speed at the other end of the straight and gave him the
International Sign Language for "slow down".
His response was to flick me the v's and twist the throttle further. I wouldn't mind if I looked like some busybody anti-speed type but I
was driving my RX-7 at the time!
I do hope they threw the book at him.
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sucksqueezebangblow
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 10:59 AM |
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I flash, and I've been flashed (and saved). I would regard it as a badge of honour if they did me for it.
These vans are nothing but a tax raising excercise. If they were serious about safety they would focus on driver training and put public information
clips on driving back on the BBC. They should start with keep left on dual cariageways!
The CLODs constantly force slow traffic into the outside lane stacking traffic up and inviting inside overtaking and multiple shunts.
(Centre Lane Only Drivers)
Better to Burnout than to Fade Away JET METAL ~ AndySparrow © 
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Ivan
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 11:46 AM |
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I flash selectively - never in built up areas as I believe that you shouldn't be speeding there.
Always flash in the country as they always trap where speeding is relatively safe and likely (revenue driven) and never trap where it is obviously
dangerous to speed - too few speedsters to make it worth their while as most drivers are sensible enough to recognise obviously dangerous stretches of
road and slow down.
I also never flash vehicles that to my mind are unsafe even below the National Speed limit such as Combi Taxis, LDV's, trucks, buses and old
potentially poorly maintained vehicles.
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A1
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| posted on 30/7/09 at 12:35 PM |
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I like tto.. what goes around comes around.
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