# Do you warn other drivers that there is a speed trap or a police car on their road?



## cfu507

Sometimes when I'm driving on the highway from one city to another a driver who is coming toward me on the other side flashes his lights. He does this to warn me that police are alongside the road with a speed trap stopping cars in my lane.

Do you or people in your country warn other drivers that there is a speed trap or a police car on their road?


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## Chaska Ñawi

It depends on the oncoming drivers.

If we meet somebody who is driving more or less politely, we flash our lights to warn them.  If somebody is driving very aggressively, we smile smugly to ourselves and continue on our way.


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## WestSideGal

I always do, with the international language of the flashing headlights!


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## ewie

This is common practice in the UK, CFU


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## Adolfo Afogutu

Personally I do exactly what Chaska Ñawi has said and think that people in my country tend to do the same. I have to say that I’m highly concerned about driving risks and this might sound contradictory, but it’s not. It sucks to see innocent drivers being fined for speeding at only five miles above the speed limit when, on the other hand, on Fridays and Saturdays nights, when accidents are more likely to happen, you will barely see a police officer on the streets. Sadly, this is true in Uruguay.


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## sureño

I never had the chance because that kind of control practically doesn’t exist in my country. 
That would explain why Argentina ahead the list of death by traffic accidents in this region.


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## alexacohen

In Spain headlights are flashed twice. Careful, police ahead.



> If somebody is driving very aggressively, we smile smugly to ourselves and continue on our way.



Of course, Chaska. We would go as far as to wish there was a police car ahead if there isn't one.


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## Macunaíma

I'm surprised to learn that this headlight language is almost universal! 

Road police officers in Brazil now keep a very low profile when monitoring the roads with a speed radar, often moving places and frequently with their cars parked behind a bush, so most of the times you're not likely to see them from the opposite lane. By the way, these speed traps are also referred to here as _arapongas_ (sleuths).


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## Mariaguadalupe

Chaska Ñawi said:


> It depends on the oncoming drivers.
> 
> If we meet somebody who is driving more or less politely, we flash our lights to warn them. If somebody is driving very aggressively, we smile smugly to ourselves and continue on our way.


 

This is more or less how we proceed in my country too.


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## Gato_Gordo

I also try to warn them, because the idea is to avoid accidents by limiting the speed, not to see how much people gets caught by the police.


> If we meet somebody who is driving more or less politely, we flash our lights to warn them. If somebody is driving very aggressively, we smile smugly to ourselves and continue on our way.


There's also the chance that the police misses the speeding car, so I still warn them so they slow down.

^_^


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## cherine

Macunaíma said:


> I'm surprised to learn that this headlight language is almost universal!


Me too  I always thought it's an Egyptian thing 

I don't drive. But I know that Egyptian drivers warn each others when there's a speed trap, specially on the highways between big cities (Alexandria-Cairo, for example).

I'm not sure about this information, but I think I heard once that if you get caught warning others, you get a fine. I guess it's considered "obstruction of justice".


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## Miguel Antonio

alexacohen said:


> In Spain headlights are flashed twice. Careful, police ahead.


 It is against the law to do so in Spain, and you may get a hefty fine, so I only flash my lights at oncoming cars whenever there is danger ahead, but not to warn them of police presence (of course there may be police there, if there has been an accident or whatever).
Once a car with foreign number plates overtook mine, speeding, and ser¡ously endangered my life and that of others. I wished for the police to be around the next bend. They were there, but they stopped ME! I didn't get a fine though, as I was not speeding or doing anything wrong.


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## alexacohen

Miguel Antonio said:


> It is against the law to do so in Spain, and you may get a hefty fine.



I don't know, because I don't drive either. All I know is that drivers do it. I've seen them doing it thousands of times.


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## Sepia

I don't warn anyone. Basically I don't mind people not observing speed limits if they are only careful and don't put other people into danger. Open road not much traffic etc. - but in such a situation they ought to be able to see the speed trap early enough themselves, right?

Besides I belong to those far over 50% people in this country who are really afraid of faster drivers coming up from behind and not keeping a safe distance. If I know there is a speed trap further ahead I make sure to give them as much space to overtake as I can - just before we approach the speed trap. 

That has worked several times - and that is the least repercussion one should expect for putting my life in danger.


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## Grop

I don't warn others, but this is common practice in France too.


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## Gwan

Common practice here as well, I do or don't depending on mood/whether I think the other guy's a wanker who deserves it etc. I think it's illegal here too (to warn people) but I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for doing it. The 'real' reason to do it is to warn people of hazards - for example, if I had just driven past a tree branch blown on to the road or something, I would flash my lights to warn them to drive slowly and carefully. Usually it's a double flash.


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## Trisia

Double flash here too. And we love doing it. Or at least we used to. I'm not sure why - a mixture of childish rebellion against authority and driver solidarity, perhaps? 

In the past few years there's been a significant decrease in train travel - the same distances are now covered by minibuses. Their drivers have a rather complicated sign language, that's always handy to know, because after the warning flash you might find out if the police car is on the move or not, how much ahead it is, and plenty other useful information.


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## Saoul

Common practice in Italy as well. 

Same for me. If I see someone at top speed driving like mad, I won't warn them and really hope they'll get caught at it. If they drive carefully I will.


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## ampurdan

I drive, I drive a lot, I've driven in other countries too and I did not have the faintest idea that literally everybody in the World were double-flashing lights to warn other drivers about speed traps. I do remember that many times I've wondered why someone had double-flashed me even though I had my lights on (nightime) or off (daytime) and I could not imagine anything wrong in my car or in my driving...

No need to say that it never crossed my mind to do so.


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## RIU

Hola, 

Oh, si, montones de veces, hasta que la Policía me reclamó 300€ en concepto de multa ya que se considera una infracción.


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## charisma_classic

I, too, always though this was a warning to turn on my headlights or turn off my high beams... which always struck me as odd when neither were on...


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## Chazzwozzer

cfu507 said:


> Sometimes when I'm driving on the highway from one city to another a driver who is coming toward me on the other side flashes his lights. He does this to warn me that police are alongside the road with a speed trap stopping cars in my lane.
> 
> Do you or people in your country warn other drivers that there is a speed trap or a police car on their road?


People in Turkey do exactly the same.  I, too, used to think it was peculiar to my country.


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## fenixpollo

Gwan said:


> The 'real' reason to do it is to warn people of hazards - for example, if I had just driven past a tree branch blown on to the road or something, I would flash my lights to warn them to drive slowly and carefully. Usually it's a double flash.


 While it's common practice to use the double-flash to mean "police ahead", I've never seen people use it to mean "road hazard ahead". I guess the double meaning of that signal isn't universal.


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## Gwan

fenixpollo said:


> While it's common practice to use the double-flash to mean "police ahead", I've never seen people use it to mean "road hazard ahead". I guess the double meaning of that signal isn't universal.


 
What would you do to warn of a hazard? Nothing?

I've always thought the 'legitimate' reason (hazard ahead) spawned the 'illegitimate' reason (cops ahead) but maybe not...


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## fenixpollo

Nothing. If there's a cop ahead, you may not see him in time, so you'll need a warning; if there's a hazard, you'll find out about it sooner or later.


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## cyberpedant

When I notice someone speeding I flash him even if there is NOT a cop waiting. Maybe the jerk will slow down.


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## Mate

Moderator note:

Regrettably, this thread has gradually transformed itself into a collection of personal rather cultural attitudes regarding the original topic.


Thread closed.


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