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Warning Drivers About Cops?

The other day I was driving down the road heading to class, and a person driving the opposite way flashed their lights at me. About five seconds later, I passed a highway patrolman in his car, radar gun out. Today, when I had picked up the girls and was driving back to the center, the same thing happened. My first reaction was to think "Hey, that's pretty cool of them." But then I really started thinking. Is it such a cool thing? People are signalling other people to temporarily stop speeding, if they are, so they do not get a ticket.

Is this really right? Do you think it's ethical to save people from the consequences of speeding by forewarning them?

I hope this is the right place.

Cops Drivers Warning

We have had these radar speed 'guns' in the Uk for about 13 years now, and to be honest, people used to do the same thing over here too, warning oncoming cars that may be speeding, by flashing their lights to give a warning, however, a few years ago, the police started getting fed up of this happening, so they introduced a law where it is now an offence to warn other motorists of a police radar gun.

The police say that they are only using these radar guns in 'accident hot spots' ie-- where there have been multiple crashes.

Very craftily, companies have introduced a traffic accident hot spot unit, that can sit in your front dashboard, and supposedly beeps to let you know where there is an accident hot spot.
In reality what the device is actually doing, is warning you where there is a police radar gun, but because the companies say they are only highlighting the places that the police say the accidents are happening, no action can be taken against the companies.

In summing up, I also used to think it was fair to give some warning, but now am of the opinion that the other cars just shouldn't be speeding!

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I don't flash lights as a warning of a speed trap. I rationalize that if someone is speeding excessively they need to be ticketed. Besides, most officers won't issue a ticket unless its 10-15 over (depending on the officer, the area, accident, weather, or other extenuating circumstances).

Of course, I work part-time as a deputy so I'm a little biased.

Cops Drivers Warning

I don't know if it is right or wrong, but personally I don't do it. To be honest, the person who flashes their headlights at you really don't know if you are speeding unless you are 15-20+ mph over the limit. Here in the MidWest, I don't see a lot of this practice happening, but it was very frequent in Florida, for some reason.

Cops Drivers Warning

I see this happen allot and am actually one who practices it myself. In the US, cops set up speed traps to catch people speeding. I feel that in the area of the US I live in, cops are to strict with the speed limit code and will stop and ticket someone for going just one or two miles over the limit but sometimes let them go ten miles over the limit with out stopping them. Breaking the speed limit laws often appear to depend on the mood of the officer checking for speeding. On top of that, the reason that speed limits are checked is to stop people from speeding. For that reason, flashing my lights both prevents another person from speeding and prevents a ticket for another poor soul that is late trying to get to work.

Warning Drivers About Cops?

See, I am partially sympathetic that it could be the one time somebody is speeding, and they get caught. But then there is my rationale reminding me that all it takes is being in a hurry one time to end a life or cause serious harm, and I would rather somebody get a ticket than be in a wreck.

Warning Drivers Cops

I don't do it, personally. It's not malicious on my part with a ". ., someone is going to get a ticket and it's not me!" thankfully. I just don't think it's right to give someone warning that they are going to get in trouble for doing something they should probably be at-least warned of to begin with.

I think also I have somewhere in the back of my mind that urban legend about people flashing their lights at oncoming cars and something bad happening. Does that make any sense?

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I warn people if it is on a country road because most people speed safely in the country. If it is in the city then you run the risk of being caught by a cop, so it's not worth it.

In truth most speed traps I am aware of in Sydney tend to be revenue raisers rather than genuine speed traps. If police were serious about people speeding then they wouldn't place speed cameras on safe roads, in straight tunnels and at the bottom of steep hills. I once got booked at the bottom of a steep hill even though I was braking all the way down to control my speed.

The problem with the whole speeding debate is that the figures are positively geared to justify more speed cameras.

Every crash where one car might be speeding, even if it is by the smallest margin, speed is recorded as a contributing factor. This is regardless of whether a motorist was drunk, they were hit by an oncoming car or the road was wet and greasy causing the driver to lose control. I know this is how it is in Australia because I have mates who work in the highway patrol unit.

I'm not suggesting people should deliberately speed. But I think speeding is often overstated as a cause of accidents. My solution would be to force every driver to pass an advanced driving test to get their licence. This would help alleviate one of the biggest causes of accidents - terrible drivers.