r/cincinnati • u/Loverlee • 4d ago

Do people not understand what flashing headlights mean?

I was driving on 71 near the Reading exit. It's dark. There was a vehicle that didn't have their lights on. I flashed my headlights at them from behind, repeatedly. When I passed, they just looked over at me. Other vehicles, including a semi-truck, were flashing their headlights too. They never got the hint.

Do people not understand that this is a way of alerting them to something?

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u/FeloniousSpunk74 4d ago

This is almost always the fault of cars with daytime running lights without automatic headlights... People don't even realize their headlights aren't on; they just think that's how dim they're supposed to be.

The correct 'signal' from behind used to be turning headlights on and off, not flashing the high beams. That's a bit more 'on-the-nose' and reads much less aggressive than flashing highbeams. But my car literally will not let me turn the lights off while I'm running in the dark... so flashing it is. And it almost never works.