Is it legal....

tonedef

....to flash your lights at the driver of the car in front of you in the outside lane of the motorway to get them to pull over so you can pass?

My understanding is that it wasn't as it was considered intentionally distracting the another driver but the twat behind me on the M4 this evening didn't share my opinion.

eringobragh

I'm sure a lot of people will agree with me so....STOP hogging the overtaking lane and you'll have no problem! I flash people too but i give them an opportunity to move back before hand but some people like to play god. "I'm doing 120 k so it'll have to do you" crap:mad:

That M4 is rife with people like you that don't know how to use lanes..it gets really fustrating.

Rory123

The official line we were given in an advanced driving course was the the outside lane was strictly an OVERTAKING lane. Even if you are doing 120kph and a car comes up behind you doing 150kph, you are still supposed to get out of the way and let him pass.

No offence OP, but you were possibly more in the wrong than he was. But if none of us had our vices, it would be a very boring life!

tonedef

eringobragh wrote: »

I'm sure a lot of people will agree with me so....STOP hogging the overtaking lane and you'll have no problem! I flash people too but i give them an opportunity to move back before hand but some people like to play god. "I'm doing 120 k so it'll have to do you" crap:mad:

That M4 is rife with people like you that don't know how to use lanes..it gets really fustrating.

OK, 2 things....
1. you didn't answer my questions - is it legal
2. I didn't say what speed I was doing when I was in the lane so how can you talk about "people like me"???

peasant

dillon1 wrote: »

OK, 2 things....
1. you didn't answer my questions - is it legal
2. I didn't say what speed I was doing when I was in the lane so how can you talk about "people like me"???

ahh ...and a wonderful display of lane hogger attitude to top it all off

eringobragh

dillon1 wrote: »

OK, 2 things....
1. you didn't answer my questions - is it legal
2. I didn't say what speed I was doing when I was in the lane so how can you talk about "people like me"???

1. Possibly but is flashing people with no headlights on legal??
2. You were obviously sitting in the lane if you were getting flashed. Don't try and tell me you only got in it and you were flashed :rolleyes: The speed i mentioned was just an example nothing to do with you.

hebejebees

I can't see why it would be illegal
Bit unfair to pass judgement immediatly, i have been doing 120 over taking a row of traffic but the guy behind me wants to do 140 and flashes me, i accept flash me to move back in when i finish passing the row of traffic but to fit in where there is no gap

BTW I'm a flasher if i see some idiot in the outside lane doing 100

peasant

honestly ...i have no idea if it is legal or not (I suspect probably not) ...but if you find yourself getting flashed at ...what are you going to do about it?

Stop and give yer man a telling off? Look over your shoulder and take the reg down and then ring the snitch line?

Just get out of the way if you can ...and if you can't ...ignore it.

C_Breeze

dillon1 wrote: »

OK, 2 things....
1. you didn't answer my questions - is it legal
2. I didn't say what speed I was doing when I was in the lane so how can you talk about "people like me"???

1 - yes it is legal to flash your lights

2 - it doesnt matter what speed you were doing, if somebody comes up behind you at a faster speed get out of the God damn way.


You shouldnt even have been in that lane unless you were actually overtaking.

Typical attitude of the sh*te drivers that plague our roads

D_murph

C_Breeze wrote: »

it doesnt matter what speed you were doing, if somebody comes up behind you at a faster speed get out of the God damn way.


You shouldnt even have been in that lane unless you were actually overtaking.

^X2 and by overtaking we mean doing so by actually completing the overtaking maneuver in decent time instead of going neck and neck with the other car for ages and not actually overtaking at all.

the amount of times i have been stuck behind 2 idiots doing this :rolleyes:.

JHMEG

The OP was in the overtaking lane.. has anyone asked was he actually overtaking at the time?

Lads it is possible the OP was overtaking, and some cnut came hooring up at 150km/h behind him and felt that just cos he was going faster he was more entitled to the overtaking lane.

Oh, hold on, I forgot we have the boards traffic corp on here who shoot first, and don't ask questions.

Jimbo

Last time I was driving in Dublin, people seemed to have no problem undertaking on the left lane. Never see it anywhere else in the country.

colm_mcm

thank god I have a bullbar, a few slaps of that gets the message across much more clearly than flashing lights.

peasant

JHMEG wrote: »

Lads it is possible the OP was overtaking, and some cnut came hooring up at 150km/h behind him and felt that just cos he was going faster he was more entitled to the overtaking lane.

In the end it doesn't matter if the driver from behind is a "cnut" or not, if they are flashing their lights legally or not or if they are doing the speed limit or 50 km/h more.

If they're THAT anxious to get past you, the safest thing to do still is to get out of their way as fast as you can.

TheBazman

I agree with the points that have been made. What do ye think is the best course of action say if you are coming along a motorway at say 120 km/hr (or faster but I dont want the "you shouldnt be breaking the speed limit" brigade on my back) and you can see a good distance ahead an "outside lane hogger" - should you (a) continue until you are up behind them, slow down to their speed and hope then move in, or (b) flash when you are a good distance behind so that they can move in on time and you can maintain your speed/cruise control?

tonedef

JHMEG wrote: »

The OP was in the overtaking lane.. has anyone asked was he actually overtaking at the time?

Lads it is possible the OP was overtaking, and some cnut came hooring up at 150km/h behind him and felt that just cos he was going faster he was more entitled to the overtaking lane.

Oh, hold on, I forgot we have the boards traffic corp on here who shoot first, and don't ask questions.

Well now you ask, no one seemed interested in the facts, just got the opinion that because I was in the overtaking lane when I got flashed I must be a "lane hug" or some other form of parasite that doesn't deserve to live!!

Story is I was passing a line of approx. 8 cars, I was doing about 155k at the time, when a car came up behind me and started flashing his lights like a nutter as soon as he caught up to me which I thought was a bit over the top and lead me to start this thread to find out if he was legally allowed to flash his lights in this situation.

Don't worry though I've learned my lesson, boards is for rants, not asking fairly simple questions.

P.S. I know I was speeding so thanks in advance for all the impending comments on this....

port

C_Breeze wrote: »

1 - yes it is legal to flash your lights

2 - it doesnt matter what speed you were doing, if somebody comes up behind you at a faster speed get out of the God damn way.


You shouldnt even have been in that lane unless you were actually overtaking.

Typical attitude of the sh*te drivers that plague our roads

Why do you think its legal? I recently read that a motorist was fined in court for flashing another driver.

archtech

If people actually obeyed the rules of the road, there wouldn't be any need for people to flash others on the motorway or any other road for that matter.... but then this is Ireland.

What really gets me, is drivers coming up in the outer lane and flashing while I am overtaking (at the speed limit speed) in the outer lane a long line of traffic (as often happens on a sunday evening) and expects me to move over when there is no place to move into an inner lane safely.

archtech

dillon1 wrote: »

Story is I was passing a line of approx. 8 cars, I was doing about 155k at the time, when a car came up behind me and started flashing his lights like a nutter as soon as he caught up to me which I thought was a bit over the top and lead me to start this thread to find out if he was legally allowed to flash his lights in this situation.

A quick tip of your brakes and they won't be long backing off.

Mr. Presentable

It occurs to me there are strict restrictions on when you may use headlights. As a means of attention getting is not among them, so, it would be illegal. Though I doubt it'd be enforced.

colm_mcm

you're wondering if the person behind you is breaking the law by flashing his lights while you exceed the speed limit by 35km/h?

D_murph

dillon1 wrote: »

Well now you ask, no one seemed interested in the facts, just got the opinion that because I was in the overtaking lane when I got flashed I must be a "lane hug" or some other form of parasite that doesn't deserve to live!!

Story is I was passing a line of approx. 8 cars, I was doing about 155k at the time, when a car came up behind me and started flashing his lights like a nutter as soon as he caught up to me which I thought was a bit over the top and lead me to start this thread to find out if he was legally allowed to flash his lights in this situation.

Don't worry though I've learned my lesson, boards is for rants, not asking fairly simple questions.

P.S. I know I was speeding so thanks in advance for all the impending comments on this....

well if you were doing that speed and he wasnt happy with it then IMO he could fcuk himself for all i care

JHMEG

dillon1 wrote: »

Story is I was passing a line of approx. 8 cars,

Wonder will apologies come as quick as the condemnation did from eringobragh et al...

eringobragh

JHMEG wrote: »

Wonder will apologies come as quick as the condemnation did from eringobragh et al...

LOL..I'll start Sorry Dillon Your not the Average lane Hogger

cjt156

Lights flashing at you while doing 155k? Gay Byrne coming to kick your ass.

Tails142

was probably an off duty garda trying to pull you over... what'd you do next, drop the hammer and leave him behind.

Right lane hoggers are a pita - if you had've provided more info you wouldnt have been ranted at so its your own fault.

We have been discussing the legitimacy of undertaking and flashing lights to get people to pull out of your way recently, so your post probably came at a bad time.

Still though, no matter how irritating a right lane hogger is there's nothing quite as outrageously annoying as an asshole trying to flash you out of the way when you're stuck behind a line of traffic and both lanes are heavily congested.

Full beams can be used as a method for warning other drivers - the guy could say in his defense that he was warning you to get out of his way before he went through you but I dont know how well that would fly in front of a judge.

Bendihorse

archtech wrote: »

A quick tip of your brakes and they won't be long backing off.

Very sensible chat there archtech.

Obviously that guy was impatient, i hope he was in a rush somewhere and thats not just his every day style.

The overtaking lane is exactly what it says on the tin. If you are passing a line of slower moving traffic and someone comes up behind you that is travelling faster, then you should pull in briefly to let them pass if there is room to do so.

Idea of the extra lane is so that no one is holding up other traffic, therefore keeping things running smoothly and at a good steady pace.

Turner

Everybody here is mentioning the right hand lane/fast lane/overtaking lane.

I presume ye are all referring to the BMW lane :rolleyes:

D_murph

Tails142 wrote: »

Still though, no matter how irritating a right lane hogger is there's nothing quite as outrageously annoying as an asshole trying to flash you out of the way when you're stuck behind a line of traffic and both lanes are heavily congested.

true or driving up your arse while youre not the actual hogger but are stuck behind one. what do they expect you to do, drive over em?

kodute

archtech wrote: »

A quick tip of your brakes and they won't be long backing off.

Only if you have a towbar.

Anan1

D_murph wrote: »

true or driving up your arse while youre not the actual hogger but are stuck behind one. what do they expect you to do, drive over em?

True, if you've done your best to encourage the hogger to move. It's one of those situations where if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem.;)

oleras

Not as far as i am aware OP. On reading your reply i see you were not lane hogging but overtaking and some twat came up behind you expecting you to go even faster ! Do what i do and ignore your rear mirror till you are back in the driving lane.

I think we should start a campaign !!

The more i think about the debate with overtaking lane and right hand lane and fast lane i have an idea.

I think anyone in the right hand lane should have their indicator on. Fullstop. If you are driving in it it should only be to safely overtake a slower driver in front.(or turning right ). When it is safe to do so, get back in the leftmost driving lane and turn the indicator off.

This should be enforced by cops and points awarded to people who do not comply !

kkontour

Chief--- wrote: »

Everybody here is mentioning the right hand lane/fast lane/overtaking lane.

I presume ye are all referring to the BMW lane :rolleyes:

Or the MAN's lane, as Ive heard it called:D

D_murph

im sure we've all been there . only one thing for it really. a quick look around for anyone that "might object" and just pass em where you can really and do it fast just in case the bolix does change lanes.

most times they dont even move over after being passed on the left lane FFS :rolleyes:.

slow in more ways than one...........

MuffinsDa

oleras wrote: »

I think anyone in the right hand lane should have their indicator on. Fullstop. If you are driving in it it should only be to safely overtake a slower driver in front.(or turning right ). When it is safe to do so, get back in the leftmost driving lane and turn the indicator off.

Which -to my surprise- is what I observed everybody doing in France this summer: right lane strictly for overtaking, keep the indicator on while on that lane, sneak back as soon as the maneuver is over. No messing about, and for once I forgot to get back immediately (hoping to overtake another car a couple of hundred meters ahead in the same go) and had someone (rightfully) flashing the arse out of me!

However, there's absolutely no justification for flashing someone when they are actually overtaking someone else (or a line of traffic) and can't do anything else other than completing their maneuver. Or when they are stuck behind some one else. Which is what majority of "flashers" do here

WHITE_P

dillon1 wrote: »

Well now you ask, no one seemed interested in the facts, just got the opinion that because I was in the overtaking lane when I got flashed I must be a "lane hug" or some other form of parasite that doesn't deserve to live!!

Story is I was passing a line of approx. 8 cars, I was doing about 155k at the time, when a car came up behind me and started flashing his lights like a nutter as soon as he caught up to me which I thought was a bit over the top and lead me to start this thread to find out if he was legally allowed to flash his lights in this situation.

Don't worry though I've learned my lesson, boards is for rants, not asking fairly simple questions.

P.S. I know I was speeding so thanks in advance for all the impending comments on this....

Unless it was an emergency vehicle on its way to an emergency, I would say you had every right going by what you have posted here to complete your overtaking without this kind of abuse from some muppet. I'm sure if you can get a look at the road Traffic Act you will find he broke some section of the law. Not that the gardai would actually do anything about it unless they witness it for themselves. far easire to nick people for speeding in 50 zones than to police the roads properly.

Sandwich

Rory123 wrote: »

The official line we were given in an advanced driving course was the the outside lane was strictly an OVERTAKING lane. Even if you are doing 120kph and a car comes up behind you doing 150kph, you are still supposed to get out of the way and let him pass.

Very surprised at that one. Who gave the course and what was the rationale?

I would regularly find my self on the M1 doing 120, overtaking slower traffic (even if they're only doing 115) on the inside lane. I never move over if it means I would have to slow my progress overtaking those in the inside lane - even when vehicles are getting mad behind me and trying hard to blow a headlight bulb. Reasining? I am doing the speed limit, so they cannot (legally) overtake me so therfore no reason to move over. It is also satisfying to think that i am doing my bit to reduce speeding on our rounds. When there is no vehicle within a reasonable distance in the inside lane that would hold me up, then I pullover and let the blighter by.

Rory123

Hibernian Ignition course... not an advanced driving course per say. The rationale was that its absolutely not your responsibility to enforce the speed limit laws on others. And staying in lane 2 with some bonehead 6 inches behind you blowing his horn is just as dangerous or even more so than him doing speeds in excess of 120kmh.
Then you can pull back out and continue overtaking if you so wish.

I never move over if it means I would have to slow my progress overtaking those in the inside lane

... Be the bigger man and slow your speed by 5kmh every so often, and some day you might save a life! Don't worry about giving the boneheads what they want, they will eventually get what's coming to them (only hopefully they won't take any lives or injure any others)... Karma.

D_murph

well IMO if you claim to be a better driver than the person stuck up behind your bumper then you should have the common sense to not incite his/her anger and possibly cause the situation to get worse.

let em off. shur you might even have a laugh a few miles up the road when you see em pulled over but at least you wont be escalating a possible road rage incident.

if theyre that mad for road let em off

sinzinc

Sandwich wrote: »

Very surprised at that one. Who gave the course and what was the rationale?

I would regularly find my self on the M1 doing 120, overtaking slower traffic (even if they're only doing 115) on the inside lane. I never move over if it means I would have to slow my progress overtaking those in the inside lane - even when vehicles are getting mad behind me and trying hard to blow a headlight bulb. Reasining? I am doing the speed limit, so they cannot (legally) overtake me so therfore no reason to move over. It is also satisfying to think that i am doing my bit to reduce speeding on our rounds. When there is no vehicle within a reasonable distance in the inside lane that would hold me up, then I pullover and let the blighter by.

How is this reducing speeding on our roads, this sort of behavior can only insight anger in a driver who legally or not wishes to continue in the overtaking lane. It would be unreasonalbe to expect you to to slow down and speed up everytime you pull in to let the other driver by, but common sense should prevail here, I'm not familiar with traffic on M1, I would of thought it reasonably feasible to pull over to let cars by without impeeding your progress. Why not use hazard light to acknowledge the motorist behind so they can back off your tail, probably a far greater service to road road safety in Ireland.

Just to add to the indicator suggestion, this is my chosen method followed by flashing headlights and lefthand lane as an absolute last resort. Flashing indicator would appear to much less offence, does not statle/blind other drivers and has excuse that it did not cancel when you quite rightly indicated from the lefthand lane to the overtaking lane.

Whether its legal or not flashing headlights, my line if ever stopped would be I was just checking that they were working, as if I carry out an ongoing DOE on the road.

S

Esel

Sandwich wrote: »

I never move over if it means I would have to slow my progress overtaking those in the inside lane - even when vehicles are getting mad behind me and trying hard to blow a headlight bulb. Reasining? I am doing the speed limit, so they cannot (legally) overtake me so therfore no reason to move over. It is also satisfying to think that i am doing my bit to reduce speeding on our rounds.

Is this the kind of thing that goes through the tiny minds of all the other drivers who behave like this?

D_murph

esel wrote: »

Is this the kind of thing that goes through the tiny minds of all the other drivers who behave like this?

^X2 a perfect example IMO :mad:. these people actually think they are doing this for "our own good" as well :rolleyes:

Jumpy

port wrote: »

Why do you think its legal? I recently read that a motorist was fined in court for flashing another driver.

It isnt legal. C_breeze had a guess and was wrong.

Although it could be taken up another way. It is legal to flash your lights for other reasons, but to intimidate another driver it is an offense.

oleras

Jumpy wrote: »

It isnt legal. C_breeze had a guess and was wrong.

Although it could be taken up another way. It is legal to flash your lights for other reasons, but to intimidate another driver it is an offense.

Do you think that by bringing to the driver in fronts attention that there is someone behind them this is intimidatind behaviour ? They should be using their mirrors and have an awareness of what is going on. Its basically bad driving skills and habbits to sit in the right hand lane, plain and simple.

WHITE_P

Its not up to the public to police the roads. In fact you could be breaking the law, not sure but check the road traffic act if you like. Great reading if you are suffering from insomnia.

Sandwich: I am doing the speed limit, so they cannot (legally) overtake me so therfore no reason to move over. It is also satisfying to think that i am doing my bit to reduce speeding on our rounds. When there is no vehicle within a reasonable distance in the inside lane that would hold me up, then I pullover and let the blighter by.

D Murph is right, except there never seems to be a traffic cop around when you want one.

D Murph: let em off. shur you might even have a laugh a few miles up the road when you see em pulled over but at least you wont be escalating a possible road rage incident.

Sandwich

esel wrote: »

Is this the kind of thing that goes through the tiny minds of all the other drivers who behave like this?

I hope it is (tiny mind or not), although I do encounter far more drivers doing less than 120kph and not pulling over, so maybe there is nothing at all going through their minds.

Sandwich

Rory123 wrote: »

Hibernian Ignition course... not an advanced driving course per say. The rationale was that its absolutely not your responsibility to enforce the speed limit laws on others. And staying in lane 2 with some bonehead 6 inches behind you blowing his horn is just as dangerous or even more so than him doing speeds in excess of 120kmh.
Then you can pull back out and continue overtaking if you so wish.
... Be the bigger man and slow your speed by 5kmh every so often, and some day you might save a life!

Intersting. The motivation to maintain 120kph when overtaking others rather than facilitate the speeders is : 1) obey the speed limit, 2) no reason i should delay my own progress to facilitate those who arnt (slowing them down is just a bonus side effect). I am driving according to the ROTR, although I take the line about safety being paramount and overriding both of the above.

Would the same reasing from your course apply to the following variation of the same situation:

You are in the inside lane. You come up to a car in the outside lane doing 60kph. You move to the outside lane to overtake them but they dont move. A long queue forms behind you as the whole motorway is held up by this one one car - all except the first car are following the law. The safety first idea from above would suggest to me that you should move to the inside lane and overtake them - despite breaking the rotr.

Sandwich

WHITE_P wrote: »

Its not up to the public to police the roads. In fact you could be breaking the law, not sure but check the road traffic act if you like. Great reading if you are suffering from insomnia.

Am not doing it to police the roads. Havent read the RTA, but have passed my test unlike much of the driving population. Would appreciate it you could refer me to the section that explains our resposibility to facilitate those who want to break the RTA. And I will stand corrected.
Or a Gaybo press conference urging drivers to : Be Nice to Speeders - Move Out of Their Way.

colm_mcm

Have you taken into account that your speedo is probably overstating your speed? Maybe my speedo says you're doing 115 and I want to do 120. you still won't get out of my way, which makes you as bad as the idiot doing 60kmpg that is oblivious to the angry queue behind him.

Sandwich

colm_mcm wrote: »

Have you taken into account that your speedo is probably overstating your speed? Maybe my speedo says you're doing 115 and I want to do 120. you still won't get out of my way, which makes you as bad as the idiot doing 60kmpg that is oblivious to the angry queue behind him.

Yes, am aware of that. Dont have cruise control, but generally keep the needle between 123 and 126kph

colm_mcm

I'm not one for speeding myself anymore, but am always aware of what's going on behind me, and would let someone by even if doing so let them break the law.