AIBU to flash my hazards for "thank you" or is it actually rude 😬

It used to be a “lorry driver’s Thank You” to put both indicators on in turn very briefly if you let them in front of you. As I’ve got older more people use a quick flash of the hazards in their cars for letting people out/pull in. I suppose people find the hazards easier than flicking indicators left then right.
If you’re giving way to people OP I can’t see how they’d find it rude to flash to draw attention to the fact you’ve stopped or slowed for them.

It's against the highway code to flash lights other than to show your presence, and for hazards to show a hazard.

There's an awful junction near me where folk flash others out and there have been a number of awful accidents including a fatality as the 'flashee' has then proceeded across the junction without checking for incoming traffic (that the 'flasher' can't see). Don't EVER assume it's safe to pull out/in if someone flashes you.

I tend to dip my lights in winter as a thank you (quick dip down to side lights and back up).
If someone lets me out and are then behind me, I’ll stick my hazards on for a few seconds as a thank you.

Normal here (surrey) to flick hazards to say thanks if cant see a hand gesture

Not seen hazards used as a thankyou.

The one drivers round here use is to alternate indicators left/right/left after being let in.

I think unless the response involves lots of honking or rude hand signals out the window, and also doesn't involve being tail-gated or brake checked... its a thankyou.

It tends to be lorry drivers who flip their hazards briefly on and off to say thanks round here, usually if you have eased back a bit and made a gap so they can pull in front of you on a dual carriageway. Bus drivers will flash their left then right indicators once for the same reason.

If you're in a car I wouldn't think it was a good idea to be honest. Much easier to just wave your left hand in a large and dramatic fashion so they can see you acknowledging them through your rear windscreen.

Well it's really not necessary to do the whole thank-you-hazards thing (I've never done it because I find it too distracting to find and press the hazard button when I need to be concentrating on the road).

I don't know why it would make people angry but if it's bothering you, just try not doing it? It's not expected.

The other use of hazards seems to be with parking.

The message being "I know I've parked like an arsehole but putting my hazards on somehow makes it alright".

you have to be super aggressive to get in and out of gaps etc.

Do you barge your way into gaps and then put hazards on to thank them? Thank them for what exactly? You wait until you get an "invitation " to go, you go and then you thank them otherwise you are just giving them an entitled-fuck -you-one finger-salute. So what do you actually do?

Flash hazards?? Never seen that ever. Would think that was some sort of emergency.

I do the v brief flash as a thank you for someone who has pulled in on a rural road to pass.

I do a hand up thanks when it's daylight

If its dark or I'm thanking a lorry or bus I use hazards

I think if you flash your hazards at someone to say thanks they generally know what it means. Maybe on the very odd occasion someone might confuse it with a complaint.

There are lots of messages people use to say thanks and signal annoyance and often they are similar. You can usually determine what it means by the action you have taken before being on the end of it.

Normal in London to flash to say go ahead, also to say thanks when you're passing someone who's let you go (e.g. on a road where there are parked cars on both sides and someone has to give way). Quick flash of hazards to say thanks to someone behind you also normal. Bus drivers and cabbies do all of the above and they, after all, rule the roads in London!

I think it’s normal to flash hazards for thanks both in and out of London. I don’t like flashed headlights for thanks as you can dazzle the other driver. Also don’t recommend them for “go ahead” as that can cause confusion

Have lived all over England and flashing hazards completely normal (though I generally prefer a hand up for cars in front and behind) as is flashing lights to let someone go, no matter what the code says!

Flashing headlights
Flashing hazards
Wave/thumbs up

All are deemed a polite thank you where I live.

You generally get the aggressive prolonged honking if you have pissed someone off

I'm outside of London and have never seen a flash of hazards to say thankyou.

As a thank you to people behind my vehicle, I have always used my indicators alternately a few times, never the hazards, although this seems to have become more popular here in recent years. I first saw it in Ireland.
I'm not a fan, I prefer to use hazards as just that, for example, when traffic is rapidly coming to a stop on the motorway.

If they are in front, I use the old school raised hand.

I do flash my head lights to let other vehicles go first, but usually as an attention getting device and accompanied by a “you go first” gesture.

I just nod or give a wave . I’ve been driving for donkeys years and have never seen anyone flash hazards as a thanks except for HGVs .

You shouldn't be flashing your headlights to anyone at any time apart from, as a PP has said, to say "I am here". I cannot think of any situation where that would apply as a meaningful stand alone action. Most people use it to let another driver have priority but it wouldn't stand up for insurance purposes if there was a collision or as a defence in court.
This business of flashing your hazards or indicators to people behind is fairly new and has only become mainstream in the last 20 years or so. It used to be done solely by lorry drivers but has caught on with the general driving population. I'd rather people just fucked off out of the way instead of dithering about trying to flash some sort of signal.

How strange, I live nowhere near London and have seen people do thank you hazards here and always interpreted it as thanks. I don't do it myself as I never got in to the habit, I do an old school raise my hand gesture!

I don't do it, I wave thanks, but it seems quite normal where I live (Cheshire). Seems to be mostly buses/vans when you let them go ahead of you.

Well done you gold star!

In reality though the vast majority of drivers flash lights to mean go ahead

I live in the North East and it definitely means thank you here.