If you were the blonde woman in a 13 plate black Kia on the A34 this evening...

[Sidge]

I was flashing you because you had no lights on and it was nearly dark. And you were in a black car.

No need to give me the finger!!

(I know it’s a pointless thread but I feel better now thank you)

@AlexCabot

I had a bloke behind me on the A15 (Lincoln to Grantham if anyone knows the road) who hadn't put his lights on.

Every car that flashed him bloody blinded me. I could see in my mirror that when he got flashed he'd just shake his head! I tried slowing down, brake checking but he was completely oblivious. He was tailgating me too, I can only assume he was trying to get the benefit of my lights!

Lack of lights seems to be endemic on the A15 in Lincolnshire.

........And then she sped past the waiting police car doing the speed check everyone was warning her about.

I have a radar detector in my car (they are legal in the US) and have had people flip me the bird when I tried to warn them about a speed trap ahead. Twice I've had the satisfaction of driving past them as they got pulled over.

Ah Peter Kay. "Your lights!!!"

www.facebook.com/PeterKayClips/videos/your-lights-youve-not-got-your-lights-on/1267452993305464/

The A34 is dangerous enough in full daylight!
The thought of driving on there without lights makes me shudder.

Well done for trying to let her know.

I sometimes warn others of speed traps. But if you're a speeding, baseball cap wearing cocky young lad in a souped up Vauxhall Golf that looks like it crashed into a Halfords, yer on yer own pal! Most evenings they're tearing up the village high street making a right nuisance of themselves so they're fair game for speed traps.

But if you're a speeding, baseball cap wearing cocky young lad in a souped up Vauxhall Golf

To be fair, there aren't many of those around at all

I was once stopped by the police, who had been going the opposite way but had turned to follow me. The driver said "It isn't a good idea to flash a police car, madam, and make rude signs out of the window" I smiled sweetly as I said to him "I wasn't making rude signs, I was trying to warn you that you've forgotten to switch your lights on....."

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

For the past few years I've had silver or pale blue cars which basically throw on Invisibility Cloaks !

Rain, fog, drizzle nightmares .

Currently drive a silver car and agree. The conditions were so bad yesterday (driving rain, lots of spray from the surface, bit foggy) that I stuck my fog lights on. The car in front was white and kept vanishing into the murk.

Pity but these days the first reaction is a V sign or finger never used to be that way!..

Anyone driving on a main A class road without lights must have superman stylee vision!

I turn my lights off on on after flashing. If that doesnt work twice I slow down and keep well back.

@AnotherDelphinium

Yes, exactly *@ginandbearit* With modern cars the running lights turn on automatically, along with dashboard lights, so unless you check, you can think your lights are on since your dash is lit up like a Christmas tree!

But also, most modern cars have headlights that can be set to turn on automatically at dusk

I nearly crashed into someone on A roundabout because they were driving around at 11pm with no lights on. I honked and flashed frantically and got some abuse screamed at me. I really hope they didn't crash into anyone that night

That happened to me on Thursday night on my way home from work! Silly cow was in front of me and being flashed by every oncoming car. I am thinking "They will figure it out". She didnt.

So as I approached her from the rear I beeped a few times and flashed. She did put her lights on, so I am thinking "job done". As we pulled up in adjacent lanes at a roundabout she shouted "FUCK YOU!!" Big fancy brand new 4X4.

Wish I hadnt bothered, if it hadnt been for the poor sod she could have killed.

FYI, I have forgotten twice and been very grateful and amazingly embarassed each time.

*I’m amazed at how many people drive in the gloom not even aware that their dashboard isn't lit.

My dashboard is lit whether my lights are on or not.

I have auto lights which come on at dusk. If I’m driving on a well lit road, I wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell if they were on or not.

But also, most modern cars have headlights that can be set to turn on automatically at dusk

Auto lights quite often don't come on in fog or heavy rain, drives me mad the amount of drivers who think you only need lights in the dark.

It really annoys me when garages switch your lights off auto when the car goes into a service. Surely auto should be the default setting for them.

@Swiftnicola

My DH turns mine off auto if he uses my car.

I have told him not to and occasionally put tape over the light switch. I prefer them on auto, and will check they are on in wet wether, although they are are generally reliable.

@Sidge

It might be worth stating which part of A34, as it runs from Manchester to Southampton!!

Auto lights quite often don't come on in fog or heavy rain, drives me mad the amount of drivers who think you only need lights in the dark

That’s a misleading statement. Auto lights are designed to also come on in fog and rain too. If you see people not using them it is inevitably driver error.

DH was trying to get the attention of another driver one time. He thought she ought to know one of her tyres was completely flat. He gave up when she took the turning that lead to the motorway. Honestly if you haven't noticed the funny noise and the fact the car isn't handling right then there's no hope. I did wonder how far she got down the motorway before the tyre completely gave up or shredded.

I was walking down a main road once with crawling traffic when I heard a rhythmic “whomp whomp” type sound.
Soon established it was coming from the woman n the little red fiesta who had an entire (dead) pheasant caught around her wheel arch. The whomp sound was it hitting the inside of the bumper slowly detaching it from the car with every strike.
She flatly refuse to acknowledge me or any of the other passers by who tried to get her to pull over. Even tapping on her window elicited the ‘stare straight ahead’ response.

I’d be amazed if she’d had a bumper left when she got to wherever she was going.

Many years ago I was driving through a market town, I had set off from a well lit car park so had somehow forgotten to turn my lights on.
Thankfully someone flashed me and I realised, which was just as well as I met a police car coming in the opposite direction around the next corner. I was so grateful.....!

Sorry you were treated like that.

I've been eternally grateful to light flashers ever since a time years ago when I was driving late at night (probably too fast though under the limit) on the windy country roads near my house. A car in the other lane drove down the hill towards me and started flashing its lights quickly and repeatedly. I braked down to a very low speed in a panic wondering what on earth I'd done, came over the top of the hill and there was a cyclist dressed in black with no lights cycling down the middle of the road. There's no way I would have seen him to stop in time at my previous speed. Yes, he was 95% the one in the wrong but I'd have been the one to kill him!

I was driving over the QE11 Bridge a while back, car in front (black car) had no lights on, not even the Number Plate light .

Male driver ( I know , I over took him) pootling along under 40mph , front headlights were full on.

So either he knew he had no rear lights and was thinking "Oh instead of getting off the M25 , I'll go really slowly across the bridge".......or he had no clue !

But not usual for all 3 lights to fail . I don't know if the brake light part worked , or if it was electrics ?

Completely different but reminds me of a time that a van with a big, muscly man inside kept repeatedly flashing me. I thought maybe I'd accidentally cut him up or something. Had to stop at red lights and to my horror saw him get out of the van and approach my car, was terrified of some kind of road rage incident though couldn't think what I'd done wrong

He politely knocked on the window and said "love, your boot door is ajar" 😅