Why are other drivers "flashing" at Dd?

[paranoidmum9]

By flashing I mean their lights not their bits 🙈
The obvious answer is her lights don't work properly but we've checked and they are fine.
It only happens at night so it's not anyone warning her off a speed van.
She's a new driver restricted to 45mph (NI) and I've her app that tracks her driving score which is always high so she's not driving like a boy racer.
When she told me I thought she was maybe just mixing up the lights on oncoming traffic jumping when going over pop holes/speed bumps etc but I was in the car with her last night and it happened twice so I know she's telling the truth.
She drives a typical small new driver car and even though she's got the pass plates on and has to drive slow it's only ever oncoming cars that do it as they are passing her so it's not like it's knob drivers behind her getting frustrated by her driving.
I feel like I'm missing something really obvious here?

few things -

are the lights actually on and not the daylight running lights. Since these because the norm its amazing how many people dont have the lights on.

has she got her fog lights on

are the high beams on

is the car a smaller car and the other cars SUVs in which case their lights often hit higher up and smaller undulations in the road can make it look like they are flashing but not

how are the lights set up on the car - some auto adjust others you have a small dial which you can manually adjust - check this if there is one

Could her fogg lights be on?

I would second the bumps in the road, I thought I was being flashed all the time!

I think the point was that, after dark, oncoming drivers won’t necessarily see the probation plates on her car before they flash at her.

Agree with @IIaltagDhubh - 45mph limit everywhere for new drivers is more hazardous than allpwing them to keep up with traffic. People will take risks to overtake a driver pootling along. Plus, the driver needs to learn to handle the car at a normal motorway speed.

Are they maybe warning her that there's a mobile speed camera ahead?

I don't know the answer to your question. But, I have learned something new, I didn't know about the 45 limit for new drivers in NI. Does the car have a limiter or does she just have to stick to 45?

And what's this app please that gives you a score? Interested in that!

Are her headlights adjusted correctly. There's usually a button on the sash that you can use to raise or lower your headlights. So if you are carrying lots of weight, you can lower the angle of your headlights when on dip. This stops people thinking she's driving with main beam on

@paranoidmum9 maybe get behind the wheel yourself and see if the same thing happens to you?

OK so you've sat with her in her car and seen the flashing.

You've driven your own car and passed her going in the opposite direction and noticed nothing.

BUT - is your car higher/lower than hers? If so (especially if yours is higher) you might not see the issue if it's dazzling lights.

are the lights actually on and not the daylight running lights. Since these became the norm its amazing how many people don't have the lights on.

I came on here to say this. Some people are driving with 'running lights' on and think that suffices when if weather conditions are poor or it's getting dark you have to use your headlights/dipped beam.... argh! Running lights don't show at the back either. Not sure if people are dense or lazy and think the car will think for itself.

I used to have a FIAT and no matter what I did with my headlights I’d get other drivers flashing me every winter. I’d put them on full dip and still it happened. I was grateful to get rid of the car in the end. It used to stress me out!

That was my first thought

I was going to suggest this but you've saved me trying to explain. Modern car lights do appear to flash for all sorts of reasons. Stop worrying about it.

Does it only happen on that stretch of road?

I'd be expecting a copper lurking in a layby with a speed gun somewhere ahead.

What car is it?

I had a Nissan micra E as my first car and when my lights were on they weren’t always visible to other drivers as there was a fault causing some kind of grime to built up so they’re weren’t very bright.

I use to get flashed all the time and was pulled over for it once by the police. The idiot turned my full beam on and told me to drive like that

Wow! Snipey.

Is she driving really slowly?

I guess bumps in the road tbh, some newer headlights look like they’re flashing. Probably the height position of your DDs car makes it look like they are when it’s just bumps.

As @IRememberXanadu , @AtomicBlondeRose and others have said - bumps in the road can make it look like lights are being flashed when they aren’t.

It was the angle of the headlights for me!

Could be their alignment dazzling oncoming traffic

I flash oncoming driver when there’s sheep on the road *unhelpful

I used to get this a lot, OP, and in my case it was uneven surface of the road (I mean, I still do but now I know).

Why would an oncoming vehicle care (unless they are eg waiting behind a parked car and she's dawdling, but that's not the case here, the OP has said it's a dual carriageway).

As for being dense, I didn't know that daylight lights are only at the front. So I did get caught out. Maybe the garages that sell them should warn you. Now I have it on the auto setting so the car does think for me!

I'd be expecting a copper lurking in a layby with a speed gun somewhere ahead do they do it at night though?