Are other drivers trying to tell me something? Am I being really thick?!

[MindYours]

When driving at night if nobody is in front of me or coming the other way I put the full beams on (country lanes) but if there are any cars behind me they nearly ALWAYS flash at me as if I've pissed them off or something. Obviously I turn off the beams straight away...

Full beams don't affect drivers behind do they? Am I missing something here?!

[Highlandcathedral]

Or are your rear lights working? I’ve come up behind cars with apparently no lights on, so flashed them, but if I pass I’ve realised their tail lights were broken, which is dangerous. As others say, get someone to stand behind car whilst you start it and test the lights.

[Hirsutefirs]

Normally, cars behind you won’t even know for sure that your main beams are on.

[Cheeseboardcriminal]

Can you go check your rear lights now, I am super curious to know

[isthistoonosy]

Here that means they want to get past you and are letting you know they are about to come past, but I'm not in the UK. Occasionally, esp with trucks, buses, they are trying to get a clearer view of the road ahead as they have better lights than me.
Could it be either of those things?

[Lulualla]

There another good point. Are you driving too slowly? What's the limit and what speed are you going?

[IckyIsAFuckingStupidWord]

What kind of car have you got, because if it’s say a small car, sometimes you are right in the line of some cars bulbs so it looks like they’re on main beam but they’re not.

[Seeingadistance]

If the same thing happened with your last car then it’s less likely to be a wiring issues, but still worth checking your rear lights.

More likely scenarios are that they are going over bumps in the road which makes it look like their flashing, or they are actually flashing because there is something about your driving style which makes most other drivers feel they have to flash you.

[Seeingadistance]

They’re not their.

[GoGoLego]

I thought people were doing that to me but I realised it's because lights tend to be brighter nowadays and when they go over bumps and stuff in the road it looks like they're flashing.

Realised on a dark morning recently when the car behind was going over sleeping policeman.

[Coulddowithanap]

Definetly pop out and check them, and report back lol

If people are constantly flashing you then either you have a light on that shouldn't be (like fog light) or your lights aren't on when they should be. (Could be an electrical fault).

[Wheresthebiffer2]

On our road it is national speed limit, even though it is a narrow single track road, with passing places. So basically no limit but I rarely get up to 50 and that is on one very straight part, the rest of the time I drive between 20 and 40. However I always let EVERYONE past me, as soon as possible, because I don't like to feel the pressure of someone on my tail.

[Coulddowithanap]

It doesn't take a very bumpy road to make it look like you are being flashed.

[Lifeinaplasticbox]

How can you be 100%?

[Velveteenfruitbowl]

Is the road very narrow/bendy? Maybe they don’t fancy being caught up in an accident because you can’t drive properly?

[Didntwanttochangemyname]

What speed are you doing? Are these cars right up your arse?

[mrwalkensir]

lots of people with front daytime running lights forget when it gets dark that their rear lights aren't on

[NeedAnExpert]

Or are your rear lights working? I’ve come up behind cars with apparently no lights on, so flashed them, but if I pass I’ve realised their tail lights were broken, which is dangerous. As others say, get someone to stand behind car whilst you start it and test the lights

Really common now cars have DRL. Fucking stupid system.

[SarahAndQuack]

I would also guess it's the dips, despite what you say, as it can look really like being flashed.

Or they are dicks.

We live near a very narrow, bendy road through woodland, where it's technically 60 limit. Invariably you sometimes get tossers behind you flashing away, trying to overtake whenever. But it is also a hotspot for accidents, and frequently you see cars that have come off the road and ended up in the ditch/ploughed into the trees.

Some people are just very impatient and very stupid.

[GonnaBeMaayy]

A picture of what the symbols look like for anyone not sure
(I certainly had to check).

[BlueCornsihPixie]

They are not flashing you for putting your full beams on, so there must be another reason

Either you are going too slow, or there is something about your driving that makes them flash you (justified or not)

Your rear lights are broken

You are turning on Your for lights/there is some wiring issue when you turn your fullbeams on

They are not flashing you, it is bumps. Even on motorways I occasionally think someone is flashing me when it's just bumps

The first step is get someone to stand behind your car and check your lights. Once you have ruled out 2 or 3 it must be either 1 or 2. In which case I'd just ignore it

[MindYours]

They're not up my arse, it's a 40mph road and I'm driving just over that. I'm a good, experienced driver.

I'll get someone to stand behind the car tomorrow.

[MargotMoon]

Bloody hell, looking at that table I've realised that I though full beams and fog lights were the same thing. I don't even know how to my put fog lights on

[BlueCornsihPixie]

Tbh I got tailgater and flashed doing 85 on a motorway the other day! Do you drive a small car or anything?

Some drivers are just aggressive arseholes.

If there's a correlation between full beams and the flashing I'd definitely check your read lights!

[LazyFace]

Surely if she was driving slowly she's still be 'flashed' after she switched her main beam off.

[NeedAnExpert]

Do you drive a modern car with automatic lights? They frequently only put lights on on the front of the car.