Flashing: Yes or No?

[jimt3te50]

Originally Posted by superyob

It all depends on whether my trench coat is back from the drycleaners... Oh. you mean headlights!!!

I'm reminded of the three old ladies sitting on the park bench when a fella walks by and flashes them. Two had a stroke and one couldn't reach

[Express]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

The main issue is, even if the Governments true intention is not to save lives, but is to use them as a revenue raiser (and its probably a combination of both), then they are going to set out to get that revenue anyhow. It can be by fining people who are speeding (and only people who are speeding, not people who do the right thing), and potentially save the life of one of your loved one. Or they could slug the general population, and increase land taxes, water rates, registration etc etc. When people flash speeding drivers, then not only do they risk killing their own loved one, they are also saying i would love to be the one paying more taxes, rather than the twit doing the wrong thing. You achieve absolutely nothing by flashing someone,and you risk peoples lives, and no one can justify any logic in it. You dont stop the revenue source, you simply shift it somewhere else.

"Here ya go mate, i saved you from getting a fine, and next month you might go out and kill my son, and i aint the brightest person in the world, so after i attend my sons funeral, i will walk into the rego office and pay an extra $20 on my registration that the government need not have raised if only i let you get that fine"

There are lots of tactics employed by every echelon of Government from Local to Federal to revenue raise and the example of catching out low range speeders to fill the coffers is just one where Governments op for the easy but not necessarily most dangerous target.

The counter attack is, if Government’s weren’t organisations that are so self-serving and wasteful when it comes to public money, maybe, just maybe these tactics wouldn’t be needed and more money would be available simply because wastage is controlled.

Then speed limits in some areas could be lifted to give the public the impression this is about safety and not just about trying to catch people out to raise money.

The constant variation of speed limits along roads and streets for no common sense reason where a driver has to be alert to speed signs at the expense of being attentive to the act of safe driving is an issue that often pops up.

Mobile phones are considered as dangerous and deadly as drink driving but the penalties don’t reflect that and is it because Governments haven’t yet figured out a means for a camera to catch you on the phone so they can revenue raise.

I’m not a person that condones life threatening activities but I am one that believes there is real and perceived differences in the level of an activity and I’m just saying it doesn’t hurt to give motorists a fair go and if flashing your lights gives them a fighting chance against a Government that isn’t really in it for the safety of motorists then I can live with that.

As far as your reference to raising taxes is concerned, even a dill would understand that Australia is long overdue for some meaningful Tax reform.

I also know some people will take the high road where speed kills and they won’t accept there may be a difference between being 1km over or 100km and there are those like me who sit on the fence and see a need for a more understanding approach to why people speed.

I read once that if a large percentage of motorists are driving say 10 kilometres over the limit then the limit doesn’t reflect what most motorists consider to be safe and that limit should be reassessed.

But we have differing opinions and that’s good a good thing as it allows different arguments for and against to be put out for discussion.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by adumb

I never do and couldn't care less if I get flashed.
I generally don't speed, but if I do and get caught I accept the consequences that come with it.

Taking responsibility for your own actions, that's just crazy talk, you should blame the Government, or the Police, or even the car manufacturer, no way you as the person controlling the vehicle could be at fault in any way.

[bazza91]

Originally Posted by CoupeKing

Part of me want's to (revenue) but why flash some *&^% stick to slow down, or pre-warn him, only to have him drive down the next main road and run over your kids on the crossing.

Yes that may work if its a cop on the side of the road who is actually pulling people over, however (in my area at least) 99% of the time its just a camera car doing absolutely nothing except taking a photo, in which case the driver still goes down the road and runs your kids over at a crossing.
Its kind of a double edged sword:
You flash to warn - He could still be on the road and kill your kids
You dont flash to warn - He could still be on the road and kill your kids.

Everybody wants to do the right thing, or what they think is the right thing so Each to their own I think.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

I think you people take it to literal, I am pretty sure that these speed cameras are responsible for taking a good number of morons off the road, ie fines and demerit points get issued and said moron loses his license and hopefully this may or may not prevent a tragedy in the future.

Too many people here seem to focus on the immediate action, it does not matter, I know plenty of people who will get booked by a cop and will then continue speeding as they have already been done.

The cameras are not only there to slow people in a certain area, they are there to get people who have no ability to drive and who are not paying attention to the road fined and hopefully suspended from driving. This is to all our benefit, as it makes the roads a little bit safer place to be, as the moron that is unable to follow basic rules and at the same time does not pay attention to the road in front of him gets fined and points deducted. People that are speeding but paying attention will never be caught by a camera, it's only those dim wits that are unable to pay attention as well as doing the wrong thing will get caught.

I can't see why law abiding road users would have any issue with this, cameras have never had any affect on my life or the way I drive, I travel around 90-100000km every year mainly on NSW and QLD roads, and just completed a 2000km trip a few days ago without ever having had any issues with cameras.

Personally I think flashing exposes you personally to the risk of getting fined and having demerit points deducted all for nothing, and on top of that it interferes with the process of natural selection by helping some moron who cares nothing about you to stay on the road longer. May be, just may be the person you flashed will keep his license because of your actions and will go on to killing some innocent person in his car some weeks down the track.

And may be if the stars have aligned this person could be you or your family or one of your mates or his family, the universe works in strange ways.

[Yellow_Festiva]

I've skimmed through the thread quickly, I thought it was illegal to flash your 'high beams' so I just turn my regular headlights on and off a few times.

[bazza91]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I think you people take it to literal, I am pretty sure that these speed cameras are responsible for taking a good number of morons off the road, ie fines and demerit points get issued and said moron loses his license and hopefully this may or may not prevent a tragedy in the future.

Too many people here seem to focus on the immediate action, it does not matter, I know plenty of people who will get booked by a cop and will then continue speeding as they have already been done.

The cameras are not only there to slow people in a certain area, they are there to get people who have no ability to drive and who are not paying attention to the road fined and hopefully suspended from driving. This is to all our benefit, as it makes the roads a little bit safer place to be, as the moron that is unable to follow basic rules and at the same time does not pay attention to the road in front of him gets fined and points deducted. People that are speeding but paying attention will never be caught by a camera, it's only those dim wits that are unable to pay attention as well as doing the wrong thing will get caught.

I can't see why law abiding road users would have any issue with this, cameras have never had any affect on my life or the way I drive, I travel around 90-100000km every year mainly on NSW and QLD roads, and just completed a 2000km trip a few days ago without ever having had any issues with cameras.

Personally I think flashing exposes you personally to the risk of getting fined and having demerit points deducted all for nothing, and on top of that it interferes with the process of natural selection by helping some moron who cares nothing about you to stay on the road longer. May be, just may be the person you flashed will keep his license because of your actions and will go on to killing some innocent person in his car some weeks down the track.

And may be if the stars have aligned this person could be you or your family or one of your mates or his family, the universe works in strange ways.

That was very well written and well thought.
I do agree he may lose his license and it would be another dangerous driver off the road. The thing ive noticed about bad drivers is that they will always get caught out eventually, whether its today or tomorrow it doesnt matter, they will always get caught.
And when they do get caught i will be there rolling past at the speed limit laughing my a*** off!

The only thing we can hope is that the police or cameras or by crashing their car, that these people get taken off the road before they injure or kill somebody.

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by bazza91

The only thing we can hope is that the police or cameras or by crashing their car, that these people get taken off the road before they injure or kill somebody.

But will cameras necessarily take them off the road?

How many get their spouses or others to say they were the driver? I'm sure if the driver relies on his/her licence for their employment, they would share the points. Regardless of whether it means signing a false stat dec..

This is a major flaw when it comes to cameras and demerit points.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

But will cameras necessarily take them off the road?

How many get their spouses or others to say they were the driver? I'm sure if the driver relies on his/her licence for their employment, they would share the points. Regardless of whether it means signing a false stat dec..

This is a major flaw when it comes to cameras and demerit points.

Good point and one I had not considered in my original post above, personally I would never take points for someone else.

As it affects more than your license, it also affects your ability to get insurance, significantly rises your insurance premium and excess if you can get insurance, may endanger your own employment/future employment (plenty of jobs where you need x amount of time incident free driving record to get the job).

I guess it does happen anyway, but it is only a matter of time before cameras get better and actually have a photo of the driver as well as the vehicle.(may be they already do, or may be they don't for other reasons, I really have no idea either way)

[bazza91]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I guess it does happen anyway, but it is only a matter of time before cameras get better and actually have a photo of the driver as well as the vehicle.(may be they already do, or may be they don't for other reasons, I really have no idea either way)

Interesting you mention this, I believe it was in the UK to get booked by a speed camera they had to get a photo of the driver as proof it was you driving the car.
Though this may be an old wives tale that keeps getting spread...

[Focused]

I usually flash but wait until the oncoming car is close enough that I can tell that it's not a new SS or new XR6 (which seem to make up almost all of NSW HWP's marked and unmarked fleet).
Sorry to those XR owners out there that aren't cops - you won't be getting a flash from me.

[cheap]

Not that I condone go out of my way speeding, but just get a UHF radio. You will get plenty of information on where radars are, unmarked cars and lots more. On the down side you'll also get to listen to a zillion torrets-syndrome bogans.

[Itsme]

I never flash, too many fools these days that deserve to be fined & lose their licence.

[LTDHO]

I flash my lights.
I thank those flash me too.

Personally I think it's a joke for getting done for 3kph over, and the flash is a courtesy (like many others) often forgotten.

[ford71V8]

Yep when it come to revenue cameras, its an us against them mentality.

[ebv8]

i flash, i have been saved more than once by flashing motorists and once by a police minivan just after i got my GT, i guess the driver was a ford fan

i generally just flash enthusiast cars i won't bother flashing a corolla, camry or any hyundai.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by Sioso

After going past a speed trap do you flash oncoming vehicles?
(I'm talking about headlights).

I had a few dozen vehicles come past yesterday prior to going past a speed camera set up on the side of the road (a side street out in the middle of nowhere - 60 zone) not a single car gave me a warning.

I was sitting on the speed limit anyway so no problem there, but it does appear to be happening less and less.

I figure if they are going to go to the trouble of hiding I'll go to the trouble of letting others know, especially when the spot they choose isn't dangerous but is suspiciously close to a change in speed limits.

You asked a question but did not put in a poll.

I see a lot less flashing now compared to a few decades ago.

[tapeworm]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

The fact that these people pushing the limits, are still on the road, probably points to the fact that they dont drive like that all the time. So theres a good chance that you are flashing people that do do it sometimes, but just not when around you. Maybe if the cops knocked on your door, to say a speeding motorist has killed your mum, dad, sister, brother or child etc, then you may sit down and wonder if it was someone you had warned, and never had to learn his lesson.

People dont get speeding fines for not speeding and yet oddly, innocent people get killed by speedsters who lose control of their vehicle.

'Speedster's' who are killing your mum etc are most likely doing 160 in a 50 zone while off one's face on ice. I doubt there is one death caused by people doing 65 in a 60 zone for example which is what the majority is fined for. Revenue raising bottom dwellers-flash away!

[Sioso]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

You asked a question but did not put in a poll.

I see a lot less flashing now compared to a few decades ago.

I don't know how to do it, I ticked the box for a poll and then nothing happened.............

[Whitey-AMG]

Most people do their best to be law abiding citizens and have better things to spend their money on than a fine for 6klm\h over the zone limit so I always signal my lo beam lights to warn the unsuspecting victims of the revenue cameras when I can.

[STINKY NINJA]

Originally Posted by jimt3te50

I'm reminded of the three old ladies sitting on the park bench when a fella walks by and flashes them. Two had a stroke and one couldn't reach

lol,pure gold

[STINKY NINJA]

Flashed a few people today,got a few waves,im happy to save at least 1 person getting a fine!

[V8 Ghia Mike]

Originally Posted by STEALTHY

I do the opposite.

If there is a camera, i wont flash people. If i speed, i've accepted the cost of the fine to go that speed. My opinion is, so have other road users who risk it.

That said, if i see someone driving like a ****tard (clearly going way above the limit) i'll randomly flash where there isn't a camera so they freak out and slow down

Exactly what I do mate. It certainly slows down the tools.

[Str8jakt]

Unless there is someone being a complete idiot then generally I will flash, and like earlier I might flash the odd tool as well just to get them to slow down and cause them some worry.

I live in the South West of WA and there are a lot of fatality crosses on the highways down here, but I never see cameras at any of the fatality locations, only where there's likely to be a large volume of people making minor mistakes.

Two weeks ago I saw a multinova at the end of an overtaking lane, and nowhere near a fatality area so I let as many people know about that as I could. Between Bunbury and Busselton there are limited over taking opportunities, and plenty of B Doubles on the road. When you get to one of the overtaking lanes you need to get around the slow traffic and trucks in a reasonably quick fashion, both to allow other vehicles to pass in these limited areas and also because it is dangerous to sit near the loaded trucks. A bigger danger on the roads is the idiots that sit in the overtaking lane alongside other vehicles and trucks without overtaking, only passing at the last possible moment, but the cameras don't catch these fools.

I would rather see more cops on the road and more fixed cameras in dangerous areas and school zones.

[markscottefxr8]

In SA ive been warned for doing it, was told its the high beams that are the issue. if u use standard night lights its fine... but who really trusts these mugs who have quotas to bust people.. go catch the real crimes like the abos and immigrants who attack kids, rob servos stc..... 3kph over the limit now is a fine in south oz.Ive been on the single demerit point for past year because 2 speeding fines under 10 and 1 that was 71 in a new 50 zone with those council style signs placed on ground in a area where u couldnt look. I took about 50 photos and got fined 700 bucks plus 7 or 8 points so within 3 years, 55, 57 in 50s and then 21 which was a setup and i had one point given to me or instead of 3 months it would be 6 months....... lol lucky i got away with it that through sheer luck. no license, no work van,no job... ****en what a system and r lives being saved;; NO ****EN WAY

[Eaturbo]

Always flash, it's part of being Australian. Think its even part of the driving test that you flash oncoming drivers to warn of speed radars.

[uniacidz]

Originally Posted by baboon

I used to but because there are soo many of them - I got lazy!

Same

Sometimes i do when i care, other times no as no one does it for me it seems.

[Ben73]

Used to a lot, now I'm lazy.
In the 300c if the cops ever did pull me over for flashing the excuse was going to be the high beam was on the wrong side I meant to do the windscreen washer.

[STINKY NINJA]

I got flashed today and got saved from a minor speeding fine,was doing about 7-8 ks over,made my day
Thankyou lady in the white commodore;)
Makes flashing all the time worthwhile when you get saved...

[Tom Tucker]

Originally Posted by STINKY NINJA

I got flashed today and got saved from a minor speeding fine,was doing about 7-8 ks over,made my day
Thankyou lady in the white commodore;)
Makes flashing all the time worthwhile when you get saved...

If some on here are to be believed, it's a wonder you didn't run down a whole pre school full of children. Watch out, they're probably constructing a crucifix as I write this.