How do you tell someone to turn their lights on?

[Dodsy]

TooMany2cvs said:

roystinho said:

did the blinking hands sign

The _what_?

[andburg]

I was followed for 10 minutes other night by a woman with drls only on.

flashed my lights on and off
gestured out the window pointing back at her lights
turned my lights off for a period at traffic lights
at traffic lights scrambled into the glovebox to grab my emergency torch and flashed that.

eventually at aanother set of traffic lights further on she got the picture and flashed me, i gave her a round of applause and drove off

[Lloyd71]

I followed a woman in a huge people carrier recently, no lights at all on and even when she got to a really dark area it didn't click (there was some street lighting nearby lighting up a cycle path) so I flashed my full beams on and off a few times and she actually slowed down just to turn her lights on. She should have probably figured that out before setting off.

[TheInternet]

TooMany2cvs said:

roystinho said:

did the blinking hands sign

The _what_?

You know, like this, preferably whilst mouthing: 'Liiiights'.

[mistakenplane]

A flash works.

Problem is when someone flashes you and you cant fking figure out why!

I had it the other morning, wasnt a "knob" flash obviously a warning. I pulled over, checked my motor and couldnt see anything. Got someone at work to check brake lights, no problem.

So now I wonder what he was trying to tell me, and if Im driving with an issue Im being blind and cant see?!

[BGarside]

Drive into them head on, then say 'Sorry mate, I didn't see you'.

[vrsmxtb]

I was caught out last week, my Fabia only uses one bulb in the headlights and uses an adjustable reflector to change from dipped to main beam. I "upgraded" last winter to Osram Nightbreakers and they both simultaneously blew so I had to drive from work to a ECP shop on just LED sidelights (like DRLs but in the same place foglights usually are).

It was pretty dodgy, I was extremely cautious even though I wasn't completely invisible. However I was a little disappointed as only two people on a 30 minute journey flashed me to let me know what I already knew!

Suffice it to say, I definitely put a spare bulb set in the boot now.

[jamiebae]

Several doses of Solihul's finest xenon high beams at the dozy moron in a Citroen C3 on the rainy autoroute at dusk today didn't work, so I overtook and turned my lights on and off a few times which finally did the trick. The car was grey, so pretty much invisible with lights off, but the C3 has a backlit digital dash so it's not obvious your lights are off if you're a clueless cretin I guess.

[Spare tyre]

TooMany2cvs said:

The _what_?

Squeeze two large boobies

[threadlock]

sealtt said:

Surely even more sensible just to add automaric headlights if they are already going to install the sensor for it?

I've not thought about turning on headlights for about 5 years, it should definitely be standard on all cars in the future.

Are you the sort of driver who leaves his lights off in daytime fog or rain then, because he's forgotten how to use them?

[ferrariF50lover]

Riknos said:

I did blinking hands one once before, it worked! (We were on foot walking down the road) My wife thought I was nuts...

If I'm driving I will flash them like a crazy person, I mean REALLY go to town until they get the message... it works, sometimes takes about 30 seconds, like one dozy bint driving down the motorway in the pitch black parts with no lights on in a black car... friggin dangerous!

I did it once to a guy who then pulled over wound down the window and aggressively shouted something along the lines of "OI Why you flashing me mate?" once I explained the situation he seemed to calm down and give me a thumbs up - some people are unnecessarily hostile!

I've had similar...

Knuckle dragger: "You're a . If I wasn't on bail, I'd rip your fking head off you fking st stain. I'll fking cut your head off and st down your neck for flashing me you fking dhead. What the fk do you think you're doing, anyway?"

Me: "Your rear foglight is on"

KD: "Oh, yeah, cheers pal"

As to mongs with no lights, well, in my 45 minute commute, I generally flash the first couple, then don't bother with the remaining dozen or so. There are many, MANY idiots about. I see just as many people without lights in the dark (motorists and, even more inexplicably, cyclists) as I do with fogs on in drizzle and just about everything in between. It's got so bad that I actually mentioned to the wife the other day when I'd gone a whole 13 mile journey without seeing anyone doing anything bizarre/stupid/dangerous.

Simon.

[Balmoral]

Funny ain't it, we have lane departure, but we don't have lights on.

[lbc]

funinhounslow said:

As with Audis noted above, the Up/Mii/Citigo dashboard is usually illuminated. When it gets dark the sensor turns off the illumination forcing you to put your lights on so you can read the dials.Such a simple, sensible idea!

But it does not work though.

I was behind a newish Audi Q something 4WD with no lights on at the rear, despite me briefly flasing my xenons at him several times.

The DRL's were on but the driver was the usual Audi idiot.

The same thing with Range Rovers I have seen on a pitch black motorway.

[Spare tyre]

I find turning my lights off then back in works the best

I do know people who won't turn their lights on when someone flashes them as a reminder, cus they don't like being told what to do

They wait till the kind person has gone and then switches em on

[illmonkey]

At 7am this morning I saw a taxi pull onto a main junction on a very busy roundabout with no lights. I done the old hazard trick, nothing, so I started getting out my car and done the old hand gesture (no, not coffee beans) to him and he finally got it. I was fuming, how can a 'professional' driver not even think to put his lights on?!

[randomeddy]

roystinho said:

Come on, we've all done it. Hold your hand up in the air like you're high 5'ing someone, then open and close your fist for the flashing. I also like to mouth 'lights' at them - as if they'll see me...

Peter Kay is good at it.

[hornetrider]

Balmoral said:

Funny ain't it, we have lane departure, but we don't have lights on.

Very good point, sir.

[randomeddy]

I was honestly chuckling to myself yesterday.After a spell of very heavy rain on the m-way I saw a driver turn his rear foglights off.
Well done that man.

[spitsfire]

Many moons ago I double-flashed an unmarked police car that pulled out in front of me with only side lights on (on a wet winter's evening in Glasgow), only to be pulled over and given a massive bking for distracting the driver. CBA with an argument, so just apologised and got out of there.

It goes to show, however, that if police officers (who get additional training in how to drive a car) can't understand the importance of making sure their vehicle is visible to other road users, the average steering-wheel hugging, middle-lane dweller certainly won't.

I've also tried to explain to friends why driving around with one headlight out is dangerous to themselves and other road users ('is that a motorbike coming towards me on a single-carriageway? Oh no, it's a medium-sized saloon') but they can't/won't accept that it's lazy and stupid.

I've started to come round to the Clarkson argument that the best way to improve road safety is to put a 6" metal spike in the centre of the steering wheel and let natural selection do the rest.

[Dodsy]

threadlock said:

Are you the sort of driver who leaves his lights off in daytime fog or rain then, because he's forgotten how to use them?

In the Jag if the wipers are on auto and run for more than a certain time (I think its 10 seconds) then it turns the headlights on.

Fog is usually thick enough to flip the headlights on too, but I dont rely on it.