Flash to Pass

[burnz]

i use it when a string of cars are caught behind a slower one..
when two cars pull out to overtake a slower car, thats when it can hit the fan..

[big_landau]

there's a big difference between giving the car in front a quick flash as your about to go round them to relentlessly flashing the car in front and trying to push them outta the way.one is accepted as a road rule the other isnt.

[ba-uteiful]

I only got my licence 4 years ago and i was taught flash to pass, it makes sense. Also in NSW it is 70km/h zones that don't mandate staying in the left lane. The Australian driving habits, especially on free/high/motorways, is the reason we don't and will not have an autobahn. People would rather see road in front of them than drive safely. There was a journal I read about a month ago where a psychologist explained how modern driving had become, in contrast, so primitive! Each driver having a sense of ownership of that part of the road they occupied and being in front of another car and so forth, a competition almost. Unfortunately he said it is seeded in our nature, but we need to make a change somewhere...

[irlewy86]

These days I just sit in the right lane with both the high beams and horn on waiting for the shoulder to clear.

[quimby]

Flash to pass is quite common in North America as well. A quick flick of the high beams usually gets people to move over.

[Ben73]

What I love doing at night when no traffic is around I will be in the left lane cursing, I come up behind a slower drive who is sitting in the right lane, now sure it would be easy to just pass them on the left, but as I get closer I change into the right lane behind them.... most of the time if you do this they will change to the left lane, once they are in the left lane I pass them, then instantly change back into the left in front of them and continue up the road, can't make it much more obvious then that.

[XR6Runner]

Originally Posted by Ben73

What I love doing at night when no traffic is around I will be in the left lane cursing, I come up behind a slower drive who is sitting in the right lane, now sure it would be easy to just pass them on the left, but as I get closer I change into the right lane behind them.... most of the time if you do this they will change to the left lane, once they are in the left lane I pass them, then instantly change back into the left in front of them and continue up the road, can't make it much more obvious then that.

Although that seems a little bit intimidating, I think it would show them that they should keep left, so it's basically giving them a lesson. I like that.

[Revolver]

Guys, there was a reason as to WHY this thread was closed in the first place....... How come it has come up again?

[Ben73]

Why was it exactly closed?

[Professor Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Why was it exactly closed?

see last post:

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11313094

[Auslandau]

After a brief discussion Proff has decided to let the thread run to see where it goes ...... I don't think that we have established whether or not flashing is actually illegal, whether it is the OK thing to do ..... or what the go is. As long as things stay sane .........

[WMD351]

Well I'd never heard of it and have always considered it to be a sign of road rage until this thread came along, so I've learned something. Now to go and check if it's actually legal in Victoria, I was under the impression it wasn't but I'm really not sure.
IMO it seems like a good idea as long as everybody's on the same page.

[AWD Chaser]

Originally Posted by Blue Beast II

Guys, there was a reason as to WHY this thread was closed in the first place....... How come it has come up again?

I accidentally double posted it when it was created.... The one with a poll was closed after 8 replies, but this one stayed open...

[Auslandau]

World wide, especially in Europe it is usually standard practice to flash lights when coming up to a slower car. It is not a sign of aggression. Same as blowing the horn in many Asian counties and flashing the lights. Couple of weeks ago in China told a driver that in Australia if he blew his horn like that (every 10 seconds) he wouldn't physically survive too long. His answer was ..... "But how do you let the other drivers know you are there and what you are doing?" I just shrugged and said .... "You just cross your fingers and hope for the best"

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by big_landau

there's a big difference between giving the car in front a quick flash as your about to go round them to relentlessly flashing the car in front and trying to push them outta the way, one is accepted as a road rule the other isnt.

YUP!

Originally Posted by irlewy86

These days I just sit in the right lane with both the high beams and horn on waiting for the shoulder to clear.

:-))))

Originally Posted by quimby

Flash to pass is quite common in North America as well. A quick flick of the high beams usually gets people to move over.

Ja, per previous page - the allowance is in international law. The yanks contracted the 49' Road Traffic Convention - and so its taught, as it is here, as an optional allowance.

Originally Posted by Auslandau

...... I don't think that we have established whether or not flashing is actually illegal, whether it is the OK thing to do ..... or what the go is.

"Flashing" in this threadc relates to "flash to pass":-
Australian Road Rules Part 13, Rule 218.
(2) However, if the driver is overtaking a vehicle, the driver
may briefly switch the headlights from low-beam to highbeam
immediately before the driver begins to overtake the
vehicle.
Note Low-beam and overtake are defined in the dictionary.

Originally Posted by WMD351

Well I'd never heard of it and have always considered it to be a sign of road rage until this thread came along, so I've learned something. Now to go and check if it's actually legal in Victoria, I was under the impression it wasn't but I'm really not sure.
IMO it seems like a good idea as long as everybody's on the same page.

It IS legal in Viktoria, as it is *worldwide*.

http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Do...09-94sr003.pdf

VIC ARR adoption re this rule, see page 266.
Whilst the allowance as you can see IS in Viktorian legislation, its not in the current Viktorian driver manual. I'll make sure it gets back in at its next reprint.

[nipper575]

I had never heard of it, never had it done to me, but if anyone did give me a flash, I wouldn't feel the need to give the finger. Don't know why people are so short to anger when they are in their cars. I'm even a person who is very easily annoyed but I always manage to let it go, it's not worth all the tailgating/stone chips/potential accident.

I have always made myself stick to the left hand side lane, even when it wasn't necessary (think either lane is fine in an 80kmh zone or less is the rule in Tasmania). Even still, I sit in the left unless I need to overtake. Probably the reason I have never been flashed.

I can draw no other conclusion than to think that the majority of Australian motorists are morons. Driving is not taken seriously enough, it isn't taught nearly as comprehensively as it should be, and people need attitude adjustments. People shouldn't crack the shits from just having someone flash them, it's like they take it personally, like they are having to swallow their pride by letting someone past.

[Professor Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by Keepleft

"Flashing" in this topic relates to "flash to pass":-
Australian Road Rules Part 13, Rule 218.
(2) However, if the driver is overtaking a vehicle, the driver
may briefly switch the headlights from low-beam to highbeam
immediately before the driver begins to overtake the
vehicle.
Note Low-beam and overtake are defined in the dictionary.

yes but that's not what is being referred to here. People are saying the flash is to make the car in front move out of the way. This is not the same as flashing to alert a car in front that they are being overtaken on a highway etc. If the car in front is in the right lane, this can not happen. So technically, going by the legislation you pasted, it is not allowable on a technicality.

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by nipper575

I have always made myself stick to the left hand side lane, even when it wasn't necessary (think either lane is fine in an 80kmh zone or less is the rule in Tasmania). Even still, I sit in the left unless I need to overtake. Probably the reason I have never been flashed.

You can still be flashed, its simply an optional alert given to you; to_let_you_know - just in case.
Especially - if the vehicle is shortly to arrive on your back door at say a "handsome speed". It is a courteous and appropriate signal for a fast and safe driver to give. Disrespect or rudeness is not intended.

Originally Posted by Professor Farnsworth

yes but that's not what is being referred to here. People are saying the flash to make the car in front move out of the way. This is not the same as flashing to alert a car in front that they are being overtaken on a highway etc. If the car in front is in the right lane, this can not happen. So technically, going by the legislation you pasted, it is not allowable on a technicality.

I am of course going by the thread title, but yes - I understand your point, heck, I know it from experience and by a post or two here:-)

You can flash a car in the RH lane (in our right hand drive terms), and it does happen in Germany, Italy, Hungary and Dubai (160km/h limit). This happens when the flashing car spots an RH vehicle passing a slower vehicle or 'vehicles' in the LH lane; here, the driver flashes typically about a kilometre back, and within a short time will be on the RH cars tail. The signal is intended for the RH driver primarily, - to please hurry up and pass that car or that traffic, and secondary meaning is simply to alert the even slower traffic of the faster closing vehicle.

You see and appreciate 'the system'; in Germany et al is geared to NOT impede faster traffic because 'speed' is accepted as a 'given'. The opposite happens here in Australia of course.

BUT, one must not run up the back of a car and flash madly - no law allows for that. Even rude gestures are banned in Germany on the road.

[nipper575]

Originally Posted by Keepleft

You can still be flashed, its simply an optional alert given to you; to_let_you_know - just in case.
Especially - if the vehicle is shortly to arrive on your back door at say a "handsome speed". It is a courteous and appropriate signal for a fast and safe driver to give. Disrespect or rudeness is not intended.

I understand that it isn't meant to be a sign or disrespect or rudeness, it's the drivers that get all wired up that need a lesson.

[Ben73]

I just happened to see this video before.
I guess the beamer should of flashed his lights before passing.

I'm wondering if the digits that keep changing on each lane is the approaching cars speed... surely it couldn't be??

[GuySA]

Here in South Africa our National Road Traffic Act effectively says it is illegal to travel in the right hand lane of a freeway, unless overtaking, and says that a vehicle in the right hand lane MUST move over as soon as it is clear to if they have been flashed by a vehicle behind.

Not to say that is always what happens...

[deesun]

Flash to pass = 2 x very quick flashes. Flash to get the ** outta my way = 2 x long flashes, then again, then blast horn, then take left lane if available and blast past giving very angry bird gesture.

[OzJavelin]

My '94 ZR550 and '82 GPz750 both have a "pass" toggle button to flash the lights (my older GS550/GS750 don't). I've always wondered if that was a carryover from American/European/Japanese roadrules and not relevant here .. as I've never "officially" heard of it before?

[irlewy86]

Maybe I might add a serious comment.

I always give two quick flashes when overtaking road trains. I'd like to think that convey's the message that I'm coming around the outside don't run over the top of me please.

[aussie muscle]

i've only used it when the vehicle ahead has a problem staying in the left lane. caravans sometimes tend to wander about a bit, esp when windy.