Flashing high beams warning of speed trap is not illegal in Florida

The cops will want to harass you.

From LiveLeak.com:

Quote :

This video is dedicated to Eric Cambell and to all citizens who have been illegally ticketed,harrased,and or arrested for exercising their 1st amendment protected right to communicate with other drivers.


For years in the state of Florida LEO's have been ticketing motorist who warn others of speed traps by flashing their high beams. This is despite the fact that flashing high beams to warn of speed traps is not illegal.

A judge even issued a court order back in 2005 telling the Florida Highway Patrol to stop ticketing motorist for flashing high beams to warn of speed traps because it is a form of communication,thus it is an activity protected by the first amendment.

Despite and in defiance of the court order FHP records show that over 10,000 citizens have been illegally cited for flashing their highbeams since 2005. As a result of this illegal behavior there is a class action lawsuit against the FHP,and other law enforcement agencies.


Apparently the word has gotten out to LEO"S to stop illegally ticketing motorist for flashing their highbeams. Not taking the word of law enforcement P.R.O.'s I decided to go see if LEO's are still engaging in this illegal behavior for myself in what I call SPEED TRAP CRASHER!

I was stopped by Officer Valerio of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. At first contact Officer Valerio is quick on his feet and does fine. However, when Officer Valerio returns after running my ID, things get a little sketchy.

That's good information and an interesting video, E. Thanks for posting it. I noticed that the guy who was video taping had a Gadsden flag sticker on his back window... very likely a Libertarian .

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of legality in different states as well as some other good / interesting info. Of course it is illegal to flash your lights to warn other drivers of speed traps in California, however it is still a very common practice where I live and in other rural areas throughout the state, I would imagine primarily because the hills and windy roads make it difficult or impossible for LEO to see us warn each other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlight_flashing

riceme wrote:

That's good information and an interesting video, E. Thanks for posting it. I noticed that the guy who was video taping had a Gadsden flag sticker on his back window... very likely a Libertarian .

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of legality in different states as well as some other good / interesting info. Of course it is illegal to flash your lights to warn other drivers of speed traps in California, however it is still a very common practice where I live and in other rural areas throughout the state, I would imagine primarily because the hills and windy roads make it difficult or impossible for LEO to see us warn each other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlight_flashing

I hate it when utility or maintenance trucks drive down the road with alternating strobe lights for headlights. I even hate flashers in the rain. I get lulled into complacency with flashing red lights on the car ahead of me and it takes a few milliseconds more to determine that BRAKE lights are now on... DANGEROUS!

Eric wrote:

I hate it when utility or maintenance trucks drive down the road with alternating strobe lights for headlights.  I even hate flashers in the rain.  I get lulled into complacency with flashing red lights on the car ahead of me and it takes a few milliseconds more to determine that BRAKE lights are now on... DANGEROUS!

I DO TOO! It REALLY bothered me a LOT in Florida... it must be illegal in California because I cannot recall ever having seen a utility / maintenance vehicle driving with strobe lights here... not even a snowplow. I think they are required to have amber light bars (flashers, not strobes) here. Also, I think it is very dangerous... You might recall that I get seizures, and of course strobe lights trigger seizures for most people who get them. Scary. When I encountered vehicles w/strobes in Florida, I would typically pull off the road (so long as it was safe to do so) and wait until it was far enough away to not bother me.

Yup, I just looked up the California law with respect to strobes & flashers. The only vehicles aside from LEO permitted to have a strobe are school buses. They can have a white strobe which they can use when visibility is less than 500-ft. Everyone else can only use amber flashers.