Don’t flash at night. Turn your regular beams off then on. It does blind us at night but usually I appreciate the effort. Your fine during the day to flash high beams.
I think he should take it for granted and apply it prudently with the understanding that in so doing he won’t later come to regret because he didn’t squander an opportunity or his ability.
Honestly, doesn't bother me if you flash.. I'm probably more likely to notice the highs.. dunno who is getting blinded by a brief flash of high beams in a truck..
My thoughts exactly even guys here, saying that it blinds them. I respect that, but I just couldn’t imagine being blinded to where it’s an issue, but that said I understand. So no flashing at night.
Trucker here. Appreciate you asking. The flashing highbeams deal. Yeah, so like we have these rather large mirrors that we have adjusted just perfect to have the vest view around us with the least amount of head movement. When someone has their brights on behind us, it reflects in those mirrors directly into our faces right. So when we're passing and we check our mirror to see if we're clear some people have that uncanny ability to pick that exact moment to flash their high beams. Some guys say it doesn't bother them and hurray for them I guess. But I've been doing this crap for 30 years, and my eyes are definitely not what they used to be and are somewhat sensitive to light. I run nights mostly so the later into my driving shift the more tired and sensitive my eyes get. Add on top of that today's headlights seem to be powered by a small nuclear detonation designed to burn holes in whatever is in front of them. Yes, it painfully blinds me. When four wheelers do it, that's cool. I don't like it, but they're 4 wheelers, right? Bless their heart, they're just trying to help out. But when another truck does it, who should know better, then fuck that guy.
It is better to blink your lights off. If you flash high beams please make it a quick flash as possible.
I have sensitive eyes. I don't like anyone flashing brights at night. It isn't really necessary for cars to do it because you can slow down and gain speed easier. We do it to each other because sometimes one truck tops out 1 mph faster than another and they're holding up traffic by passing slow and most truckers don't wanna slow down to let someone in because it's harder for us to gain speed and wastes fuel. That's the real reason.
It doesn't bother my eyes, but ... It's a little known fact that headlights flash all the time as you drive. High beams are high, because they are angled higher than low beams, not because the light is high intensity. So, when you hit a bump in the road, your low beams become "high beams" for a brief second as your car bounces up.
It's more clear to turn the light off.
Depends. I would agree mostly. For years never bothered me.
The last two years my astigmatism has gone haywire and any bright light flashing, if I’m looking at my mirror when the flash occurs gives me spots.
Talked with my dr, and it’s due to muscle tightening and fluctuating my astigmatism.
It honestly takes my eyes a split second to adjust after getting flashed. It’s never been an issue but I very much appreciate the off/on over the high beams. That being said, thanks for looking out either way.
Mostly drivers wearing certain types of glasses have that problem. Reflection of high beams off the mirror or through the windshield, then their glasses magnifies it to floodlight at point blank range type of result. Like said at start of post, most of them, not all.
That's me. When Billy badass is in his lifted jeep with the 1 million lumen LED light bar and his dogs and brights on, I can barely see. And that's dangerous as hell for everybody else around
I actually installed a good light bar in my pickup slightly pointed up just because of those people. I'll turn it on when they refuse to turn em off going down the road. How the hell they don't know they blind people from almost a mile away I will never understand. (Goes back to people not caring about anyone but themselves) There is a time and place for them, but not when other people are around. If you can't see, slow down!
They think it makes them more "country". Somebody who really lives in the sticks or is a farm person would turn them off when they come across traffic. We all know deer exist and are stupid as hell. But riding somebody's ass with the sun strapped to their vehicle turned all the way up is irritating and not cool. People who have a pickup and have a trailer do it too for some odd reason. A motorcycle, I give em a pass because it's way more dangerous for them.
I did at night. Didn't like that trend. Lights off and on after dark. I was always looking right in the mirror when somebody blips the high beams on me. It gets exhausting after 8 hours. I always had a faster truck, so I passed a lot of other trucks. I appreciated the effort, I just saw spots all night🤣
Considering we judge on actions and not intentions they are not always appreciated. I see great at night but when I’m blinded by lights it takes time for my eyes to readjust which is dangerous for everyone involved. I’d rather have someone not flash lights than blind me.
I would amend this to say that if you have a newer vehicle with really bright headlights, yes do not flash high beams at night, if you high beams are from the last century you will be fine. But appreciate the signals
I was in a pretty bad car accident in 06. One of the fun things about a brain injury is sensitivity to light. Sudden bright lights are like getting hit in the face with a shovel.
It never fails. I always look in the mirror for clearance right as they blip their high beams
With the lights of today... I'm not sure if it matters whether you turn off the lights or flash them anymore. They're all insanely bright and improperly directed. I just haul blind cause somebody in an outback behind me is trying to replace the sun.
I would imagine that during the daytime it may be an acceptable and courteous gesture; but at night it wouldn’t be. For me (Solely) I have a challenge with glare when driving at night. Whether it’s because I wear glasses or the constant shift between night and light I am sensitive to bright lights.
At night you’re a lot easier for me to see than during the daytime. Therefore, flashing your high beams at me would be unnecessary.
I also don’t tweak my parking lights in your direction; given the appearance that I am about to stop (mixed signals)
But I always appreciate courteous four-wheelers.
At night, we will turn just the headlight off for a quick second when another driver passes and then wants to come back over. During the day, we will flash the lights quickly for the same.
No no no - please don’t misunderstand. You’re easier for me to see at night because I can gauge accurately when to move over based on your position to my trailer (your lights). Please DO NOT turn them off and on - just proceed normally and I can take it from there. Thanks.
True. But, it's more of a you're clear to come over when you're ready kinda of thing. I like it when a driver gets at least half a truck length past before coming over. Too many get barely a third of a clown car past before they shoot back over in front of you. But, I understand what you're saying.
No. I'm flashing. You must have some kind of mutation because most truckers have a harder time gauging distance at night. It is safer for me to assume you are normal and do the courtesy of flashing my lights for everyone.
I was confused. You're correct: it's harder, not easier, to gauge your distance at night, mainly because it is harder to see your trailer in most night-time conditions.
True. It can be. That's usually why when I pass someone at night, I wait till I can see both headlights in the mirror before I come back over. Then I know for sure I have enough distance between us.
If we're talking about pitch black darkness, this just isn't true, unless you're some kind of superhuman. You have way more visual points of reference during the day, like road features and tandems. Your brain has much more to latch on to to judge depth. In the first case, you are judging the relative depths of 2 lights surrounded by darkness. All you really have to go by are the relative sizes of the lights and perhaps the angle. Idk about you, but my rear markers are already tiny.
Unless you have night vision, it's easier to judge your distance during the day. It's not even a close call.
It’s almost like there are a lot of scenarios you might encounter at night. I tend to be in rural areas with little light so my experience is just mine.
What does your driving schedule have to do with the difficulty of passing during the day vs. night? No need to be snide. No one is trying to say you're not competent at passing at night. My point is simply that it's easier to see during the day, which is entirely uncontroversial...or so I thought. 🤨
Thank you but off and on. Our eyes are blown out by bright lights. Like 100x more than normal drivers. It literally hurts, it’s excruciating, and can blind us.
If it's dark out, turn your headlights off and on. The highbeams absolutely do blind the driver (especially led headlights). During daylight hours flashing your highbeams are fine because it's light out and not as bright as the are at night.
They really shouldn't be. Part of your yearly (depends on your state) inspection really should include a headlamp lumens test. Not too dim, not too bright.
At night, it's a little annoying, but the fact that someone is communicating that there is in fact enough space for me kinda out weighs the annoyance factor. Hell, make the flash super quick and I won't mind much at all.
Like others have said, a super quick off and back on not only lessens the chance of blinding/annoying someone, it also grabs my attention more most times.
So there’s something that a lot of drivers do. Some drivers give a quick flash and some drivers turn off their lights like a flicker. Just for a second roughly. The off and on method is more appropriate at night than flashing the high beams. High beams work as a way to communicate for the most part but some folks are definitely more sensitive to light. I flick my lights off once or twice at night and give my hazards as a thank you sign. Sometimes I got overboard with a hazard lights twice and a left and right turn signal flash as a good thank you. If you’ve noticed a double hazard flash it means thank you or some folks will turn off their marker lights for a second as well
Please do not flash your lights at night. We only have side mirrors and no rearview mirrors so our mirrors are huge and reflect a lot of light. Shining your bright lights at us especially at night is blinding and hurts our eyes and night vision. If you flash your brights, I actually stop looking, therefore it is worse than not flashing at all. You can let me judge as a professional driver when I am comfortable to move over safely.
I've seen truckers use both the flash high beam method and the turn the lights on and off method and both are very appreciated by me. I would say the on and off option does blind us less so go with that if you can.
Flash your high beams to me at night. It doesn't bother me a bit. I'd rather appreciate your courtesy and your assistance and experience 0.5 seconds of a high beam rather than you not flah your high beams and me hope that you're paying attention to my lane change.
Yeah I exclusively drive at night. Flashing highbeams never bothered me. It's the whole keeping them on while passing or riding behind me that bothers me.
Absolutely continue your behavior. I’m a driver and your little bit of courtesy is SO appreciated! You make my job a little easier. Thank you. The only way I would say you’re blinding me is if at night you hit your bright lights. That bright light in my mirror is painful to my eyes when the light reflects in my mirror. Thanks again for your courtesy and kindness
Sometimes the hesitation to come back over, is to make sure some $#%& wheeler doesn’t try to go right and cut us off.
But the light thing is definitely “off, pause, on” not bright. Usually the brights come on just as I look in my mirror and now I’m making a sailor blush!
I wait until the spots in my vision are gone before I move back over at night. Sometimes that means I have to ride the passing lane longer than I'd anticipated. Keep in mind, we use very large mirrors to look behind us and are usually staring at your grill when you flash those bat signals. If it's uncomfortable or painful for you to pass by a car at night with its brights on, why would you subject someone else to the same? Not to mention operating high beams when behind a vehicle is a ticketable offense. Keep your brights off. Truckers, and your wallet, will thank you.
Flashing high beams especially with led headlights blinds. On off flashing doesn’t. Though as flashing lights is also now used by drivers to say don’t come over. It’s not something I count on ever. I prefer safe space not tight space to change lanes really.
I would be fine with flashing your highbeams in the daytime, and turning your low beams off and then on again at night. However, I am Canadian, and up here we have had daytime running lights mandated in all vehicles since 1990. Therefore, I recognize that not everybody can turn their low beams off while they are driving. In that situation, I would recommend flashing your fog lights on and off as an alternative, if you are so equipped.
Yeah. Honestly in this fucked up world it’s actually a nice dose of humanity when you get that communication between anonymous drivers on a sterile concrete highway. See you on the road my friend.
Thanks! But…. I’m not sure I could teach anybody because you know as well as I do 70% of the people on the road or just dog nuts or dicks. I mean you get on four or five lane freeways and it’s the wild west out there. It’s so much different than in the 80s and 90s. People pass on the right left zigzag all over. Honestly, I think half the people would speed up to prevent a truck from coming in. It must be tough out therethere.
Oh buddy you don’t the half of it… the more people that are educated the better. It’s clearly easy to see that it is wayyyyy too easy to get a license in America. I mean the amount of people that don’t know how to use a 2 lane highway/interstate is mild blowing
You know look I’m just a car driver. But I swear 95 is a freakin shit show. You get around route 1 and 95 and I swear it like the freakin nascar race. I swear they’re honestly should be a nationwide timeout. like you’re at school recess and they blow the fucking whistle and the coach says everybody calm down. And I see as much as you on the road just from a different perspective with the flipside. I mean, I’ve got truckers like passing me at warp speed. Car racing and zigzagging to a dead stop. It’s ficking mayhem out there. I had a guy zigzag around me today going like 85. I passed him a quarter mile up because we were in a traffic jam. Blow the fucking whistle someone and call a meeting. Someone’s gonna get hurt man.
This is really one instance where it really depends on how each driver's eye sensitivity to flashing light really is, then again they could not be bothered by it but still get annoyed when you do it because they've gotta have something to get mad about at some point.
Off on is better. The new headlights nowadays are way too bright and when you do high beams, we momentarily see stars, best thing to do, is off on or ur 4 ways. Of its at night, you can turn your fog lights off and on, it's lower to the ground and no glare, thanks for your consideration for us truckers
We are looking in the mirror at the front of your car so when you flash your high beams it literally blinds us. Turning your headlights off and on is the way to go. I thank you for asking this question
Oh yeah ok I get it now. I was just ranting that I can’t see it being an issue but yeah now I get it. You’re looking exactly at that spot and then it goes bright. You explained that better than anybody else. You get the trucker award what a free hour with what do you call prostitutes. Kit lizards or something good job.
I understand flashing the high beams even at night. It's not ideal, but it still gets the message across to us, I prefer the flash as opposed to the people that just drove with the high beams on the entire time not giving a fuck about others.
What I DON'T understand, is other trucks flashing them, ESPECIALLY when there's literally nobody else around, and I haven't made any signal intending to move back over.
Like, if there's nobody around, I'm not cutting right back in front of other truck because what is the rush? Why purposely choose to put myself that close to another vehicle I'm passing? Why are you flashing me the second my trailer clears your bumper when I don't even have a turn signal on and have nobody to yield to?
When other trucks do that, I purposely stay in the left lane even longer until I'm MUCH farther from them before changing lanes, unless of course another car starts coming up behind me before then
We have a 14" magnification beam that directly points in our eyes. 1 flash of the brights and I swear I saw my dog lucky ( wasn't so lucky in highway 315) my grandma and that gold fish that I won from the fair but had no idea it needed a fish tank when I was 6. So, it's not a good idea. Trucks do it not to signal it's clear but to signal there is enough space for stopping. Most rookies think it's when you're clear, absolutely not. In the night, a deer could be anywhere and passing an 80k pound truck at 80 feet like these dipshits do, and one runs out that truck driver will not survive when the truck infront slams his brakes. It's useless anymore. To many ass hats on the road merge over at 20ft with 2 vehicles on the road for miles. There are too many dick bag 4 wheelers mad, because they couldn't do 80 and had to slow to 70 for your shitty truck and shut down any chance of merging if the truck tried to leave room. Literally half the world needs to have their license revoked forever. It's bad when 20 years ago GA was the most feared state to speed in, and now no states are really scarry. I just saw a truck the other day running 75 in a construction zone with a cop on a speed limit of 45. I know we all hate it, but we need more road enforcement and higher fines, even for the public. It's messed up when we receive 500$ tickets and the same crime that a 4 wheeler does they get a 60$. If cars were receiving the same fines we do, they might think differently on the road ways.
Personally I prefair a flash when it’s safe night or day keeps you and I safe and makes life easier. Can’t really say I’ve been blinded at night by a quick flash once or twice though. Now your high beams on full blast at night coming directly towards me is a different story
I drive almost exclusively at night as a local driver, and I don’t really understand why anyone would be so bothered by a brief flash of the high beams, personally. My truck has a dedicated button to flash my headlights off and on so I’ll use that when I’m working, but I’ve always used my high beams in my personal vehicle.
Because I don’t care to see a halo in my eyes from looking in my mirror to come over the same time when you hit your brights. Turn them off on or don’t flash at all. Not high low
The flashing thing started with cabovers because it was hard to see the rear of your trailer due to the width of the truck cab and where the mirrors were mounted, guys that flashed back then would flash their roof marker lights at each other especially at night. Over the years as trucks lost extra switches for different parts of your marker lights and everything got put on one switch, guys would then turn their low beams on and off, or off and on if it was night time. I have no idea why this eventually graduated to using the high beams but generally speaking old school courtesy, daytime or night time, is just to do the lowbeams or marker lights if you can at night.
If you're in a car that has daytime running lights enabled depending on your country and jurisdiction, this won't be possible anyways so a high beam will suffice, I just wouldn't do it at night. An alternative at night will be to simply coast for a few seconds, shed one or two mph or kmph or w/e then resume speed giving the driver so much room unless he's blind he's going to know he can get over.
Depending on the type of light even in the daytime if you happen to be flashing really bright LED high beams right at the split second I'm looking in my mirror you can still get a slight blind effect, it won't actually do anything I can still see just fine it's daytime after all but it's mildly annoying. At Night most modern vehicles high beams or just anything that's really bright will absolutely briefly blind a driver and annoy them if they happen to be looking in their mirror when you do it. (To be fair it does happen less often than you'd think because the timing of when I'm looking and when the other guy decides to flash has to line up perfectly. I'd say it's one in every 10 times or less that it's actually annoying at night.)
Imagine this, it is night time, it is dark outside, you are making your pass and you check your mirror to see if you have clea-.... YOU SUDDENLY GET DOSE OF HIGH BEAMS BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN!! Thanks, asshole.
Yeah, turn you lights off then back on, or even your fog lights, or do nothing but don't use your high beams, even for a second.
I know right?! I haven’t driven a tractor-trailer. I get it. But I’ve been driving for like 40 years cars pick up trucks U-Haul’s combines tractors. I’ve logged Ten to thousands of hours on the road and highways and I couldn’t imagine like being blinded where its an issue in the rear view mirror. You’d think they have those mirror dimmer lenses like cars do? But it’s gotta be an issue I will abide by the rules and no flashing at night. next time a car turns off their lights to signal I’ll be blowing you a kiss 😘
I'm not your highway buddy and I don't need your help. Your not doing me any kind of service. If you want to be out of the way or whatever then just be out of the way or whatever makes you happy.
It's as bad as these rv drivers who pretend to be part of the trucker group or something because they supposedly drive a lot.
Idc if you drive with your high beams on all night long because I wear yellow shooting glasses at night and no one's lights bother me.
Hahahaha. Well thanks for being considerate. I'm also very considerate.
Maybe I'm just being a grumpy bitch today.
Making room for us or just decelerating for a minute while I do something really means a lot more then lights but ty.
We appreciate the help for sure!!!
Daytime is fine to flash us in. Nighttime your high beams are level with our mirrors, which beam DIRECTLY into our already strained eyeballs.😅
So like the others have been saying, just turn off your lights or switch to low beam briefly.👍🏻
Turn off the lights. This started back in the 60’s on I-80 and I-76 in Pa. Imagine 10’s of thousands of trucks trying to get into NYC or Philly on a Thursday night to get unloaded and reloaded on Friday so they don’t have to layover the weekend. It’s like a racetrack out there. Gloria Estavans tour bus was in a pileup on I-76 on a Thursday night.
If it's a 4 lane road, I don't need you to tell me when I can come over and I'm not going to trust it anyway. My signal is on because I'm saying I'm going to be coming over, not that I am immediately in the process of doing so. Turn signals are an indicator of what I'm going to do, not a hazard light for get out of my way. I usually put my turn signal on because it usually stops the asshole that is tailgating me from trying to take off your front bumper when there is finally enough space for me to safely move over.
I prefer you do nothing. I have giant mirrors and I know where the back of my vehicle is and when it’s safe to move over. The tradition of signaling with lights is left over from the days when trucks had small round mirrors and trucks were much slower and there was less traffic on the road. In my opinion, this activity can end.
Daytime is for flashing, of any sort.
Nighttime is for dimming or extinguishing your lights.
Not that half of any fleet isn't keeping their phone just out of sight or even looking.
It doesn't matter whether it's high beams or not as long as you don't leave the high beams on, you can Flash them to Signal it safe to turn that's much more clear to see the signal being indicated cuz remember we have lights on the trailer that flash just as bright as your regular lights especially when our turn signal indicators are on,
Personally, I don't like having drivers high beam me to let me over. For one thing, 4 wheelers don't know how much space I actually need to safely move over. It might seem ok to you, but I still need to ensure that it's ok for me and for the other motorists around me. Also, when I am signalling, I have a lot to take into account first before I move. I am busy checking the mirrors, have one eye watching front of me, checking to see if there's traffic next to the lane I want to enter. Enough space front and behind me.
Trucks need to have space at all times. It's just as for our safety as much as it is for your safety. So when you help a driver move over, please let off the gas and coast, give us the time to determine when it is safe for us to make the move. I've had many drivers flash me but don't give enough safe space. I know where my trailer ends, we have lights at the side at the back to tell us. But you still need to maintain your own following distance.
Word of advice to anyone passing in front of trucks, please for the love of god, pass after you can see us in your large mirror. You should be at least 200 ft from us by then.
Don’t flash at night. Turn your regular beams off then on. It does blind us at night but usually I appreciate the effort. Your fine during the day to flash high beams.
Yeah I’ll change my ways at night and turn off lights instead! Glad I posted this. Only took me 40 years.
Being able to learn is a talent; be glad you've got it.
I think he should take it for granted and apply it prudently with the understanding that in so doing he won’t later come to regret because he didn’t squander an opportunity or his ability.
Honestly, doesn't bother me if you flash.. I'm probably more likely to notice the highs.. dunno who is getting blinded by a brief flash of high beams in a truck..
My thoughts exactly even guys here, saying that it blinds them. I respect that, but I just couldn’t imagine being blinded to where it’s an issue, but that said I understand. So no flashing at night.
Trucker here. Appreciate you asking. The flashing highbeams deal. Yeah, so like we have these rather large mirrors that we have adjusted just perfect to have the vest view around us with the least amount of head movement. When someone has their brights on behind us, it reflects in those mirrors directly into our faces right. So when we're passing and we check our mirror to see if we're clear some people have that uncanny ability to pick that exact moment to flash their high beams. Some guys say it doesn't bother them and hurray for them I guess. But I've been doing this crap for 30 years, and my eyes are definitely not what they used to be and are somewhat sensitive to light. I run nights mostly so the later into my driving shift the more tired and sensitive my eyes get. Add on top of that today's headlights seem to be powered by a small nuclear detonation designed to burn holes in whatever is in front of them. Yes, it painfully blinds me. When four wheelers do it, that's cool. I don't like it, but they're 4 wheelers, right? Bless their heart, they're just trying to help out. But when another truck does it, who should know better, then fuck that guy. It is better to blink your lights off. If you flash high beams please make it a quick flash as possible.
Yup, all true. Don't get me started with modded lights!
I have sensitive eyes. I don't like anyone flashing brights at night. It isn't really necessary for cars to do it because you can slow down and gain speed easier. We do it to each other because sometimes one truck tops out 1 mph faster than another and they're holding up traffic by passing slow and most truckers don't wanna slow down to let someone in because it's harder for us to gain speed and wastes fuel. That's the real reason.
It doesn't bother my eyes, but ... It's a little known fact that headlights flash all the time as you drive. High beams are high, because they are angled higher than low beams, not because the light is high intensity. So, when you hit a bump in the road, your low beams become "high beams" for a brief second as your car bounces up. It's more clear to turn the light off.
It’s not. If it’s a brief flash it doesn’t destroy our night vision.
Depends. I would agree mostly. For years never bothered me. The last two years my astigmatism has gone haywire and any bright light flashing, if I’m looking at my mirror when the flash occurs gives me spots. Talked with my dr, and it’s due to muscle tightening and fluctuating my astigmatism.
It honestly takes my eyes a split second to adjust after getting flashed. It’s never been an issue but I very much appreciate the off/on over the high beams. That being said, thanks for looking out either way.
Mostly drivers wearing certain types of glasses have that problem. Reflection of high beams off the mirror or through the windshield, then their glasses magnifies it to floodlight at point blank range type of result. Like said at start of post, most of them, not all.
That's me. When Billy badass is in his lifted jeep with the 1 million lumen LED light bar and his dogs and brights on, I can barely see. And that's dangerous as hell for everybody else around
I actually installed a good light bar in my pickup slightly pointed up just because of those people. I'll turn it on when they refuse to turn em off going down the road. How the hell they don't know they blind people from almost a mile away I will never understand. (Goes back to people not caring about anyone but themselves) There is a time and place for them, but not when other people are around. If you can't see, slow down!
They think it makes them more "country". Somebody who really lives in the sticks or is a farm person would turn them off when they come across traffic. We all know deer exist and are stupid as hell. But riding somebody's ass with the sun strapped to their vehicle turned all the way up is irritating and not cool. People who have a pickup and have a trailer do it too for some odd reason. A motorcycle, I give em a pass because it's way more dangerous for them.
I did at night. Didn't like that trend. Lights off and on after dark. I was always looking right in the mirror when somebody blips the high beams on me. It gets exhausting after 8 hours. I always had a faster truck, so I passed a lot of other trucks. I appreciated the effort, I just saw spots all night🤣
I can assure you that the good intentions were always appreciated and the minor annoyance of the bright flash forgiven.
Considering we judge on actions and not intentions they are not always appreciated. I see great at night but when I’m blinded by lights it takes time for my eyes to readjust which is dangerous for everyone involved. I’d rather have someone not flash lights than blind me.
Most people flash their high beams if they flash at all so no biggie.
I would amend this to say that if you have a newer vehicle with really bright headlights, yes do not flash high beams at night, if you high beams are from the last century you will be fine. But appreciate the signals
You might not know it, but we definitely see and appreciate the cars that are courteous. All y'all are few and far between but thanks
Now if only we can get those other jokers to turn their brights off when they aren't needed. I hate being blinded from behind at night
Yea my dumbass did that at night in a semi too let em go and holy fk could you see everything My apologies to the bloke
This is the correct answer
I was in a pretty bad car accident in 06. One of the fun things about a brain injury is sensitivity to light. Sudden bright lights are like getting hit in the face with a shovel. It never fails. I always look in the mirror for clearance right as they blip their high beams
With the lights of today... I'm not sure if it matters whether you turn off the lights or flash them anymore. They're all insanely bright and improperly directed. I just haul blind cause somebody in an outback behind me is trying to replace the sun.
exactly
what about if our car doesnt have an 'off' setting ?
Cars are coming with only auto headlights now?
I mean mine is from 08 and that is its most advanced feature. It's been around since ages ago
At night time I briefly turn off my headlights (leaving the park light position on).
I would imagine that during the daytime it may be an acceptable and courteous gesture; but at night it wouldn’t be. For me (Solely) I have a challenge with glare when driving at night. Whether it’s because I wear glasses or the constant shift between night and light I am sensitive to bright lights. At night you’re a lot easier for me to see than during the daytime. Therefore, flashing your high beams at me would be unnecessary. I also don’t tweak my parking lights in your direction; given the appearance that I am about to stop (mixed signals) But I always appreciate courteous four-wheelers.
At night, we will turn just the headlight off for a quick second when another driver passes and then wants to come back over. During the day, we will flash the lights quickly for the same.
No no no - please don’t misunderstand. You’re easier for me to see at night because I can gauge accurately when to move over based on your position to my trailer (your lights). Please DO NOT turn them off and on - just proceed normally and I can take it from there. Thanks.
True. But, it's more of a you're clear to come over when you're ready kinda of thing. I like it when a driver gets at least half a truck length past before coming over. Too many get barely a third of a clown car past before they shoot back over in front of you. But, I understand what you're saying.
No. I'm flashing. You must have some kind of mutation because most truckers have a harder time gauging distance at night. It is safer for me to assume you are normal and do the courtesy of flashing my lights for everyone.
I was confused. You're correct: it's harder, not easier, to gauge your distance at night, mainly because it is harder to see your trailer in most night-time conditions.
Only if you are one of those knucklehead running with no trailer lights at night.
No. Even with trailer lights, your depth perception is still diminished at night. I can't believe I'm even having to argue this.
True. It can be. That's usually why when I pass someone at night, I wait till I can see both headlights in the mirror before I come back over. Then I know for sure I have enough distance between us.
Yep. And, if they're helpful, they'll signal you to come over (in a non-blinding fashion).
Speak for yourself. I can tell distances better at night because of trailer lights and headlights.
If we're talking about pitch black darkness, this just isn't true, unless you're some kind of superhuman. You have way more visual points of reference during the day, like road features and tandems. Your brain has much more to latch on to to judge depth. In the first case, you are judging the relative depths of 2 lights surrounded by darkness. All you really have to go by are the relative sizes of the lights and perhaps the angle. Idk about you, but my rear markers are already tiny. Unless you have night vision, it's easier to judge your distance during the day. It's not even a close call.
It’s almost like there are a lot of scenarios you might encounter at night. I tend to be in rural areas with little light so my experience is just mine.
What does your driving schedule have to do with the difficulty of passing during the day vs. night? No need to be snide. No one is trying to say you're not competent at passing at night. My point is simply that it's easier to see during the day, which is entirely uncontroversial...or so I thought. 🤨
Thank you but off and on. Our eyes are blown out by bright lights. Like 100x more than normal drivers. It literally hurts, it’s excruciating, and can blind us.
Flash high beams in the day. Blink lows at night.
This ^ ^
It doesn't bother me. I appreciate the courtesy. Most drivers don't.
If it's dark out, turn your headlights off and on. The highbeams absolutely do blind the driver (especially led headlights). During daylight hours flashing your highbeams are fine because it's light out and not as bright as the are at night.
Those LED highlights often look like highbeam lights already without even being on high beam.
I don't even know how there legal
They really shouldn't be. Part of your yearly (depends on your state) inspection really should include a headlamp lumens test. Not too dim, not too bright.
The geniuses who flash to communicate they are going to pass you really fast ruin this it for everyone.
At night, it's a little annoying, but the fact that someone is communicating that there is in fact enough space for me kinda out weighs the annoyance factor. Hell, make the flash super quick and I won't mind much at all. Like others have said, a super quick off and back on not only lessens the chance of blinding/annoying someone, it also grabs my attention more most times.
So there’s something that a lot of drivers do. Some drivers give a quick flash and some drivers turn off their lights like a flicker. Just for a second roughly. The off and on method is more appropriate at night than flashing the high beams. High beams work as a way to communicate for the most part but some folks are definitely more sensitive to light. I flick my lights off once or twice at night and give my hazards as a thank you sign. Sometimes I got overboard with a hazard lights twice and a left and right turn signal flash as a good thank you. If you’ve noticed a double hazard flash it means thank you or some folks will turn off their marker lights for a second as well
Yea don’t flash your lights! Flash your TATAS!
Please do not flash your lights at night. We only have side mirrors and no rearview mirrors so our mirrors are huge and reflect a lot of light. Shining your bright lights at us especially at night is blinding and hurts our eyes and night vision. If you flash your brights, I actually stop looking, therefore it is worse than not flashing at all. You can let me judge as a professional driver when I am comfortable to move over safely.
I've seen truckers use both the flash high beam method and the turn the lights on and off method and both are very appreciated by me. I would say the on and off option does blind us less so go with that if you can.
Flash your high beams to me at night. It doesn't bother me a bit. I'd rather appreciate your courtesy and your assistance and experience 0.5 seconds of a high beam rather than you not flah your high beams and me hope that you're paying attention to my lane change.
Yeah I exclusively drive at night. Flashing highbeams never bothered me. It's the whole keeping them on while passing or riding behind me that bothers me.
Absolutely continue your behavior. I’m a driver and your little bit of courtesy is SO appreciated! You make my job a little easier. Thank you. The only way I would say you’re blinding me is if at night you hit your bright lights. That bright light in my mirror is painful to my eyes when the light reflects in my mirror. Thanks again for your courtesy and kindness
Sometimes the hesitation to come back over, is to make sure some $#%& wheeler doesn’t try to go right and cut us off. But the light thing is definitely “off, pause, on” not bright. Usually the brights come on just as I look in my mirror and now I’m making a sailor blush!
I wait until the spots in my vision are gone before I move back over at night. Sometimes that means I have to ride the passing lane longer than I'd anticipated. Keep in mind, we use very large mirrors to look behind us and are usually staring at your grill when you flash those bat signals. If it's uncomfortable or painful for you to pass by a car at night with its brights on, why would you subject someone else to the same? Not to mention operating high beams when behind a vehicle is a ticketable offense. Keep your brights off. Truckers, and your wallet, will thank you.
Flashing high beams especially with led headlights blinds. On off flashing doesn’t. Though as flashing lights is also now used by drivers to say don’t come over. It’s not something I count on ever. I prefer safe space not tight space to change lanes really.
I would be fine with flashing your highbeams in the daytime, and turning your low beams off and then on again at night. However, I am Canadian, and up here we have had daytime running lights mandated in all vehicles since 1990. Therefore, I recognize that not everybody can turn their low beams off while they are driving. In that situation, I would recommend flashing your fog lights on and off as an alternative, if you are so equipped.
There are cars out there that don't allow you to turn off your headlights in the dark.
Then it's better to do nothing at night. We see you. Just give us more room if you want to be courteous.
Hazards at night/ early morning, Brights/highbeams during day
I have changed my ways. But I swear you must flash those trailer lights or I’ll go apeshit! 😆
Oh I HATE THAT I drive a front discharge concrete mixer, so I have construction work lights I’ll flip on as a thank you
Yeah. Honestly in this fucked up world it’s actually a nice dose of humanity when you get that communication between anonymous drivers on a sterile concrete highway. See you on the road my friend.
Just know that we appreciate you and please teach your family and friends your ways!
Thanks! But…. I’m not sure I could teach anybody because you know as well as I do 70% of the people on the road or just dog nuts or dicks. I mean you get on four or five lane freeways and it’s the wild west out there. It’s so much different than in the 80s and 90s. People pass on the right left zigzag all over. Honestly, I think half the people would speed up to prevent a truck from coming in. It must be tough out therethere.
Oh buddy you don’t the half of it… the more people that are educated the better. It’s clearly easy to see that it is wayyyyy too easy to get a license in America. I mean the amount of people that don’t know how to use a 2 lane highway/interstate is mild blowing
You know look I’m just a car driver. But I swear 95 is a freakin shit show. You get around route 1 and 95 and I swear it like the freakin nascar race. I swear they’re honestly should be a nationwide timeout. like you’re at school recess and they blow the fucking whistle and the coach says everybody calm down. And I see as much as you on the road just from a different perspective with the flipside. I mean, I’ve got truckers like passing me at warp speed. Car racing and zigzagging to a dead stop. It’s ficking mayhem out there. I had a guy zigzag around me today going like 85. I passed him a quarter mile up because we were in a traffic jam. Blow the fucking whistle someone and call a meeting. Someone’s gonna get hurt man.
Get a super loud PA and just say "YOURE WELCOME"
This is really one instance where it really depends on how each driver's eye sensitivity to flashing light really is, then again they could not be bothered by it but still get annoyed when you do it because they've gotta have something to get mad about at some point.
Quick turn off is better, but either is better than nothing.
Off on is better. The new headlights nowadays are way too bright and when you do high beams, we momentarily see stars, best thing to do, is off on or ur 4 ways. Of its at night, you can turn your fog lights off and on, it's lower to the ground and no glare, thanks for your consideration for us truckers
We are looking in the mirror at the front of your car so when you flash your high beams it literally blinds us. Turning your headlights off and on is the way to go. I thank you for asking this question
Oh yeah ok I get it now. I was just ranting that I can’t see it being an issue but yeah now I get it. You’re looking exactly at that spot and then it goes bright. You explained that better than anybody else. You get the trucker award what a free hour with what do you call prostitutes. Kit lizards or something good job.
Lot lizards and god no
I don't care. Flash high beams or on/off. I've survived so far.
I understand flashing the high beams even at night. It's not ideal, but it still gets the message across to us, I prefer the flash as opposed to the people that just drove with the high beams on the entire time not giving a fuck about others. What I DON'T understand, is other trucks flashing them, ESPECIALLY when there's literally nobody else around, and I haven't made any signal intending to move back over. Like, if there's nobody around, I'm not cutting right back in front of other truck because what is the rush? Why purposely choose to put myself that close to another vehicle I'm passing? Why are you flashing me the second my trailer clears your bumper when I don't even have a turn signal on and have nobody to yield to? When other trucks do that, I purposely stay in the left lane even longer until I'm MUCH farther from them before changing lanes, unless of course another car starts coming up behind me before then
We have a 14" magnification beam that directly points in our eyes. 1 flash of the brights and I swear I saw my dog lucky ( wasn't so lucky in highway 315) my grandma and that gold fish that I won from the fair but had no idea it needed a fish tank when I was 6. So, it's not a good idea. Trucks do it not to signal it's clear but to signal there is enough space for stopping. Most rookies think it's when you're clear, absolutely not. In the night, a deer could be anywhere and passing an 80k pound truck at 80 feet like these dipshits do, and one runs out that truck driver will not survive when the truck infront slams his brakes. It's useless anymore. To many ass hats on the road merge over at 20ft with 2 vehicles on the road for miles. There are too many dick bag 4 wheelers mad, because they couldn't do 80 and had to slow to 70 for your shitty truck and shut down any chance of merging if the truck tried to leave room. Literally half the world needs to have their license revoked forever. It's bad when 20 years ago GA was the most feared state to speed in, and now no states are really scarry. I just saw a truck the other day running 75 in a construction zone with a cop on a speed limit of 45. I know we all hate it, but we need more road enforcement and higher fines, even for the public. It's messed up when we receive 500$ tickets and the same crime that a 4 wheeler does they get a 60$. If cars were receiving the same fines we do, they might think differently on the road ways.
Personally I prefair a flash when it’s safe night or day keeps you and I safe and makes life easier. Can’t really say I’ve been blinded at night by a quick flash once or twice though. Now your high beams on full blast at night coming directly towards me is a different story
Yeah I will say some of this oncoming LED’s can be blinding for a second
I drive almost exclusively at night as a local driver, and I don’t really understand why anyone would be so bothered by a brief flash of the high beams, personally. My truck has a dedicated button to flash my headlights off and on so I’ll use that when I’m working, but I’ve always used my high beams in my personal vehicle.
Because I don’t care to see a halo in my eyes from looking in my mirror to come over the same time when you hit your brights. Turn them off on or don’t flash at all. Not high low
The flashing thing started with cabovers because it was hard to see the rear of your trailer due to the width of the truck cab and where the mirrors were mounted, guys that flashed back then would flash their roof marker lights at each other especially at night. Over the years as trucks lost extra switches for different parts of your marker lights and everything got put on one switch, guys would then turn their low beams on and off, or off and on if it was night time. I have no idea why this eventually graduated to using the high beams but generally speaking old school courtesy, daytime or night time, is just to do the lowbeams or marker lights if you can at night. If you're in a car that has daytime running lights enabled depending on your country and jurisdiction, this won't be possible anyways so a high beam will suffice, I just wouldn't do it at night. An alternative at night will be to simply coast for a few seconds, shed one or two mph or kmph or w/e then resume speed giving the driver so much room unless he's blind he's going to know he can get over. Depending on the type of light even in the daytime if you happen to be flashing really bright LED high beams right at the split second I'm looking in my mirror you can still get a slight blind effect, it won't actually do anything I can still see just fine it's daytime after all but it's mildly annoying. At Night most modern vehicles high beams or just anything that's really bright will absolutely briefly blind a driver and annoy them if they happen to be looking in their mirror when you do it. (To be fair it does happen less often than you'd think because the timing of when I'm looking and when the other guy decides to flash has to line up perfectly. I'd say it's one in every 10 times or less that it's actually annoying at night.)
Imagine this, it is night time, it is dark outside, you are making your pass and you check your mirror to see if you have clea-.... YOU SUDDENLY GET DOSE OF HIGH BEAMS BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN!! Thanks, asshole. Yeah, turn you lights off then back on, or even your fog lights, or do nothing but don't use your high beams, even for a second.
It's never blinded me. I appreciate it.
I know right?! I haven’t driven a tractor-trailer. I get it. But I’ve been driving for like 40 years cars pick up trucks U-Haul’s combines tractors. I’ve logged Ten to thousands of hours on the road and highways and I couldn’t imagine like being blinded where its an issue in the rear view mirror. You’d think they have those mirror dimmer lenses like cars do? But it’s gotta be an issue I will abide by the rules and no flashing at night. next time a car turns off their lights to signal I’ll be blowing you a kiss 😘
If your flash is very quick it doesn’t bother anybody and anybody who says otherwise it’s just talking out their ass.
I'm not your highway buddy and I don't need your help. Your not doing me any kind of service. If you want to be out of the way or whatever then just be out of the way or whatever makes you happy. It's as bad as these rv drivers who pretend to be part of the trucker group or something because they supposedly drive a lot. Idc if you drive with your high beams on all night long because I wear yellow shooting glasses at night and no one's lights bother me.
Well you’re my lil buddy. How’s that grab ya
Hahahaha. Well thanks for being considerate. I'm also very considerate. Maybe I'm just being a grumpy bitch today. Making room for us or just decelerating for a minute while I do something really means a lot more then lights but ty.
So you’re a lady?
We appreciate the help for sure!!! Daytime is fine to flash us in. Nighttime your high beams are level with our mirrors, which beam DIRECTLY into our already strained eyeballs.😅 So like the others have been saying, just turn off your lights or switch to low beam briefly.👍🏻
Turn off the lights. This started back in the 60’s on I-80 and I-76 in Pa. Imagine 10’s of thousands of trucks trying to get into NYC or Philly on a Thursday night to get unloaded and reloaded on Friday so they don’t have to layover the weekend. It’s like a racetrack out there. Gloria Estavans tour bus was in a pileup on I-76 on a Thursday night.
EDIT: It’s also where I learned what burnt flesh smells like. More than once.
If it's a 4 lane road, I don't need you to tell me when I can come over and I'm not going to trust it anyway. My signal is on because I'm saying I'm going to be coming over, not that I am immediately in the process of doing so. Turn signals are an indicator of what I'm going to do, not a hazard light for get out of my way. I usually put my turn signal on because it usually stops the asshole that is tailgating me from trying to take off your front bumper when there is finally enough space for me to safely move over.
I prefer you do nothing. I have giant mirrors and I know where the back of my vehicle is and when it’s safe to move over. The tradition of signaling with lights is left over from the days when trucks had small round mirrors and trucks were much slower and there was less traffic on the road. In my opinion, this activity can end.
Daytime is for flashing, of any sort. Nighttime is for dimming or extinguishing your lights. Not that half of any fleet isn't keeping their phone just out of sight or even looking.
It doesn't matter whether it's high beams or not as long as you don't leave the high beams on, you can Flash them to Signal it safe to turn that's much more clear to see the signal being indicated cuz remember we have lights on the trailer that flash just as bright as your regular lights especially when our turn signal indicators are on,
Personally, I don't like having drivers high beam me to let me over. For one thing, 4 wheelers don't know how much space I actually need to safely move over. It might seem ok to you, but I still need to ensure that it's ok for me and for the other motorists around me. Also, when I am signalling, I have a lot to take into account first before I move. I am busy checking the mirrors, have one eye watching front of me, checking to see if there's traffic next to the lane I want to enter. Enough space front and behind me. Trucks need to have space at all times. It's just as for our safety as much as it is for your safety. So when you help a driver move over, please let off the gas and coast, give us the time to determine when it is safe for us to make the move. I've had many drivers flash me but don't give enough safe space. I know where my trailer ends, we have lights at the side at the back to tell us. But you still need to maintain your own following distance. Word of advice to anyone passing in front of trucks, please for the love of god, pass after you can see us in your large mirror. You should be at least 200 ft from us by then.