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| Home | > | Driving Information Centre | > | Flashing Headlamps | > | A little understanding |
A little understanding
I'm unsure about the origins of flashing headlights but they have been widely used a courtesy signal amongst lorry drivers for a long time. It might be argued that this is legitimate use because lorry drivers have a full understanding of the intended meaning of each other's signals.
Understanding, however, is a strange thing - can you remember a time when you thought you fully understood something but then later realised that you'd got it totally wrong?
The ultimate meaning of any communication lies in the message that is received - this is not always the same as the message that was meant by the sender, in our case the headlamp flasher. In other words, it doesn't matter what you are trying to convey, the outcome of your communication will be based upon the way it is interpreted.
The starting point? The 1969 copy of 'Advanced Motoring' neatly summed up the question of understanding as follows: 'The fact that a driver considers his own particular version of a signal superior to those which are authorised would not absolve him from blame, if his version were misunderstood and resulted in an accident' . |
Similar information can be tracked back further - much further.
When discussing arm-signals the cigarette card series 'Safety-First' (dated around the mid 1930's) advised drivers that ' . an incorrect or delayed signal is as dangerous as none at all' - a maxim that could equally be applied to flashing headlamps today.
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