A couple of weeks ago I was following a thread which discussed the perceived rights and wrongs of using headlamp flashes for any purpose other than alerting other road users to your presence. It got me thinking (that's an achievement in itself :-)
Forgive me if this has been raised before, but it's occurred to me that the reason people so habitually use headlamp flashing for all sorts of purposes is down to basic, innate human psychology: in short, the use of body language.
SUV drivers aren't all idiotsMy road has a pretty nasty bend at the bottom of it. If another car's comming the other way I'm usually almost up the kerb with hardly any room between the two cars. I had...
What do most of us do a lot when we greet or recognise someone, express grabreastude, extend a courtesy? Think about it. We briefly raise - flash - our eyebrows, which lights up our eyes and is a powerful friendly facial signal to the receiver.
My theory (ahem!) is that headlamp flashing is used as a direct and spookily similar alternative to eyebrow flashing, used because our faces are normally too far from, or almost invisible to the receiver when behind the windscreen of our cars (especially in the dark :-)
The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's why headlamp flashing is so widespread for purposes other than alerts, whether or not it's considered right or wrong according to established 'rules' or roadcraft.
I'll get my coat...
-- Andy Clews University of Suslove IT Services (Remove DENTURES if replying by email)
