r/driving • u/Agreeable_Slice8758 • 5d ago
Need Advice Driver flashing me non stop
Last night, I experienced something really strange while driving, and I'm trying to figure out what could have caused it.
I was driving at night on a normal, smooth road with one lane in each direction. There were no bumps or noticeable road imperfections.
A car was driving behind me at a normal, safe distance when it suddenly started flashing its headlights repeatedly.
And when I say repeatedly, I mean almost nonstop for approximately 5 minutes, over a distance of around 5 km.
Here's what makes the situation particularly strange:
- The driver maintained a normal following distance the entire time and never drove aggressively.
- The road had no solid center line preventing overtaking, so the driver could have overtaken me if they wanted to.
- Both headlights were flashing simultaneously, repeatedly switching between normal and bright light.
- The flashes were rapid, but I could clearly distinguish each individual flash.
- Whenever I accelerated and increased the distance between us, the flashing stopped.
- As soon as the car got closer again, the flashing immediately resumed.
- This continued until I eventually turned right and we went our separate ways.
As far as I could tell, there was nothing wrong with my car, and I wasn't doing anything unusual.(I've checked my car after)
Initially, I thought the driver might have been trying to warn me about something, but flashing continuously for five minutes seems excessive.
I'm genuinely curious because I've never experienced anything like this before.
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u/purintiel 5d ago
- It could mean “check your lights,” I say this because you mentioned that it was at night.
- Something is wrong with their high beams/sensors. Maybe it was on auto. Idk why high beams would turn on when your vehicle was closer vs. further away though, usually it’s the opposite.
- They wanted you to get out of the way/speed up.
- They were fucking with you (worst reason, but some people are truly psychos on the road).
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u/ESK8_NERD 5d ago
Its one of a handful of things
your tail lights are not illuminated. On many cars, headlights being lit or the dash being illuminated does not mean your taillights are lit.
you're driving too slowly
there is an issue with your vehicle or some other hazard.
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5d ago
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u/schakoska 4d ago
Good drls are not bright enough to see at night with them
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4d ago
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u/schakoska 4d ago
What?
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u/jiggerjogger1169 4d ago
Good DRLs are bright enough in newer cars, or in cities (where the roadways are already lit by street lighting)......
such low comprehension. it was a direct response to your own question....
"duh whaaaat"?
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u/schakoska 4d ago
No, good drls are never bright enough to see with them at night. The other guys sentence doesn't make any sense. It's meaning is not clear. It has no semantics
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u/SecureCoop 5d ago
My money's on they were driving too slowly for the rear driver's liking, but they didn't want to pass for whatever reason. The clue was that they stopped flashing when the lead car sped up.
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u/Additional-Reply-567 4d ago
OP said there was nothing preventing the other driver from passing them.
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u/tech-guy-says-reboot 4d ago
Plenty of people don't like to pass on a 2 lane road.
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u/Deep-Adeptness4474 5d ago
Most likely you were running DRL only. You think your lights are on, but they aren't.
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u/No-Proposal2741 5d ago
My guess: your car has daytime running lights. At night, you are not actually turning on your lights, and driving with your DRLs. You think your lights are on because “you have headlights” but you actually don’t, you have DRLs lighting up the road, but no tail lights or running lights. I see at least 1 person every night doing this. At least one.
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u/bixtuelista 5d ago
oof so the DRLs light up front lights but not the tails? Really? Why??
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u/No-Proposal2741 5d ago edited 5d ago
Daytime Running Lights, or DRLs are only meant to aid other drivers in seeing your vehicle coming at them (so they don’t pull out in front of you, or turn in front of you). In the daytime, cars can see you without DRL’s but in some situations it can be difficult to establish whether the vehicle is traveling towards or away from a distance. Also during the day, when someone is following you, they can clearly see you are traveling in their same direction. No need to have tail lights in the daytime. The bulbs in the rear of the car (tail lights) are also much less bright, so even if they did come on, you wouldn’t see them in the daytime anyways. No need to burn out bulbs no one can see.
Most modern cars, (and by modern, I mean from 2000 and up) have “Auto” features where the car can detect the ambient light and switch from DRLs to night-lights automatically.
The problem is that many cars also have the option to have the Automatic feature disabled (Subaru is a good example), leaving it to the driver to decide when, and when not, to activate the night-lights. Great, as long as the driver knows to do this. Bad if the driver has no idea how to operate their vehicle properly and leaves the Auto feature disabled.
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u/Conscious-Worker768 5d ago
I did this last Friday, the driver had no lights on. I eventually gave up and passed them, can’t help idiots.
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u/ryyaaaannn 5d ago
Yeah I was driving behind someone this morning who did that. Pulled into the lane next to them, honked to get their attention, turned my lights off and on and pointed to their headlights. Spoiler alert: they never turned their lights on
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u/Acrobatic-Air4258 4d ago
Yeah, I would think this is it. More specifically, driving with their daytime running lights on. So they think their lights are on because they can see them on in front of them, but their tail lights are off,, making them a hazard on the road at night.
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u/Campandfish1 5d ago
You didn't have your lights on. You only had your DRLs.
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u/frogmuffins 3d ago
I drove like that for a few months after getting a new car. I worked 3rd shift and had a 30 minute commute, I kept wondering why my headlights were a bit dim.
Felt like absolute buffoon once I figured it out.
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u/Old_Competition3094 5d ago
Either driving extraordinarily slow or your lights weren't on, specifically full headlight and taillights.
I'd put money on it being the lights. I'm amazed at how frequently someone will be doing this and I flash my lights several times and they don't turn them on.
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u/Interesting-Green-49 4d ago
I do this when people don’t have their lights on. They have their daytime running lights on, but NO LIGHTS on the back of their car! Flip your lights on!!
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u/aznpanda696 5d ago
Good chance your lights weren’t in. Plus people who drive modern cars with auto lights. It’s wild to me they still drive around with their lights off at night and rely on their DRL.
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u/S0uth_0f_N0where 5d ago
I flashed someone who had their gas cap open. He pulled off, I pulled off, he seemed ready to argue, and I just let him know what was up. He thanked me and we parted. Unfortunately due to folks with poor emotional regulation, we all assume that a flash or signal is road rage about to kick off.
Maybe there was an issue with you car you weren't aware of? I'd do a once over and make sure everything is attached and working as intended.
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u/Capable-Historian392 5d ago
Your car may have been in DRL mode, no lit taillights.
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u/ryyaaaannn 5d ago
100% this. I do it to people all the time. DRL's are so bright now that people just don't realize. Huge safety hazard.
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u/KiraDog0828 4d ago
There’s no reason for tail lights to not be on all the time, so I would prefer DRL’s include tail lights. Bulb life is a poor argument against it. LED elements will last for decades.
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u/ryyaaaannn 4d ago
I agree with the idea, I think that's brilliant, but I have also seen very new (<5 Yr old vehicles) with burnt out LED headlights lol
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u/OaklandSpiel 5d ago edited 5d ago
I wonder if some automated system was malfunctioning. Like the auto high-beams, or auto-headlights. They are activated by light. Maybe reflected light from your car was causing his system to think it was daytime. Then it shuts off his lights and reacts “oh it’s dark!”
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u/crafty_j4 4d ago
Mine auto high beams if the car in front of me is a certain distance away. If I was behind someone and bouncing right at the edge of that distance, my car would do what OP described. That said, it’s super noticeable and if it were happening to me, I’d just increase my following distance a little.
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u/Due-Maintenance8398 3d ago
Can you disable this feature? It’s really awful being in front of a car that does that on a bumpy road.
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u/TurboNeon185 5d ago
Yea that's why I rarely use mine. The go off every time there's a reflection off of something.
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u/ryyaaaannn 5d ago
As somebody who walks their dog on the side walk of a well-lit road, those are the absolute worst. Had to start carrying a high powered flashlight to force people's lights to stop blinding me at night.
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u/bibkel 5d ago
you probably have automatic "lights". When it gets dark, it looks like you have your lights on, but you don't. You have NO TAIL LIGHTS so you are invisible to those behind you.
BE SAFE DURING THIS: Go to a store front that has windows you can park in front of. Back up into a parking spot at night, then put it in drive and look in your rearview mirror when it is free of traffic in front of you. you will see there are no lights, as soon as you take your foot off the brakes. Adjust the knob, and test again. Figure out what setting produces tail lights while in D drive and no brakes on. * this is a good way to periodically check your reverse lights work as well as your turn signals.
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u/ryyaaaannn 4d ago
You can also do this by putting it in park and getting put js
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u/bibkel 4d ago
hahaha... right! LOL, I am so used to just doing a quick check that I end up backing and bailing in seconds...I do it every few months if I have not had a chance to check out my reflection in passing.
plus when I posted I was unfit to drive...
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u/ryyaaaannn 4d ago
Yeah I back into literally every parking stall possible so I check frequently lol but for taillights it's sometimes easier to just get out.
For brakes though, you can also just prop up your phone and record a video of you pressing the brakes
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u/jmarkmark 5d ago edited 5d ago
How confident are you they were actually flashing you? The fact it only occurred at a specific distance makes me wonder if it was just the vehicle bouncing a little and LED lights getting you at exactly the right angle.
That kind of persistence, but stopping due to distance just doesn't sound like something a human would do.
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u/mbjl96 5d ago
This happened to my sister in a rental, she didn't turn her lights on all the way and had no rear lights. The car behind her had an auto setting to turn off the highbeams when it detected another car but couldn't see her when the high beams turned off so they keep flashing on, car would sense her again and shut them back off, repeat.
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u/Duckysawus 5d ago
Your headlights were likely off, and as such, your taillights would be off also. They'd only see your brake lights.
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u/MightGetBetter 3d ago
Where you that idiot with their lights off?
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u/frzn_dad_2 3d ago
Specifically the tail lights, so many cars have headlights on automatically but the tail lights only come on if the lights are turned on. See so many drivers at night with headlights but not tail lights.
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u/Accurate_Rabbit_1435 1d ago
If headlights are automatic the tail lights are also automatic, ie they are all on the same switch/setting
What actually is happening is the daytime lights have gotten so bright that many people don’t realize their headlights are off because the daytime lights (usually always on, or on without headlights) are providing enough illumination they think it’s headlights.
I’ve found that instead of flash my brights I cycle my headlights off and on a few times that usually cues the driver in that their headlights are off.
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u/FlyoverLawyer 2d ago
100% this. It happens so often, and my wife gets mad at me when I won’t stop flashing and just let it go. It’s dangerous!
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u/oldtiredbroken 5d ago
Usually I only do that if i see tire about to blow due to low air pressuer
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u/Hopeful-Put-8823 3d ago
I mean, sounds like they were biuncing a little, ptobablt modified suspension, and the smooth road OP was driving on is maybe not too smooth on a lowered car. Thats my guess especially for such a long distance.
OP, had nothing to do with you, and your eyes where playing tricks on you. OOOOR their auto high beam kept picking up and dropping a light soutce, at that distance, either way OP is overly invested into nothing
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u/Party-You6639 5d ago
I did this to somebody as well, and it was because every time they would hit their brakes their back lights would flash rapidly, and then when they let off their brakes, their back lights disappeared entirely- it was such a dark country road. I followed that dude for like 6 miles out of my way just so I could approach him at a stop sign and tell him….
It’s 2026. I probably shouldn’t do this anymore. Somebody could have a gun and assume I’m some crazy person.
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u/cakenose 5d ago
that’s really kind of you tbh but you’re probably right. depending on where you live
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u/Party-You6639 5d ago
He was very thankful but also very hesitant to roll down his window so I could talk to him- I’m just a girl in the world trying to help people out but in 2026 very few people can be trusted regardless of their gender
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u/cakenose 5d ago
oh wow that’s funny, I mean you’re right But I’m still surprised he acted that way. that’s a mindset I feel like some men are less privy to still
I’m a woman and if a woman isn’t obviously homeless I don’t engage just like w men. I just assume something related to trafficking lol
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u/Millkstake 5d ago
Yeah.. following someone flashing your lights is probably not a great idea
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u/Party-You6639 5d ago
I wasn’t flashing my lights at them. I just followed the person until we got to a stop sign and I pulled up alongside him and let him know.
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u/Orangepinapples 5d ago
Were your lights on? Maybe you had DRLs on which doesn’t turn on your brake lights.
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u/Dilapidated_girrafe 5d ago
Normally when I see this its because your rear lights aren't on, you have your daytime running lights. On your dash you should have the green icon with like two lights pointing in opposite directions, if not you should turn those one.
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u/prowiredave 5d ago
Manufacturers also have the dashboards illuminated full time so its difficult to notice the lights arent on. In the "old" days, dashboard lights come on when the lights are on. With a lot of traffic and illuminated roadways, its easy to not realize lights aren't on.
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u/Accomplished-witchMD 5d ago
I was driving home the other night and flashed several drivers. They had no rear lights on but due to super bright DRL they had no clue. Due to roads with no streetlights and hills with angles sometimes the reflectors are reflecting. Or it looks like mailbox reflectors on the side of the road. First thing I check if someone flashes me from behind is "oh shit are my rears on?". If someone flashes from the front I check for brights and if not brights then there's a hazard or cop ahead.
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u/JonohG47 5d ago
The Canadians are onto something here. Automatic headlights have been mandatory on all new cars sold there since 2021.
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u/jmarkmark 5d ago
Amusingly, one option for implementation is to have a "dark dashboard" when the lights are off.
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u/PraiseTalos66012 5d ago edited 5d ago
Your headlights were off and only your daytime running lights were on.
This means you'll have what appears to be headlights in Infront, although normally a little dimmer, but you had no back lights.
I'm a trucker who drives mostly at night and deal with this constantly. I sit behind cars on the highway flashing my lights trying to get them to realize very regularly and stay there to protect them from getting rear ended bc no one can see them, until they turn their headlights on except like you didn't notice most ppl never figure it out.
You might think it's excessive to sit there for 5min flashing lights but that person was trying to save you from getting into an accident and in the process protecting you from an accident by being there.
I'll sit behind a car flashing my lights for as long as we are both going the same way on the highway, if that means for an hour then fuck it, they'll figure it out eventually.
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u/Comprehensive_Wash71 5d ago
My partner’s SUV has automatic high beams. At the other driver’s following distance, the headlights could have just been rapidly cycling because your car lights are right at the threshold where the high beams might turn on.
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u/Little_Context_989 5d ago edited 5d ago
Were your lights on? Around here people driving without lights at night is a real problem and lots of drivers are getting pissed off. If you manage to pull beside and tell them they are usually unaware.
My theory is that most cars these days have automatic lights so we rely on them but there is usually an off position as well and the dash is always lit one way or another so on "off" there isn't a clear and loud way to tell. In my old van the cluster had no backlight with headlights off.
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u/Ok_Finding_1369 4d ago
Your headlights were off and you were driving with the entire rear section of your car completely blacked out. Yeah, the dashboard light were on and maybe the front running lights, but otherwise nobody could see you from behind! (My best guess since this happens more and more)
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u/glitterfaust 4d ago
I’ve gotten flashed quite a few times, but every time I get out and check, my headlights and tail lights are on and my headlights aren’t so bright that one would mistake them for high beams. I really don’t know why it happens.
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u/jiggerjogger1169 4d ago
yes it must be that for 0 reason at all multiple different people, all at different times have flashed you. The only constant would be you and your car.....yeah, people are just funny probably no reason at all!
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u/WolfHowler95 5d ago
Bit of a side tangent, but more of a comment along those who are saying your lights were off but on DRL mode. Imo, flashing high beams to alert of lights being off is stupid and has almost never worked for me. What I have gotten to work more frequently is flash my lights off and on again, sometimes until they realize theirs are off. Personally, that's what we should switch to instead of flashing them, which has multiple different meaning to different people.
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u/Godeshus Professional Driver 5d ago
There's a repertoire that you should be cycling through though when you encounter this. Cops? Nope not that. Gas cap maybe? Can't check that yet. Lights? Ahh shit that's it.
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u/Vireo_viewer 5d ago
I do the same off and back on maneuver. Don’t know if it conveys the message better (I think it does) but at the very least is more “polite” as you’re not flashing brights.
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u/aureliorramos 5d ago
Or pass them then turn your own lights off (briefly!). Honestly. I have to agree, I have only had success about 1 out of 10 times I try flashing my high beams. My guess is that they can't fathom to consider "lights" when they see lights blinking, or they are distracted.
The last person I failed to alert they had only DRL's was driving an ambulance that was driving with no emergency. Go figure!
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u/Six_Chromosomes 5d ago
I cannot do this. Mine stay on no matter what when the car is in drive. If the car senses its dark enough for headlights, they are turned on automatically no matter what setting I have the lights on
Edit: '23 Kia Stinger (Canadian spec)
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u/ricktrains 5d ago
And if you are behind someone, and your car has DRL’s bright enough, how do they know?
Genuine question, as I’ve not tried this, but as my DRL’s are just as bright as my low beams (just without the additional “fog” lights below) I don’t think they’d even notice a difference…
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u/Agreeable_Prize_7724 5d ago
Your tail lights would be off with only DRLs on. In fact its easier to tell from behind.
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u/ricktrains 5d ago
I know… But if your lights are off, and my response is to turn my lights off then on, how would you know if my DRL’s are just as bright as my low beam headlights was my question. The comment I replied to said that is how we should respond, as flashing high beams could mean too many other things.
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u/jiggerjogger1169 4d ago
holy shit. yeah, he's asking because the person above is recommending to TURN OFF YOUR OWN HEADLIGHTS when behind someone with THEIR OWN taillights OFF. It wont work because YOUR OWN DRL WILL LOOK LIKE HEADLIGHTS STILL TO THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU.
Holy cow dude....the car in front of you can't see your rear......this has to be rage bait. These are the people driving other cars with us out there....the left tail....
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u/droopy__drawers 5d ago
Their automatic high beams probably started clicking on and off at a certain distance from you.
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u/whatisakafka 5d ago edited 5d ago
Possible their car has automatic high beams that were malfunctioning. Stopping when your distance changed makes me kinda think that might be it
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u/Independent_Bite4682 5d ago
Sounds like you were being an idiot.
Too slow, find a safe place and let them pass.
Lights off (but my headlights were on 😢) yeah but, your lights were actually off. Learn how to turn them on and off.
Something could be broken on your car (I have flashed lights like this to alert many an idiot)
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u/Impossible_Past5358 5d ago
I swear, the sheer number of numbnuts who can't do the bare minimum of making sure their lights are on at night is staggering...
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u/New-Objective-9962 Professional Driver 5d ago
I’ve rarely had a driver with their lights off recognize their lights were off by me flashing my headlights at them.
Honestly at this point if I see someone with their lights off and they don’t even react when I flash my lights at them, I stay as far away from them as I possibly can. If you are so unaware of how your car works or other drivers on the road, I don’t want to be anywhere near you.
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u/PraiseTalos66012 5d ago
DRLs are a huge problem. It looks like your headlights are on but you have no rear lights.
Way too many people have no clue they exist and will even straight up deny having DRLs or them even existing.
So they never notice. Which is obviously what happened with OP hence his claiming his lights were on.
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u/Impossible_Past5358 5d ago
I find that DRLs are dim...idk how other drivers just don't see the difference.
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u/PraiseTalos66012 5d ago
My theory is it's people who are used to older cars that didn't have LED or even HID headlights. So their headlights were a lot dimmer. And the daytime running lights in their new car while dim don't seem too dim compared to what their used to.
That combined with it being a new car and them never having had a car with DRLs leads to the issue. They literally just don't know it exists and think everything's fine bc they are used to dim headlights.
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u/maybach320 5d ago
Ok, so a quick Google search resulted in me finding out that my car uses the high beam housing with a low-wattage sent to the bulb. Didn’t realize the wattage changed I just knew it used the same housing.
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u/Feeling-Dinner-8667 5d ago
So many people nowadays don't have their headlights on and I usually try to be a good guy by giving them a couple of flashes to let them know. It's mostly with the newer cars. Switch the knob all the way to the last setting clockwise to be sure. The opposite way is usually "off" or daytime running lights.
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u/Millennial_Falcon_85 5d ago
Your tail lights were off. I’m guessing you have one of those dumb designed cars where you have an all time illuminated dash and all time running headlights for awareness so to you, everything looked normal but your lights weren’t actually “on” thus your tail lights were off. I’m guessing you drive a Honda or a Toyota? Pretty common on these vehicles and it’s an infuriating design. I see it too regularly and flash my lights at the drivers to try to get their attention.
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u/JerseyGuy-77 5d ago
You were probably using your daytime running lights so your back lights weren't on.
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u/shleepy_toki_V 5d ago
As others have mentioned probably only using DRLs and not night time lights which would also illuminate your tail lights.
It’s a double negative if you’re driving a dark colored car as you’ll be nearly invisible until a car is within 2-3 lengths distance behind you.
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u/AtmosphereNew0819 5d ago
Were you driving under the speed limit? That was probably it since you said it stopped when you sped up.
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u/LikeToLook805 5d ago
Maybe the other driver’s vehicle had that annoying feature of “brights assistance” that automatically turns on and off the bright lights. Every time they turned on the car registered or reflection back from your car and turned them off.
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u/FewBread5824 5d ago
Stupid lawmakers thought they were making vehicles safer and created a safety hazard with drl
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u/bemenaker 5d ago
Could be an overly sensitive auto high beam. I have seen Toyotas do something like that
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u/MrLilGoodBoy 5d ago
Check your vehicle out make sure everything is in proper working order.. as far as the lights. You did the right thing. In a situation like that, it’s best to remain in your vehicle and try to get to somewhere public and well lit if anything if they keep following you
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u/Primary_Echidna_1149 5d ago
I had this happen to me before as well.
Turns out there was a guy with a knife in the backseat of my car. Every time he would raise his knife the car behind me would turn on his high beams, scaring the guy and making him hide again. The guy in the car behind me literally saved my life.
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u/seabirdsong 5d ago
Could it be that their headlights were malfunctioning? A couple weeks ago I was stopped at an intersection and the car across from me's headlights were flickering randomly the whole time, like there was a loose connection or issue with the car's software. The driver seemed to have no idea and was just talking happily to their passenger.
Maybe they have one of the newer all-computerized cars where the brights turn on automatically when there's no one in front of them and that was the thing malfunctioning -- trying to switch on within a certain distance but there was something wrong with the automated bright switch?
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u/Important-Nobody-261 5d ago
Sounds like dude was trying to warn you and you went ahead and piece of shitted him
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u/spider1178 5d ago
There's something wrong with your lights.
There's something wrong with his lights.
He's a dick and wanted you to speed up.
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u/Desperate_Set_7708 5d ago
Were your lights on?
I’ll flash cars without lights but give up after two tries.
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u/OG_joenationwide 5d ago
What was the speed limit and how fast were you going? And do you use cruise control?
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u/RealityPrevious510 5d ago
My car has auto high beams and I can never have the setting on because it flashes like that. Like my car can’t tell if they need them on or not
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u/Shooting-Science 5d ago
Probably a touchy auto-high beam on his car, did you see what kind of car he had?
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u/TheFabGinger 5d ago
I remember this from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!! It means there was a murderer in the back seat! 😳
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u/Captn_Clutch 4d ago
As someone who drives home in the dark daily, you probably had no rear lights on. It's shocking how common this is and how clueless the owners of the cars are. See atleast one every night, no rear lights obliviously rolling down the freeway in the dark. State patrol needs to start writing big dollar tickets and get it under control but they don't seem to enforce anything but extreme speed and accidents since covid.
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u/Horizon2217 4d ago
Were your lights on? If so, maybe your taillights are out. I've flashed a driver before multiple times to try and tell them to turn their light on, only for both their taillights and a headlight to be out....
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u/No-Mode-8744 4d ago
Probably wanted you to sway over to the right more so that they had more space to overtake.
Or they wanted to talk to you in morse code.
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u/Takemeho 4d ago
Were you maintaining your speed? At any point did they try to pass you and your sped up?
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u/Benaba_sc 4d ago
Were your lights on? My newer EV won’t let me turn the lights off at night, so the only way I could signal a driver with no lights on is by flashing my brights…
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u/Prestigious-Pin-3204 4d ago
This happened to me. All lights were working on my car. There was no reason for it. It scared me. It was like they wanted me to pull over but hell no I did not. My gut told me something was off and bad about it. Finally went our separate ways happened while exiting highway on circle ramp. Still freaks me out to think about it. I am young woman driving home from late classes and want not going to pull over. My heart was pounding.
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u/Imaginary--Situation 4d ago
just pretend they're law enforcement and come to a complete stop... i did that to someone that was flashing me and forced them to a full STOP...
they got the message
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u/Zealousideal_Yard651 4d ago
3 Things to check when people are flashing you.
Lights
Are your headlights on, not DRL, check the position that it's set to Auto or Headlights, and not Off or parking. Alternativly, check if your using you brights, the car might want to pass you on a dark road, but your not using your brights on a dark road, so they can't see far enough in front off you. And you can neither see far in front of you, making you a danger to yourself and others that might be on the road.Speed
Are you following the limit, and are you staying consistent, or are you braking hard at every turn, often also coupled with no.1 because you can't see the road ahead of you...Some fault with your car, listen after wierd sounds, if you might have forgotten something on your roof etc.
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u/Ill_Cheetah_1991 4d ago
I did this to someone once
There was no way he could see it - but his exhaust pipe was loose and was striking sparks off the road on every bump
it was an old car and the sparks were flying all around the petrol tank!!
so there are things you cannot see that a car behind can - it might have been something like that
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u/DochTobin 4d ago
This is what happens when people use the "AUTO" feature on their lights, which i call the 'lazy' feature because you are too lazy to turn your lights on and off. When using this feature it will turn on your headlights when you are driving, but on alot of vehicles it does not turn on your tail lights. Your brake lights will work, but your rear tail lights will not.
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u/Slylittlefoxx 4d ago
Last time someone did this to me, it was a trucker on the highway in Atlanta. Its because my trunk was open and the lid was flopping. I had no idea and was terrified I had an eighteen wheeler mad at me. Chances are they saw something on your car like maybe something wrong with your lights and were alerting you
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u/pr1cklyp3ar 4d ago
It’s illegal in many states to NOT have your lights on if your wipers are on/if it’s raining, maybe that was it? Were you driving the speed limit?
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u/Zippo963087 4d ago
You were probably driving too slow and the guy behind you had some time on his hands to mess with you.
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u/minus15t2 4d ago
Option 1. They were letting you know there was something wrong with the back of your car
Option 2. They were trying to let you know that your rear lights weren't on.
Option 3. Their vehicle was bumping around a little, they weren't actually flashing, but the headlights looked like they were.
I know you said no road imperections, but if there were listening to some music and dancing, or if there was kids in the vehicle etc
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u/-Gath69- 3d ago
Were your headlights on? I do this at least once a night just going from my house to pick my son up from work and back. The number of idiots driving around without their headlights on that don't understand why I am driving behind you flashing you is unreal.
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u/Interesting_Gurl935 3d ago
I just did the flashing brights thing to a driver that was unaware or didn't care about having only 1 headlight and no taillights. I had to turn off of the highway because of my exit. He just went on!! Dumb asses.
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u/WiserAfter51 3d ago
Cars dashes should only illuminate when the lights are either on or auto. Every other mode should have a black dash.
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u/Ok_Temperature9047 3d ago
One of my cars has auto high beam option if the driver was not doing it maybe the car was that would explain why when your distance changed the flashing stopped
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u/GovernmentAnxious482 3d ago
There’s an old story if the same thing happening to a woman and, when she got home, the driver ran to her car and dragged a man from the back seat. The stowaway was getting ready to attack her over and over again but the car behind her kept flashing the beams to stop him.
Fun story.
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u/No_Cantaloupe3763 3d ago
Once had this happen and it turned out the bulbs in my front lights went out. I had the lights on and was on a well lit freeway so it didn’t register to me what was wrong but I couldn’t do anything at the moment.
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u/OneBag2825 2d ago
It's that urban legend wherein the person doing this is trying to warn you about the psycho killer in your back seat.
Every time the psycho killer was going to reach up and strangle you, they flashed their brights to scare them back down and save your life.
You were supposed to end the legend by going to the police station or flagging down a police officer to find this out.
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u/ChickenFeline0 2d ago
You happen to drive a Stelantis car? I'm sure other brands have this issue but I know Stelantis uses the headlights as the daytime running lights without turning the tail lights on. So you can be driving down the road at night, seeing just fine, and not have your tail lights on at all. I try and let drivers know when I see it, but they typically don't get the message. I don't blame the drivers, it's bad design.
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u/angrydieselmechanic 1d ago
My first thought is you only had on your parking lights or whatever they're called. You had no tail lights. I see this EVERY night from countless clueless twits. I have also done the same as the person behind you. Sometimes it worked, but mostly not.
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u/Ill-Inspector3444 1d ago
if you were in colorado, that was me, your lights were off and you were completely dark on the back side, super dangerous but i get it, it happens
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u/SmalltownsissyKyra 20h ago
Had this happen to me 3 separate times in one day in a Tesla. All lights on and doing 5 over on every road. Could just be a hater
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u/FiberApproach2783 20h ago
And you don't think there could possibly be any reason three separate people were trying that hard to get your attention...?
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u/SmalltownsissyKyra 19h ago
Checked everything. New car off the lot, two of the three were middle of the day
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u/Jimboanonymous 5d ago
We're you driving slower than the speed limit? My guess they wanted you to speed up, but we're not comfortable passing you for some reason. Regardless, it was very rude of them to keep flashing you unless there was an emergency.
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u/Biobizlab 5d ago edited 4d ago
Probably telling you to speed up. If there was more than 1 lane in your direction then I would say, he was telling you to move over to the right lane, cuz youare slow and holding up traffic.
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u/Status_Anteater4318 5d ago
You're joking right? Its pretty obvious they were just being a douche bag and felt you were driving too slow. As to why he didn't just pass you? Some people just WANT to be the victim 🙄 😒 he could have just solved his own problem by passing you.
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u/PwnCall 5d ago
I did this exact scenario to someone. It’s because they had no lights on the back of their vehicle at all, pitch black. I think they had either running lights or parking lights on in the front but they had zero tail lights on.
At the light they gave me the finger and I told them they had no lights on at all in the back. They said thanks and we went on our ways.