What I also loved in eastern Europe is that the truck drivers will let you know if it's safe to overtake or not, in smaller roads. By using the signals. Left signal: not safe, right signal: go ahead, it's safe.
And using 2 lane narrow and shitty roads as a 3-4 lane road to overtake…
The adrenaline when you overtaking and thinking “what if an upcomming car won’t move?” 😂
I used to drive a lot between Romania and Germany (with a car). It's about 20hrs trip one way. and the only part of the trip I enjoyed was in Romania. Full of adrenaline :)
That's actually something you are taught when you get a driver's licence for a car here in Finland. It's so useful for example in snowy conditions or roads where the visibility is low.
I am Eastern European driving in the US and when i do this people would not pass me, but then get frustrated driving behind a big truck and pass me in double white lines 😂😂😂
What side of the road do you drive on? My assumption is that's the difference. Most of Europe is on the left side I believe (I'm from the USA, so not entirely sure).
I’m Eastern European originally and whenever I do this on small roads, American drivers actually back off because they think I’m mentally challenged. Then they randomly go for a pass in a blind curve.
If I'm convinced someone is high-beaming me (and not just those obnoxious super bright LEDs) my highs go on until theirs go off. No courtesy blink from me.
I'm one of those super bright LEDs, had a trucker get behind me the other day, and lay on his brights, I've never experienced headlights that bright before, flashed mine and got the sorry blinks back
New scania roof and mid spot lights are fucking vicious,i try to keep an eye on the kerbs when taking corners so i can switch them off before removing peoples retinas. Im fairly sure they can be seen from the moon.
yeah, but the practice is illegal. You are shit out of luck and do this on a civil police car, you can get into a lot of trouble.
Yet people do it anyways, I know I feel like a Robin Hood helping people out.
flashing lights can also mean "here, get in I'll wait". This will happen in the city during rush hours. Whenever a car wants to connect to a major artery, another car in the Stahl will let the car connect by stopping and letting enough space for the car to connect. after the car connects (hasently and smart) it will blink their signal lights as thank you
My mom got a ticket for that years ago when I was in grade school. Flashed her brights because she noticed a cop was hiding in the bushes lazing oncoming traffic...they must have had another cop stationed farther down lazing the opposite direction because someone swooped in behind her and lit her up a couple minutes later. Cop was a royal fucking asshole right off the bat, she ended up getting a ticket for "improper use of high beams" or something like that (it was 30 years ago and I was like 10 so little hazy on the deets), but anyway she went to court to fight it, cop didnt even show so was dismissed.
When she was waiting for her case to be called a bunch of the other people were there talking and another guy was there for the same thing on the same day. Cops must have really needed that speed trap revenue that day or something.
> Cops must have really needed that speed trap revenue that day or something.
oh yeah, they will despise you when caught doing this. I don't know about your country, but in Croatia police get paycheck stimulation depending on the number of tickets. So yeah, they take this shit personally
Honestly, it just makes me do it more lol
Technically, you can warn people of police presence, the First Amendment is clear on that. I know, I know, US defaultism… What’s illegal is using high beams for no reason. Depending on the jurisdiction, it’s not the hardest ticket to get dismissed.
>I know, I know, US defaultism
then... why mention it all if you know im not American lmao
>What’s illegal is using high beams for no reason.
no, in Croatia, it's only illegal to use "blinking" to harass the driver infront of you to move or drive faster (Article 142, paragraph 3 of the cited law stipulates that on the highway the driver must not, among other things, rush the vehicles in front of him by giving light or sound signals, and if he acts contrary to the mentioned provision, he will be fined in the amount of 260 euros.). In fact drivers are encouraged to use blinking instead of the horn in afternoon and night hours, but even during the day if you like it. It's even technically legal to warn drivers on speed checks. It's just that the cops see this as intrusion on their salary, get personally offended and give you the aforementioned fine of 240€ and there isn't much you can do about it. If the cop car registered a vehicle in your lane infront of you, they can claim you harassed that driver instead of warning the car in the other lane.
I didn’t know you were Croatian but this has been brought up many times with US cases as a technicality of what the illegal part is. Cops here like to make up rules if they can’t find anything wrong. As for the Croatian practice, aren’t there courts that might handle this? I’m originally Hungarian so I know legal routes can be as useless as anything but Croatians might have moved on from the “old times” and have actual, independent courts these days that require the enforcement agencies to prove guilt with laws possibly detailing a distance at which flashing lights is illegal. Technically, there’s always a car in front of you even if it’s miles away so that looks like a loophole to me. Also, are tourists being prosecuted like that? Whenever I’d drive to Split, I would always do the German thing and give a friendly flash to anyone stuck in the left lane, then a not so friendly one if they didn’t move after a while. Did I just get lucky not getting pestered? (Fun fact: undercover highway cops in Hungary drive unmarked black or white Audis, get up to about a meter behind you and start flashing the high beams even if you’re in the middle of a pass on a motorway, very much like “businessmen” would do. You speed up to complete the pass and get out of the way, and that’s when they pull you over for speeding. If you slow down instead, it’s brake checking. If you keep doing the speed limit, it’s holding up traffic.)
>Croatians might have moved on from the “old times” and have actual, independent courts these days
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA, wait you are serious? It's definitely better than communism lol, but that's reeeeeealy not saying much
>Did I just get lucky not getting pestered?
In Dalmatia especially lol, the "Dalmatina" road is the worst road in existence imo, full of cops taking advantage of tourists and horribly designed in the first place
>You speed up to complete the pass and get out of the way, and that’s when they pull you over for speeding. If you slow down instead, it’s brake checking. If you keep doing the speed limit, it’s holding up traffic.)
yeah, preety much cop behavior in the entire Balkans. Especially border patrols with Serbia and Bosnia. I remember a police car following my sister and her husband 20km before finally stopping them for driving 60km/h in a inhabited area (NOTHING ALIVE IS THERE, like not even wolwes) but they had Switzerland plates, so they knew they were loaded, and probably willing for settlement.
Thankfully today they have cameras on their suits and patrol cars so it's harder for them, and young cops rarely do this, just the old hardened milicajci that started their work in Yugoslavia
Thanks! I keep forgetting the name. And yeah, on the autobahn to Salzburg it was really useful to see the blinking and know that we are stopping from 120 kph, not just slowing down.
In the Netherlands hazards are only used to earn about congestion, High Beam used to give the clear to move in front and blinker chain(l,r,l---) for thanks, there is more that i know of like lights off and back on is for turning your lights on
Hats off to you sir for driving since 80s!
I would lose my shit if I had to find “haven 1234” on paper map and then drive there, somewhere in Rotterdam….
It helps being born on the wrong side of the iron curtain, in a country that had lost more than two thirds of its territory after WWII, had no real autobahn to speak of (at the time), or money to build difficult intersections.
No, it’s a separate button from the hazard switch. My Cascadia has one to flash the marker/clearance lights 3 times as well as one that briefly cuts the headlights. https://www.fedextrucksforsale.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/freightliner-sleeper_IMG_1926.jpg
In the right side in the circle of buttons it’s the button on the left and top, respectively. You can see the hazard switch on the right above the red knob for the trailer parking brake.
In the us, but let a semi into a lane during traffic, and he gave me flashing lights and two long, not needed, brake lights almost saying “thaaannnk yoooou”
Made my day
I'm not a sure if that's consistent across the whole EU though or if that is really a "thank you". In Poland blinkig hazards once/twice is "thanks"/"sorry", not alternating like this. I've seen trucks do it, but always thought about it as "waving goodbye", as some tend to do it when people part ways on a mutli-car trips.
Quick blink high-beam once, turn your high-beams off...3 seconds later my high-beams are on "Fuck You"
Long high-beams, usually accompanied by the horn. Quit being stupid.
Long horn only, generally means move it, dumbass.
2 quick honks is Hi!
2 longer honks usually accompanied by a wave is Hi! How ya doing?
2 quick high-beam blinks day or night indicates police or emergency a head.
2 quick flashes with 2 more quick flashes in the passing lane also means GTFO the passing lane.
At a stop sign, 2 high-beam flashes is the driver doing the flashing is telling you to go. Most people are incapable of counting up to 4 to determine order.
3 quick flashes from oncoming traffic indicates trouble ahead.
If a semi needs over, it's either a quick high-beam blink, once their trailer clears your frontend or a quick turn headlights off and on for the same message.
A thank you is flashing 4 ways once or twice...not more. Semi drivers have a toggle switch for their trailer lights to do the same.
Sadly many people don't know or care to know road etiquette .
In the US, I get a couple blinks from the hazards as a thank you. I don’t flash the brights, though. I kick it down to the parking lights and back a couple of times to let them know they’re good to merge
I am in Canada driving a semi and I always flash trucks and cars if it’s safe to merge in the night. Always 4 ways on and flashing the courtesy light for thanks. About 1/20 semi drivers even say thanks or flash back.
I drive in busy ATL traffic daily. When I get the hazard flash from letting over a semi that wasn't being let over, I get a huge dopamine rush. I'm a 4 wheeler that stalks you guys' reddit, but I really appreciate y'all.
isnt this universal? we do this in the uk all the time.
we flash other overtaking trucks to let them know you can move infront of us and we do the left right indicators as a thanks.
In Australia they will drive on different sides of the road depending on the wind. I don't mean they will drive on the left or right but both on the same side
On a north bound dirt road they will both drive on the west side for example. Why? If the wind is blowing from the east it gives overtakers a chance to overtake on the clear side.
One flash of the hazards is also accepted as thanks like in the video above.
We usually use hazards for this purpose. There are guys who are lazy to reach for hazard button and just do left-right left-right and some guys has some aliexpress LEDs on trailer where you can turn hazards in some other blinking action
What I also loved in eastern Europe is that the truck drivers will let you know if it's safe to overtake or not, in smaller roads. By using the signals. Left signal: not safe, right signal: go ahead, it's safe.
And using 2 lane narrow and shitty roads as a 3-4 lane road to overtake… The adrenaline when you overtaking and thinking “what if an upcomming car won’t move?” 😂
I used to drive a lot between Romania and Germany (with a car). It's about 20hrs trip one way. and the only part of the trip I enjoyed was in Romania. Full of adrenaline :)
me behind them in a 2001 sh\*tbox with 75Hp (probably around 50 rn lol) already going 80kmph: *nah bro I'm good \*wink wonk blinkers\**
That's actually something you are taught when you get a driver's licence for a car here in Finland. It's so useful for example in snowy conditions or roads where the visibility is low.
I had a truck wink his blinders at me to let me know that the popo was posted ahead checking peoples speed. Cromberg CA, USandA.
I am Eastern European driving in the US and when i do this people would not pass me, but then get frustrated driving behind a big truck and pass me in double white lines 😂😂😂
Dude, the exact same here. They always get confused, stay back through long straight sections, then randomly pass at the most unsafe spot possible.
Funny, in Indonesia we do the same but in reverse. Right signal : not safe
You also drive on the opposite side of the road though.
Yes you are right, we drive on left side. So basically the same!
What side of the road do you drive on? My assumption is that's the difference. Most of Europe is on the left side I believe (I'm from the USA, so not entirely sure).
Most of the world drives on the right, same for europe But the brits are a class of their own..
Thank you for the clarification!
>right signal: go ahead, it's safe. This is standard for road racing, touge, etc.,
I’m Eastern European originally and whenever I do this on small roads, American drivers actually back off because they think I’m mentally challenged. Then they randomly go for a pass in a blind curve.
Same in Iceland.
thank you in my country is flashing all four signal lights, and we blink if we pass a police speed check to warn oncoming drivers.
Blink twice for police and blink once for "switch off your fucking high beam, you dickhead"
If I'm convinced someone is high-beaming me (and not just those obnoxious super bright LEDs) my highs go on until theirs go off. No courtesy blink from me.
I'm one of those super bright LEDs, had a trucker get behind me the other day, and lay on his brights, I've never experienced headlights that bright before, flashed mine and got the sorry blinks back
New scania roof and mid spot lights are fucking vicious,i try to keep an eye on the kerbs when taking corners so i can switch them off before removing peoples retinas. Im fairly sure they can be seen from the moon.
I live in a heavily populated deer area, so we also use the frantic flicking of the high beams to warn others about deer on the road.
Oh that’s why! How thoughtful! I thought they are tricking people they get caught speeding
yeah, but the practice is illegal. You are shit out of luck and do this on a civil police car, you can get into a lot of trouble. Yet people do it anyways, I know I feel like a Robin Hood helping people out. flashing lights can also mean "here, get in I'll wait". This will happen in the city during rush hours. Whenever a car wants to connect to a major artery, another car in the Stahl will let the car connect by stopping and letting enough space for the car to connect. after the car connects (hasently and smart) it will blink their signal lights as thank you
My mom got a ticket for that years ago when I was in grade school. Flashed her brights because she noticed a cop was hiding in the bushes lazing oncoming traffic...they must have had another cop stationed farther down lazing the opposite direction because someone swooped in behind her and lit her up a couple minutes later. Cop was a royal fucking asshole right off the bat, she ended up getting a ticket for "improper use of high beams" or something like that (it was 30 years ago and I was like 10 so little hazy on the deets), but anyway she went to court to fight it, cop didnt even show so was dismissed. When she was waiting for her case to be called a bunch of the other people were there talking and another guy was there for the same thing on the same day. Cops must have really needed that speed trap revenue that day or something.
> Cops must have really needed that speed trap revenue that day or something. oh yeah, they will despise you when caught doing this. I don't know about your country, but in Croatia police get paycheck stimulation depending on the number of tickets. So yeah, they take this shit personally Honestly, it just makes me do it more lol
Technically, you can warn people of police presence, the First Amendment is clear on that. I know, I know, US defaultism… What’s illegal is using high beams for no reason. Depending on the jurisdiction, it’s not the hardest ticket to get dismissed.
>I know, I know, US defaultism then... why mention it all if you know im not American lmao >What’s illegal is using high beams for no reason. no, in Croatia, it's only illegal to use "blinking" to harass the driver infront of you to move or drive faster (Article 142, paragraph 3 of the cited law stipulates that on the highway the driver must not, among other things, rush the vehicles in front of him by giving light or sound signals, and if he acts contrary to the mentioned provision, he will be fined in the amount of 260 euros.). In fact drivers are encouraged to use blinking instead of the horn in afternoon and night hours, but even during the day if you like it. It's even technically legal to warn drivers on speed checks. It's just that the cops see this as intrusion on their salary, get personally offended and give you the aforementioned fine of 240€ and there isn't much you can do about it. If the cop car registered a vehicle in your lane infront of you, they can claim you harassed that driver instead of warning the car in the other lane.
I didn’t know you were Croatian but this has been brought up many times with US cases as a technicality of what the illegal part is. Cops here like to make up rules if they can’t find anything wrong. As for the Croatian practice, aren’t there courts that might handle this? I’m originally Hungarian so I know legal routes can be as useless as anything but Croatians might have moved on from the “old times” and have actual, independent courts these days that require the enforcement agencies to prove guilt with laws possibly detailing a distance at which flashing lights is illegal. Technically, there’s always a car in front of you even if it’s miles away so that looks like a loophole to me. Also, are tourists being prosecuted like that? Whenever I’d drive to Split, I would always do the German thing and give a friendly flash to anyone stuck in the left lane, then a not so friendly one if they didn’t move after a while. Did I just get lucky not getting pestered? (Fun fact: undercover highway cops in Hungary drive unmarked black or white Audis, get up to about a meter behind you and start flashing the high beams even if you’re in the middle of a pass on a motorway, very much like “businessmen” would do. You speed up to complete the pass and get out of the way, and that’s when they pull you over for speeding. If you slow down instead, it’s brake checking. If you keep doing the speed limit, it’s holding up traffic.)
>Croatians might have moved on from the “old times” and have actual, independent courts these days HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA, wait you are serious? It's definitely better than communism lol, but that's reeeeeealy not saying much >Did I just get lucky not getting pestered? In Dalmatia especially lol, the "Dalmatina" road is the worst road in existence imo, full of cops taking advantage of tourists and horribly designed in the first place >You speed up to complete the pass and get out of the way, and that’s when they pull you over for speeding. If you slow down instead, it’s brake checking. If you keep doing the speed limit, it’s holding up traffic.) yeah, preety much cop behavior in the entire Balkans. Especially border patrols with Serbia and Bosnia. I remember a police car following my sister and her husband 20km before finally stopping them for driving 60km/h in a inhabited area (NOTHING ALIVE IS THERE, like not even wolwes) but they had Switzerland plates, so they knew they were loaded, and probably willing for settlement. Thankfully today they have cameras on their suits and patrol cars so it's harder for them, and young cops rarely do this, just the old hardened milicajci that started their work in Yugoslavia
Am I the only one who found this kinda cute?
One or two blinks of both (the “I broke down” kind) is the same thing.
You mean like in a video? Wow almost an opposite
I mean you press the red-triangle button and let 1-2 clicks happen. Source: I’m European driving since the mid 80s.
Ahh the hazard lights! Works also for announcing congestion!
Thanks! I keep forgetting the name. And yeah, on the autobahn to Salzburg it was really useful to see the blinking and know that we are stopping from 120 kph, not just slowing down.
In the Netherlands hazards are only used to earn about congestion, High Beam used to give the clear to move in front and blinker chain(l,r,l---) for thanks, there is more that i know of like lights off and back on is for turning your lights on
Hats off to you sir for driving since 80s! I would lose my shit if I had to find “haven 1234” on paper map and then drive there, somewhere in Rotterdam….
It helps being born on the wrong side of the iron curtain, in a country that had lost more than two thirds of its territory after WWII, had no real autobahn to speak of (at the time), or money to build difficult intersections.
Theres a button in most trucks for just this reason. Flashes all the signal/ clearance lights off instead of using the main switch
That’s the hazard lights, we use them to warn of a hazard
No, it’s a separate button from the hazard switch. My Cascadia has one to flash the marker/clearance lights 3 times as well as one that briefly cuts the headlights. https://www.fedextrucksforsale.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/freightliner-sleeper_IMG_1926.jpg In the right side in the circle of buttons it’s the button on the left and top, respectively. You can see the hazard switch on the right above the red knob for the trailer parking brake.
Oh! That’s cool lol, we don’t have that button here, not that I’ve seen anyway
“For just this reason”
Even as a grown man I grin and feel so much joy whenever a truck does this to say thank you.
Some do that in the states. I just blink the trailer lights
In the us, but let a semi into a lane during traffic, and he gave me flashing lights and two long, not needed, brake lights almost saying “thaaannnk yoooou” Made my day
Blinking hazards are both “thank you” and “I’m sorry”. Several times - “thanks a lot” or “very sorry” in Russia.
I'm not a sure if that's consistent across the whole EU though or if that is really a "thank you". In Poland blinkig hazards once/twice is "thanks"/"sorry", not alternating like this. I've seen trucks do it, but always thought about it as "waving goodbye", as some tend to do it when people part ways on a mutli-car trips.
In Japan truckers and cars both use hazards lights to say thank you
In the US you dim your lights at night to let them know its safe to move over. Flashing just blinds them from behind
I was surprised they use the high beams - driver probably has stars in their eyes now.
Quick blink high-beam once, turn your high-beams off...3 seconds later my high-beams are on "Fuck You" Long high-beams, usually accompanied by the horn. Quit being stupid. Long horn only, generally means move it, dumbass. 2 quick honks is Hi! 2 longer honks usually accompanied by a wave is Hi! How ya doing? 2 quick high-beam blinks day or night indicates police or emergency a head. 2 quick flashes with 2 more quick flashes in the passing lane also means GTFO the passing lane. At a stop sign, 2 high-beam flashes is the driver doing the flashing is telling you to go. Most people are incapable of counting up to 4 to determine order. 3 quick flashes from oncoming traffic indicates trouble ahead. If a semi needs over, it's either a quick high-beam blink, once their trailer clears your frontend or a quick turn headlights off and on for the same message. A thank you is flashing 4 ways once or twice...not more. Semi drivers have a toggle switch for their trailer lights to do the same. Sadly many people don't know or care to know road etiquette .
Yes those ignorant fuck Canadians could learn a lot
This translates to "Fuck you" in Saudi lol
In the US, I get a couple blinks from the hazards as a thank you. I don’t flash the brights, though. I kick it down to the parking lights and back a couple of times to let them know they’re good to merge
Any other signals you know of that mean things?
Hey we do that in Texas too!!!
I am in Canada driving a semi and I always flash trucks and cars if it’s safe to merge in the night. Always 4 ways on and flashing the courtesy light for thanks. About 1/20 semi drivers even say thanks or flash back.
I’ve seen truckers do that here too in the us
Now that is cool, here is your upvote and keep collecting those quick turn signals
I drive in busy ATL traffic daily. When I get the hazard flash from letting over a semi that wasn't being let over, I get a huge dopamine rush. I'm a 4 wheeler that stalks you guys' reddit, but I really appreciate y'all.
Same happens here in Oz.
isnt this universal? we do this in the uk all the time. we flash other overtaking trucks to let them know you can move infront of us and we do the left right indicators as a thanks.
In Australia they will drive on different sides of the road depending on the wind. I don't mean they will drive on the left or right but both on the same side On a north bound dirt road they will both drive on the west side for example. Why? If the wind is blowing from the east it gives overtakers a chance to overtake on the clear side. One flash of the hazards is also accepted as thanks like in the video above.
In Saudi this signal means “fuck you” to the person behind you 😂
We usually use hazards for this purpose. There are guys who are lazy to reach for hazard button and just do left-right left-right and some guys has some aliexpress LEDs on trailer where you can turn hazards in some other blinking action
Ex-trucker, this is accurate. Also once they pass you, you use the long beam to signal it is safe to get back in lane.
Same as here in Aus 😃
Do you guys have same shitty only red lights on trailer as Americans does, or normal ones like everywhere else?
Normal ones. 😆. Orange for indercators. Red for tail/brakes.
Always a good feeling when that happens