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I made the classic mistake today. Came up to a T junction with a give way sign wanting to turn left. Stream of cars coming from my right so resigned to a longish wait. About the fifth car in the stream flashed his headlamps so I thought "What a kind gentleman, he's letting me out". You've all guessed the rest; he was of course flashing his lights in greeting to a friend coming the other way. I moved out, fortunately there was nothing more than curses and rude gestures from him. Perhaps it really is time we all obeyed the rules about headlamp flashing!
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Yes,I quite often wait until they flash a second time just to make sure,especially if eye contact cannot be made.
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The Highway Code covers this:
Rule 91: If another driver flashes his headlights never assume that it is a signal to go. Use your own judgement and proceed carefully. but we all, at some time, follow the unwritten rule of given precedence.
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As sierraman said, - eye contact is important.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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If you are close enough for eye contact, then nothing beats an old-fashioned hand signal. You know the gesture one makes when two of you arrive at a door or the foot of the stairs at the same time - a sort of open palm movement that says, "you go first, please"
That seems to work a treat in the circumstances described, and is absolutely unabiguous.
The other driver gives a friendly nod and a cursory wave, and both then feel pleased and get a little glow inside from having behaved like decent human beings instead of resorting to road rage.
Perhaps we use hand signs more in the country? I spend a lot of time on narrow single-track roads and am constantly waving, or acknowledging other people's courtesies.
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The other driver gives a friendly nod and a cursory wave..
If only this were true for the majority rather than the minority of the time when being courteous to others on the road.
I've lost count of the number of people I've obliged on the road recently who in response haven't even cracked a smile, never mind actually going to the effort of nodding or waving back!
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