wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (04/03/85)
I can't find the original article from the person in (was it New Jer-
sey?) who was asking about why everyone on the road was freaked out when
he turned his headlights on in the daytime, but . . .
I would suspect that most people who flash their lights at you when you
have your lights on in daytime are trying to warn you that you forgot to
turn off your lights when you left that underground garage, tunnel, or
whatever. After all :-}, headlights are completely unnecessary during
the daytime (aren't they? :-}), and you're liable to forget to turn them
off when you park -- leading to a dead battery :-{.
So, all (or at least some of) those people who frantically flash their
lights at you may in fact be desperately trying to do you a favor! If
you ignore them, they might very well assume that you're a zombie or an
idiot.
You can, of course, turn your lights off and then turn them right back
on -- but, sadly, I don't know of any way to say what you'd really like
to say (namely, "I know my lights are on -- please don't worry about
telling me they're on").
The people who don't turn their lights on at night (not just parking
lights -- I mean *NO* lights at all) are a totally different story.
Considering that no car I know will light up the instrument panel unless
you turn the lights on, I find it inconceivable that a driver with any
presence of mind could drive any distance with his lights off at night
(except possibly on a very well-lit city street). Many or most of these
people are utterly oblivious to other drivers flashing their lights.
--
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Rich Wales
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Computer Science Department
3531 Boelter Hall
Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA
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Phone: (213) 825-5683 // +1 213 825 5683
ARPANET: wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA
UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!wales
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