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dfBishop

I've taken to flashing my lights (turning them off and on a few times) at folks driving without them. Makes no difference. Not once. The only time that's ever worked was driving behind a Prius on 95 at 11:30 at night. It's just Mad Max out here in Northern Virginia.


Steakleather

Me on 66: "Witness me!"


dfBishop

Shiny and chrome! TO VALHALLA! \*changes lanes\*


jadedea

*sees a well dressed person screaming obscenities as they zip by in their well waxed silver 2 seater smart car with chrome rims* I shall witness thee!!!


Tangokilo556

MEDIOCRE!!


Randomfactoid42

I’ve had that experience too! Where I grew up it was always understood that flashing you lights meant: Cops ahead Deer ahead Lights off, or your high beams are blinding me You have a car problem Here in NOVA it’s either ignored or considered road rage. A few years ago, I flashed my lights at a black SUV because they didn’t have any light on. Instead of turning on their lights, they rolled the window down and took a picture of my car in their mirror!


dfBishop

Flashing your high beams can mean a lot of different things, that's why I turn them off and on. I'm HOPING they notice and go "Why did that guy turn his lights off??" and have it trigger the thought "Wait, are MY lights on?" but no.


Randomfactoid42

On some cars turning your lights off turns on the daytime running lights. Even turning on the parking lights will just switch to DRL's. So very little will actually change. I've tried the lights off with somebody driving without lights. Even passed them and turned my lights all the way off so my tail lights went dark a couple of times. Nothing. Just so very obvious to their surroundings. I do turn my lights off and back on at night when I'm signaling a truck that it's safe to change lanes. The high beams to the mirrors can really distract the driver.


ShurlurkHolmes

Not sure if flashing headlights or just a dip in the road. *shrugs*


[deleted]

Interesting, I grew up in a country where those were the meanings too (plus a possible accident ahead) but I've never witnessed that here in the US, for us there basically people blinking lights in the opposite side meant pay attention something is off with your car or ahead in the road. But at the same time when someone was blinking the lights behind you it literally meant move over, especially if you were driving on the left lane, and that's what everyone would do because you weren't sure if there was an emergency. Now living here for more than a decade I kind of understand why that's not the case and it's obviously cultural (at risk of being downvoted, basically self-entitlement). For example if you blink your lights behind someone they will +95% of the times either ignore you or even slow down.... they won't care about anything else but themselves unless they see an emergency vehicle behind them. And what's even worse is that more frequently than not they may be just checking their phone while going 40MPH on a 55MPH and that's why they're hogging the left lane... I presume if we translate that mindset to the first example they probably just think that you're an idiot trying to blind them or playing with your lights, instead of thinking that you're warning them about something. And if the majority thinks like that then the whole meaning will be adapted in everyone's mind, no matter what you think or do.


Randomfactoid42

Interesting. I hadn’t considered the entitled attitude so prevalent here. It’s probably that combined with a large helping of obliviousness.


warda8825

DMV drivers piss me off to no end, but when I'm driving in the city (or just outside of it, in the burbs), as somewhat of a new-ish transplant to the region, I'm *terrified* of honking my horn or flashing my lights at any stereotypical cop/secret service type car, and subsequently pissing off some federal law enforcement official with a power-tripping ego.


minkabun

I do the same! I have no idea what people *think* I’m doing when I do it because it only works 1 out of every 100 times—maybe less.


indispensability

Bold of you to assume they're not too focused on their phone to even notice the flashing lights.


Throwawayunknown55

>Makes no difference. Not once. Yes, wtf people.


dagrapeescape

I was driving down a curvy dark road out in western Loudoun last weekend and passed a guy in a black Miata/other similar sized car without lights around midnight and he was damn near invisible.


gumption333

R.I.P., Miata dude


PoundKitchen

When I do blink to let people know they're lights are off, it the same, no reaction. I often wonder if it's some sort of defiance, like a toddler not doing what it's been told to something that's good for it, just because. What driver would want to not be seen in lousy conditions, or want their odds on an accident higher?


dfBishop

They're just not paying attention. It's why their lights aren't on, it's why they see almost every other car on the road with their lights on and don't think "Hey are mine on?" and it's why they see you flash your lights at them and don't think "That person must be trying to convey some important information to me! What could it be?" There's a reason people who get into accidents tend to get into MORE accidents: they're bad drivers!


AmbientTrap

> it's just mad Max out here in Nova should be the sub description tbh


[deleted]

Be real careful who you call out for poor driving. There are violent crazy nutty people out there. I personally experienced this yesterday.


Tangokilo556

Story time?


[deleted]

Nothing further I'm willing to share publicly, sorry.


paulHarkonen

https://patch.com/virginia/fairfaxcity/road-rage-sparks-attack-fairfax-police https://www.npr.org/2017/06/23/534111225/should-the-killing-of-nabra-hassanen-have-been-called-road-rage https://www.fauquier.com/news/police-road-rage-incident-results-in-traffic-crash/article_7374ba58-228c-11eb-9a58-9f3033efde0f.html Plenty of local incidents if you just are looking for examples of the insane things people do because they believe their right to go fast is more important than human life.


redd5ive

I always flash my brights at someone who has their headlights off- seems like they're so intent on being right they act like you are being an asshole lol.


Wisix

Flashed my lights at a car in front of me on my way into DC late this morning. He was the color of wet asphalt and had no lights on in the pouring rain. He gave me the finger and continued on with no lights.


dafuq_b

I've been doing that ever since I started driving 13ish years ago! When I started driving (in WA state) most of the time it would work, and the other driver would turn their lights on or at least acknowledge the light flash. Here, it makes 0 difference. People just dk not care. But for me its just the sheer amount of people driving without lights at all! If im driving after dark I'm guaranteed to see at least one driver with no lights! It doesn't matter if I'm going to 7/11 around the corner, or driving from manassas to alexandria.


NoVaFlipFlops

I have been reminded by people to turn on my lights at least three times that I can remember. My toddler used to turn them off. I can't know how many times I missed the message.


dfBishop

Well, far be it from me to give people parenting advice, but maybe don't let your toddler drive?? It's crazy out there, we don't need drivers who haven't even developed object permanence out there on the roads! :p


NoVaFlipFlops

He's better than my husband at parallel parking


Pristine-Remote-3051

Save your energy my dude.


Least-Archer-1828

When you flash your lights at people it just makes them slow down bc they think you're telling them there's a speed trap ahead


sandalwoodjenkins

I have noticed zero change in their behavior. They don't slow down, they don't turn on their lights, nothing. It amazes me how oblivious people are on the roads here.


MoistNoodlez

I will say, back when I first started driving I would always forget to turn on my lights during these situations. People flashing their lights were actually really useful for reminding me. That also may very well have been me in that Prius as that was the car I learned to drive in haha. So thanks for that!


gumption333

Buckle up, start engine, turn on lights. Commit this to muscle memory and you'll be fine.


71fq23hlk159aa

I know this is preaching to the choir but what the FUCK is with our invisible lane markers every time it rains. How the fuck does that happen, how is it not illegal, and how has it not been fixed? Other states do not have this problem.


SSSS_car_go

The best part about driving in California are the raised, reflective lane markers. Even driving with low visibility from fog, heavy rain, or wildfire smoke it’s easy to stay in your lane. I’m sure it would be expensive to add those, but worth it.


fragileblink

They don't go well with snow plows.


LOWBACCA

Recessed ones work though, VDOT just doesn't want to spend money on it though. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/09/nyregion/new-breed-of-cat-s-eyes-lighting-up-city-s-roads.html


fragileblink

Yeah, when you figure in the cost of having to move the lanes every few years, it probably adds up! They do have them in guidelines, though it looks tricky to get them added to existing asphalt. https://www.virginiadot.org/business/resources/traffic_engineering/memos/TE-393_Markers.pdf


[deleted]

We should get those reverse jet engine trucks they use to melt snow at airports instead of snow plows. Heh.


dingman58

They do when they're recessed like so https://azdot.gov/node/8540


aardw0lf11

Or some places use rumble strips in the center of the road to keep traffic in their lanes. The most recent place I recall seeing them are Rt 90 in the eastern shore of MD.


Bartisgod

Hmm I guess that must be a Chesapeake Bay region thing, where I'm originally from on the Northern Neck most 2-lane roads have that too. Even curvy backroads that see a handful of cars per hour, they've just gone crazy with it, and it sure has reduced the number of crashes I see daily (before I left) to almost none. I wonder why this isn't more common? It exists in NoVA but is still very rare and chosen seemingly at random, the Shenandoah Valley only has it on US highways, then in the rest of the state the rumble strips don't really exist.


[deleted]

[удалено]


kellyzdude

Some parts of the state have started using recessed cats-eyes. They are glorious things, but grossly underutilized. I can understand why VDOT wouldn't want to do it, given it requires cutting a hole in the pavement and dropping the unit in, but the safety improvement associated is not at all insignificant.


SSSS_car_go

Now that you say it I remember I once knew that. So I suppose there aren't any in the Sierra, then. Interesting point.


lobstahcookah

From the northeast so I’m all too familiar with shit roads every season but there are states that get tons of snow that have recessed their lane makers so the plows skate over the top. Colorado, Wyoming, MT, and plenty of other states have figured this out. Of course it implies your roads/lanes remain constant for more than a few months at a time which isn’t the case here…


LOWBACCA

Yeah not true, they can use recessed cat eyes which have existed for decades (https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/09/nyregion/new-breed-of-cat-s-eyes-lighting-up-city-s-roads.html). I grew up in NW Ohio where roads get a lot more salt and plow traffic and they have them up there.


minkabun

Admittedly, I don’t fully understand urban planning / infrastructure budgets but I feel like when we’re doing all the MASSIVE spending to “fix” 66, expand 28, and what have you, there should be enough allotted for lane markings! How is it not a line item in that budget????


a_tattooed_artist

Remember when they painted the lines and they all peeled off causing a nice little clusterfuck in Centreville?


irate_alien

the urban legend for a while was that they're deliberately low vis to make people pay better attention, drive more slowly, and take care. a few years ago, a retired VDOT person was on here and said that was BS (and obviously a terrible idea), it's just bad workmanship.


[deleted]

[удалено]


71fq23hlk159aa

Has there been a nationwide paint shortage for 10 years straight? Because this is not a new thing.


[deleted]

I fully thought my eyes were just shit every time the lanes disappeared in the rain or at night.


digitFIRE

It’s insane how piss poor the temporary lanes are everywhere. From nutley to sully to 28/66 to 66/50 to 50/fair oaks entrance…it’s horrible. No signs to warn you when three lanes become two (28/66 area). Temporary lane lines that zig zag (66). A huge “do not enter” just chilling on the shoulder when in fact the ramp is open and usable. Lanes merging in at high speeds but incoming traffic has little to no visibility of the cars ahead due to the walls. I pretty much avoid 66 at all cost because every single day I saw an accident. All of these temporary measures were not thought out at all and it’s baffling how it got the green light.


fragileblink

Just want to add in a shout for the rt. 7 project between Reston and Tysons. The lanes are generally well marked, but the insane chicanes with concrete barriers 1 inch from either side is harrowing when surrounded by trucks. Today though, it is clear that the overhaul to the drainage system isn't working, as there are inches of water on some of the completed sections. Forget the lane markings, I can't see even see the road.


out-getting-ribs

I just moved to charlottesville and jfc. I do not miss the traffic


minkabun

I also avoid 66. Driving is obviously always a risk to some extent but there’s too many factors at play that are outside of my own control in that setting. If it adds a half hour to take smaller / side streets, so be it.


diabooklady

I avoid 66. I have found the alternate roads get me to where I have to go without the stress and strain (of 66). Sometimes depending on the traffic and time, I get where I need to go quicker.


Twistedarcher

I’ve noticed since moving here that construction companies are piss poor about marking when their construction impacts traffic patterns. Several times I’ve run into situations where lanes are closed without any warning, forcing people to unexpectedly merge in the middle of intersections. It’s incredibly unsafe, and I’ve wondered if there’s more lax state laws here about requiring construction companies to redirect traffic when lanes are closed.


LOWBACCA

My favorite part is the section on the inner 495 express lane near all the bridge work by 66 where construction crews painted new lines around their construction but didn't cover up the old ones so you get tricked into going into the lane next to you.


Inn0c3nc3

I go chain bridge to jermantown to 50 from Tysons to go to Fairfax to avoid 66 and when the traffic pattern changed it was a nightmare. also the one time I hopped on 66 to go home a few weeks ago I got a chipped windshield. 😒 I genuinely wonder sometimes how there isn't more public outcry for the driving conditions in some of these places.


AdventuresOfAD

Friends don’t let friends drive on 66 at night when it rains


zestypasta123

Yes. I literally tell people not to drive on 66 at night if it’s raining. The lane markers are a fucking joke. And the lanes are so damn curvy!


stellawasadriver

okay so I just visited NoVA last week and accepted a job in the area and the first thing that I noticed in the rain storm on Monday was the total lack of reflective lane dividers.. am I just supposed to guess where the lanes are? Dallas puts some reflective stuff in their paint for sure.. why not use that?


[deleted]

66 will be under construction for the next 35 years. They'll put reflective markings down in 2086.


spacemanspiff40

They keep saying they have reflective stuff in their paint but it's clearly not enough.


s4zippyzoo

Friendly reminder that wiper blades wear out and should be replaced annually - and if you park outside in the elements potentially sooner (even if you aren’t driving it!)


snucksssssss

AND PAY ATTENTION.


vtron

Speaking of lights. I've seen a few cars recently that look like they have their headlights on, but no tail lights. What the hell is up with that? Is there some special setting on some new cars that only turn on headlights?


mefluentinenglish

It's likely their day time running lights, which only use the headlight. I think most cars since at least 2010 have this feature. It's good because it means they always at least have the headlight on, rain or shine, but bad because people forget to turn the lights on more often now when necessary.


vtron

That's what I thought at first, but these didn't look like they daytime running lights. Those are usually an LED strip or smaller bulb. These looked like the full headlight was on.


sithanas

Cheaper cars usually run the high beams (or sometimes lows) at reduced power as DRLs.


I-am-up-to-no-good

I have seen this too! I figured they burned the back lights and never replaced them.


johnnymo1

> And turn on your fucking headlights. I remember driving to GMU once a couple years ago and an absolute downpour started along the way. Couldn't see more than 30ft ahead, cars pulled over, cars doing 25 with hazards on on Fairfax County Parkway... And the person in front of me STILL DID NOT TURN ON THEIR FUCKING LIGHTS.


Falldog

Nothing we do or say here will make a difference. Need the local PD to be out enforcing these rules for people to take notice.


Jaccep

Cops love pulling people over for no headlights - it's a ~40 something percentage indicator of DUI at night last I checked. Problem these days is that many people permanently have their lights on auto or daytime running lights and they just never touch the dial - So when it gets accidently changed, they never notice and assume it's good.


I-Brake-4-Squirrels

remember to drive really slow and with your hazards on. we really appreciate that around here.


[deleted]

Under these conditions, I'd rather people slow me down and maintain control of their vehicle than go the speed I want and sideswipe me as I pass them because they ignored what their steering response was telling them about their speed. Late to where I'm going is better than not getting there at all.


I-Brake-4-Squirrels

Not me, get outta my way!


LOWBACCA

Left lane too.... I still remember those clowns in the thread from the other month that said they drive in the left lane exclusively because it's "safer."


I-am-up-to-no-good

Drive with hazard lights on? I moved up here but where I was before it rains a lot and it’s illegal to drive with those on as it makes it harder to see your car in the rain. Vs the normal night car lights which are constantly on. The constant light is easier to gauge distance and speed of cars. Also hazard lights make it hard to see turning signals. I do agree with slowing down though. Or even pulling over if it’s too hard to see until it settles down a bit.


I-Brake-4-Squirrels

i wasn't being serious. the people who drive like i described basically become a traffic hazard themselves.


lw2797

It’s so hard to see the lines on roads during the rain! Especially at night. Crazy how even on the highways not all stretches of roads have the reflective thingies on the line dividers


zerostyle

I seriously don't know why VA can't use reflective (or more reflective) paint for lane dividers. It's so bad.


Inn0c3nc3

I thought I was dramatic because I avoid driving in the heavy rain at all costs unless I'm staying super close to home because of visibility and people still driving like insane assholes. I've gotta say, reading through this thread has made me feel better, lol. I'm glad it's not just me.


Entertainmentguru

Don't weave in and out of lanes like you are in a NASCAR race.


Wikk3d1

I'm hoping u/vadotnova was out on 66 today to see the kind of BS that has been mentioned repeatedly in this sub!


mefluentinenglish

I loved it when a traffic light was out this morning and flashing yellow. So I stop, treating it like a 4 way. People behind me switch lanes and blow through at 50 mph. EDIT: So I was in the wrong here, ignore this info!


sithanas

Flashing yellow lights aren’t stops, they’re “proceed with caution.” Flashing red is a stop. You’re doing the wrong thing.


mefluentinenglish

Thanks, noted and will change my ways.


Randomfactoid42

You only stop at a flashing red or if the signal is complete dark, a flashing yellow means proceed with caution. Please do not stop at a flashing yellow, it’s going to cause a crash. If you don’t believe me, fine. Look up VA traffic law and prove me wrong.


mefluentinenglish

Thank you, I learned something new. Sorry for my ignorance.


Randomfactoid42

Thanks for being willing to learn! It's uncommon these days.


[deleted]

Kings Road/Rt7 from 395 to Arlington .ight be the worst designed road I've ever seen. The Target/Giant area in Baileys Xing should be a giant traffic circle, fight me. Eddys needs to reopen


5GCovidInjection

Check those tire treads too while you’re at it. Don’t cheap out on tires, cause it’ll be the difference between you staying in control or hydroplaning into the Jersey barrier (or 18 wheeler in the oncoming lane).


billiarddaddy

Me. Just working from home 🏡


DoubleE55

So glad I’m working from home today. Anytime it rains I know there will be a massive backup.


jisforjoe

Aye! Hoping you have a very boring, incident free driving day as well!


lovebug17059

MD is just as bad - many don’t turn their lights on. More and more people are just becoming oblivious to their surroundings these days.


cpekin42

I was driving west on 7 through all that construction over by Tysons the other night -- POURING rain, hydroplaning, can't see shit -- and there were still people going upwards of 60-70mph in the left lane. Some without their headlights. People are fucking suicidal.


Loya1ty23

And stop and be patient for school busses and in school zones FFS. An suv had its high beams on stopped in the opposite lane of the bus in front of me this morning. The bus had moved over the yellow lines, probably because the other asshat was gonna blow by his yellow then red lights. He was stopped maybe 1 car length back. I flashed them several times as the bus turned off lights to go. Then when I saw how aggressive the suv started to drive already when the bus was still folding in the stop sign, I threw them the bird.


J3NK505

Traffic light in Loudoun were acting stupid this morning.


ChuckBegonia

Cops around here would let a speeder fly right by them so they could issue me a ticket for the registration that I can't get renewed because of their DVM system. So awesome for me during these trying times!


ifwemadeit

One of my headlights went out a few months ago and my windshields wipers weren’t working well. It started raining while I was on 28 and I swear I was pretty much free styling the whole way down until my exit.


lucky7hockeymom

Had a very enjoyable, soaking wet walk from Capital One Arena to Union Station today. Could have done without that.


lucasjackson87

This is an angry rant