srsly

i’m from california.- that’s also where i learned to drive.- after driving in california for a while you start to pick things up.- one of those things is flashing your lights at other drivers to communicate; that is letting them know that they should do or not do the thing they are about to do by flashing your high beams at them.- this seems second nature to me.- when you’re going 70mph down the freeway it’s hard to hear honking.- so if someone is hesitant about getting into your lane you can either speed up to not let them in or hold the course and flash your lights at them to let them know you see them.- granted not much information can be imparted by blinking lights.- i suppose you could infer by how fast someone is flashing as to their intentions, and that should be sufficient.

now i live in seattle and it seems that nobody around here knows what that means.- every time i do that to someone with tessa in the car she says she’s pretty sure the person i’m doing it to doesn’t understand and that it’s weird.- everyone i’ve talked to this morning has grown up and learned to drive in another state and they all said “flash your lights” when i asked them how to communicate with other drivers not using your horn.- apparently this practice is illegal in wisconson but they do it anyway.- my east coast friends that live in connecticut know of this practice as well.- every trucker i’ve encountered also knows what this means.- so it seems that washingtonians just don’t do this.- so i’m going on a mission, and if you’re also a washington transplant you should too,- to make this standard practice in this state.- i just think it’s a better way to get people’s attention in a non-aggressive way.- the point of it is to make other drivers aware of you.- and what better way to do that than provide movement and light in their peripheral vision.