Florida man sues state over ticket for flashing high beams to warn other drivers.

[Berean]

I quit doing this years ago over fear of getting a ticket. When I was a kid, it was very common though.



http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/12...s-big-trouble/


Erich Campbell thought he was being helpful. The Florida Highway patrolman thought he was being obnoxious and disrespectful and gave him a $101 fine.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Campbell as he paced next to Veterans Highway in Tampa, Fla.
“I was in complete disbelief.”
Campbell’s crime?
He flashed his headlights to alert oncoming cars after passing that patrolman’s speed trap.
“It’s something I do,” he explained. "I don’t think it should be against the law."
In December 2009, the patrolman was set up on the southbound side of Route 589 near the Tampa International Airport. In a recording of the stop, the officer told Campbell he had seen his lights flashing. “It’s illegal,” he said before giving him a ticket that read “improper flashing of high-beams.”

Campbell eventually got the ticket dismissed, but he recently filed a class-action lawsuit against the state over writing similar citations.
Why?
“Because the state was rolling the dice (with me), he said. “They figured most people aren’t going to challenge it, and I think it’s about time someone actually did.”
Campbell estimates 2,600 other “highbeam-helpers” received summonses between 2005 and 2010. He says most simply chose to pay their fines.
“Someone has to stand up,” he says, referring to the tickets as a “huge money-maker” for the state, not to mention a "blatant violation of the right to free speech.”
“I have the right to communicate with my fellow drivers,” he said. “That’s my right.”
Guaranteed, he said, by the U.S. Constitution.
It’s a legal stance that’s caught the attention of law enforcement across the country.
“He has a definite different interpretation of the U.S. Constitution than I do,” said Thomas Ruskin. “And than most members of law enforcement.”
Ruskin is a former New York Police Department detective and current police advocate. He says flashing high beams is dangerous and clearly illegal.
“It's illegal because you're warning someone,” he explained. “It's the same thing as saying, 'run, here comes the cops,' You're obstructing a cop from doing his lawful duty.”
He said citizens do not have the right to interfere with a police action that is under way.
“He is aiding law-breakers,” said Ruskin. “He is warning people who are speeding to slow down. His intent is to impede the police.”
It’s a point Campbell says is impossible to prove.
“I may simply not like speeders and am telling others to slow down. They can’t prove my intent.”
Campbell maintains he has a “right to communicate” with fellow drivers.
“This is the way I communicate,” he said. “They can’t stop me from communicating.”
The Florida Highway Patrol would not comment on Campbell’s ticket or his lawsuit. It has, however, temporarily halted all summonses for headlight flashing.
“We have told our people to stop issuing citations on that,” said spokesman Capt. Mark Brown, “pending the outcome of the litigation.”
The case could go before a judge in the next couple months.

[CamaroSkooter]

[greenisgood]

Originally Posted by Berean

“He is aiding law-breakers,” said Ruskin. “He is warning people who are speeding to slow down. His intent is to impede the police.”

His intent is to save people a few bucks from a bs speedtrap!

Only people who have never in any way broken a speed law can argue against this.



crickets

[Fishdadddy]

I figure if they can hide behind stuff to catch people like a trap. We should be able to warn others. I do it all the time. Have even considered making a couple of
signs to carry around in the back of my truck, so I can post them up ahead of a speed TRAP to warn others when I see them.

[Sevn86]

I flash to warn others all the time!

[CC Performance]

Its illegal iin a lot of states

the argument being you could be warning someone who the police are after.. not having anything to do with traffic laws....

like a child kidnapper.......


and it is interference as well.. not sure how the guy can win his lawsuit ...


get in the way of them effecting their duty in person and you get arrested

[KnightRiderSS]

I don't understand how flashing high beams = cops ahead....I usually get flashed because people think I have my high beams on.....

[PoorMansCamaro]

Originally Posted by greenisgood

His intent is to save people a few bucks from a bs speedtrap!

Only people who have never in any way broken a speed law can argue against this.



crickets

I've broken a speeding law here and there. Not going to argue that. but that's all on me. No one else's responsibility. If people feel they can speed, then they should be able to deal with the consequences of getting caught.

Personally, i don't think speedtraps are BS. It's cops trying to keep the road safer.

[Sir Nuke]

what I'm wondering about it this......Mr Campbell had already PASSED the officers......thus they were BEHIND HIM....how would they know if he was flashing his lights at on-comming traffic? seeing as how you don't have to turn ALL your lights on the flash someone......and even if they did.....still how would they know, the officer was BEHIND him......hmmmmmmmm now if he was doing this at NIGHT...that is a different story.

[DOOK]

Obviously another officer was oncoming, and was flashed.
Here in B.C. It is illegal to high beam oncoming drivers who are closer than 100 meters (i think that is the distance). That is what they ticket you for.

You can also get a ticket for flashing your lights off, and on. The universal 'turn on your headlights' signal. Driving without your headlights is the ticket, ironicaly.

Other than that it does not appear to be illegal to warn drivers specifically about speed traps here. Radio stations do it all the time. In fact, one station has a former traffic cop as an ' eye in the sky' and he warns where the guys with 'hair dryers' are standing.

The reasonable person would find nothing wrong with that.
If the object is to reduce speeding, you are causing many drivers to slow down.
Revenue reduction, not safety is the obvious answer to those who would try to curtail warning drivers.

[TonyNo]

Recently read about another case like this where the "flashing" driver won.

[CAPT D]

If an officer is in plain sight I usally dont flash my headlights, he's in plain sight and he is affectively doing his job as a deterent for speeder's, but when they hide IMO their trying to create revenue by handing out tickets I give people a fair warning when they hide. IMO the whole purpose of a trap is to catch people not deter the only way a trap can deter someone is if they know that the trap is there. If anything people flashing there lights are helping police deter speeder's.

[Mr_Draco]

My mom was in a wreck a few years ago because some driver decided to flash his high beams for the same reason and blinded her. He learned a valuable lesson that day. Not only did he get a ticket but his insurance also had to pay for all the damage and hospital bills.

If you're going to warn incoming drivers, do it another way. Don't flash your high beams. It's very dangerous and can cause people to wreck and get hurt or worse. It's illegal in most states for a reason.

[TOMS1SS]

Bottom line if there is a traffic law against it then the ticket was legit, good luck wasting money on the lawsuit.