DEAR SGT AL: UNAUTHORIZED USE OF HEADLIGHTS

DEAR SERGEANT AL: Yesterday I received a traffic ticket for unauthorized use of headlights for warning oncoming motorists of a speed trap on a local road here in my neighborhood by another trooper who was waiting on my side of the road. He wasn’t a happy camper. He told me that flashing my headlights in the manner I did was illegal. I thought I was doing everyone a benefit by making everyone’s lives easier, including the troopers. I guess he didn’t see it that way. I would like to know what my options are, and if the officer had any legal grounds for doing this in the first place. —Sick and Tired of Entrapment Traps

Dear SATOET: Sounds like you got a bum rap, but sorry to tell you, the officer has the grounds for taking the action he did, so while I can’t blame him for being annoyed at you for making their job a little more difficult for which you thought you were helping, but on the other hand, I can’t blame you for taking the action you did either. Apparently, you thought you might make life easier for everyone, but when you see officers conducting enforcement, you have to be careful. Although you had good intentions, motorists warning the public about upcoming traffic enforcement can be seen by some agencies as defeating the purpose of the police conducting the enforcement to begin with, and that has to do with the issues of DETERRENCE. Apparently the cops here wanted to do the deterrence and not you, that's their job and why they get paid. It is amazing how in some parts of the world that flashing your headlights is seen as an effective driving tool that should be encouraged in its use, like Europe, especially Germany, where signals like "flash to pass" flourishes, and in other parts, using your flashing headlights is seen as a rouse to mitigate police enforcement, or a signal of escalation for confrontation if you're not careful, like in places like New York or New Jersey, where you might instigate road rage. In your state, the use of high beams are only for the use of seeing more clearly on the road at night or during bad weather, and not when oncoming cars are coming the opposite way, which in such case you have to lower the beam, or warn the other driver he still has his on. This is hard to justify during daylight hours, absent unusual circumstances. My suggestion is this: as always, take the ticket to court. There’s a chance the officer will not show up, or if there, he might be amenable to a lesser charge with the time that has given him for a cooler head, or reduced fine, or if plea bargaining is not available, you might get a sympathetic jurist ear to dismiss the violation (after all, you were using your lights to warn of an upcoming road hazard, officers in the roadway conducting enforcement: a traffic court lawyer might articulate this to the judge more carefully), which is three points for 18 months starting the day of the ticket, and a $75 fine. Check with your insurance company if there's a risk surcharge, since it might be iffy if your insurance carrier considers this an equipment violation, like a broken headlight, as opposed to a dangerous violation like speeding, seatbelt, or red light violations, where someone could get hurt. No ticket from me SATOET, but consider yourself warned for next time: take it easy on those high beam flashers, and drive carefully. Good luck.