I had a driving experience today that I will file under my Road Warrior posts. This afternoon, I took back roads on my way back from Home Depot and encountered a new variation of someone ignoring the right of way.
I was traveling on a road with a solid double line and a 35 mph speed limit. I was approaching a truck parked on the side of the road, taking up half the lane. Two guys were walking down the road behind it toward oncoming traffic. Someone in a white hatchback was approaching the parked truck and started flashing his headlights.
My reaction was, “What is this guy doing? What is he flashing his lights for?” So I slowed down. He didn’t slow down. He just veered into my lane and kept flashing his headlights. After a few seconds, I realized what he was doing. He was warning me that he was going to drive into my lane and that I needed to slow down. He was giving me the asshole signal.
It used to be that flashing your headlights at people was a courtesy. It meant telling someone you could go first, that there was danger ahead, or that you were approaching a speed trap. Now it means, “I am important, get out of my way.” This was my first experience of the asshole signal on a back road. Normally, it’s when someone rides up your ass on the highway and flashes you to get out of their way, even though there is a car in front of you and cars to your right.
In retrospect, I guess this guy was more courteous than most. People don’t often signal to announce they’re about to be an asshole. They just try to squeeze through.