Is Flashing Your Headlights At Another Car Banned in Minnesota?
We've all probably done it while driving, but is it really against the law here in Minnesota to flash your headlights at another vehicle?
There are many things we do when we're behind the wheel that are rude to our fellow drivers. Things like tailgating too closely, continuously driving in the left lane while on the highway instead of moving back over the right lane, or not letting someone in while doing the zipper merge are all rude driving behaviors.
Another behavior behind the wheel that also annoys many drivers throughout the Land of 10,000 Lakes is when an oncoming car continues to drive toward you with its high beams on, blinding you in the process. This driving pet peeve seems even worse today, as more and more cars sport those new extra-bright Xenon or LED headlights.
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And, yes, those new LED headlights ARE much brighter. This CBS News story says that most new vehicles in the North Star State come equipped with LED headlights that can be up to four or five times as bright as older headlights.
The brightness of light is measured in lumens. An old-school halogen headlight bulb puts out about 1,000 lumens. An LED bulb puts out about 4,000 lumens. But some aftermarket LED bulbs (many of which are illegal,) say they put out a whopping 12,000 lumens, CBS News noted.
So what do you do if a car coming towards you has its high beams on? You flash YOUR headlights at the oncoming car, hoping they'll get the hint and turn their high beams off, right? However, it turns out if you do that-- like many of us have done-- you're breaking the law here in the Gopher State.
A person is not allowed to “flash” their headlights at another vehicle, even if that vehicle has its high beams on. When meeting a vehicle in Minnesota, dim your headlights to low beams at 1,000 feet (even on a divided roadway.) Also use your low beams when you’re following another vehicle at 200 feet or less.
I had no idea flashing your headlights at another car was against the law. And I confess to breaking that one often if someone coming towards me has their high beams on. Oops.
So what are you supposed to do? Well, Sgt. Grabow suggests that, instead of looking directly into those blinding oncoming headlights, you should focus on the white line near the right shoulder of the road until the car passes. (Yeah, good luck with that!)
Speaking of driving, have you heard of the Must-Drive road here in Minnesota? (I thought maybe it was Highway-61 north of Duluth, along the North Shore-- but nope, that's not it!) Keep scrolling to check out a list of the best Must-Drive roads in all 50 states.
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See the Must-Drive Roads in Every State
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