Is it Illegal to Flash Your Lights at Another Car in Louisiana?

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Let your mind wander to a long winding country road in the middle of the night. It’s 2:00 in the morning and you are tired.

You have been working a sixteen hour shift and the last thing you need is some clown with those new LED headlights blaring at you on high beam, but there he is.

What’s your first inclination when this happens? You hit that sucker with a big dose of his own medicine! You hit the high beams on your vehicle and hope he gets the message.

Guess what? In the state of Louisiana, you have just broken the law. Bet you didn’t know that. I certainly didn’t, but in an article from KTBS, we learn that Senior Trooper Brett Davis with the Louisiana State Police Troop G headquarters in Bossier Parish said that while a lot of drivers may flash their lights at other drivers in the bayou state it is against the law to do that.

According to Louisiana statute 32.327c, the only time we are permitted to flash our headlights at another driver is to warn them about some type of traffic hazard.

So how are we to let the other driver know his headlights are blinding you? He really might not be a jerk. He might have just worked a sixteen hour shift himself and he’s not thinking. It’s just an accident and he would love to know that he’s blinding you and hopefully you can inform him so the two of you don’t meet in a head-on collision.

According to several sources, the best thing to do is to immediately slow down and focus your eyes towards the outside of the lane you are in and away from the other driver. It’s then that you can quickly turn your headlights off and back on.

Hopefully that will give him the message, and it will certainly prevent you from getting a ticket.