Blankenship: OK to warn of speed traps ahead?

Headline: “D.C. man fights citation for warning other drivers.” So it’s unlawful in Maryland to flash your headlights to signal oncoming motorists of a speed trap. But relax, you can do it here.

Nevertheless, the headline awakened fond memories long dormant.

It’s a bright Sunday morning on a Maryland road nearly devoid of traffic. All of a sudden a state trooper pulls me over. Sternly he informs me I had been speeding in a 55 mph zone. I was clocked going 58. Suppressing a giggle, I accepted his warning ticket quietly.

That was about the only time radar ever got me ticketed for “speeding.” Which reminds me: Back in those awful days when double-nickel was the national speed limit, I drove the family to Chicago going quite a bit faster, thanks to a CB radio that I kept on until it drove my wife to distraction with its blaring of truckers’ rowdy conversations.

And many thanks, by the way, to one particular trucker while I was on another trip. On an Interstate in western Illinois, my Ford Falcon station wagon was whizzing along, packed with family and luggage. I was starting to pass a big rig on the left when its driver waved me back. In about 90 seconds I saw why. Smokies had their radar out, and the trucker undoubtedly had his CB ears up at the time.

My appreciation for such warnings helps explain why I occasionally flash my headlights at approaching cars. It’s no longer to get them only to dim their brights, since it’s hard to tell when some cars, with their new-style headlights, have them on. Rather, especially in my Aquia Harbour community, it’s just the neighborly thing to do.

But what if I get caught, like the guy did in the news story? Not to worry. It’s true that our community’s police officers do the radar thing sometimes, but according to Harbour chief Trish Harman, my warning flash is OK. She adds that it would really be neat to flash at an oncoming vehicle that’s obviously speeding, to get it to slow down.

Bill Kennedy in the Stafford sheriff’s office agrees, noting that a momentary flash of lights for whatever reason is lawful in Stafford. State troopers abide by that policy too, he adds.

Of course, with radar detectors officially banned statewide, how can a driver stay alert to the various radars and stationary cameras nowadays? Well, check out Speedtrap.org, which shows where you’re most likely to get nabbed, electronically or otherwise. Examples: Northbound U.S. 1 south of the Stafford Courthouse, and Hope Road during morning rush hour.

Also on the market now is PhantomAlert, a device marketed for motorists who want to know where police often encamp with radar guns and where speed and red-light cameras are located. In the District and nearby Maryland, they’re thick as fleas, raising gobs of money from fines.

Will Virginia legislators also outlaw these new alert gadgets, just like they did with radar detectors? Stay tuned.

Ben Blankenship is an Aquia Harbour resident and career journalist. Reach him at .