Body Language | Read it, Tell it, But Don't Flash! 

As a regular driver on the Autobahn in germany I think a flash to tell other road users that I am a faster moving vehicle coming from behind, is a great signal to get the awareness of them. It often avoids awkward situations.

Yous say it's obvious when you're giving way to other drivers, but I think it's unfair to criticise them for being cautious. Especially since they might assume a learner is driving your car and is simply being hesitant.

Absolutely love the way you teach your students; especially the example of allowing other traffic to flow when you can't proceed, but as soon as you can, to go & not inconvenience those behind you. If only all students were taught this way.

I disagree with the one at 2:30. Although it might be obvious that you're giving way, it seems like a better idea to just carry on and prevent any chance of confusion. After all, cars that are pulled up should be giving way to cars already on the road, so giving them this special priority is no different to what the oncoming cars did at 0:20 and 0:40, just adds unnecessary confusion and delays for both of you. Like you said in the video: "When you've got priority and someone's giving you it, take it."

some people are overly cautious, they are not 100% certain that you are giving way, or they are waiting for a flash thats why they don't move and flash

> people recognise my car and trying to be kind. While there seem to be people who treat learners badly I suspect there is also a smaller subset who go too far the other way and try and be "nice" but end up making things more difficult. I remember being on my CBT and someone trying to help by blocking a mini roundabout and trying to flash me through. Just confused everything, not sure how well that would have played out had I been on an actual test.

2:34 and again. A signal doesn't mean they can pull out, only an intent to pull out when it's clear and as you were still moving, albeit slowly, they weren't obliged to make the manoeuvre.

1:00 I think the car went over a bump in the road, and as it doesn’t have adaptive headlights, appears to flash you. This situation is especially dangerous in bad visibility. Love your content bty, learned so much to make me a safer driver. 👍

I’ve started reading what people are going to do too,my wife finds it hilarious when they do exactly what I thought they were going to do 😂 I find it really helpful in knowing what could happen if they do this or that before it happens. I’m not being big headed or anything but I find it’s broadened my road sense and finding your channel is the best thing I’ve done on RU-vid. Keep up the great content

Funny how Ashley hates flashing but it's just an easy way of communicating 🤣

2:26 My take on them not moving is that yes it's engrained in them to look for a flash but when they don't see it they won't pull out for fear of cutting somebody up and it may be a nutter. There are lots of nutters driving about these days (which is why you should never engage in road rage) so until they see that flash to say they're definitely being let out, they won't move. To me it's obvious that the decrease in speed means the other car is letting me out and I will go but I have had occasions where someone has decreased their speed and I go only to have them come right up to me waving hands that I've pulled out on them. I can fully understand why some people (say a lone female driver) would not move unless flashed.

As I always say to my pupils "flashing causes crashing" I've also had a few situations where people have flashed in the right manner (to warn of presence) but it's so ingrained into people that a flash means go, it can be misinterpreted and even more dangerous!

Funny you should post this now, yesterday someone trying to be helpful and flashing me out of a junction at a crossroads got arsey with me for not going because I had no idea what the car coming in the opposite direction to him wanting to turn right would do. His helpful flashing soon turned into angry bouncing and gesticulating in his seat followed by a 20m wheelspin launch to close up the queue he was still in. It was nice of him to try and help me and I appreciated it, but I’m not going wading out into traffic on someone else’s say so and getting dirty guts with me seems very unnecessary.

you're my favourite channel for help with learning to drive thanks for everything you're doing

To be honest while flashing can indeed confuse situations, even cause danger on rare occasions, and being overly courteous can slow traffic flow from the optimum, I'm not going to complain too much about people wanting to be gracious, even in times when it's misguided. A helpful mindset is a valuable thing. I've probably reduced my flashing because of these videos, but it's still a handy tool to be dug out once in a blue moon, especially if you're going along single-track roads a lot.

Great video ash, getting better at reading signals is definitely something I want to get better at so this video was highly helpful 👍.

All I'll say is I've tried not flashing people for the last few weeks, I will stop leaving a decent gap for them and look at them (both peds and drivers), and 9 times out of 10 they just sit there staring back at me. This breaks up the flow of traffic even more and wastes my time.

I'd say far too many people just expect the 'flash' - and are confused when it doesn't happen.

Heya just want to say a big thankyou for all of your clips they have really helped me pass my second attempt test today with three minors so so happy 😊👍

Really love your channel! I'm doing my first driving lesson tomorrow. 😊

I discovered your channel on accident, but I really like the content. Some of the things you show in your videos come naturally to a small % of drivers and are difficult to learn for the rest. You're doing a great job of breaking down the reasoning so they don't just memorise "in situation A do this", but rather understand the logic and are able to apply it in various scenarios. I just wish more instructors were like this - I didn't pass my driving test in the UK, but seeing how people drive here (and especially their appalling lane discipline), it can't be that good.

Ashley, A lot of driving instructors' just train pupils to pass the test, not the Craft of driving. So it was good to see you passing on The Knowledge. I took my test in 1962, I had been driving on farms and private roads long before that and so knew how to operate vehicles. I took some lessons and was taught what the tester would be looking out for, my father taught me the craft. I passed my test and the chief examiner praised me on the craft and asked where I gained, he said I was very lucky to have had the chance to drive early and good instruction. Soon after passing I moved on from driving a Morris 1000 traveler, to a Ford 15cwt. van collecting stores and equipment around London a while later onto a Ford Thames 3 ton truck. Now I'm starting to learn positioning of the truck to compensate for the larger turning circle, setting the truck up to show I'm giving way or standing on, as you demonstrated. I was taught the Headlight code used by truck drivers back then, trucks in those days did now have power brakes or steering, the mirrors were small compared to todays. So a truck overtaking another had difficulty knowing when he'd cleared the front of overtaken truck and could pull into the nearside lane, made worse at night or in bad weather. The overtaker would give the truck in front a quick flash, if the road is clear the truck in front would give a quick tail light flash. When the overtaker has passed clear in front the nearside truck would give a long flash to say OK pull in. Trucks travelling down hill would give way to uphill trucks, to allow them to keep moving and not have a Standing start, a quick flash by the downhill truck would mean come on. A long flash or lights left on would mean he's not giving way as the stopping distance was not long enough or even worse his brakes have failed and he's coming through. The police did not like drivers using the code, only because there was also the series of quick flashes used by an approaching truck and the thumbs down hand signal that meant there were POLICE ahead for the other driver. Car drivers used light signals but tended to get the quick and long flash muddled up and so truckers tended to ignore them and use their own skill. If taught properly they could be a great aid to driving, but like the use of hazard lights that are used in many situations there not meant for, like I'm in a hurry. Which then makes the turn signal useless. Please keep up the driving craft videos, I also learnt a lot of craft on the Advanced Drivers Course where I was taught by a police driving instructor. Thanks for posting.

learnt so much about things since joining the channel when you first started out keep up the great work Astley very good

Good video Ash, this is sort of stuff I think that is lacking with too many drivers, and should probably be a larger part of the 'theory' test as well...in fact, for 25 years I've been advocating making the standard driving test basically the same as the one you do for IAM....raise the bar.

i fullyt agree with you. I dont like flashing at all. People seem to be clueless when you are giving them space but you dont flash.

With regards to the clip at 4:25, I've had this happen to me at least half a dozen or so times this past week alone, and I find it's one of two things: 1. Impatient people who don't want to wait 5 seconds for the path to clear (and I can vouch for this as one time fairly recently I saw someone actually wave their hands as if to say "What do you think you're doing?" when I was on a roundabout and they had to wait). 2. People who just go without looking before going. And I think the second one is probably most likely what happened in the clip shown here because regardless of the cammer's position (albeit admittedly not brilliant), the car joining the roundabout would still have been cutting in front of the cammer's car even if the cammer was going around, based on the lane markings, and the cammer's speed should have indicated that they were still going regardless of direction too. That's my analysis of the roundabout clip anyway :) (feel free to disagree)

Completely agree. Just hang back and let the other vehicle make their own decision. Otherwise it just adds confusion.

Hi Ashley, another very informative video. You asked what the car we were riding in on the video clip did that caused the other vehicle to move out onto the roundabout. The answer is poor lane discipline - by cutting into the right-hand lane they gave the impression that they had decided to turn right.

Hi Ashley, I was told about the headlight flashing protocol sixty years ago, it made sense then just as it does now, when you see something ahead that you think you should alert the oncoming traffic to you can do either a short flash or a longer flash and hold, the short flash is simply to tell them you have seen them the long flash is to show you expect them to continue. The other circumstance is when being passed by a very large vehicle when there is room for them to pull in front of you, this employs a quite long flash and hold but not until you can see their lefthand mirrors. The important point about these practises is that they are not orders or demands, just advisory, if not followed by the appropriate response just proceed with caution. Cheers, Richard.

A valuable lesson for new drivers and those with many years of driving under their belt. Most of the crashes and near misses I have seen in built up urban areas, are due to people flashing people through when it's not safe. I guess people feel pressured to make a unsafe manoeuvre.

As a cyclist, my life depends on reading what people in cars are going to do as many do not signal, are on their phone etc. I have noticed that many drivers are quite bad at figuring out what other cars are going to do, let alone what cyclists are going to do. In the reverse, I also semi-frequently see people give mixed signals, like cars drifting to the right in their lane before turning left (no signal). I love the clip where you noticed the cyclist look back before turning across your lane, I wish everyone paid that much attention to cyclists on the road.

To be fair to the person emerging onto the motorway, I'd be unsure, too. The viewer's car was moving into the car's blindspot. I'd have moved to the next lane.

I love giving hand signals out the window that people can see front back and side it gives others confidence the signal isn't accidental. I'm generally wearing a full sleeve white shirt so a left hand signal can be used to confirm my left indicator signal.

Perfect, I've been using the terms "body language" and "telling a story" for decades. It's fun to see a car and predict what it will do. It's a game most of the time but can also protect you. But so many do not pick up on the signals. For them the flash is the only signal they expect. Going towards a crossroads where I have to give way, as does a car facing me from the other side, Both of us indicating right. He's already arrived at the junction, earlier than me, I have a good view in all directions, no other cars, anywhere. I just hang back maybe a car's length from the white line. This is submission, he got there first, go ahead turn right before me. But they just gawk. Can't they see, I am not even at the white line. Neither has official priority, but my body language says go on then. And my mind says no, I refuse to flash.

I do! Then again, starting my motoring life on two wheels made this sort of mandatory for survival reasons! Couple of things I do is on crossroads when coming out onto the road that has priority is if it looks like it is evolving to where both of us could move and crash I will visibly take my hands off the steering wheel to show I'm not going to move. Also , when in crowded roads with cars parked either side is to deliberately slightly point the car into the curb. This makes reinforces the statement that I'm staying put. Cars are designed to appeal to different personality niches so, for instance, if you see a small 'women's car' in the right hand lane it is most likely because they are going to turn right fairly soon. they even drift to the right in anticipation often. Loads of others..... Nice to have confirmation I'm doing some of this right.

I love this video. There's nothing more frustrating than someone "out-kindnessing" me by stopping when I've already stopped for them. Like you say it delays both of us and usually ends up delaying me more than if they had just kept driving. I consider such people to be selfish narcissists because what they're actually doing is trying to be kinder than you, thus in their mind they are being the better person.

I must say I love your videos as it teaches me, even if I already knew, how to approach situations from different perspectives and, proves or disproves what I already knew. I do have to mention a few things: Not everyone can tell the speed of oncoming car, and even if one could, that does not tell the whole story. I was in similar situations where the oncoming car was looking for a house or to park and did not pay attention to me, but me, assuming that their speed is reduced to allow me going, proved to be an awkward mistake on my part. And this leads to the second comment, the flash. The flash, obviously used more in Britain (the way it's actually used) than the other countries, is to acknowledge that one party has see the other and he/she's willing to accept the situation. As per the clip where the car was joining the motorway, assuming that the car in lane 1 has seen you and is willing to allow you to get in is a common mistake, in my opinion. And the reason for that is too many "staged" accidents happen because one wanted to scam the insurance companies, this being one one of the many reasons. Now (and changing to another part of your clip), from experience I can tell you that in London, if you use the horn to prevent the other to get in your lane, close to the traffic lights or not, escalates quickly, so as per you teaching in many other clips, it is better (saving yourself from an argument, breakdown, or whatever) to let the d***head in. Sorry about the word, but this gets me back to where I started. People are either not willing, or not intelligent enough to understand the traffic, so from a very selfish point of view, they see only what they're doing and don't care about the others. The bottom line is that I learn every from traffic, and also from you because I'm ruled by a saying from my country: A smart person will learn from other's mistakes, a stupid one, not even from its own. As you say, keep safe and all the best from London!

Since watching your videos I've been using body language rather than flashing & its been working really well.

The amount of people that don't know how to merge onto a dual carriageway/motorway is terrifying.

This is the biggest point I'm still working on. My flashing has gone drastically. Still have a bit to go on being too friendly when it doesn't really benefit anyone. Thanks for the videos

Flashing has one meaning. "be aware of me". This means someone is trying to highlight they're giving way, or they're highlighting they're not giving way. I think it's fine to flash, but it's a problem when the context leads to confusion about which is being conveyed. It's certainly best to assume it's the latter over the former, but context is essential.

My only addition to your great instruction video is courtesy. When you were driving (wearing the white top) you thanked the other road user. I always do this as it reinforces courteous driving.

One observation regarding the scenario at 3’30”. The first vehicle giving priority could maybe have been a few feet further back. They wouldn’t have been blocking the refuge as it looks like a car length between it and the junction itself. This resulted in the silver car cutting the corner. The cammer who has given priority to the next vehicle also results in a corner cut made more difficult by reduced visibility of the junction. Which could have resulted in a collision with a vehicle or cyclist pulling up and wishing to turn right onto the main road. Both occasions ran the risk of this happening especially the latter one. I’ve been caught out before when waiting to turn right on my bike and nearly been clipped by a motorist turning in due to there being a gap been left. Maybe a teaching point on how to turn right into a side street without cutting the corner is in order? Thanks again for todays clip. Great to get a refresher course as always.

Everytime I flash the police come to my house & I get bloody arrested, am I doing it wrong Ashley ?

I remember when I was about 13 and starting to think about learning to drive soon, I started to purposely start to watch traffic and learn how it behaves. One day I decided that on my 1 hour journey to school on multi-lane roads (like 8+ lanes in each direction) I would try to predict what each car was going to do. And I did it really well. Without trying very hard, I was able to very accurately predict how each vehicle was going to behave and who was going to change lanes before they even signalled. I learned to drive in a big city with infamously aggressive drivers. So I had to learn how to be assertive when I drive. This usually actually serves me well in avoiding collisions and altercations. Though I'm sure a lot of people think I'm an asshole driver.

I think an important skill in driving also is just being able to take criticism and advice and incorporate that into your driving.

It’s good common curtesy and keeps the traffic flowing. Anything that works towards a mutual advantage is worth doing in my book.

So glad you mentioned about watching the pedestrian who crossed behind the vehicle! I do this all the time when I cross the road, I hate using crossings because it holds drivers up and uses up that expensive fuel! Although, I did have an instance of this a year or two ago - Went to cross a road, with absolutely clear intentions that I was going to cross BEHIND this guy and he absolutely stomped his brakes on, left 2 big black trails behind him then started screaming at me! He wasn't too happy when I shouted back at him "I'LL PRESS THE F***ING BUTTON NEXT TIME AND STOP YOU!!!" This was a 2 lane road and I had taken one pace into the road, couldn't have been a quarter of the way into the lane he wasn't even occupying! Honestly... his was the only vehicle coming down the road too! xD

I have seen both ends of the spectrum, some drivers just think they have right of way irrespective to what they're doing, and some drivers think they need a hand written invitation to pull out.

Agree on most of these points. It’s definitely indecisive and overly kind drivers that waste everyones time in these situations. Being assertive and taking your priority is usually best as long as you anticipate other drivers not acting accordingly (but this is true with any situation really).

Lack of confidence can be so disruptive and sometimes dangerous on the road, like that car on the slip road

5:00 …. that was a really good one, 👍👍👍👏👏👏👏 No many people would have picked up that they were going the cut the corner.

One of the vids I watch every now and then as a reminder.

I'm 24 and I do all. my dad was a lorry driver and being in the lorry with him at very young age helped me read the road well.

I think at 2:30 it was an instant of maybe as you said yourself when you have priority take it and continue as it causes less confusion. I know for me I would be expected the car to pass and then to pull out into the gap behind behind it. Also that fact that its a driver school car often makes the driver’s actions even less predictable so them leaving a gap may not necessarily mean that gap is for you so I don’t blame them for hesitating when pulling.

Wonderful stuff - I hope every single one of those 106k subscribers are taking note.

People sometimes can be too over cautious. I see it a lot at mini roundabouts where someone can easily navigate the roundabout but just doesn't because another car is on there. The highway code (with the exception of H2) sets out a really clear and sensible priority system. I wish people would just follow it.

As a cyclist the ability to read and transmit intention via 'body' language is super important and things like road positioning, speed and exaggerated 'looking' I think supersede even the traditional arm signal. Sometimes an arm signal is unsafe, say on a downhill or badly pot-holed section, at times you just don't want to be taking a hand off the bars. The vast majority of motorists can read the signs of for example, taking a more central position to deter an overtake as the road narrows ahead or at a junction where you don't want a car sitting to your right when it's time to move off again - and it's rare to get a negative response if one can make these manoeuvres in a timely and assertive manner. Of course, not every cyclist will have the confidence, experience or nous to behave assertively on the road and all will sometimes make mistakes so it's important for motorists to bear this in mind and be kind and careful.

2:16 It appears that the car merging is not focousing what's happening around him, and instead, looking in his mirror. This is why I hate slip roads in the UK, they allow so little time to make decisions that it causes a hazard to all road users around them.

I often drive a Nissan with popup headlights. I've noticed a side effect of that is I flash a lot less. You have to pull the flasher twice, once to raise the headlight units, and again to flash the bulbs (during the day obviously).

2:30 But it COULD have been more obvious, by flashing! Electric cars can accelerate so fast from a stop that the olden "hold ye back until the shilling drops" method SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE. Even other driving instructor in video understands this 0:19 listening to flash would have saved everyone time 2:15 another great example where flashing would have helped

Good video, you see this all the time. Target fixation….. The car coming the other way flashes you to come through without realising that the traffic behind them is blocking the road. I find myself resisting the urge to yell “ *Look in your bloody mirror* ”

Why do you describe the Mercedes as a "I don't wanna wait pusher" when the bus lane starts quite far beyond the lights but in a previous video you said it was acceptable to use the whole lane when discussing the driver who got pulled by the police for driving right up to where roadworks closed the lane?

"Don't flash!" Is good advice in all aspects of life!

Since watching Ash’s videos I have reduced the number of times that I flash to beckon a car on. However it’s true that many driver’s expect you to flash to give them the ‘all clear’. Only the other day I signalled to turn left into a side road and slowed right down to show an oncoming car which wanted to turn right into the same road that it was ok for them to go. I did eventually flash, ensuring that there weren’t any pedestrians or other road users that the other driver might not be aware of. The road I was turning off from is quite a busy road, albeit in a 30mph zone, and oncoming traffic turning tends to hold up people behind. Regarding flashing lights to warn of one’s fast approach on an Autobahn, I have occasionally used it on motorways here, but it often seems to cause offence.

I wondered why you had "Read it Tell it" on the front panel. Now I know. The difference between assertive and aggressive is a fine line but it's important to assert your space. Being too timid is as bad as being aggressive. The problem is when someone errs on the side of caution due to incomplete data - perhaps someone that has just disappeared into their blind spot. I think the car at 2:38 was in that situation. It's one reason why I'll do everything possible to avoid parking on the 'wrong' side of the road. At 4:25, I don't think the silver car should have pulled out regardless of the position of the cammer, but likewise, by straddling the lanes the cammer was sending a really odd message. Perhaps that confusion was all it needed to prompt the poor emerge. Roundabouts work well if everyone does what they're supposed to, but when we decide to follow our own rules, they quickly descend into chaos.

I think a flash is fine if no one else will be effected or confused by it. We'd say the same about indicating if no one is around, so why insist on never using the flash?

one thing my instructor said i was always spot on with, hazards reading the situation he always said i do not miss a thing and few times i seen what going on i reacted correct like police car on blues 300m plus behind i started to pull in to safe gap my instructor tried to take control move me back out what made situation worse as now not ft from curb even but angled bad and sticking out, he must be day dreaming that day, few other times make progress but i can see down center road and stopping traffic what he didn't spot why you slowing. tho his off days rest he was great teacher, taught me things when asked my mates they had no idea they been on road for years, one useful tip was if road to slippy for parking brake but you must exit car to clear road from fallen log/ tree, very bad tar road turned in to gravel to mud track on very steep forest road in wales in my city car put handbrake on the car would slid back, had to get another 200m to a y in the road crazy angles side mountain to turn around but first had to clear way and reversing way to risky and prob rip front bumper of at bottom, put it in 1st point up hill and parking brake engine off and fingers crossed it don't pop out of gear, first week very steep 25-27% grade mountain climb to find out handbrake useless and car inch of my bumper in lay by allowing traffic through as they already committed to space, firstly trying to take of hand brake all my strength heal and toe not easy wheel slip yes at at that point better than going backward in to a car, ever since what ever age car is it get maintained to new standard drives like new so things work when needed. i still take my city car off road few forest tracks but more careful now and if it looks real off road mid winter not the best time to try. one thing all should be taught but not and it something what can fail at any time. a simple brake censor took few years to finally find error and stay on long enough to read code a £60 part tuned off abs/tc/esp even city car get a bit lively esp in the wet i with i was taught that, very lot to learn very fast first few weeks lot fun when it safe place but wet windy country welsh road lose back end or like driving on oil it gets scary too, adding these skills to learning even if it was a controlled zone skid pan it sure make better drivers, these things can fail at any time, you can only hope not the worst time it happens

Perfect example of good driving in the very final clip, un-commented on, and covered up by your Subscribe graphics - the way you hit the stop line at the lights, still rolling, at PRECISELY the instant they went Amber-Green.

A life saving skill on fast roads and motorways.

Car 'Body Language' can be a more difficult to read and much slower to interpret, Thats why I still think flashing in situations can be extremly effective, courteous and civil and is far more practical for traffic flow than slowing to a snails pace. I was watching a video of Ashley the other day were he used his hand to singal and thats basically the same thing so there is something built into all of us that wants to tell others they can go and thats why I dont think the flash is the problem its the interpretation and use.

I HATE it when people give way to me when it's their priority. I am responsible for my driving, not them, they should focus on what they are doing and not trying to be a 'good person' because it doesn't help anyone by ignoring the rules of the road that everyone (should) know and understand. Edit: just to add, I'm more refering to the bits toward start of video. Situations like traffic queues at lights etc, it is reasonable to allow space for emerging cars, even so you shouldn't command them they take action, it's still their choice if safe, not down to the priority to flash or wave someone out

Why are people suprised that another road user holds back once you've indicated that you are about to pull out? Better to delay the signal until it is safe to make your move but at least be prepared to act on your signal if you've you made it too soon and held up another road user.

wish more people watched your videos. i have been in the car with people who have been driving much longer than me but they don't signal, they don't check mirrors, they don't leave a safe gap, they speed, they pull off in gear 2...

I think that you are theoretically correct but the anti flashing is slightly bizzare tbf, I think that the flash is so ingrained into driving that its almost accepted as 'correct protocol'. It's also quite difficult to second guess what another driver is wanting you do....again all OK in theory but that's under the assumption that everyone is a good driver. Really enjoy your view all the same.

I rarely flash now, my position and speed say enough. Not everytime though, i have still been guilty of waving pedestrians across the road when they have priority because especially students, they just stand and stare. I'm afraid if i creep foward they will too and it'll be a stop start stop start. I'm am learning day by day.

I've completely done a 180 about flashing since discovering your channel. I always knew it was risky to go when beckoned and you should always check yourself anyway. I cannot understand flashing a bike though.. Don't flash me because I'm not going to trust the judgement on how to approach a stalemate on a bike from someone who's never ridden. Not to mention, people generally don't see me, so if there's someone behind me and they haven't seen me, they could rear end me... Or what about traffic islands? What if someone is trying to cross behind me and get flashed across, but they fail to check for oncoming traffic in my lane? Like... Just don't flash your lights, let body language do all the talking. Edit: I wanna just add that you should ALWAYS make yourself as predictable as possible on the road. 5:13 I do many shoulder checks (as you should), and make them as exaggerated and obvious as physically possible lol. I look like an idiot while riding, but it helps me be seen and helps me to see potential hazards far sooner.

2:10 my absolute pet peave is people being hesitant on slip roads. DON'T do 40-50mph on the slip road and just get in the way. Reach the spead of the traffic (60-70mph in most cases) and merge. Going too slowly and blindly giving way just makes the whole situation worse for everyone. If you're matching the speed of the traffic, it makes it SO much easier to either slow a tad to fit in a gap, or speed up slightly if it's safer to do so.

I didn't understand your comment about the BMW changing lane in the last clip or the beeping. Seemed that they were in lane 2 and when lane 3 appeared they took it because it was the correct lane for where they were going..

I remember on my test I was turning right into a side road and a lorry coming the other way flashed. I turned instinctively but a moment later I wondered if the examiner might mark me down for turning when a large vehicle was coming the other way, since technically the flash doesn’t mean they are giving way. He didn’t mention it after the test, so I guess it was okay.

Yeh, the cammer on the roundabout at 4:30 didn't really do any kind of clear, obvious 'slide off' to exit, did they? It was more like s/he was planning a hard steer off left just as they reached the exit.

I think flashing makes your intentions more obvious. Just slowing and waiting for other drivers to figure out your intention slows things down and creates confusion I think. If you flash to let them know you're giving way to them they can act quicker and keep the flow of traffic moving better. When pulling out of junctions I can't be sure if a driver has seen me or they're just slowing for a hazard or traffic ahead of them, if I pull out and they hadn't seen me, or had no intention of letting me out, it could create an incident, if they flash (or give hand gesture) I can be pretty certain that they intend to let me out; if traffic is moving freely and they flash me out I can probably act quick enough to pull out and they can continue at their current speed with no disruption to traffic flow. If I was the driver of that Kia at 2:30 I wouldn't be sure of your intentions, I'm most likely watching you via my passenger mirror and your speed could be distorted for me so I wouldn't be sure if I had enough time to jump out in front of you. I have been signalling for a while and the white car ignored me, maybe you will too. There are shops and houses around, are you driving slow because you're looking for a certain shop, or house number, or parking space? Is there a chance you haven't spotted me because of this and I misinterpret your slow speed? Maybe I've spotted a gap behind you that I've set my intentions of jumping into so I'm waiting for you to pass and not noticed you've slowed to let me out. If you flash I can be more certain of your intention to let me out. Flashing is our way of making gestures via the machine we're driving, because we can't see the human behind the wheel to figure things out human to human (like with your examples of cyclists and pedestrians), if there's no point in being obvious of our intentions via flashing then why bother to use indicators?

I'm a cyclist and I've learnt a lot from Ash on reading the road and assessing risk. I try to reduce my risk as much as possible, but there will always be drivers (and cyclists) who aren't as aware of the space and the space they need to give others. And I will make mistakes in my risk assessment, but i am trying.

I like to think I'm more friendlier on the road than many who I see around me. I always trying to see what's coming before I get to it. It amazes me how many people can't see the big bus In their lane ahead of them and it's about to stop at a stop, and then at the last minute try go around it, whereas I'm always aware well in advance.

I am getting up there in age. I feel that I am a decent driver. I can manage road conditions and situations and keep out of trouble ...but... I can't navigate (a new area) and do that at the same time. I have the co-pilot tell me "your next right" I confirm "ok, the next right" just to have me go "and I missed my turn..." Its now an inside joke in my family.

Nice to see the red car on the motorway continue, all too often I see the car on the slip road stop AND the car on the motorway stop. Never seen an accident in that situation but seen some near misses and chaos. They really need to teach people how to use the slip roads to build speed and merge safely.

Got to have a sixth sense to determine the level of incompetence in others

Thanks for sharing. A very similar situation happened to me as at 2:10. I tried to give them space to merge but they slowed right down and after some confusion they pulled out to the right so I had to quickly change lanes. Perhaps I could have anticipated and changed lanes anyway just in case.

Over courteous people are annoying. What if , all of a sudden, or after a quick misunderstanding, they change their mind ? Bang - and you’re at fault. They maybe think they’re kind but they also cause confusion.

Recently was riding on a shared path with cyclists and pedestrians, and the cyclist behind me was ringing his bell constantly at pedestrians so they move out of his way. When i confronted him about it, he tried to tell me he's letting them know he's there. It wasn't a single ring from a little away, it was ringing the bell a few times when right behind them, so naturally the pedestrians are shocked and jumped out of the way. It's bullying behaviour, which if a car did to him he wouldn't like it. I tried to tell him pedestrians have priority, but he angrily yelled that i needed to get a bell, which i do have, but use when necessary, like approaching blind corners or to let people know I'm there when they are looking the wrong way when trying to cross. Not on a pedestrian heavy pathway to bully them out of my way. Especially when there are children and dogs around.

I guess I would rather delay than run risks, but even more these days, I try to avoid town and city driving along narrow roads restricted by parked cars, small children, wobbly bicycles, not to mention flying dogs or cats. The car on the roundabout was set up to continue round, not exist even if they had signalled. Mind you, the number of right lane huggers who wish to turn left and cannot see anything wrong in their actions beggars belief.

I know exactly what you mean as an ex driving instructor I did then and only then though it is was all driving instructors that flash their lights and held up traffic so I followed suit been on £3.47 p/hour I could not afford not to, makes sense just hold up the traffic for an easier driving instructors working day simple! .Lesson learned I now no longer do that driving instructors know it all attitude flashing holding up traffic no more .

…..mostly is my answer. There’s a prob tho…some of us are anticipating, while others haven’t got a clue. It’s a sorta mismatch sometimes. And it means it’s possible to get into awkward situations because they don’t understand what your upto…eg, you don’t move to let them go - they can’t work it out, so they don’t move 😄 Flashing headlights. Easily missed if the person your flashing has not seen it, maybe looked at their dashboard at that exact moment. I guess in about 20y from now, when conventional “driven” cars are all gone….self driving cars will automatically talk to each other when they are in close proximity so situations like in this video won’t ever arise. Btw…any more affordable car reviews?

I have a growing collection of clips of people giving way unnecessarily. The most common by far is when I want to turn right on a bicycle, I suppose they see a cyclist in the middle of the road looking vulnerable, but when there's only one or two cars to clear it's not needed, and especially at traffic light controlled junctions where doing so stops a bunch of people behind them from getting through it straight ahead! Something perhaps you could have mentioned is in regards to giving way to buses with more priority than cars? It's in the HW code to give way where possible, and of course it makes the journey for an awful lot more people a bit quicker.

As a learner, on slip roads I find it harder to figure out if a car is giving me way in the lane I'm trying to join into just by trying to judge their speed. Flashing lights gives me a better visual cue that confirms my suspicions which I prefer.

2:30 it could be they were thinking you were lost or looking for a house number or any other reason (even distracted on a phone) where you might suddenly pull off again.

4:30 they appear to straddle lanes as if they are unsure which exit to take, this may have triggered the cars to enter, if the cam car was unsure which exit to take they may have not had an indicator on. Regardless of lane, a correct indicator would have made the intention much clearer.

I disagree with not flashing when a car is joining a motorway, it is very hard to judge speed of a approaching car on a motorway and has it’s you who should be giving way to the flow of traffic on the motorway in my opinion a quick flash let’s you know you’ve been seen and invited to join the flow

The red car at @1:05 I wasn't sure if they flashed or if its the change in angle on the lights as they go over the speed bump? I've noticed this a few times driving where it looks like someone's flashed but it's actually the angle of light change going over some sort of bump. I'd be surprised if they flashed the lights while still moving forward over a bump.

I've just passed recently, and sometimes in very poor conditions if I'm looking to change lane and have had my indicator on for a while, people will flash as if to say "it's safe to come into my lane". I thought that was actually pretty helpful in very heavy rain at night, but now from this video I'm worried they were trying to tell me *not* to. I haven't had anyone beep at me for drifting in front of them after they flash though.