Message to NJ drivers who purposely blind others with high beams

There’s always that one driver who tends to ruin it for everyone. Doesn’t matter if it’s along our high-speed freeways or our smaller local streets.

Of course, there’s the possibility that a motorist is doing something they shouldn’t be doing and is simply not aware of it at the moment. Although unsafe, honest mistakes do happen from time to time.

And we’re all guilty of it, too. The most common one has got to be by far the endless turn to nowhere.

In other words, the signal light never goes off. Whether we flip it on by accident or forget to flip it off after the turn, this one’s almost certainly an honest mistake.

But then there are those drivers who will purposely do stupid things and do not care how their actions affect other drivers. You know, those jerks who make life on the road that much more dangerous for us.

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For this example, I want to focus on one particular action where this driver knew exactly what they were doing. A particular moment when a driver used their high beams at precisely the wrong time.

Now with high beams, it most certainly could be a mistake. Perhaps you’re driving down a dark road and forgot they were on when another car comes toward you from the other direction.

If the other driver gives you a quick flash, that’s usually enough to let you know to turn them off. The same is true and vice versa if the other car has its high beams on and you flash them.

On the freeway

Freeway driving is another place a driver might forget to turn them off when approaching someone. However, some of you turn them on anyway and simply don’t care.

Here’s one example of a driver doing just that. Although it may come across as a mistake at first, this driver eventually made it crystal clear they knew what they were doing.

It was toward the end of the rush hour on a Wednesday evening driving home on I-195 east. I was somewhere just before exit 16 for Six Flags when a vehicle in the left lane started to approach.

Here they come

Because it was still the rush hour window, traffic was still fairly thick, but moving. And being we were past the exit 6 interchange for the New Jersey Turnpike/I-95, the average speed was somewhere around 70 M.P.H.

But you couldn’t mistake this vehicle thanks to the high beams shining bright. It was an SUV-sized vehicle too so the lights were already higher up than your typical car.

Because the flow of traffic is thick, this SUV isn’t able to speed past me in the left lane, thus forcing me and the other drivers to deal with their brights reflecting back in our mirrors. They didn’t go off until just a bit further up the highway.

Police check

On the median, there was a cop facing our side of the highway and potentially checking for speed. Of course, everyone naturally slows down a bit as we’re approaching the squad car.

Here’s how I knew this SUV was aware of its lights. As soon as they caught sight of the police car, the high beams instantly went off.

It was such a relief on the eyes not to have that blinding light reflecting back into my face. And I’m sure other drivers felt the same way.

However, that relief didn’t last. As soon as the SUV cleared the officer, the high beams went right back on. And thus, this jerk knew exactly what they were doing.

They knew

And it was obvious this driver knew they shouldn’t have had them on within that flow of traffic. If they did, they never would’ve flipped them off and then back on as soon as the danger of getting a ticket passed.

My only guess is that this driver was doing that to try and force anyone ahead of them out of the left lane. But in the process, they were blinding everyone else that was in front of them regardless of the lane they were in.

And no, this wasn’t a case of a casual left-lane driver going slow up ahead. Everyone was moving at a good clip, and at that moment the left lane was going faster than the right.

So for any driver that purposely does this while driving in a heavy pocket of vehicles, here’s a message for you. I hope you get a ticket for that stupid move of yours trying to rule the road.

Big and tough

You clearly do know how blinding those lights are, but yet don’t care if you make it hard for others to see in the process. It’s drivers like you that make the rest of us in New Jersey look bad.

And yes, this particular SUV on I-195 had a Jersey plate on it. What I don’t get is why some drivers feel the need to have to act so big and tough on the road in the first place.

Are you insecure? Is that it? I’m sorry if that’s how you feel, but potentially causing an accident because it helps you feel all big and mighty behind the wheel doesn’t make your situation any better.

Maybe you need to go back to drivers-ed and re-take your test. Or better yet, get off our roads altogether.

Hopefully, a police officer will catch you in the act next time. It’s one thing if it’s an overlook, but another when it’s on purpose.

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The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.