BajaNomad

Courteous driving

bajaboolie - 10-13-2008 at 04:04 PM

We just got back on Saturday from an awesome trip to Coyote Bay/Mulege.

I have two questions about driving in Baja. One...I was wondering what people do to thank a truck driver when they give you the left turn signal to pass them? Is there a universal signal down there? A wave doesn't always work because the back window is sometimes blocked by stuff.

And second, what does it mean when you come upon a driver going the other way and they flash their lights at you? It seems that the times this happened, there was no police or hazard they were trying to warn us about.

Thanks for the info!

Sallysouth - 10-13-2008 at 04:11 PM

As explained to by my son-in-law who has lived in Baja Sur for several years, if a vehicle flashes their lights at you it is a warning of either an accident, obstacle or animals either beside or on the road. Your other question is a good one and I have wondered the same.

BajaGringo - 10-13-2008 at 04:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sallysouth
As explained to by my son-in-law who has lived in Baja Sur for several years, if a vehicle flashes their lights at you it is a warning of either an accident, obstacle or animals either beside or on the road. Your other question is a good one and I have wondered the same.


If a truck ahead of you puts on their left signal on an open stretch of road they are telling you that it is okay to pass. At least that has been my experience in over 30 years of driving down here. Of course you want to make sure their isn't a left turn coming up for him and in that case forget what I just said.

I always cycle my flashers back at them once in front to thank them...

CaboRon - 10-13-2008 at 04:38 PM

When thanking a driver for a courtesy the custom is the same as in the states....

Blink your lights twice .....

CaboRon

bajaboolie - 10-13-2008 at 05:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by CaboRon
When thanking a driver for a courtesy the custom is the same as in the states....

Blink your lights twice .....

CaboRon


What about after you've made the pass safely, which is when we usually want to thank them. Before, we're concentrating on passing. Flash the hazards?

bajaboolie - 10-13-2008 at 05:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sallysouth
As explained to by my son-in-law who has lived in Baja Sur for several years, if a vehicle flashes their lights at you it is a warning of either an accident, obstacle or animals either beside or on the road. Your other question is a good one and I have wondered the same.


Thanks, Sallysouth. I figured it was a warning, but nothing ever seemed out of place. Maybe they were animals that just wandered on....

oldlady - 10-13-2008 at 05:28 PM

A wave and a smile from the passenger works too!

Usually a four footed hazard

thebajarunner - 10-13-2008 at 05:33 PM

First, always, and I mean always slow up if you get the oncoming flash! It nearly always means hazard ahead.

Often we look and look, then note the rump of a scrawny steer moving past a boojum or ocotillo.

When the warning driver came by that critter was probably straddling the yellow line, but there is not a lot of feed in the center of the carreterra, but the warning is still legit!!

Bob and Susan - 10-13-2008 at 05:34 PM

i turn on and off the lights so
the brake lights turn on and off

seems to work because later when that same truck driver passes on the downgrade he does the same:saint::saint:

[Edited on 10-14-2008 by Bob and Susan]

CaboRon - 10-13-2008 at 05:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajaboolie
Quote:
Originally posted by CaboRon
When thanking a driver for a courtesy the custom is the same as in the states....

Blink your lights twice .....

CaboRon


What about after you've made the pass safely, which is when we usually want to thank them. Before, we're concentrating on passing. Flash the hazards?


Before passing I turn on my left turn indicator ....

I flash after the pass and I am back in the lane ...

CaboRon

[Edited on 10-14-2008 by CaboRon]

Hook - 10-13-2008 at 06:04 PM

I have noticed that some Mexicans try to alert you that you are driving with your headlights on during the day. I dont think they realize that:

1-many do it for safety
2-many newer cars have running lights that cant be turned off.

Sallysouth - 10-13-2008 at 06:14 PM

Oh yeah!! Thats what we did/do!! The trucker can see your headlights flashing after you pass.Thats a "Gracias amigo" sign!! Thanks CaboRon. Darn the CRS!!And yes, much of the time it is animals wandering in or around the road.Not a good thing if you round a corner and WHAM!!Altho I only blink my headlights twice here in the states to make the light change.SSHHH! B runner has it nailed, BTW. And you are welcome bajaboolie!!:tumble:

vacaenbaja - 10-13-2008 at 06:27 PM

Please be VERY careful when passing a truck that is giving the left turn signal especially on a long lonely streatch of highway. He just might be telling you that he intends to make a left soon to his way off the highway rancho. I have seen it lots of times. The truck makes a left to some barely discernable trail and the car following almosts t bones the truck when the car moves to pass on the left.

Sallysouth - 10-13-2008 at 06:54 PM

Very good point!Do you think if you flash you headlights twice while he has his left turn blinker on, that he would maybe do the same so as to let you know it is safe to pass? There MUST be some "hiway" etiquite in Baja that others on this board can share!Chime in Nomads!:yes:

Never have had that experience

thebajarunner - 10-13-2008 at 07:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by vacaenbaja
Please be VERY careful when passing a truck that is giving the left turn signal especially on a long lonely streatch of highway. He just might be telling you that he intends to make a left soon to his way off the highway rancho. I have seen it lots of times. The truck makes a left to some barely discernable trail and the car following almosts t bones the truck when the car moves to pass on the left.


37 years of driving Baja (and counting)

have never had the trucker actually make a left after giving the signal,

never seen it even close.

guess I am "charmed" or something

bajamikey - 10-13-2008 at 09:26 PM

when a on coming car has it's 4 way's on it's because there's a accident animal or road work up ahead.when i pass a truck or car i trun on my left blinker to say thanks

cabobaja - 10-13-2008 at 09:31 PM

I always honk the horn as I pass the cab to say thank you. I always get a honk back.

vacaenbaja - 10-13-2008 at 11:28 PM

By truck I did not mean tractor trailer. More like pick up or ranch flat bed. It would be rather hard for a truck to make a hard left. But I have seen them cross over to the "wrong side of the road" or opposing shoulder in order to park.
These guys know the road very well and will do this when there is no shoulder on their side of the road to pull off on or if there is a problem on the traffic side of the truck that can more safely be taken care of with that side facing away from the road.

Katiejay99 - 10-14-2008 at 05:49 AM

What I have noticed is that if someone is going to turn left, they will usually turn on their signal and then put their hand out the window pointing to the left so you know that it is not an "ok to pass". So watch for the hand thing.

Also a very little known law in Mexico is that when making a left hand turn, you are supposed to pull over to the far right hand side of the road, wait for cars to pass you and then turn left across the lanes. Of course that is not always possible but you will see many Mexicans do that where the highway dept. has put in the "left turn lane" - on the right!:?:

My ex-husband used to get pretty riled up at me whenever I did not do this where I was supposed to. I argued that the highway dept. put that other lane in there so the people could pass the person on the right as they waited to turn left. NOPE, not so. I still can't make myself pull over to the right to make a left. Makes no sense to me.

TonyC - 10-14-2008 at 05:58 AM

Also, if you get a left turn signal from truck, or a car that is coming from the other direction, I was told by a truck driver that it means you are crowding the middle of the road, and need to center in your lane. I got it a couple of times last year when I pulled my boat down. I've used it on trucks coming at me since.

Cypress - 10-14-2008 at 06:08 AM

Katiejay99, Yea, That right lane movement for a left turn is hard to figure.

bajaboolie - 10-14-2008 at 08:53 AM

All kinds of interesting responses. I've never heard of the 'pulling over to the right to go left' law. One thing I've seen cars do when they want to turn left is that they put their left signal on and drive in the opposite lane (if there's no one coming head-on and it's a longer, more visible stretch of highway). You'd hate to misinterpret that left signal for sure!

vandenberg - 10-14-2008 at 09:04 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by cabobaja
I always honk the horn as I pass the cab to say thank you. I always get a honk back.


Same here.
Don't quite understand what good blinking your lights does, when the truck is behind you.:?:

BajaGringo - 10-14-2008 at 09:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by vandenberg
Quote:
Originally posted by cabobaja
I always honk the horn as I pass the cab to say thank you. I always get a honk back.


Same here.
Don't quite understand what good blinking your lights does, when the truck is behind you.:?:


I don't blink my lights but my flashers. Almost always get the truckers lights flashed back...

bajaboolie - 10-14-2008 at 09:21 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaGringo
Quote:
Originally posted by vandenberg
Quote:
Originally posted by cabobaja
I always honk the horn as I pass the cab to say thank you. I always get a honk back.


Same here.
Don't quite understand what good blinking your lights does, when the truck is behind you.:?:


I don't blink my lights but my flashers. Almost always get the truckers lights flashed back...


Cool. Both make sense...when you turn your lights on and off, the brake lights light up.