LANSING —Thecivil lawsuit filedover the shooting death of 17-year-old Deven Guilford has stirred questions over flashing your high-beam headlights at oncoming cars. Is it legal?
The answer: It depends on the distance.
The case highlights an outdated law that should be revisited by lawmakers.
Guilford was stopped by an Eaton County Sheriff’s sergeant Feb. 28for flashing his bright headlights twice at the officer, according to the prosecutor's report. His apparent intent was to signal the oncoming driver to turn down what Guilford thought werehigh-beam lights.
Family sues Eaton County over son's traffic-stop death
The sergeant was driving anew patrol car, a Ford Explorer SUV, and the lights Guilford thought were highbeams turned out to be the vehicle's regular headlights. The sergeant told Guilfordhe did not have his brightson, but told the teen that other motorists had also made the same mistake and flashed him.
Like me, a reader from Portland thinks of flashing as a courtesy. She was surprised that doing socould lead to a traffic stop.
“This whole thing is scary and, I'm almost to the point where I'll risk an accident from someone's accidental brights, rather than give them a quick flash,” the Portland resident wrote.
All of my driving life, a long time now,I have flashed lights as a courtesyif I think an approaching driver has forgotten to turn down his or her bright lights. Apparently, the law says I’m wrong. Michigan’s motor vehicle code prohibits the use of high-beam lights within 500 feet of an oncoming car. It’s a civil infraction if you violate it.
Here’s what the Michigan Secretary of State has to say from the handbook “What Every Driver Must Know.”
- "It is illegal to use or even flash high-beam headlights within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle. Also, dim your lights for pedestrians and cyclists.
- "If oncoming drivers do not dim their headlights, keep your eyes on the right edge of the road ahead. Do not look directly into oncoming headlights. The glare may blind you for several seconds. A dirty windshield will make headlight glare worse.
- "Do not use high beams when behind other vehicles. Bright lights shining in their rearview mirrors can be distracting."
Michigan State Police First Lt. Jim Flegel, commanding officer of thetraffic services division, said a good rule for drivers is to picture the length of two football fields (300 feet each) to roughly estimate 500 feet.
Using the high beams within 500 feet, even briefly, violates the code, Flegel said. Hesaid that federal safety standards govern the brightness of lights on vehicles.
Also complicating the issue is a federal court ruling in Missouri last year that struck downan ordinance prohibiting motorists from flashing other motorists to warn them of a speed trap ahead. The court ruled that the prohibitionviolated the drivers'First Amendment rights. That apparently doesn't negate Michigan's law against brights, however, since the federalcourt is in a different U.S. Circuit Court thanMichigan.
In the local case, Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd decidedthat Guilford was stopped legally because it’s a civil infraction to turn on your brights within 500 feet of oncoming traffic.
The irony here, of course, is that both the teenager and the sergeant thought the other driver was wrongly using hisbrights. Guilford told the officer that he was blinded by the headlights of the oncoming patrol vehicle.
The trafficstop ledto a tragic sequence of events that ended with the officer shooting Guilford seven times after the prosecutor said the high school studentrefused to turn over his identification, resisted arrest then assaulted the officer. The youth's family filed a civil suit in the death Wednesday. A portion of the suit challenges whether Michigan's law does indeed prohibit the momentary flashing of high beams.
Full coverage on fatal Deven Guilford traffic stop
The state law governing bright lights hasn't been changed since 1954. In light of the Guilford tragedy, it's time for lawmakers to revisit the law.
Allowing the brief flashing of lights, as a courtesy, to remind oncoming drivers to turn down their high beams just makes sense. Wisconsin also has a prohibition on usinghigh beams within500 feet of oncoming trafficbut itspecifically exempts the momentary flashing of the lights at a vehicleusing its high beams. Michigan should follow suit.
Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact herat 517-267-1304 or atjputnam@lsj.com. Write to her at 120 E. Lenawee St., Lansing, MI, 48919. Follow her on Twitter@JudyPutnam.
