The Highway Code

I found out recently that there is apparently something called "The Highway Code". Now, I find this very interesting because it is a contrast of good and bad for me and I just cannot decide which one rules over which.

Here's how it goes:

If you're driving along the highway, and a car which is going the other way starts flashing their headlights even though there is no car in front of them (signaling that they want to overtake and that the car in front should move out of the way), then odds are there is a roadblock ahead.

On the way back from out trip, there was this one car flashing on the other side of the road. I asked my husband why the driver was flashing when there was absolutely no one in front of him, and my husband explained the code to me.

Cars around us started to slow down, very obviously. After 5 minutes of driving, there was nothing, so the skeptical me wondered if there really was such a thing. Yet, the cars around us all remained at 110. After about 10 minutes, we finally saw the signs: a traffic jam, followed by people in white uniforms standing around with clipboards. So there really WAS a roadblock and the guy was apparently trying to warn us.


Now, I know the first thing that would come to people's minds is the fact that doing this just encourages those dangerous drivers out there, who recklessly do whatever they want on the road on whatever speeds they choose.

On the other hand, I think there's just something sweet about these selfish (if you're a Malaysian driver, you know what I mean) drivers helping some stranger out when normally, they would just cut you off on the road and refuse to let you cut in no matter how long you've been signaling. There's just something cute and utterly ironic about the code, and I can't help but smile at what a contrast it makes in my mind...