Is It Illegal To Warn Drivers Of Speed Traps In North Carolina?

Should everybody be coming together to warn about speed traps in North Carolina?

Has this ever happened to you? You're driving somewhere late at night and see a car coming up from the other lane. As that driver passes you they briefly flash their high beams at you. Assuming you don't also have your high beams on before that, it's likely they were subtly warning you of a police speed trap up ahead. This unspoken rule of the road (I'm technically typing it, not speaking it) can help keep people from getting pulled by the police, but is such a gesture legal in North Carolina?

Short answer: no. As of right now there is nothing in the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Driving Laws that says you can't warn other drivers of upcoming speed traps.

According to the Carl L. Britt Jr. law firm in Fayetteville, using headlights as a form of communication falls under the Constitution's First Amendment right to free speech.

Another reason behind the exclusion of such a law prohibiting this action, I believe, is that it would be too difficult to definitively prove the driver's intention. After all, there are a number of reasons a driver could be flashing their high beams. As I mentioned before, they could be letting another driver know theirs are on by mistake. They could also be testing them to make sure they work, or trying to get a better view of something they see in the middle of the road.

Point is, proving that a driver was warning others about nearby police presence would likely be too nebulous for officers to even attempt.

Many GPS apps also allow users to warn others of speed checks up ahead. Apple Maps features a way for users to report various traffic incidents, including speed checks. Apple Maps also distinguishes traffic lights with speeding camera attachments.

The popular navigation app Waze, which provides real-time user-reported updates on road conditions and traffic issues, also warns drivers of upcoming speed traps in North Carolina and elsewhere. This is hardly any different than a quick flash of the high beams, though some officers may see it differently.

So the next time you're on the road and drive past speed traps in North Carolina, feel free to warn others approaching it from the other lane.

It sadly may not come as much of a surprise, but a recent study says that Robeson County and Columbus County in North Carolina, are among the most dangerous in the United States for drivers.

A personal injury attorney firm in Florida, Anijar & Levine, did the study. They looked at the number of deaths caused by car accidents from 2018 to 2021, with data compiled from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Only counties with 50,000 or more people were analyzed for the study, and it came with some sad results.

Most notably, the data showed that Robeson County had the highest number of total car accident deaths during the four-year period. There were 263 people killed in Robeson County during that time period.

"This data shows us the counties with the highest number of deaths caused by car crashes over four years. Arizona has the most number of counties featured in the top 10, with Apache, Gila and Navajo all included. States such as Virginia, Tennessee, and Nevada only have one county featured in the top 50," Anijar & Levine said in a news release. "There are many reasons as to why car crashes happen, whether that be the fault of an individual or weather conditions. Ultimately, this analysis demonstrates that it is essential to take road safety seriously and drive carefully, no matter where there are."

Robeson County came in at third overall in number of car crash fatalities per 10,000 people, while Columbus County came in sixth, with 21.14 per 10,000. Two counties from South Carolina also unfortunately landed in the Top 10, with Orangeburg County at second, and Laurens County at ninth.

Outside of the top 10, Pender County in North Carolina was 18th at 15.61, Sampson County was 33rd at 13.89, Granville County was 38th at 13.44, Lenoir County was 39th at 13.42 and Nash County came in at 50th with 13.06.

Let's take a look at the Top 10 counties in the United States that are the most dangerous for drivers.

Apache County in Northeast Arizona has only 66,024 people, but had 155 people killed in car crashes during the time period. That's 23.48 per 10,000.

The small county south of Columbia has 84,225 people, and saw 194 deaths in the four years. That's 23.03 per 10,000 people.

The county in our region with Lumberton in it has 116,516 people. And had more people killed in car crashes during the time period than anywhere else in the country, and had 22.57 per 10,000 people.

While a small county, with just 53,273 people, the Gila area is near the major Phoenix metro. There were 21.96 deaths per 10,000 people.

The county in central Florida has just 73,327 people, but is a major gateway between major cities. There were 21.14 deaths per 10,000 people.

Just down the road, the county with Whiteville in it is also a pass-through to the beach areas. So while it has a small population of just 50,625 there were 21.14 deaths per 10,000 people.

A small county in western New Mexico, it does happen to border the Arizona county that topped the list. There were 20.85 deaths per 10,000.

Another rural county in Arizona, but it does 106,716 people in it. The county saw 213 deaths, which was 19.96 per 10,000 people.

While not a big county, Laurens County is a passthrough between Greenville and Columbia and saw 18.95 car crash deaths per 10,000 people.

The county between Destin and Panama Beach sees a lot of visiting traffic, and that's probably why it had 17.53 deaths per 10,000 people.