I had an interesting debate with some fellow lawyers this afternoon regarding a motorist who successfully argued in a Florida court that his right of “free speech” was violated when a police gave him a $115 ticket for warning fellow motorists of a police speed trap by flashing his headlights.
We were all surprised to learn that there is no law in most states expressly prohibiting “the flashing of headlights as a means of communications” to this effect. In fact, to a person, my colleagues agreed with the court’s decision simply because they had all engaged in this public-spirited act of aiding and abetting blithe violations of traffic laws.
By contrast, even though I too have flashed (and benefited from flashing), I dissented by posing the following question: How is this any different from a guy who stands outside a bank and whistles to warn the robbers inside of the police approaching? They tried, as lawyers are wont to do, to proffer all kinds of arguments to distinguish this case, but none could be sustained in light of the principle inherent in my question.
Frankly, I see no point in having speed-limit laws and paying the police to enforce them if motorists can engage in an open and notorious conspiracy to violate those laws and frustrate the police.