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In reply to the discussion: Teenager Alerts Police That They Left Their Brights on -- 5 Minutes Later They Shoot Him Dead [View all]Xithras
(16,191 posts)The family has stated that it isn't illegal to flash your brights at someone, but that's factually false. Michigan law says that it's a citable offense to have your brights on within 500 feet of oncoming traffic if they cause "glare", and doesn't draw any distinction between "switched on" and "flashed on". Failure to keep your brights off is an infraction that will get you two points on your license. The fact that Michigan law doesn't have any exceptions in its law for "flashing", as many other states do, has been the source of arguments between drivers and cops for decades.
In the video, the kid clearly admits to flashing his brights, which gave the officer the legal right to pull him over. The kid shouldn't have been shot over an alleged fist fight, but the initial stop was not illegal.
FWIW, a quick Google search turned up this Michigan Live piece that addressed this exact issue several years ago. Scroll down about halfway to the "doughboy" question to skip to the part about flashing: http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/traffic_talk_should_you_turn_o.html