Headlight Etiquitte

I was driving down Route 57 (like you have any idea where that is) when I passed a very well hidden cop facing the other direction with his radar out. I did the only respectable thing one can do for a fellow driver, which was to give the double brights to my fellow drivers, informing them of impending doom if they don't slow down.

However, my situation raised several questions. For example, how far away do you get before you stop informing your fellow driver? I think I stopped somewhere at the 2 mile mark, and I thought that a bit too far. Also, it raised hypothetical questions. What happens if you're behind someone when passing the cop, and the person in the lead doesn't let the drivers in the other direction know? Are you, as Car #2, morally obligated to do the double brights? If so, can cars going the other direction clearly see the brights action? Will the person in front of you think you're trying to communicate with them? So many questions.

So I then get on the Merritt Parkway, continuing on my journey. If you don't know it, the Merritt is a 2-lane in each direction highway with a narrow grass median and metal guardrails in the middle. The speed limit is 55 but the slow lane regularly goes no slower than 70. It is very narrow, very curvy, and has literally no shoulder on either side. It's awesome.

I noticed, whilst driving, that cars driving southbound (I was going northbound at the time) would have their brights on when no other cars were in front of them. (Did I mention there are also no street lights?) Some cars turned their brights off when they saw the car pack that I was in, and some just left them on. What's the proper thing to do in this situation? It's interesting because on the Merritt, most people left their brights on, while on the Saw Mill (a similarly designed road), most people tend to turn their brights off when they see a car coming on the opposite direction. Peculiar indeed.

Have you heard enough about me going on and on about a car's headlights? I have. Tune in next week for my dissertation on whether zebras are black with white stripes or white with black stripes. Until then.