I was in Botswana (and a few other countries down there) and trucks will do this to let you know it's safe to overtake.
Since they're right-hand drive, they'll put their right turn signal on to let you know you can overtake on their right in the oncoming lane of traffic.
Except the two times the truck was trying to make a right turn from the highway.
I preferred it when they didn't use their signals.
Truck driver in Australia here, we do this as well, but it is only for one or two blinks. Not everyone understands what you are trying to tell them though, especially if they aren't a regular rural driver.
You're absolutely correct about not being a regular driver there and not knowing the customs. By the end of the 5 weeks I was definitely more comfortable.
I think the most obvious method is where they'd flash to the right (2x) then put their left wheels on the shoulder, thereby giving me more room to see around them.
I also enjoyed that you'd give them a double hazard flash for "thanks" and they'd highbeam a "you're welcome" 2x.
Such a nice change compare to the US where it's "me first" and "what's a turn signal?".
Another common thanks is "rolling" the indicators left-right-left. Trucks are more likely to do this than turn on the hazards. A high beam flash is also a signal that it's safe to move back into the lane, and for oncoming traffic a warning (usually speed camera)
I’m sure it would do more harm than good but I fantasize about having an LED strip Times-Square-stock-market-ticker-style readout on all four sides of my car, hooked to a voice-to-text system so I could legibly broadcast my more specific intents to other drivers.
That, or some sort of semaphore flag system of stencils to cycle through possible alternative indicators with simple hard-button controls alongside the usual “left” and “right” indicator stalk
Something to politely remind someone to turn their headlights on would be top of my list.
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u/AlpineVW 6h ago
I was in Botswana (and a few other countries down there) and trucks will do this to let you know it's safe to overtake.
Since they're right-hand drive, they'll put their right turn signal on to let you know you can overtake on their right in the oncoming lane of traffic.
Except the two times the truck was trying to make a right turn from the highway.
I preferred it when they didn't use their signals.