Sports car drivers have begun tapping their roof as a warning
So you were driving on the highway the other day when you noticed something odd. The driver of a sports car in front of you rolled down the window, reached outside, and tapped the top of their own roof. They may be warning you they’ve spotted police officers nearby. This secret signal among motorcyclists appears to be expanding to sports car drivers.
The motorcycle head tap warns oncoming traffic of police
A year ago, my colleague Erik Sherman explained, “The head-tapping hand signal warns other motorcycle riders of a law enforcement officer or speed trap further up the road.”
Motorcyclists tend to give one another a low wave when they pass bikes coming in the opposite direction. Increasingly, they swap the wave for a flat-palmed head tap when they’ve just passed police. This helmet pat warns oncoming traffic it’s driving into a speed trap.
At least one sports car enthusiast has picked up the gesture—with an interesting twist.
What does it mean when a sports car driver taps their roof?
Sports car drivers who also ride motorcycles may adapt the “head tap” gesture to warn of nearby police officers. How? By reaching outside their car and tapping their roof with the flat of their palm.
There’s a major difference between the sports car roof tap and the motorcycle head tap. Sports car drivers are rarely looking to oncoming traffic for a wave or other signal. So it might not make any difference trying to warn cars coming the other way. But you can warn cars going in the same direction as you–especially if you have a radar detector and they don’t. And that’s how at least one driver claims to use the gesture.
Aston Farms on Instagram posted a video of himself driving his Aston Martin on the highway. In the video, he reaches outside his window and taps his roof. The video text asks:
If you see me do this, should you:
- A: Pass me
- B: Turn on your underglow
- C: Slow down
The commenters caught the signal immediately. Leon.Whitton said, “International signal to slow down, police about. Bikers do the same but tap their helmet.” Another commenter wrote, “I always tap the roof of my car if there’s cops ahead.”
Some commenters were surprised to see a sports car driver use a motorcycle hand signal: “Bro helmet tapped his car?? I thought I was the only one that did that ??” But even the motorcyclists who had never seen a sports car driver use the signal instantly recognized what he was trying to tell them. So if you ever see someone conspicuously tap the roof of their sports car, you now know they may be attempting to signal you. See the Aston Farms video for yourself, embedded below:
