On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 19:41:05 +0000, Graham.
wrote:


Modern!??

Everyone was doing that in 1975. Probably before...



Since cars have had electric lights at least!


Don't think it was that common till around the 1970's and electric
lights have been the norm for roughly 50 years before that.
Probably an age related thing,many will be too young to remember when
many vehicles had the light controls on a knob on the dash board and
the dip switch on the floor . Would not have been impossible to
briefly switch the lights on but not as easily as twitching a finger
on a stalk on the steering column.
It was the ease of doing so from those when most cars had acquired
them that made the practice common. I can't actually remember if my
first vehicle with a stalk had a flash position on it. Main and dip
only I think,one with a flash position came later.

G.Harman