C-Note, I think what’s confusing people like Zipper is that Exit-Only Interstate lanes don’t exist everywhere in the U.S. So some of the responses above are from people who have never seen what you asked about in the OP.
In some parts of the U.S., there are clearly interstate lanes where no lane change is required to leave the interstate. Ex: a three-lane interstate, all lanes going north. At Exit 50B, the far right lane veers north-east and merges with a major local highway, while the other two lanes continue north.
These kinds of exit-only lanes do not exist in the New Orleans area, for example – and I suppose there are other areas where they do not exist. These exit-only lanes DO exist in Jackson, MS, where I now live. Many times I had mistakenly left the interstate from not being accustomed to the exit-only lane.
BTW, there’s no way you have to signal (as you diverge from the interstate?) while in an exit-only interstate lane.
BTW2, in both Louisiana and Mississippi, Maryland’s third law as given above seems to apply – viz. position of car. If you are in a turn-only lane on a major throughfare, there is no legal mandate to signal. You should signal before getting INTO the turning lane, however – but once you reach the corner itself, there’s no need for a signal.
Bordelond- "I think what’s confusing people like Zipper is that Exit-Only Interstate lanes don’t exist everywhere in the U.S. So some of the responses above are from people who have never seen what you asked about in the OP."
That’s the main reason I went back and made that clarification up there.
Where I’m from, Minneapolis, Minnesota, the things are everywhere. A person is hard pressed not to run into one when taking care of everyday errands. Personally, I hate 'em. I think they inhibit the free-flow of traffic.
So it’s no surprise to me that other states, and even countries, avoid these engineering abominations. But the DOT up here has consistently proven they have their collective heads up their asses and love the things. They’re not going anywhere. Even brand new freeway systems up here incorporate them.
And, amazingly to me, the vast majority of people here routinely signal when in one of them.
They also signal when going into one of the ‘Right/Left Turn’ only lanes too.
I’ve never understood it- I think it’s odd. But the oddness of people here has never ceased to amaze me.
I wondered how others, in different parts of the U.S., treated these things. I also wanted to know what the law had to say on it too.
Many times, I see someone in an “Exit Only” or “Right Turn Only” lane cut back into normal traffic at the last second, when they finally realize that they’re in said lane.
Putting your blinker on lets people behind you know that 1) You realize you’re in the Exit Only/Right Turn Only lane and that 2) You plan on doing so (Exiting/Turning).
Thus they know it is safe to be next to you or to pass you, and they don’t have to worry about you suddenly realizing you’re in the wrong lane and switch lanes without looking.
If I see someone in an exit only lane without their blinker on, I won’t get next to them or attempt to pass them since I assume they’re idiots and will suddenly cut over when they realize they’re in the wrong lane.
So I guess besides it being required by law, it’s courteous to other drivers to let them know what you’re doing.
Beautifully stated…
Besides, WHAT is the problem with sigaling in the first place? It’s not like it requires a lot of effort to use the turn signal lever.
Here you go; have it both ways: I used to be a cop. I would not cite you if you were in a “turn-only” lane and did not signal prior to turning. If, on the other hand, you were in such a lane, did not sigal, and did not turn, I would cite you for every single citation I could find and maybe a few I dreamed up on the spot;).
Just do the rest of us behind you a favor and signal. It lets us know you’re knot asleep at the wheel and do realize that you must turn/exit soon if you stay in that lane and intend to do so. It’s one thing to be within the law (if that is the law in your state, YMMV), it is another to be safe and considerate to those around you.
Maybe it’s just here in Mississippi, but those kind of last-second lane changers aren’t that common. It happens – I’ve done it myself – but our traffic is rarely so heavy here that getting over quickly is a problem.
Jackson, MS has very mild rush hours, luckily.
So a lot of this is determined by local custom and conditions. Nobody ever signals while in the Exit-Only lane. <shrug> What can I say?
I don’t think it really is a matter of being considerate or not, as I consider myself a fairly considerate driver. However, I am not foolishly so; on one of the major freeways in my city, which I frequently use to return home, there is a large turn right before the exit accompanied by a shoulder that can fit a bus quite well. During my early days of driving, my mother had told me that I should put my signal on during this turn before exiting, and I did so. Well, I guess the person behind me thought that I was pulling over since he cut someone off to take the left lane (I only heard honking, so that’s what I assume), and immediatly overtook me (on the turn). He then went back into the lane I was in, realized it was exiting, and then went back to the left lane, once again nearly causing an accident. I guess it is unfair to base my concerns on one, obviously stupid, driver–but nonetheless, there are situations where it can do more harm than good, but it is not until we live in an idiot-free world that such situations will not occur. Furthermore, in exit-only lanes there usually are two, and sometimes three directions to go once you have exited, which can cause even more confusion if someone (who either is familiar with the road or reads the traffic signs) is under the impression that you are just making an early signal.
Now, if the turn signal were widely accepted as the signal to use for not turning, and staying in the same lane, then I would gladly use it for when I am in an exit-only lane. Likewise, a “Not Switching Lanes” signal would suffice. And once again, I do believe that turn-only lanes are a different situation, since lanes are being switched regardless of the fact that there is only one course of action.
What gets me is the people who do not signal at all as they move over one or more lanes to get into the turn-only lane,* then* they signal. I do not understand.
I signal in maybe 10 percent of turn-only lane situations, depending on if there’s others turning with me. If there are, usually no signal cause they all have theirs on anyway, so that covers the courtesy stuff that might lead me to signal. I usually don’t worry about the idiot driving straight and veering back into a lane, or other rare crashes. If turn-only has an arrow stoplight thing, it’s such a regulated situation that alcohol, drugs, and late night hours would have to be involved for such to occur.
I try to signal intent when it could reasonably seem unclear. Signs, lights, and the vehicles in my lane signaling are usually sufficient. That blinking annoys me.
If I may, just use your signal. Even at those times you think you don’t have to, (e.g. an exit only lane, or when there is no one else around, so on and so forth.) It takes so little effort to move that level on the side of your steering column. So why not use it all the time? (For what it is worth, it’s when you think you don’t have to bother that something is most likely to happen. No cite, just 36+ years of driving experience.)
While we’re on the subject of proper signaling behavior at interesting road configurations, Chicago’s Foster Avenue does this funky little zig-zag. Nominally, Foster seems to be disconnected from itself for a block along Milwaukee, but in practice, 99% of traffic in both directions turns at the two marked intersections and treats parts of Gettysburg and Lovejoy as Foster (look at the road wear in Satellite view and the yellow lines in Street view).
If you are headed east on Foster and cross Milwaukee onto Gettysburg, then at the all-way stop sign for Intersection A (blue pin), where the rest of Gettysburg is one-way toward you and you can only turn right, do you signal? Continuing on Lovejoy, you come to the all-way stop sign for Intersection B (red pin). Do you signal left? I think going right clearly requires a signal. What if you’re going straight, which is unlikely (but you can see the car in front of the Google camera car does it).
How about travelling west? At Intersection B, most people are going right. Do you signal? But what if you want to buck the trend and continue on the real Foster, so you can take Milwaukee south? And at Intersection A, you have to stop, but you can only really go left, which everyone else is doing, but is technically changing streets. Signal?
Extra credit for answers about hitting those intersections from one of the smaller streets.
This is the main reason, for me. It lets others know that you are aware that the lane is about to split off, and you’re not suddenly going to swerve back onto the main lane.
If I’m waiting at traffic lights in a turn lane, I do generally switch off the indicator out of courtesy, as I find it obnoxious having someone’s light flashing in my face. (For the same reason, I put the handbrake on and take my foot off the brake - modern LED brake lights are bright and it pisses me off when people shine them in my face for ages in traffic.)
Edit: it appears I inadvertently filtered into the zombie lane.
The question here is: Is is required to use a turn signal when one is already in a turn-only lane. The correct answer is “no”. The answers given are either along the lines of “well, you should”, or are talking about signalling when changing lanes (as in BobT’s cite of state law) ,which is a whole different subject. While it may be advisable to use a turn signal when in a turn lane, it is not required by any state I’ve lived in to do so. It was even on my Oregon driving test last year.
What about when you are sitting in the left turn lane? I will signal when I get in the left turn lane and leave in on for 10 or 15 seconds then turn it off. I find sitting at night in a turn lane behind somebody that leaves their turn signal on for a couple of minutes a miserable experience. If you aren’t the first in line at turn signal, who are you supposed to be informing?
Does anybody else encounter people on the freeway who will speed up and close the gap when you signal a lane change?
A theme I’m addressing in all this is the signaling when it’s not informative at all, and then not signaling when it would be expected. A whole line of cars, all sitting still in a turn only lane with their blinkers on just blows my mind. Then when I see a few from the same pack of vehicles not signal as they change lanes on the road ahead, I think, huh?
The thing is, what makes the roads safest is when people act in a predictable and consistent manner. The easiest way to do that is to always signal when you plan on turning. Every single time you change lanes you signal and then people around you will act accordingly. If you think that your intentions *should *be obvious people around you may make assumptions that don’t match.
I find this so odd that so many people want to do this. The purpose of the blinker is to indicate is that you are going to be changing lanes, either on the road you are, or to another road. If I see you blinking to go on one of those butterflies that takes you to a new road, I’m going to assume you left your blinker on by mistake, or are going to leave that lane. The last thing I’m going to be thinking is that you are merely indicating that you are going to use the butterfly.
Which way would you blink, anyways? You’ll wind up going a different direction by the time you are done. And, other than a butterfly, what other ways are there to stay in the same lane but wind up on a different road?
The alternative is "Oh shit, what happened to my lane ::veers back into the other lane, scaring the crap out of the other drivers:: "
There’s a spot in Milwaukee that does this. Due to the direction of travel at this point (South) and where the exit lane takes you (the airport) 95% of the time I see someone in that lane with Illinois plates (since they wouldn’t be traveling South to the airport, but rather South towards Illinois) it’s safe to assume they didn’t realize the lane turned into an exit only and they’re going to swerve over at the last second…without a blinker.
The answer to the question that is the title of this thread is “no”. Your car will still work perfectly fine and act according to your input even if you do not follow local law regarding signaling.
The non-silly answer is that answer depends on the jurisdiction.
Regardless of whether or not the law requires it, I see no downside to it, and others have already mentioned some potential upsides.
Another upside is that if you always do it when turning or exiting then it becomes habitual and nearly unconscious. Making a habit out of trying to decide whether or not it’s necessary in a given situation increases the possibility that you won’t use it when you should.