# Drivers are going crazy//When someone signals, you let them change lanes!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339 "2011-07-26T01:21:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/101 "2011-12-19T22:57:32Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Florida’s bad driving habit is the people who pass you on the right while you are in the middle of passing someone else on the interstate AND there is already a car in front of you!.. Happens all aver the place, and the bigger and busier the road, the more likely it is. Some of the interstates heading in and out of Chicago are 4 or even 5 lanes in each direction, and people will pass using any of them. Happens less in the far right lane because there is so much traffic coming and going on the entrance/exit ramps. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/102 "2011-12-20T03:43:22Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Happens all aver the place, and the bigger and busier the road, the more likely it is. Some of the interstates heading in and out of Chicago are 4 or even 5 lanes in each direction, and people will pass using any of them. Happens less in the far right lane because there is so much traffic coming and going on the entrance/exit ramps. Did you read my entire quote? Because I don’t think I made it clear enough but I meant that people pass me and then scoot into the (to me, quite tiny) space between myself and the next car, for no apparent reason than to make the road less safe for both of us. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/103 "2011-12-20T14:07:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Exactly. Signaling is a warning, not a request. Not true, of course. A signal is a request, and you MAY NOT-- _EVER_ – change lanes until there is room to do it safely. Even if you miss your turn and have to go miles out of your way. You can _feel_ differently about it, of course, but you’d be legally wrong and unsafe. Speeding up to cut someone off is ALSO wrong and illegal, of course. But a certain number of drivers “perceive” that someone sped up to cut them off and get angry about it when in fact it did not happen. My own policy is to always maintain my speed unchanged when approaching a merge ramp (as required by law, so the people coming on have a chance to gauge my speed), and to let in anyone who signals, if at all possible, and freeze out, if it can be done safely, anyone who _doesn’t_ signal. At least one game theory study claimed that traffic proceeds most optimally when drivers make allowances for each other _until_ someone misbehaves, and then “punish” the misbehaving driver. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/104 "2011-12-20T20:22:00Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Communist! Hey, how can I work if I’m dead? Can I pit tailgaters too? This area is the WORST I’ve been in. Usually traffic isn’t terrible. Freeway, with two lanes either way. This being California, usual speed on a freeway is about 70mph. I go 70-75, in the fast lane. The slow lane is for trucks. It seems like every other morning there’s some jackass crawling up my tailpipe so far I can’t even see their headlights. This pisses me off. Sometimes I slow down (and yes, I know that’s stupid, immature, and jerkish). Otherwise I hold my speed. Typically traffic is light enough that they could go around me at the 80 or 90 they want to go. I’ll note, that if I can tell they want to go faster and they don’t tailgate, I’ll move over. Who are these people that are in such a damnable rush to go to work? And why can’t I get a job like that? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/105 "2011-12-20T22:16:20Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Not true, of course. A signal is a request, and you MAY NOT-- _EVER_ – change lanes until there is room to do it safely. But…but this goes against the first rule of merging onto the expressway, i.e. “Look out, it doesn’t matter if there’s a car in the right-hand lane already and they can’t get out of the way, HERE I COME BOZOS!! YA-HAAAA!!!” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/106 "2011-12-28T15:50:17Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Not true, of course. A signal is a request, and you MAY NOT-- _EVER_ – change lanes until there is room to do it safely. I think you guys are talking past each other. Suppose there is **currently** room to safely change lanes, but you know from experience that if you put on your turn signal and wait a couple seconds before moving over, that guy 10 car lengths back in the lane you’re moving into may well speed up and take away the available room. In that situation, you simultaneously put on your turn signal and start changing lanes. It’s a notification: “I’m changing lanes. It’s safe for me to do this right now, and if you close that gap, you’ll be tailgating.” When there’s already enough room to safely change lanes, fuck requesting. The only time you need to put on your turn signal as a request is when there isn’t safe room. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/107 "2011-12-28T16:03:22Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > Who are these people that are in such a damnable rush to go to work? And why can’t I get a job like that? WAG They want to get the clock started so they can clock out sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/108 "2011-12-29T06:41:13Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Here in Minneapolis area, it is not uncommon for people to speed up and cut you off if you signal. > [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Minneapolis area though, is the worse for 2 types of driving behaviors: I spent a few days visiting Minneapolis earlier this year. I did a fair amount of driving every day. I found the drivers to be pretty civilized. Traffic flowed quickly and efficiently. I didn’t find drivers to be either timid or aggressive. I don’t know what that says about the conditions I’m used to driving in. Perhaps my out-of-state license plate bought me some courtesy. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/109 "2011-12-29T15:22:34Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I think you guys are talking past each other. > > Suppose there is **currently** room to safely change lanes, but you know from experience that if you put on your turn signal and wait a couple seconds before moving over, that guy 10 car lengths back in the lane you’re moving into may well speed up and take away the available room. > > In that situation, you simultaneously put on your turn signal and start changing lanes. It’s a notification: “I’m changing lanes. It’s safe for me to do this right now, and if you close that gap, you’ll be tailgating.” > > When there’s already enough room to safely change lanes, fuck requesting. The only time you need to put on your turn signal as a request is when there isn’t safe room. Not really. Law aside (although I think the law would agree), safety requires you to wait for people to have a chance to react to your signal. Otherwise, the signal is pointless. A situation I’ve seen often enough is that there’s room, but two separate drivers decide _simultaneously_ to merge (for example, right AND left lane drivers want into a center lane.) If they both just suddenly moved “because there’s room” in the lane they want, they’d collide (or veer aside frantically to avoid collision.) You must (MUST) signal _and wait_ before changing lanes. You may not LIKE that, but it’s true. If somebody’s far back and speeds up, you can decide to go over anyway. That’s you business. But if he’s so close that the moment he taps the accelerator you CAN’T cut him off in response to his response, you shouldn’t have changed lanes anyway – what if he had routinely altered his speed without even seeing your signal? You didn’t actually have the room to do so safely. And you don’t have the _right_ to do so unsafely. Even if you assume, based on experience, the guy 10 car lengths back is going to be a dangerous asshole. Even if he turns out to be. A lot of people think their whims or “rights” trump the rules of defensive driving. That’s why these numbers are so big: US Gov’t 2012 Statistical Abstract [traffic accident statistics](http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1104.pdf) [warning: .pdf]. The signal shouldn’t even depend on the proximity – or the presence – of people at all. You should signal even when there’s no car in sight all the way to the horizon. Why? Because it’s a _habit_ and safe habits save lives, and you only have the habits you practice. It’s true that people should let you in if you signal, and they shouldn’t be speeding up to cut you off. But you can’t arbitrarily change the laws of your state – or of physics – or of human reaction time – just because you don’t want to be cut off. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/110 "2011-12-31T17:48:33Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Not really. Law aside (although I think the law would agree), safety requires you to wait for people to have a chance to react to your signal. No. Quite often, safety demands that you make the safe lane change while it’s there, rather than giving assholes on the road an engraved invitation to close that gap and leave you with a much more marginally safe lane change. > [@](#): > > Otherwise, the signal is pointless. Not hardly. The signal tells people, “I’m moving this way intentionally. I’m not just inattentively drifting a couple wheels across the lane markers, so you don’t have to worry about my drifting back. This is an actual lane change. If you want to move through the spot I’m moving out of, just wait a second.” > [@](#): > > A situation I’ve seen often enough is that there’s room, but two separate drivers decide _simultaneously_ to merge (for example, right AND left lane drivers want into a center lane.) If they both just suddenly moved “because there’s room” in the lane they want, they’d collide (or veer aside frantically to avoid collision.) And what does this have to do with the price of beans in Burma? In 40 years of driving, I’ve never - NEVER - seen that situation resolved by one driver seeing the other’s turn signal. It’s tough to see the turn signals of a car that’s abreast of you even if it’s just one lane over, let alone two, and you’re rarely looking two lanes over anyway. What inevitably happens is that, as you’re changing lanes, you see the other car changing lanes into the same spot from the other side - and he sees you, and more often than not, both cars back off and play ‘after you, Alphonse.’ And the rest of the time, _somebody_ backs off. All this says is that putting your turn signal on and starting to change lanes doesn’t mean you can stop looking. > [@](#): > > You must (MUST) signal _and wait_ before changing lanes. You may not LIKE that, but it’s true. Per the above: no, it’s not true. You may feel that it is, but that’s your personal delusion. > [@](#): > > If somebody’s far back and speeds up, you can decide to go over anyway. That’s you business. But if he’s so close that the moment he taps the accelerator you CAN’T cut him off in response to his response, you shouldn’t have changed lanes anyway – what if he had routinely altered his speed without even seeing your signal? You didn’t actually have the room to do so safely. Let me use small words - and numbers. One mile per hour is roughly 1.5 feet per second. At highway speeds, it doesn’t take a second to increase one’s speed by 20 mph per hour. IOW, to close the gap between two cars that had been going identical speeds by 30 feet per second. 30 feet is roughly 2 car lengths. Put on your turn signal, wait two seconds, and all of a sudden that guy 6 car lengths back is 2 car lengths back, and is going to be abreast of you in another second. Six car lengths back is sufficient space at 60 mph. Two car lengths isn’t. But the fact that the asshole six car lengths back can close to 2 while you’re waiting a couple of seconds doesn’t mean that the original 6 car lengths was unsafe. > [@](#): > > A lot of people think their whims or “rights” trump the rules of defensive driving. You, sir, apparently think you can tell other people that they should disregard rules of defensive driving that you don’t like. > [@](#): > > The signal shouldn’t even depend on the proximity – or the presence – of people at all. You should signal even when there’s no car in sight all the way to the horizon. Why? Because it’s a _habit_ and safe habits save lives, and you only have the habits you practice. Well, that at least is something we can agree on. > [@](#): > > It’s true that people should let you in if you signal, and they shouldn’t be speeding up to cut you off. But you can’t arbitrarily change the laws of your state – or of physics – or of human reaction time – just because you don’t want to be cut off. Not sure what human reaction time, or physics, has to do with your gripe, since I’m the only one who’s brought in any actual physics into the discussion. As for state law, you keep spouting off about that, saying it’s on your side, but I’ve yet to see you quote a statute. Put up or shut up. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/111 "2011-12-31T20:54:04Z")
Have you considered that maybe it was a “your hair looks great” honk? ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/112 "2012-01-01T02:15:54Z")
I always let people pull in front of me. Except when their turn signal has been on for the last 3 cars passing them on the right when it’s Wednesday during the morning rush hour and my tummy is a little upset or I’m texting and I’m driving on the outside shoulder between Andrew’s Air Force Base and the Oxen Hill exit on the DC capitol beltway (outer loop) after coming off of Route 50 from Annapolis, MD after getting laid the day/night before. (By which I mean I was on Route 50 the day/night before because obviously you can’t be inbound on Route 50, get onto the outer loop of the beltway and pass either the Oxen Hill exit or Andrews Air Force Base.) I’m the most polite fucker I know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/113 "2012-01-01T02:25:56Z")
Actually I know someone (Well, I’ve never met him but he’s my friend’s son-in-law.) who never lets anyone in front of him. He also has to be right in every circumstance, hates it when you point out something he’s done wrong and never lets you forget a mistake. In other words he’s a butt monkey. To the OP: maybe your roads are full of butt monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/114 "2012-01-01T04:51:09Z")
My dad once passed a guy on the right on the highway coming home from vacation when I was a kid, and the guy chased our car, brandishing a tire iron to threaten us. Just sayin’…there are some crazy fuckers out there. This thread reminds me of my husband’s reaction to a driver on I-95 yesterday - I was in the middle lane, this guy was in the right lane stuck behind some moving truck. Traffic was steady enough that he could easily change lanes with plenty of room, so I maintained my speed and he was able to move over with plenty of room. Then he tapped his brake lights very quickly, twice, so I put my hand up in a brief wave (It was dark, so he probably couldn’t even see me). Next thing I know, ElzaHub loudly says “WHAT THE FUCK is his problem? You let him over, why is he flashing his fucking brake lights at you?!?”. I started laughing and said “Honey, that was a thank you. That’s how a lot of drivers say thanks for letting them in if it’s dark. He was being NICE and thanking me.” Aooarently, they don’t do that in Ohio where he grew up. Hell, after living there for five years, I’m shocked to see anyone use a turn signal. But he’s so used to people being assholes on I-95 between Richmond and DC that he automatically assumed the light flashing was a dick move. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/115 "2012-01-01T23:18:11Z")
Flashing your brights used to be a signal that it was safe to pull in front of you. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/116 "2012-01-01T23:22:09Z")
Hell, I STILL flash my brights when it’s safe to pull in front of me…if the driver has put on the turn signals, and I know s/he wants in front. Most truckers know this signal, and will tap twice on the brakes when they’re safely in front of me, to say thanks. ---
**Author:** ![redleopard1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ebca7d/32.png) [@redleopard1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redleopard1)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/117 "2013-09-13T15:23:43Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Jesus Fucking Christ, what is wrong with drivers around here? I live in a large, congested metropolitan area where people have to _get_ places by car in stressful and dangerous traffic conditions. We need to turn left, turn right, move here to take a right exist, move there to enter a left exit. And still there are so many drivers here who act like this is Monaco and the freaking public roadway during rush hour is the Grand Fucking Prix. There are flyovers, flyunders, bridges over the river and constant curves – no straight shots for more than a few car lengths. > > Just an hour ago I was on my way home on a seven-lane metropolitan freeway that joins and splits constantly, so cars have to get from one side to another. At this time of the evening, the traffic was relatively light, so I was moving along at 50 m.p.h. as I merged from the on-ramp and signaled to begin the first of several necessary lane changes leftward. > > There were veritable acres of space between me and the next car back in the lane to my left – at least 20 car lengths’ worth. So I signaled, and immediately, the guy begins flashing his high beams at me – “Don’t you dare even try changing lanes – I’m fucking coming through!” I knew this guy was trouble, so I stayed put, and just to make sure, this guy kicked it up to 80 m.p.h. and flew past me, only to have to shove on his brakes just after passing me. > > What the fucking fuck? > > A couple of weeks ago, I was in morning rush hour, on a road that switches back and forth from a controlled-access highway to a surface street with intersections and red lights. I make a left turn onto the road in the left lane and signal to get into the right. Again, a car wayyyy back, 15-20 car lengths. Fucking joker HONKS when he sees me signal. > > This time, there’s too much room and traffic is way too slow for there to be any danger. The guy can’t be going more than 25 m.p.h. from a dead stop at a traffic light anyway. After sussing out the situation I say fuck it and signal my lane change again and start moving. Guy lets out a looooong BLOW as he kicks it up. He has to fucking break the speed limit to get to where I am, make an-ill tempered slam into the left lane just as he reaches me. AND THEN HE HAS TO STOP AT THE RED LIGHT AHEAD OF US. > > What the fuck is wrong with people? > > These are notable events in an area where every fucking day I see people _move to block people from changing lanes when they signal_. What the hell is going on? Every morning there’s a freaking collision somewhere on the commute because people are driving like animals. > > What is going on here? Why don’t people understand a simple rule that will save everyone endless headaches? WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE SIGNAL A LANE CHANGE IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU FUCKING LET THEM IN!! Learn it, live it, love it. This really does get my back up too and I’m not surprised it’s featured to a great length on a forum such as this because it happens so may times and it’s just ridiculous! Yeah if you see someone indicating, let them in because they may just be nearing an exit or a turn they want to make and so they may just cut you up anyway! I don’t mind admitting that I always do if I can’t switch a lane because I’m sure as hell not going to miss my turn when I’ve been signalling for often over 10 seconds, waiting for the twat in the inside lane to slow down just a fraction so I can make the move, so fucking irritating! They usually always speed up too if they can and they must either be blind or just plain ignorant because you know they would have seen you, you’re so close to them with a big flashing orange light going in their direction! Provoking and the laws should be changed! In any case if they went into the back of you, you’ve got witnesses who would and should say you were signalling and the idiot must just not have been looking. You off the hook. Otherwise I find getting out the car which I’ve done almost every time and going up to their window usually shuts them up, they’re the type to start a fight but once challenged they back down, or lock all their doors and up their windows ha! Ignorant, spineless little worms and out of their depth on the British roads. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/118 "2013-09-13T15:29:08Z")
Ach! Zombies! ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/119 "2013-09-14T20:45:32Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > I wonder if driving is a little bit like intelligence when it comes to self-evaluation. People will almost always over-estimate their intelligence. I’ll be it’s the same with driving skill. > > Similarly, dumb people are always the first to talk about how dumb other people are. Maybe bad drivers are the first to complain about other’s driving skills. Not directed at OP, just making an observation. Having lived in most large cities in the United States, it has been my experience that the worst drivers are in Boston followed very closely by Washington DC. The average person in Boston and Washintgon DC are probably a bit smarter than average and about 80% of the people in those places think they are WAAAAAY smarter than average. Coincidentally, about 80% of drivers in these places suck balls. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339/120 "2013-09-24T19:17:54Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I was on my way home on a seven-lane metropolitan freeway that joins and splits constantly, so cars have to get from one side to another. At this time of the evening, the traffic was relatively light, so I was moving along at 50 m.p.h. as I merged from the on-ramp and signaled to begin the first of several necessary lane changes leftward. Wait, so you admit that you were only going 50 mph on an interstate with only light traffic? Yea, I can see how that could cause issues with other drivers. Yes, I know this is an old thread. I am sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drivers-are-going-crazy-when-someone-signals-you-let-them-change-lanes/590339.md?page=7)