First off I like to thank the 3 people today that used their turn signals and to the rest… FUCK YOU lazy FUCKS. How hard is it to hit the turn signal… Oh wait your using your cell phone.
Turning or changing lanes?
There is a qualitative difference.
you weren’t by chance driving through Atlanta were you? Because I gotta tell you, the whole turn signal thing is a mystery here.
Why does it make a difference whether they had the signal on to pass or turn? It’s still important to let other drivers on the road know what you’re doing. If you’re turning, you want to warn the people behind you that you’re about to slow down for the turn; if you’re passing, you want to warn the people ahead of you.
I don’t know why people don’t use their fucking signals. Is it really so much effort to move your goddamn pinky a few inches and move the stick?
Actually, Houston’s not too bad, but I have noticed in other cities that use of a turn signal seems to be some kind of sign of weakness. Let’s peck that chicken to death!
No, there is not.
If you’re doing anything other than continuing straight on between the two solid lines, you use the turn signal to alert others of this.
Period.
Hell, I barely ever use my signal when I’m on the highway. Only if I’m pulling into the passing lane and there’s someone behind me who might need that valuable information.
Or if I’m passing someone, and someone is right on my ass, and I’d like to inform him and the person I just passed that I’m getting the hell out of the way by moving back into the travel lane.
If I’m behind you, and I start to pull into the passing lane, you can be relatively sure it is my intention to pass you. Conversely, if I’m 100 yards ahead of you in the passing lane, you might assume that sooner or later, I’m coming back into the travel lane.
I can’t remember ever being that concerned as a passee if someone behind me signals or not, or signals again when he’s done passing me. I don’t need him to draw me a picture – I know what he’s up to.
Hey, that’s just me. I use my signals in passing when it seems prudent.
I’d rather err on the side of caution when it comes to letting other people know what I’m doing with my car, that’s all. There are a lot of stupid people on the road, myself sometimes included, and since it’s not a Herculean effort to flip the fucking switch for a turn signal… why not?
My turn signal usage has gotten worse since I moved to Lexington. Mainly because 1)no one seems to use them anyway and 2)the return springs are broken, so it doesn’t go off after you turn. I would replace them, but it’s a thirty-year old truck, it would require taking the steering column apart, and I don’t know if I can even find more springs.
I used to use them at home all the time.
-brianjedi
I live in Pennsylvania.
Home of the Psychic Turn Signal Network.
People that don’t use turn signals piss me off. If you, as a driver, don’t let me know what you are planning to do, then don’t expect me to react well. If someone is turning, and I’m turning, and I use my signal and they don’t, I WILL follow them around with my turn signal on and off (provided that there is no one behind me so I don’t confuse them). Maybe they’ll get the hint.
Can I stop using the apostrophe and e when I contract you are, like Chubbs?
May I…damn it!
What really pisses me off is when someone waits until they are completely stopped in front of you and then turns on their signal. Is it too much to ask to let me know before you stop as to exactly what the hell you are doing? It isn’t that hard of a concept to me.
Turn signal deliquency is a major source of aggravation for me. I read an article a few years ago which described the “Four Rules of Driving in Western Canada” and rule #4 was “Only faggots signal” (their terminology, not mine–I’m not a homophobe). Apparently, everyone else around here read the same damn thing and took it to heart, instead of identifying it as satire as I did.
On any given day, I will be faked out by some clown racing through a left hand turn in front of me without signalling, cut off by a BMW without seeing a signal (apparently, cars worth more than $40,000 and all SUVs do not come equipped with turn signals), or see some yo-yo weaving in and out of traffic, racing everyone to the next red light, obviously too preoccupied by his high-speed recklessness to use the signal.
Incidentally, Jack Batty, up here in the Great White North you are legally required to signal lane changes and turns, not that it’s ever enforced. And, seriously, do you actually believe that everyone you’re on the road with is smart enough to figure out what your intentions are? I sure don’t–I generally assume I’m driving with a bunch of morons… and I’m usually proved right. And are you so infallible behind the wheel that you’ve never just not seen someone sharing the road with you who might need to see the signal to know what you’re doing? I consider myself a very good driver, but I still manage to miss things once in a while.
IMO, the signals should be used all the time, whether you’re on the road by yourself or with 10,000 other motorists, because it’s a good habit to have and it’s predictable, which is utterly critical when you’re behind the wheel of a lethal weapon.
Out of curiosity, what are the laws in the States regarding turn signals?
I thought it was limited to Atlanta, then I moved and found with horror that the non-use of turn signals has spread through the Southeast like a virus. It’s at least as far as Knoxville now, and must be stopped before it overtakes the entire country.
Why not just make a law that people have to use their turn signals?
I thought there was one.
Please recalibrate your sarcasm meter.
And I’ve actually heard some people say that you shouldn’t signal lane changes because, if you let people know what you’re trying to do, they will block you. They believe that people will actually penalize you for signalling.
I’m starting a movement in DC. A polite driving movement. If you want to get into my lane, but you don’t signal, I pretend that I don’t see you. If you do signal, I will definitely give you space to merge.
I am positively reinforcing the use of turn signals. The people I treat courteously are going to “pay it forward,” and initiate a chain reaction of politeness. I am stamping out rude driving in the district, then the suburbs, then the entire country!
Like the fight against ignorance, it’s taking longer than I thought.
I don’t see any reason to institute value judgements on when to signal. It takes half a second of effort to use the damn signal, and it’s required by law! Just use the damn thing!
I am actually the sort of person who uses a signal even if I can see no visible cars at night… there are also pedestrians and bicyclists out there who would like to know what direction my car is planning to go in and I might not always see them.
Jack Batty, if anything, I know I get nervous around people who don’t signal. How am I supposed to know that you plan to signal for things you feel that I should know, but not other things? Driving on the highway, do I know that you feel that passing isn’t required, but if you’re planning to slam on the brakes and make a right turn, that WOULD necessitate a turn signal? I’m not psychic; drivers that don’t use turn signals make me nervous because most of them either never do so or do so with pure randomness as to the situation.