When I pull up to a parking space to parallel park, I turn on my four-way flashers. I want the cars behind me to know that I am not going anywhere, that they should go around me or wait until I back into the parking spot.
My wife says this is all wrong. She says I should put on my right-turn signal. I think this is misleading those behind me to think I am temporarily stopped and will go forward to make a right turn.
Who is right here?
4-ways. Assuming you’re making the move starting in a traffic lane, that makes it a hazardous move.
If you are making a left turn into the parking space, turn on your left indicator. If making a right turn, your right indicator.
IMHO, using your 4-ways in a parking lot is, well, weird and not universally understood. And not an appropriate use of 4-ways. If someone were to do this in front of me in a parking lot I would have no clue as to the intention and would wait, confused and annoyed, until you finished doing whatever you felt like doing.
I’m with your wife. Stop that.
you are. women don’t know anything about driving signals. In fact, they aren’t actually very good at direct communications at all. next time, tell her to get out and stand on the curb so she won’t distract you from the delicate and manly task of parallel parking.
Your right turn signal will tell people behind you you’re doing something and when you slow down they’ll probably go around you assuming you’re about to park. The ones that don’t probably will when you pull up and stop just past an empty spot and your reverse lights turn on.
In Driver’s Ed, we were taught to use the blinker in the direction we were parking. FWIW.
If your car is stopped just ahead of an open parallel spot and you’ve got your right-turn signal on, it’s fairly easy to conclude that you’re about to parallel park.
He’s not in a parking lot. He’s parallel parking in the street alongside the curb.
Turn signals for parallel parking. Your car is going to be moving in the direction of the turn signal.
Flashers are for when your car is stopped in an unexpected area and not moving; when your car has broken down, when you are double parking for a reasonable reason, or for when you are driving significantly slower than might be expected; on a highway when your car is having mechanical problems or there is poor weather.
I think I would be more alarmed to see a car with flashers start backing up.
Right turn signal
Right turn signal. Also, this should have been a poll.
Not in a parking lot. Parking on the street
But look, you are driving in traffic looking for a parking spot on your right. You see one about three spaces up and put on your right turn signal. The driver behind you thinks you are going to make a right turn at the next intersection and stays right on your tail. Now you stop just ahead of the open space and prepare to back in, but the car behind you blocks you and is probably too close to turn into the left hand lane. This happens all the time.
On the other hand, when I see the parking space, I turn on the four-ways. NOW anyone behind me thinks, "Whoa, this guy is gonna stop; I better swerve left to get around him. Now there is nobody behind me and I can park.
Why?
So you stop just ahead of the parking spot, turn on the right-turn signal and put the car in reverse (so the reverse lights go on). The driver behind you will understand what you intend and will enter the left lane.
Right turn signal.
Also, you can stop in front of the open space before pulling up in front of it, putting car into reverse & pulling in.
Right turn signal. That’s how I was taught in driver’s ed and was required when taking the driving test-- at least it was 100 or so years ago when I took it.
He shouldn’t be going around you, he should be stopping.
I don’t think in my entire life I’ve seen someone use their hazards to indicate parallel parking. Since we are talking about a “signal” to other drivers, all your appeals to logic are for meaningless. Hazards means you are stopped or driving well below expected speed. Turn signals mean you are going in that direction. That’s what everyone else on the road is expecting of you.
Right turn signal is safer. If you put on your hazards, I assume you’re broken down or double parking. What I’m REALLY assuming is that you’re not going to move from where you are. So I’m going to try and get that free spot I see just behind and to your right that you must have decided not to take because you put your hazards on to double park. Maybe you’re crap at parallel parking, or maybe you’re just running up to deliver a pizza. But that space is free, since you’ve not indicated you’re moving to the right to take it. See the problem here? We’re going to get in a fender bender. You have actually created a hazard by using your hazards in an unconventional way.