This is in IMHO, not the Pit, because I’m honestly curious. Why don’t drivers use their turn signals when changing lanes or turning? People reading this who don’t use your turn signals while driving, why not?
I know this should be a Pit thread! This drives me crazy. I used to have a bumper sticker that said
Visualize…
using your turn signal
I think sometimes people forget, but the drifters make me crazy. I don’t even think they check their mirrors.
I believe I’m fastidious about signaling turns, but I rarely signal lane changes.
My theory is that you should not change lanes in a way that requires concessions from other drivers - insofar as possible, you should do so only when you have enough space that others don’t have to modify their driving on your account. And if your action does not affect others - if they are quite safe even if they never notice your lane change - there is then no reason to signal.
(To be sure, if your lane change might call for action by another driver - even slight action - you should signal it.)
I’m guessin’ a pretty substantial percentage of the population is just plain inconsiderate, indifferent, rude, fiddilin’ with a cell phone or pissed that someone else wasn’t using their blinker so they’re not going to either. Those that are the worst are the ones that need to use it the worst: the frequent lane changers.
I honestly think it’s getting worse.
As a pedestrian, I am either,
a) nearly run over by idiots who make a turn as I am crossing the street, naively thinking they were going straight because they had no turn signal on, or,
b) I stand and wait and wait and wait to cross the street, not knowing the idiot is going to turn and I could have crossed five goddam minutes ago.
And yes, if their window is open I do scream, “Use your goddam turn signal, you moron!” at them. I’m bound to be shot dead one of these days.
At least you would have died for a noble cause.
I only don’t use my turn signals when I am in medium or heavy traffic and the cars around me are cutting me off when I am trying to change lanes. If they don’t know when I’m going to change lanes they can’t cut me off 
I almost always use my turn signals, but the majority of the folks here don’t seem to. The first couple of times I used my signal here to signal my intention to change lanes or merge, the car to my left rear immediately poured on the gas to cut me off. I think that aggresive response discourages people from signalling. Stealth driving.
Amen sister!
Use the signals people:
It is easy
It is courteous
It is the law
It promotes saftey.
And to reiterate IT IS FREAKING EASY!
Why on earth would you not do it? And by the way, almost coming to a complete stop AND THEN signaling is as useless as not signaling.
I think for a substantial number of those whose don’t signal turns, the reason is that they don’t look upon themselves as equivalent to other drivers.
I don’t mean to say they have conciously decided they are superior. But I believe they see a fundamental division between “me” and “everyone else”. They would have no trouble at all explaining why the driver ahead should signal his turn, but would not tend to conclude that because he should, they should too.
So they aren’t being deliberately rude, just unconciously so. Which isn’t actually a whole lot better.
Odd, I always signal lane changes, and this has never happened to me. It might be because I pull in front of the people who feel they have to leave 3 car lengths space in otherwise bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The reason I signal is that you have no way of knowing if the driver behind you is intending to speed up, or if there is a driver in another lane intending to pull into the space you’re pulling into. When there is a reasonable amount of space in front of me, and someone signals to get in, I slow down a bit to give more room. I think people do that for me also.
Didn’t your driving test have a mind reading portion? It seems that most drivers assume that I passed that part.
I only signal if someone in the viscinity needs to know what I am about to do. Basically, if you are close enough that you may be required to react to my action, you can expect a signal. On the other hand, if I am in front of you and I am changing lanes at speed and you will not be affected by my movement, forget it.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that YOU think you are good an observant driver, you probably don’t see everything around you at all times. And so while you may be changing lanes at speed in front of someone, what you do not see is the Porsche who has designs on that lane and is planning to be there shortly, because he’s driving at 90. The sad fact remains that there are still blind spots, varying traffic speed, and other concerns that necessitate always using your turn signal. You may be OK a million times without it, but the next time you will not be. It may also be that you piss off other drivers without even knowing it.
You don’t always know what I’m about to do. I could be intending to rocket away into the lane you are aiming for very shortly. You are not the best judge of what I “need” to know as a driver. I am. so please use your turn signal. There is a reason that it is a law. Communicating your intentions to other drivers is not just courteous, it is safer.
Gosh this many posts, and nobody’s stated the obvious answer to the OP: LAZINESS !!!
Yes, the fact that about 90% of the drivers I encounter (in San Diego) do not use their turn signals pisses me off. I used to ponder just why this is so, and have come to the conclusion that the reason is one of two things:
-
Laziness, pure and simple. It would require “extra effort” to use the signals, and that is simply asking too much. I figure this accounts for the majority of non-signallers. Also in this category is the “why should I ?” attitude (the same people who don’t turn on their headlights in the fog because it does not improve their ability to see).
-
It would require actually having pre-meditated (that is, “thinking”) about where/when you were going to turn before actually taking the action. People in this category simply don’t “think ahead” - every action is taken with the same amount of forethought as avoiding the dog that jumps out in front of you. (The point being, they are not thinking about their driving - even about the routine turns they make EVERY DAY). Of this group, there is an even smaller number that simply never figured out what that “other stick” on the steering column is for
My grandrather never used turn signals because, “Why the hell should I? I know where I’m going.”
Interesting comments. Thanks, those of you who have admitted to not signalling all the time - in these driving threads, everyone always complains about the “bad” drivers, but no one ever owns up to doing the things others complain about.
Those of you who only signal when you feel there is a real need, have you considered that a lot of driving is a habit, and good habits will support you when you have a brain fart or, like Necros pointed out, you miss seeing something important?
As for stealth driving (great term, that), I can see your point for this, but obstructing other drivers is against the law, and two wrongs don’t make a right, in my opinion.
I put the blame on improper driver education. When I was taught, the RULE was that hitting that little lever was part of the process of preparing to turn the wheel. It’s much more efficient to simply ALWAYS hit it than to take the extra nanosecond to decide “Let’s see, is there anyone around who needs to know I’m changing lanes or turning the corner?”
Is that still taught? In the driver’s license test, do they check if you’ve used the signal? Do they even take you out on a multi-lane road to see if you use the signal when changing lanes? If not, they should.
(Of course, people are on their best behavior when taking the test, but it should still be a part of it.)
Another reason, which is similar to some already mentioned, is ego and arrogance. Some folks (at least one in my own family who will not be corrected) believe that they don’t need to plan ahead, and that it’s perfectly all right to zig from the left hand lane across 2 other lanes to the exit ramp without signalling. :eek: He’s been lucky in avoiding accidents – so far.
Because they’re;
[ol]
[li]lazy[/li][li]inconsiderate[/li][li]bad drivers[/li][li]idiots[/li][/ol]
Any one of the above can do it, but plenty are all four.
I am downright OCD about using a turn signal. I’ve had several people tease me because I’ll turn on my turn signal when technically I shouldn’t need to - like when I’m turning left in a left-turn only lane, or when I’m turning right because the road only goes that way in the first place. If I’ve missed using my turn signal more than 5 times, I’d be highly surprised. It’s one of the little things I’m just really particular about. The way I see it, using it when I don’t really need to won’t hurt; not using it when I should could hurt quite a lot.
And I’ve never had a problem with someone on the highway cutting me off because of a signal. The idiots who cut me off would have done so whether my signal was on or not.