Article regarding use (or lack thereof) of turn signals

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Searched for "turn signals", and if that wasn't enough to find a previous thread posting this, tough luck.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/03/15/000650.html

MERIDEN, CT - March 15, 2006: A new national survey reveals that 57% of American drivers admit they don't use their turn signal when changing lanes, but what is most startling are the excuses drivers gave.

According to Response Insurance, a national car insurer, 42% of those drivers say they don't have enough time, 23% admit they are just plain "lazy," 17% don't signal because when they do, they forget to turn it off, 12% admit they are changing lanes too frequently to bother, 11% say it is not important, 8% say they don't signal because other drivers don't, and perhaps most disturbing 7% say forgoing the signal "adds excitement to driving."

 

[imported_LoKe]

IIRC, your signal will turn off when the steering wheel is moved a certain amount.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: LoKe
IIRC, your signal will turn off when the steering wheel is moved a certain amount.

but changing lanes the wheel is never turned far enough to turn them off. thats only when making what is typically a 90º turn. even large radius turns and some left turns tend to leave them on, at least in all the vehicles I see, and in mine, where it doesn't turn off and is forgotten about.

i don't use them all the time, mostly only when turning right and in a lane that isnt designated right-only. in left-turn lanes i typically don't because being in that lane, it is implied, but sometimes I do just for the sake of the person across from me (so they know I am turning).
lane changing I don't, mostly because I too change lanes too often and it would be an insane amount of turning them on and off.

 

[neutralizer]

I do it out of habit.

 

[jlee]

They dont'..have..enough..time? What, they choose to change lanes in a split second?

 

[Turkish]

95% of all drivers suck.

 

[daclayman]

Originally posted by: LoKe
IIRC, your signal will turn off when the steering wheel is moved a certain amount.

I delivered pizza with a 1991 Pontiac Sunbird for ?? years (80,000 miles). The 'turn off' mechanism broke in one of the directions after 60,000 miles of my use (120,000 miles on the car). I'm a signaling fool, unless they're are no other cars within 1/8th of a mile and most of the time I still signal. And yes, I am quite reckless; I'm not a blue hair.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: Turkish
95% of all drivers suck.

Well, I guess we know 57% do for sure.

 

[EyeMWing]

I signal all the time. And usually for what my friends consider "excessive" distances ahead of the turn (usually when I begin the long and elaborate process of decelerating - I prefer not to touch the brakes). I also signal all lane changes except for those in the dead of night where I'm the only car on the road and realize I don't have to be in the left lane (usually, I spend full-time in the left, because my excessive speed makes the whole trip into one extended passing manuever. I'll still get over if anyone merges in behind me and seems to keep up, though. Even if they actually intend to go slower than me, I let them in front, and conserve fuel by drafting liberally. It's the speeder's unspoken agreement to allow for drafting, and most of them have no problem with it.

 

[DainBramaged]

I got in a bad habit when one of my blinkers quit working and I forget a lot of the time now. I tend to think of it more when I am really concentrating on a lane change such as in heavy traffic.

 

[Kalvin00]

I signal, both when i'm in my truck and on my motorcycle, all the time...unless im out in the boonies and no one is around..

 

[Shawn]

I always use my turn signal when changing lanes out of habit, even when no one else is on the road. I can't stand when people don't use turn signals... or wear a seatbelt. How stupid can you get?

 

[kyparrish]

OMG @ "It makes it more exciting" :Q :Q :Q :Q :Q

 

[clickynext]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: LoKe
IIRC, your signal will turn off when the steering wheel is moved a certain amount.

but changing lanes the wheel is never turned far enough to turn them off. thats only when making what is typically a 90º turn. even large radius turns and some left turns tend to leave them on, at least in all the vehicles I see, and in mine, where it doesn't turn off and is forgotten about.

i don't use them all the time, mostly only when turning right and in a lane that isnt designated right-only. in left-turn lanes i typically don't because being in that lane, it is implied, but sometimes I do just for the sake of the person across from me (so they know I am turning).
lane changing I don't, mostly because I too change lanes too often and it would be an insane amount of turning them on and off.

The solution, then, is to turn very very sharply when changing lanes!

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: LoKe
IIRC, your signal will turn off when the steering wheel is moved a certain amount.

but changing lanes the wheel is never turned far enough to turn them off. thats only when making what is typically a 90º turn. even large radius turns and some left turns tend to leave them on, at least in all the vehicles I see, and in mine, where it doesn't turn off and is forgotten about.

i don't use them all the time, mostly only when turning right and in a lane that isnt designated right-only. in left-turn lanes i typically don't because being in that lane, it is implied, but sometimes I do just for the sake of the person across from me (so they know I am turning).
lane changing I don't, mostly because I too change lanes too often and it would be an insane amount of turning them on and off.

Are you really too stupid to realise that you can hold the lever to a position before it locks into place and still have the car signal? Lane changing is when signals are most critical because it's when it's the most difficult to anticipate another driver's lateral move.

ZV

 

[athithi]

Originally posted by: Shawn
I always use my turn signal when changing lanes out of habit, even when no one else is on the road. I can't stand when people don't use turn signals... or wear a seatbelt. How stupid can you get?

I even use it in the parking lot - if only to keep it a habit. I use it even in the rarest of rare instances when I have cellphone stuck in my ear. When I see people turning without signalling, I know I have just witnessed a person with very low intelligence who lacks basic road courtesy - it's ok mostly, though sometimes it gets on my nerves. But then most people can't help being stupid; they're just born with impaired brains so I know it is not really their fault. I just learn to drive even more cautiously around these morons.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I've found myself signaling during autocross. It's also not uncommon for me to find myself signaling when a road makes a 90 degree bend.

ZV

 

[athithi]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I've found myself signaling during autocross. It's also not uncommon for me to find myself signaling when a road makes a 90 degree bend.

ZV

LOL...reminds me of this segment from Cops when some drunken kid was trying to outrun the cops and kept signaling every turn :laugh:

 

[DAGTA]

People are selfish. Nothing new there.

 

[njswift10141980]

Yep I use mine all the time this is probably one of my pet peeves I mean am I a fricking psychic.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I've found myself signaling during autocross. It's also not uncommon for me to find myself signaling when a road makes a 90 degree bend.

ZV

Same. Just habbit.