Turn signal: asking permission or issuing a warning?

[Larry Schuler]

I usually wait until there is a safe gap, turn my signal on, and then merge.

Driving in Southern California, if you turn your signal early on AND THEN look for an opening, there will never be one. Many drivers see the signal and speed up, as others have noted. It's d-bag terrotorialism ("I own all the stretch of road I can see with my eyes and may ever potentially want to occupy!").

[Ohayou]

Rule of thumb for every driver: If you're unable or unwilling to keep up with the car in front of you, move right. If it's a single direction lane each way, move over and let the cars that have stacked up behind you to go past.

Sometimes I'll be in the right lane, going the speed limit at 55 MPH or whatever, maybe even upwards to 60, and that's too slow for a lot of people. If it's pouring rain, I'll slow down, you know, because I don't want to crash and die, but everybody else apparently has a death wish. Listen, you turds, if the speed limit says 55 MPH, that doesn't mean that's the SLOWEST you can go. Son of a.

[REDREAD]

Using the turn signal doesn't mean you can then turn. It's simply a way of alerting other drivers of your intent. Still up to you as to making sure you can safely because you've always got to be aware of the idiots out there wanting to play pole position.

I'm not sure how it is in Ohio anymore, but since I've been here in Texas ('86) I've noticed that I rarely see people even use turn signals. Drives me nuts. My wife does it too. We're currently teaching my oldest daughter (learners permit) and I'm stressing the heck out of the turn signal.

I've stopped using turn signals because people are so rude now. Over half the time, they will speed up and try to close the gap so you can't get in.
It's a sad statement on how selfish our society has become.

[_Sir_Charles_]

I've stopped using turn signals because people are so rude now. Over half the time, they will speed up and try to close the gap so you can't get in.
It's a sad statement on how selfish our society has become.

I understand the frustration, but not using it out of spite simply perpetuates the downward spiral. Be a better driver than all those nitwits that bug the heck out of you.

Personally, when I get on the freeway, I set my cruise control to the speed limit. Regardless of what traffic is cruising along at. It's a pointer that I picked up 20+ years ago in a defensive driving class I took to erase a ticket. Ever since then my drive to work is almost completely stress free. I get there in the same time as the people who are speeding non-stop and I'm not having to tap the breaks and speed up back and forth. People pass me and I end up with a 3-4 car length opening in front of me the entire way. People look at a 65 mph speed limit as a "guideline" and think cops won't ticket them as long as they're within 10 mph of the limit. So everybody drives 75 and stresses out the whole way with borderline road rage. I'll take the extra 2-3 minutes and relax. Also haven't gotten a ticket since that one years ago. My wife however..... *sigh* ... lead foot.

[marcshoe]

Turn signal: asking permission or issuing a warning?

depends on whether or not I've had my meds.

[Yachtzee]

Turn signal is a signal of intent. The polite thing to do is to let someone in when they see the signal, but if they decide to be a jerk, chances are that you as the lane changer will get cited if there's an accident, just because police, more often than not, will err on the side of the person already occupying a lane. The exception would be if the police officer actually saw the driver who closed the gap driving at an unreasonable speed. Then they may get tagged for assured clear distance or reckless operation.

For informational purposes, it's a good idea to always use turn signals and, if the bulb on your turn signal is burnt out, replace it promptly. In my line of work, failure to use a turn signal is one of the most common reasons officers use to stop a driver. Some officers will use that as a basis for a stop in order to go on a fishing expedition, hoping to find evidence for more serious crimes.

[marcshoe]

I usually wait until there is a safe gap, turn my signal on, and then merge.

Driving in Southern California, if you turn your signal early on AND THEN look for an opening, there will never be one. Many drivers see the signal and speed up, as others have noted. It's d-bag terrotorialism ("I own all the stretch of road I can see with my eyes and may ever potentially want to occupy!").

While this doesn't surprise me, I've had the opposite experience in Philadelphia, DC, and San Francisco. Nashville, otoh, is another story.

[SunDeck]

Turn signal is a signal of intent. The polite thing to do is to let someone in when they see the signal, but if they decide to be a jerk, chances are that you as the lane changer will get cited if there's an accident, just because police, more often than not, will err on the side of the person already occupying a lane. The exception would be if the police officer actually saw the driver who closed the gap driving at an unreasonable speed. Then they may get tagged for assured clear distance or reckless operation.

For informational purposes, it's a good idea to always use turn signals and, if the bulb on your turn signal is burnt out, replace it promptly. In my line of work, failure to use a turn signal is one of the most common reasons officers use to stop a driver. Some officers will use that as a basis for a stop in order to go on a fishing expedition, hoping to find evidence for more serious crimes.

When delivering a load of smack I am always careful to use my turn signal.


In 34 years of driving I don't recall having someone speed up to block me from changing lanes, which I suspect is due to my belief that going with the traffic flow is generally better than trying to weave my way through it.

[Yachtzee]

When delivering a load of smack I am always careful to use my turn signal.


In 34 years of driving I don't recall having someone speed up to block me from changing lanes, which I suspect is due to my belief that going with the traffic flow is generally better than trying to weave my way through it.

Actually what is common is for them to stop you for turn signal, then go through the whole rigamaroll to see if they can get you for OVI (what DUI is called in Ohio). I've had a few cases for clients dismissed because the officer stopped them on a turn signal or a burnt out plate light, allege an odor of alcohol, have them do field sobriety tests, then take them back to the station to submit a urine test. (They don't use breath tests in one of our jurisdictions because of legal challenges to the particular machine they use). So they get charged and we go through the whole pretrial song and dance for a few weeks until the urine results come back negative.

[foxfire123]

Turn signals are a major pet peeve of mine, and probably my biggest kvetch any time I'm driving. Around here they don't know how to use the turn signal. If someone does I tend to back off a bit, or flash my lights letting them know they're clear. If they don't signal, then I just try to read their driving "body language". if I see them looking or edging over, I tend to back it up a bit. Rather have a slightly ticked off driver behind me than lose the front end of my car being stupid myself.

[swaisuc]

What is the deal with people speeding up to block lane changes anyway? I see it all the time.

I sound old here, but driving seems to be getting worse, and I think it really actually is (not just me aging) because of phones and distractions. I drove 15 minutes yesterday and saw 4 near accidents. I need to get a dash cam.

I do this pretty often when traffic is heavy TBH. As for "what the deal is", it's because people constantly use tricks to try to just pass everyone else that is waiting. We're all trying to get somewhere. Flying around us in a lane everyone knows ends in 1/4 mile and then putting your signal on = NOPE. Switching lanes because ours isn't moving and then putting it immediately on to get right back over in front of us = NOPE. Here is a big one on 275 these days... exiting at stopped traffic and immediately getting right back on the entrance ramp to skip the cars in that area. If I see any of this stuff, I go out of my way to block the person trying to get over.

Now, the flip side of this is that I know a lot of drivers who block like that because they just assume everyone is doing things like that. I'm sure that gets annoying to drivers who legitimately need to get into a lane in traffic.

[swaisuc]

To the main question.... I vote asking for permission. Bottom line, if I'm in lane A and you're in lane B, it's my responsibility to not cause a wreck in lane B.

[jimbo]

I do a tremendous amount of interstate driving in the summer for my job, and I have come to the point that when talking about truck drivers, I consider a turn signal their warning they are changing lanes. Too many times recently I've had to slam on my brakes to keep from rear ending a semi because they changed lanes regardless if I was about to, or already had, reached their bumper. I'm not accusing all truck drivers of doing this, but too many of them do, and I am never going to win that battle.

What even chaps my you know what even more, is that when a truck driver does this and then proceeds to go .5 mph faster than the truck they are passing, then taking several miles to pass it. The interstates have become dangerous, you have to be defensive at all times while also trying to anticipate what everyone else is going to do. Long trips just stress me out anymore.

[WrongVerb]

Sometimes I'll be in the right lane, going the speed limit at 55 MPH or whatever, maybe even upwards to 60, and that's too slow for a lot of people. If it's pouring rain, I'll slow down, you know, because I don't want to crash and die, but everybody else apparently has a death wish. Listen, you turds, if the speed limit says 55 MPH, that doesn't mean that's the SLOWEST you can go. Son of a.

If you're in the right lane doing that, then those other people are jerk-bags if they think that's going to slow. That's perfectly reasonable for the right lane.

[WrongVerb]

While this doesn't surprise me, I've had the opposite experience in Philadelphia, DC, and San Francisco. Nashville, otoh, is another story.

Did you drive in DC? VA? or MD? Because I lived in that area for 18 years and it most definitely does happen there. Seems to happen more in Maryland though. Anyway, the traffic and driving culture is one reason I moved, albeit to another state with notorious drivers. Still now that I'm in CA I find myself much less stressed out about getting where I need to go.