Submitted 5 days ago by TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
I use it literally everywhere out of habit, I got made fun of for using it when pulling out of my moms driveway once lol
It’s always good to communicate on the road, the more information the better. I’m not sure why anyone would give you a hard time about this, unless they’re insecure (about what, I couldn’t analyze). Signals tell everyone around you what you’re about to do. Keep up the good work.
I use it to pull into my driveway because it’s immediately after a sharp blind turn and I’d rather not get shoved into my own mailbox.
I’ve used it in to turn into my driveway when there are other cars around because some of my neighbors and most of the delivery drivers drive like total dicks and can’t seem to figure out why someone would slow down in a neighborhood.
Yes even in parking lots and driveways, except sometimes when I’m pulling into a double turn lane and I don’t want people to think I’m changing lanes
So grateful to everyone in the comments who use them. Thank you all! Where i live most don’t use them. I don’t get why; aren’t these people annoyed when others don’t use the blinker?
If no one uses it, how will they ever learn what it’s like to be enlightened?
I felt dumb using it at a roundabout because nobody does there, then I looked it up and found it’s something you’re supposed to do. No harm in over communicating when you’re on control on a few thousands pounds of metal.
Yes what the fuc
Just use it all the time including turn only lanes. Deal with the clicking, it’s fine.
I’m the road a lot as a cyclist. I’d estimate that at least a quarter of vehicles rarely or never signal.
Ah, but do you follow the rules as well? Ride with traffic? Give hand signals for turns?
Not picking on you, but as a truck driver, I see far too many people riding against traffic, all over the middle of the road, and generally creating their own demise.
I do about 3k miles a year and safety is my top priority. I have (knock wood) never had a serious accident, but I’ve had a couple close calls (always from an inattentive driver). Every time I read about a road cycling injury, I shudder. The Gaudreau brothers incident was particularly harrowing.
I have flashing lights on my bike, wear high vis, ride with traffic, and signal when turning. But the absolute best piece of bike safety gear imho (and one which I see fairly infrequently even though it’s cheap), is an eyeglass or helmet mounted rear-view mirror. I see handlebar mirrors sometimes and I’ve tried them myself but they aren’t nearly as good (they are useless when turning). The eyeglass mirror is a little distracting at first, but eventually you stop noticing it unless you want to, and it’s like having eyes in the back of your head.
There are specific instructions for Audi, BMW and Mercedes which void their warranties should you ever even think such scandalous thoughts.
Yikes. Lane correction legit freaks me out. I thought it could always be turned off long term but I guess not.
It would be a disaster using that in the city I live in (Pittsburgh). Like I’m sorry that our roads are based on deer trails from the 1800s that go through woods and winding up and down hills. With all the city traffic to go with it.
Downtown can be even worse. Like you legit have to break traffic laws to get around, there’s no other way. If one of them cars “corrected” me on a tight narrow street when I go over the double yellow to pass someone on a bicycle, that could end terribly for everyone.
Well said! Blighty here.
There were so many complaints on the forums about it that I thought it was going to be a nightmare, but it’s not quite as bad as I was expecting TBF. I just have to be very careful on road merges and those funky country lanes.
Didn’t get to visit Pittsburgh so far but would love to, country is a necessarily shrinking resource here these days.
that sounds dangerous. My mom’s car, a minivan which is big and scary to me, has a thing where it tries to stay in the lane for you automatically which was very scary the first time I tried to drive it lol
That’s the thing I’m taking about!
It’s a bit scary tbh. If you don’t do (steer) what it says it shakes the steering wheel as if a wheel was seriously unbalanced or broken.
It’s my first new-to-me car in a while. So I’m enjoying most of the new tech but not quite this bit!
If you habitually use it on simple or clear turns or empty roads you will habitually use it when there are people around. That’s a good habit to have.
Lights on always and signal whenever you’re deviating from your current lane.
I use it even in my drive way. Good habbit is a good practice that makes operating any system easier.
I always use it because then I’ll never forget to use it.
Over 15 years driving, here. I use blinkers all the time. I feel weird if I change lanes without a blinker, even if I know for an absolute fact there’s no one around me… Or even any that can see me. And I mean, I’ll even use it when I do a little road rage for people camping in the passing lane and I pass them on the wrong side, cutting a little close when returning. That being said, a driveway is something I’d make a joke about among friends. It wouldn’t make me judge you as a driver. I’d use the rest of your driving as my judgment material.
My 2 cents on a topic you didn’t ask for: Do not hold down the passing lane. It makes me a little irrational, but only with a totally clear line of sight. There’s plenty of dumber morons that suck at it, so camping sprinkles a little chaos into the hierarchy of the lanes. It does not matter how your speed compares to the limit.
I ride a bicycle. I always signal by hand. It pisses me off when cars don’t see me and dont signal. Almost been hit that way.
Let people know when your massive death machine is going to be changing direction.
Yes, even in clearly marked turn only lanes. I wish more people were ticketed for not using them.
I use them all the time. Pisses me off when other road users don’t. They’re called indicators here in the UK and apparently if you pass an advanced driving test and get an advanced licence you don’t have to use them all the time, particularly if there’s no-one around to see them. Advanced courses are about thinking rather than being on autopilot, and so indicating out of habit suggests you’re not paying attention to what’s going on around you.
100% I use that bitch in parking lots.
Usually I use them, but not if I’m the only car on the road, and not in my city’s roundabouts.
The roundabouts are abnormally small, so using a blinker to exit is confusing for everyone because I’d be signalling to turn for the exit I need, but the roundabout is so small that the wrong cars will think I’m exiting before them and pull out in front of me. When really, I’d be signalling for the exit immediately after them while trying to provide time for that exit’s car to see my intentions.
Also people in this city don’t understand roundabouts. I see people enter the wrong way semi-regularly, stop in the middle of the roundabout to let people in, use a left blinker to enter a roundabout that only goes around to the left, and treat every empty roundabout as a 4-way stop. Its pretty frustrating sometimes.
Sorry, we were talking about blinkers and, in some roundabout way, I got off topic lol
I don’t drive anymore because I live someplace with transit and sidewalks, but when I drove I always signalled turns. Low effort, high safety.
Been driving for a few decades at this point. I use my turn signals for nearly all turns, and any moving merges. The more information I can give to other drivers, the more likely they are to act rationally… which decreases the chances of miscommunications and accidents.
I don’t always signal while in a turn only lane, as being in that lane should already denote my intentions, and while merging into heavy (stopped, bumper to bumper) traffic…
Only if I don’t run out of blinker fluid.
Only when I remember to fill up on my blinker fluid.
I use it everywhere because it signals intent. You never know when someone might pull up fast or walk into your blind spot. This is the only indicator they have that you’re about to pull into traffic, or change lanes.
There are only 4 ways to communicate in a car what your intentions are to other drivers. Left blinker, right blinker, brake lights, and the finger. 5 if you count flashing brights but I’m convinced most people think it’s just a fuck you for having headlights that are too bright, which might be the case, but I’m usually telling you there a pig ahead.
No no, brights are a fuck-you for having your brights locked on or having swapped bulb types that cannot actually be aimed properly because they fucked with the beam pattern. Or you’re using light bars/pods with non-highway optics, in which case, have my brights and my light bar
I read that last bit as "warning you that you might hit a large meaty object, but then I realized…I was pretty much right.
I would rather overuse it than under use it. Funnily enough I do use mine in turn only lanes too, it’s just background noise to me at this point, but I never used it while pulling out of a low traffic suburban/rural house.
Turn signals are cool. But let’s ignore the fact I live in a very rural area and there is often no one within miles of me when driving. In that case, who am I going to signal to? That suicidal deer in the ditch? That’s the last SOB I want to have any clue about where I’m going. But anywhere I meet or see traffic I do use them. And definitely the once a month trip I make to a real town.
I do not, as a rule, place any great amount of faith in turn signals. And that paranoia has saved me more than once. Far too often I have seen a driver with a turn signal blinking merrily blow past me either straight ahead or turn in the opposite direction. Had I believed those signals, I would have been tee-boned.
The only thing I believe in is the direction your steer tires are turned. Turns out your vehicle will go in the direction they are pointing. Any of you new drivers, this is an excellent safe driving tip. Pay attention to the steer tires. Those tires will tell you the truth about the real intentions of another driver.
In any case always remember-- it’s just as easy to be dead being dead right as it is being dead wrong. Be safe out there…
I don’t drive often, living in a city and therefore not owning a car. But when I drive in the countryside, I use my blinkers whether there’s someone around or not. Just like I stop at red lights whether there’s someone else or not, etc. I just do what’s supposed to be done. Not having to wonder if there are others is one less thing to thing about.
If you are wondering if others are on the road with you, you’re doing it wrong.
I live in Atlanta so no. If I turn my blinker on that means they need to block me so I just shoehorn my way into every turn and lane change.
Yes, in Texas a turn signal is a challenge to other drivers.
My old house was one of a row of housing with assigned parking spaces in front, perpendicular to the road. Like in front of a store.
I was going to turn into my parking space. This behemoth of a truck was in front of me, going slow as molasses. I mean like 2 miles an hour. I could have stopped my car and walked home faster, but I was in the middle of the road.
The truck in front of me veered left, towards the parking spots on the opposite side of the road. I said “fucking FINALLY” and darted past them on the right.
Turns out they had finally found the spot they were looking for and had just swung wide to turn into the spot. On the right, not the left. They turned straight into me as I tried to drive past.
Ever since then I make sure to use my blinker even if I’m just turning into my driveway.
In my area, most drivers don’t start the turn signal until they’ve reached the intersection or have already started the turn. Infuriates me to no end. This is also true for left turns at red lights; they don’t activate their turn signals until they stop, sometimes not even until the green light, so you have no chance to change lanes before they block you.
magikmw@lemm.ee 5 days ago
I don’t use turn signals when driving around a roundabout unless I’m exiting because I’m not psychotic.
But seriously, they are for signifying intent, not blinking idly, and they shouls be used plenty.
I put a turn signal on when I back into my underground parking spot when I’m literally the only person down there. Force of habit that I’m totally cool with.