Do You Use Your Direction Signals When You Drive?

Yes I use mine all the time, it's just an automatic response like blinking...

It irritates me when other don't , particularly when driving along a single carriageway road, and the suddenly stop without warning to make a right or left turn or when driving around roundabouts, it's downright dangerous and causes no end of accidents. ... , and I too have noticed that more and more people are not doing it.

In the uk there's a book called the highway code, It contains the rules on everything from rules on powered wheelchairs to first aid on the road. Everything you could possibly want to know about how to go about being safe on the road be that as a pedestrian, driver or horse rider is contained in the Highway Code.
Some of the rules in the book are advisories, and should be followed altho if not won't necessarily result in a prosecution, but most are Laws of the road which if broken will result in prosecution.

I think that many people these days particularly those who are recent immigrants to our roads, don't follow the highway code at all... many can't even read English.


https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/highway-code-road-safety
 
I use my turn signals every time I get behind the wheel of my car. I get infuriated when people don't use them - it shows a lack of respect for others on the road, plus it's unsafe. I usually blow my horn when someone turns abruptly with no signal.
 

hollydolly said:
https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/highway-code-road-safety
Click to expand...
I remember my first Highway Code hollydolly, it was a small thin orange
coloured one.

The one thing in it that I have always remembered was a picture of a
man sitting on a horse drawn carriage, he has a whip in his hand that
he is waving in a circle above his head, this is to tell all drivers near him
that he is about to turn, he has to hold his free hand/arm out straight
in the direction he will turn, I always wonder if that one still applies as
all other hand signals are either abolished, or simply ignored!

Mike.
 
Yes, I always use my indicator. Years ago there were hand signal procedure and this was tantamount in the driving tests in the UK but these signals no longer apply here as far as I know. Roundabout signals are very important and it angers me when drivers do not indicate their intention:mad::rolleyes: and I feel a bit of road rage coming on:devilish:
 
Mike said:
I remember my first Highway Code hollydolly, it was a small thin orange
coloured one.

The one thing in it that I have always remembered was a picture of a
man sitting on a horse drawn carriage, he has a whip in his hand that
he is waving in a circle above his head, this is to tell all drivers near him
that he is about to turn, he has to hold his free hand/arm out straight
in the direction he will turn, I always wonder if that one still applies as
all other hand signals are either abolished, or simply ignored!

Mike.
Click to expand...
LOL..because you learned to drive in the days before cars were invented... :ROFLMAO:;)..in all seriousness, yes I remember those thin pamphlets back in the day, but now they're very much more substantial, and here in the countryside the horse riders do use all sorts of arm circles , so I suspect they are still in use.. I'll have to ask the People at the equestrian centre nearby, they're very hot on safety on the roads for horses, and riders...
 
Yes, I always use them because that's how I was trained. When teaching my kids to drive, I constantly emphasized the importance of being predictable. Everyone on the road should be are able to predict, anticipate, and respond appropriately to the movements of everyone else.

Just a few weeks ago, I was behind a motorcyclist who gave the hand signal for a right hand turn. I don't think I've seen that in 25 or more years. DH and I remarked that our kids probably wouldn't even know what the guy was doing.

My biggest complaint about driving are the recreational bicyclists. They sometimes make me crazy because they frequently ignore stop signs and other signals, and want to behave as pedestrians or vehicles, switching from one to the other as the mood suits.

I'll take freeway driving over streets any day. Far fewer variables, no pedestrians or bicycles, yes there are lots of lane changes but no left or right turns, and everyone's going in the same direction.

Don't get me started about the people who text while driving. Crazy dangerous!
 
twinkles said:
i always use my turn signals---i have to have my licence renewed this year and i am dreading that
Click to expand...
Do you have to take another test for that?... here in the Uk when we reach 70 we have to renew our driving licence and thereafter every 3 years.. but we don't have to take another test or medical , however I do think they should test everyone's eyesight at that time tbh.
 
treeguy64 said:
Always, even when on a deserted road. It's automatic, in my brain.
Click to expand...
That is advisable because there might be somebody that you can't
see, a walker, or someone might arrive as you are about to start the
turn, without the signals they have no idea what you are going to do.

Hollydolly, I don't know about horse riders, I was talking about a cart
drawn by a horse, I always thought that the riders only had to put out
a hand/arm on the side that they want to turn.

Mike.
 
Mike said:
Hollydolly, I don't know about horse riders, I was talking about a cart
drawn by a horse, I always thought that the riders only had to put out
a hand/arm on the side that they want to turn.

Mike.
Click to expand...

Oh! ... that jogged an old memory of horse and buggies (Amish) on the roads in NE Ohio when I was growing up. Yes, they had to stick their arm out the side of the buggy when they were turning.
Had forgotten all about that lifestyle.😀
 
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A lot of people don't understand that to put your signal on is to signal the intent to turn or change lanes and not the turn itself.

To be effective you have to give a warning to other drivers.

The good old days.
Arm straight out - left turn
Arm out elbow bent pointing upwards- right turn
Arm straight down- stopping or slowing down.
 

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