subject: Turn Signal Use [print this page] Go for a spin in your personal vehicle, and it won't be long until you notice someone else changing lanes without looking to see where they are going and most importantly without using their turn signals.
So, why the big fuss over whether or not someone uses their turn signal while driving? Simply stated, using your turn signal can (and usually does) prevent accidents from happening. Just the other week, I was driving down the road when I noticed that there was another car in front of me that was slowing down in the middle of the lane. At first I was concerned that something might have been wrong with the person who was driving, but this concern quickly turned into annoyance and frustration when they kept speeding up and slowing down. Finally, the people behind me were getting upset as well and started zooming around me and the slow driver who was in front of me. I also wanted to get out from behind this unpredictable driver, but because they were driving so slow, a line of traffic had actually built up behind me, and that traffic was now taking whatever opportunities that it could to get into the other lane.
I was stuck. Then suddenly, without warning, the person in front of me (who had now backed up traffic for at least a mile) made a move to get over into the next lane. However, they failed to indicate their intention. I cringed at what was about to happen next. As they moved into the other lane beside us, an angry truck driver who was speeding to get around the slow driver had to slam on his brakes due to the unexpected maneuver. The drive in the truck wound up sliding off the road into an embankment while the driver of the car continued on, unphased and finally made a right hand turn onto a side street leading to a neighborhood.
Now, traffic was REALLY backed up as other onlookers slowed down and a few people got out of their cars to see whether or not the man was hurt. It turns out that all of this was caused because the one driver who had been in front of me simply failed to use his/her turn signal! Not only this, but the failure to use their turn signal was also performed in conjunction with the fact that they were driving well below the speed limit and did not check behind them (or at least it appeared that way) to see if the coast was clear to change lanes.
When you are driving on the roadway- especially a busy roadway, you need to exercise good judgment. Glance behind you and gage how fast the other drivers are traveling behind you. If it looks as if someone is driving at a decent clip, you will have to either wait until they have passed or gun it as soon as you make your lane change so that you maintain the current flow of traffic in that lane.
