Why do so few drivers indicate these days?

globalds

thebigstillmeister wrote: »

I live in Basingstoke and there are roundabouts everywhere,.. on the large roundabouts its seems to be ok, but we have lots of small ones in the housing areas where so many people do not indicate,.. so you stop to give way and then they just turn off left without a care in the world,.. that is the one thing that winds me up the most while driving,..

Doesn't seem to be a particular group of people, however I did take a day off work the other week and it happened to me 3 times in one afternoon all by (what I am guessing) were retired couples out for a drive,..

Same in Telford ..So much so I wish the council would fund information signs on some roundabouts saying please signal ...So frustrating ..Be glad when driving is automated

prowla

DoaM wrote: »

I've noticed a lot more BMWs on the road these days.

I drive a BMW and I do indicate.

However, they have changed the way the indicators work, so it is confusing canceling to turn them off.

Old car (BMW):
To indicate left: push the indicator stalk down so it clicks into place.
To cancel: lift the stalk back up to central position.

New car (BMW):
To indicate left just 3 blinks: dab the stalk down lightly and it will spring back to central position.
To indicate left continuously: push the stalk down so it clicks and it will spring back to the central position.
To cancel: Erm, it's already gone back to the central position, so lifting it will make you indicate right! (What you can do is dab it down lightly like you would for 3 blinks and it'll cancel, or lift it lightly, but if you lift it too far, it'll start indicating right!)

Based on that, I guess some people just decide the indicators are too much hassle.

coffeehound

People don't indicate because doing something for the benefit of others without any immediate payback for yourself, is for losers. Or something.

EdGasket wrote: »

I tried to tell my daughter she should always indicate but she says her instructor told her she doesn't need to if no-one is about! rolleyes

This is reasonable advice for an advanced driver who knows exactly what other traffic is around them at any given time, but not for a novice. A bit irresponsible of the instructor I think. Keep it simple for the learner and tell them to indicate every time, in my humble.

Blueblood

Never mind not indicating, the latest one around here is parking on zig zags at crossings
Have they made it legal now ??

sexyshark

EdGasket wrote: »

I tried to tell my daughter she should always indicate but she says her instructor told her she doesn't need to if no-one is about! rolleyes

mine said the same 17 years ago when i was learning after i passed my test i ignored the advise and can be seen using my little orange lights when i am the only one on the road

prowla

Incidentally, in my town, these are the ways people use their indicators at a roundabout:

1. Turning left (1st exit): Since you're in the left lane, you don't need to indicate.
2. Going straight (2nd exit): Indicate right, to show that you are not turning left. Allow your indicators to continue indicating right until they self-cancel after you've exited.
3. Turning right (3rd exit, etc.): Since indicating right means you're going straight on, you've run out of indicators, so don't use them. You can optionally then rediscover them and indicate left as you are taking the exit, but it's not at all necessary.

I've no idea where this came from - I think the indicating right when going straight on may have been done by articulated lorries to suggest that they might straddle lanes as they go round the roundabout, but that's hardly necessary in a Vauxhall Astra is it?


I don't know if the local driving instructors are !!!!!! or what, but it is too widely done to just be people getting it randomly wrong.

Strider590

I use discretion when it comes to indicating, I firmly believe that indicating out of habit is a very bad thing. It's important to have the spacial awareness and make indicating a concious decision, because in some situations indicating could potentially give another road user the wrong idea and cause an accident.

So for example I don't indicate when moving left on a dual-carriageway, because i'm finishing the overtake manoeuvre that I indicated I was doing 20 seconds ago. You don't indicate twice when overtaking on any normal road do you?

I also don't indicate if i'm in a lane that can only go one way, though i'd indicate briefly to get into that lane.

I always indicate to go around slow vehicles and/or cyclists, which is something that almost nobody ever does. There's nothing worse than doing 60mph when the 4x4 or van in front of you suddenly swerves around a cyclist that you didn't even know was there (due to the blocked view).

Sometimes I indicate late at a junction if there's a car waiting to turn into the junction from the opposite direction, purely because i've had some close calls with people doing that right across the front of me.

Iceweasel

DoaM wrote: »

I've noticed a lot more BMWs on the road these days.

Yep - they are good value these days - but what's that got to do with the subject of this thread?

Iceweasel

Strider590 wrote: »

I use discretion when it comes to indicating, I firmly believe that indicating out of habit is a very bad thing.

I only indicate if these is someone to observe it and benefit from knowing what I intend doing.

Cornucopia

I see it is a feature of the stupidification of our society. People were told to indicate when they learned to drive, but never understood why or what the benefit was, and it wasn't explained properly to them. The simple "mantra" approach of phrases like "Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre"(*) don't really work when you get into the detail of driving to a good standard, and I think people just get lazy.

There are a number of circumstances when signalling enhances safety or makes the traffic flow more efficient, and those instances should probably be the priority in education. (Not that we do much education of mature drivers, these days).

(*) I would change it to this: "Speculation, Consideration, Indication, Observation, Navigation, and Celebration (of a manoeuvre conducted safely and with consideration for other road users)".