Why do some people not use turn signals?

I don’t know, but it really gets on my nerves! In NYC/NJ, it seems to be an epidemic.

This happens in California as well. My theory is that they are doing too many other things while driving: talking on the phone, eating burgers, smoking(crack), drinking coffee, or anything but actually driving. Since their hands are occupied they can’t be bothered to use the turn signal.

ditto to b, sheer laziness and too busy to think about others around them. In CA, it goes hand in hand with not bothering to look when merging on the freeway, expecting everyone else to adapt to them.

The worst is biking behind someone who decides to turn with no signal. This either means T-boning the car as it turns, turning with the car, or veering into oncoming traffic. This drives me nuts.

Cannnt single right now.. fLutherin w. my Iphone. Dam spellcheck!!

I don’t understand that one either! It drives me nuts too! It’s such a simple thing to use and it’s such a major thing to be communicating. Maybe it’s the people who just aren’t good at communicating who are always doing it.

I hate it now, but when I was learning to drive I thought it was so stupid that you had to use a turn signal if you were already in the turn lane, it seemed very redundant to me…

@raw im in NJ its horrible, one of my biggest pet peeves. Fuckin hell is it really that hard. The best is when someone cuts you off because they didnt use a signal and you honk and then they display road rage towards you for honking.—__—

I always use a turn signal. Ive actually caught myself using one out in the middle of the woods with no one around for miles lol.

I just keep reminding myself: If I hurt them, I’ll be the one who gets punished..
That’s my mantra when driving to/from work.

I don’t know but I chew friends out for it when I’m driving with them.

It’s the same reason many people leave the grocery cart in the parking stalls or litter or don’t clean up after themselves in a fast food restaurant or when deciding they don’t want an item @ the store they just put it down wherever they are instead of putting it back where it belongs – laziness, pure and simple. People are lazy.

As a avid bike rider I would like everyone to please use your signals. It’s funny, people bitch when we ride on the sidewalk and we can’t safely ride in the streets.

I pretty much have to assume people will do the dumbest thing at the worst possible time to keep myself from getting killed.

@Niki. You totally read my mind this morning. I was even planning on posting a question like “which city/country has the worst drivers.” I think its the worst in San Francisco owing to the passive/laissez faire style of driving here (and I’ve driven in Manhattan, France, Italy and Israel). My personal favorites are, in no particular order, 1) making a right turn from the left lane or left turn from the right lane in moving traffic, 2) the turn signal goes on at the end of the turn, 3) people simply parked at an intersection without their turn signal on or my absolute favorite, 4) making a turn in the opposite direction of the turn signal halfway into the intersection after the driver realizes they have to go to the other way.

@shilolo The last time I was in SF, I had my eyes closed most of the time. Luckily I wasn’t the one at the wheel.

[only tangentially related]

My anecdotal story…

So I’m riding my motorcycle, following my gf whose driving her car. She misses a left turn on the way out of a residential neighborhood. I honk my horn to get her attention. She pulls over to the curb on the right. I interpret her maneuver as allowing me an opportunity to pass and lead the way out.

I was wrong.

Just as I pass her rear bumper (accelerating up in 2nd gear, about to shift to 3rd), my peripheral vision registers the amber glow of her left turn signal.

Yup. You guessed it. She wasn’t pulling over to let me pass. She was pulling over to make a u-turn!

So my bike hit just behind her front bumper and forward of the wheel well. And stopped. A split second before that, the whole time dilation illusion had kicked in, so I saw a lot of this with crazy clarity. That allowed me to relax just enough so that, when the bike’s forward motion was arrested, I didn’t try to hold on, but instead lift off and sail right on over the car.

You know, when following a ballistic trajectory and as asphalt is coming up at your face, it’s amazing what thoughts go thru your mind, like, “Wow. This time dilation thing is crazy. Hey dummy! Pay attention to that painfully hard blacktop coming at you really fast!”

Tuck and roll!

Ended up sitting up in the middle of the street. Flabbergasted. Not a scratch on me. Couldn’t believe it. Got up and walked my bike back home. Glad I was all geared up properly.

—

Lesson learned: I misinterpreted her actions. I should’ve looked for a right-turn signal which would explicitly mean she was pulling her car over to the shoulder. In the absence of that, hold back.

@shilolo: I think the “bad driver” phenomenon (i.e., everyone in X City is a bad driver) is some combination of the Lake Wobegon Effect and different driving styles. Personally driving in SF doesn’t bother me as much as driving on, say, the NJ Turnpike. I would rather have people driving slowly and semi-confused as they get lost or look for parking than riding my ass and honking at me. My boyfriend and roommate are completely the opposite and FREAK OUT at people driving the speed limit or slightly under. They also complain about the insta-signal (initiating the turn signal while mid-turn).

I asked the question because of a charming young lady who made every effort to murder innocent commuters on the 280 this morning by weaving in and out of traffic at 95mph with no signal and passing on the right. Which is my biggest CA driving pet peeve.

I think some people just expect others to be psychic

w00t im one of those horrible NJ drivers ^_^. I hate when people drive slow. Especially those damn PA drivers. Always slow and in the left lane.

There is no way PA drivers are worse than NJ drivers :-) !!!!!

Oh yes there is. Get out of the left lane if your doing 50. Its a passing lane state law.

@nikipedia…she passed us yesterday on 101 through the Coyote Valley.

As frustrating as city driving is….....it’s nothing compared to rural traffic here. It really wouldn’t make much difference if these guys used turn signals.

I use my turn signal faithfully because I am CONSIDERATE! I definitely know a lot of people who aren’t and in turn are selfish and apathetic.

@Niki. I grew up driving in Pennsylvania and NYC, and let me tell you, Lake Wobegon Effect notwithstanding, I’d rather the occasional aggressive East Coast driver over the moron going 10 MPH in the 35 MPH single lane, because they just feel like it, then proceed to stop at a random street, think about a turn, keep going, suddenly stop, turn around, etc. You get the point. I think its not just confusion but outright disinterest in driving and a lack of consideration that makes things so frustrating in SFO.

JP: The bike thing is why i’m so obsessive about everyone else doing it. My boy is a cyclist (and an aggressive one at that, who races cars and skitches sometimes) and he’s almost been killed once or twice because someone changed lanes in to him. If they had at least used their blinkers he would have had time to get out of the way.

People who don’t give signals are either amateur drivers are simply rude people who think they are too good

w00000 As of May 22 NJ claimed its place as the worst drivers in the united states. Represent! lol