Turn Signals!!

[F4mandolin]

Turn signals. Why oh why are people so lazy they can't move a finger slightly off the steering wheel to flick the lever? Out for a bike ride yesterday and had a big pickup pass me. Then it slowed down a bit(still in the wrong lane).....so I slowed down. It slowed down a little more....so I slowed down. You can never tell for sure what the hell people are thinking so I was being safe. Finally as we get down to about 10mph they signal to turn right. By this time I have no idea what the hell they are doing and really wish not to be run over by any vehicle, let along a big white pickup. I wave him over and they eventually turn right (in front of me) and into their drive way. Considering we just had a murder across the river from me the other day....and dumped his dead woman in a tub of acid.....you wonder what kind of nuts are out here...
1. Why did they even bother to pass me when their drive way was right there anyway?
2. I need a Sheldon Cooper laser beam eye death ray for anybody who doesn't use their turn signals.

How many times have I (and I am assuming a lot of other people) had a car suddenly slow down in front of me (while I am driving or riding) and just suddenly turn left or right? Hell......even if I am riding my bike I signal if there is anybody anywhere near me. Guess this fits in with talking on the phone while driving/testing....unless they start getting tickets for it it will just get worse.

And as long as I am whining....please....if you are driving down the road and coming up behind a bike.....and there is a large truck coming the other way.....don't check to see how good a driver you are by finding out if all 3 of you can all fit in the same place at the same time. Sometimes I think everybody should have to ride a bike one week out of the year in traffic and see things from a different perspective. Yeah....I know. Some bike riders are a pain as well..... On the whole....drivers around where I live are pretty good. The last place I lived in the UK was terrible and I ended up not riding because of all the near misses...especially with the 3 vehicles in the same place on narrow roads.

 

[braumeister]

Relax. Some people even things out by going farther than necessary on the other end. My uncle, for example, is one of these good samaritans.

He will put his left turn signal on when leaving his house in Delaware, and not turn it off until he arrives at his grandson's place in Cleveland. Surely that makes up for your example of the person who waits until the last minute?

 

[MichaelB]

Agree, turn signals are good, but isn't a death ray a bit much? Maybe shocks from that flying laser thing in Star Wars. The one that trained Luke Skywalker to use the lightsaber.

 

[F4mandolin]

Well ok....maybe NOT death. But if I had the laser eyes I could put holes in the truck/tires....or maybe write "use your damn turn signal" on the side panel. Not sure where I would pick up the Star Wars floating balls....Amazon?

 

[W2R]

I could put the laser death ray to good use, chopping off the fronts of cars hanging out into the middle of the road. Whether they are ostensibly stopped at a stopsign that traffic on the intersecting street does not have, or whether they are coming out of a driveway, they'd better watch it! If those with the right of way have to slow down because they are half blocked, zap!! Off with their fenders or even front wheels or more.

Zing, zing, zing goes my laser death ray as I blithely motor down the road, leaving mutilated cars behind me in pieces as I go.

 

[F4mandolin]

Zing, zing, zing goes my laser death ray as I blithely motor down the road, leaving mutilated cars behind me in pieces as I go.

There you go, that's the attitude I like.....and I wouldn't have to feel guilty about actually killing anyone. But then with my luck....they would probably make it against the law and lump it with texting while driving.....damn.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Not to mention the drivers who wait to turn on their signal when they are already halfway through the turn. Oh, really? Now you're letting us know you're turning? Well duh.

 

[MichaelB]

Are Emily La Rou and Rollo posting in this thread...

 

[REWahoo]

Are Emily La Rou and Rollo posting in this thread...

Not sure about them, but it does appear this guy is...

Get off my lawn - YouTube

 

[W2R]

Are Emily La Rou and Rollo posting in this thread...

I didn't recall who they were, but I found this quote on the Turner Classic Movies website:

The Fields episode, frequently cited as the favorite of the film's fans, casts the comic as Rollo La Rue, a down-and-out vaudeville juggler ­ recalling Fields' own past as a juggling headliner. When Rollo's wife (Alison Skipworth) receives the $1 million check, the couple sets out on a mission to avenge the wrecking of their prized automobile by "roadhogs." They spend the money for a convoy of new cars and a group of tough chauffeurs, and then take to the streets in search of rude drivers ­ whose vehicles they destroy by ramming into them! This was one of a series of Fields films in which his personal obsessions were incorporated into the script. In real life, he had a passion for automobiles and a loathing for other drivers ­ especially those who inconvenienced him.

EXACTLY!!! I apparently have much in common with them.

 

[ls99]

Couple of ways to look at the turn signaling.

1. It was an option not purchased.

2. Live in a small town. Never use turn signals, everybody knows where you are going.

 

[MichaelB]

I didn't recall who they were, but I found this quote on the Turner Classic Movies website:

EXACTLY!!! I apparently have much in common with them.

That's it. The movie is "If I had a Million", it is a series of vignettes, and this one is titled "The Roadhog".

 

[Gumby]

To borrow from Jean-Paul Sartre, "Hell is other drivers."

 

[Free To Canoe]

Perhaps this option is appropriate?

If I Had a Bulldozer - YouTube

 

[F4mandolin]

Perhaps this option is appropriate?

If I Had a Bulldozer - YouTube

No

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Recently returned from a long road golf trip with a friend who drove. I found out he was hard hearing when I noticed he always forgot to turn off the directional signal. He finally told me that his wife gives him hand signals when he forgets, so that's what I did the rest of the trip.

I remember some years back I had a car that gave off an audible tone when you left the signal on for too long. Can't remember what kind of car that was. Thought that was a good idea. But, then my friend probably couldn't hear that sound either.

I finally cured my wife of waiting too long to turn on the signal. She always waited until the last second before turning it on. I asked her one time why she even used it as by the time she turn it on, everyone knew where she was going. I got an earfull about that but she has improved.

 

[harley]

Try driving on the Beltway around DC, or most other major cities. Using a turn signal just alerts other drivers about your intentions, and they speed up to block you off. I always make sure to use my signal, but not until I'm already commited and they don't have time to react. It's more a victory signal than a signal of intention.

Of course, in kinder and gentler traffic I use my turn signals more politely.

 

[Silver]

I live in Orlando Florida, where, if you have a rental car, it is your God Given Right to back up without looking first. Turn signals Forget about it....I'm on vacation.

 

[F4mandolin]

Hmmmm...maybe I should just shut up and make sure my bike brakes are in good condition....and maybe....an extra set of laser beam eyes to make those horrible people in Florida pay dearly...if I ever get down there again....but it's so flaaaaat down there.........

 

[Boose]

Couple of ways to look at the turn signaling.

1. It was an option not purchased.

Yep, apparently not a standard feature on BMWs sold in California...

 

[Tyro]

you wonder what kind of nuts are out here...
1. Why did they even bother to pass me when their drive way was right there anyway?

We're still wondering (for decades now) why people cutting you off -- by pulling out in front of you from a sidestreet when no-one is behind you -- inevitably aren't going very far and turn off just in front of you -- usually without signalling....

 

[Walt34]

Try driving on the Beltway around DC, or most other major cities.

You're exactly right. That was part of the fun of being a cop in the DC area. When people were jerks you could actually do something about it.

"Press firmly when signing, sir (asshat), you're making five copies."

 

[donheff]

Try driving on the Beltway around DC, or most other major cities. Using a turn signal just alerts other drivers about your intentions, and they speed up to block you off. I always make sure to use my signal, but not until I'm already commited and they don't have time to react. It's more a victory signal than a signal of intention.

Of course, in kinder and gentler traffic I use my turn signals more politely.

I do the same thing in the same places for the same reason.

 

[scrabbler1]

Try driving on the Beltway around DC, or most other major cities. Using a turn signal just alerts other drivers about your intentions, and they speed up to block you off. I always make sure to use my signal, but not until I'm already commited and they don't have time to react. It's more a victory signal than a signal of intention.

Of course, in kinder and gentler traffic I use my turn signals more politely.

I have found this more and more over the years. That being said, I have done it myself a few times on an expressway when the signalling vehicle is some large vehicle I cannot see passed. I don't want to lose the nice, long view I have ahead of me so I will speed up and not let him in. BTW my vehicle is a nice, small car which does not block another vehicle's view.

 

[Idnar7]

I think much of the use of turn signals ended with the use of cell phones. I have always wondered why they don't engineer cars so the signal goes on automatically when the steering wheel is turned x number of degrees. They have designed it to automatically shut off the signal, so why not to turn it on also. Might not work for lane changes on freeways but would for residential driving where it is needed.