How to teach a motorist to use his or her turn signals

One big plus about having a good front flashing light is that it helps
educate motorists.

For some reason, in California, using turn signals is viewed as
completely optional. If you feel like signaling you do it, if you don't
you don't (this applies to law-enforcement, school buses, as well as to
POVs).

It's so amusing to be at a red light, going straight across, and a
vehicle drives up opposite me, on a street with no left turn lane. They
won't have their turn signal on, but at some point during the time
waiting for the light to change, they'll notice the flashing light and
turn on their left turn signal. Perhaps they believe that I'm a bicycle
cop. Perhaps they only ever turn on their turn signal when there is
someone opposite them, but in the olden days (pre-front flasher) they
never turned on their turn signal for a bicycle.

So if you need one more reason to use a front flasher (besides making
yourself far more visible in the daytime), consider the educational value.

On 6/5/2014 7:33 PM, sms wrote:
One big plus about having a good front flashing light is that it helps
educate motorists.

For some reason, in California, using turn signals is viewed as
completely optional. If you feel like signaling you do it, if you don't
you don't (this applies to law-enforcement, school buses, as well as to
POVs).

It's so amusing to be at a red light, going straight across, and a
vehicle drives up opposite me, on a street with no left turn lane. They
won't have their turn signal on, but at some point during the time
waiting for the light to change, they'll notice the flashing light and
turn on their left turn signal. Perhaps they believe that I'm a bicycle
cop. Perhaps they only ever turn on their turn signal when there is
someone opposite them, but in the olden days (pre-front flasher) they
never turned on their turn signal for a bicycle.

So if you need one more reason to use a front flasher (besides making
yourself far more visible in the daytime), consider the educational value.

Funny thing, a friend told me the same story, but he attributed it to
his favorite neon-pink shoelaces.

I asked "How can you be sure it's the shoelaces, and not just selective
perception bias?" He said "It's the shoelaces. I can just tell."

But at least, he wasn't earning commission selling Chinese shoelaces.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Thursday, June 5, 2014 8:00:55 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/5/2014 7:33 PM, sms wrote:

One big plus about having a good front flashing light is that it helps
educate motorists.

For some reason, in California, using turn signals is viewed as
completely optional. If you feel like signaling you do it, if you don't
you don't (this applies to law-enforcement, school buses, as well as to
POVs).

It's so amusing to be at a red light, going straight across, and a
vehicle drives up opposite me, on a street with no left turn lane. They
won't have their turn signal on, but at some point during the time
waiting for the light to change, they'll notice the flashing light and
turn on their left turn signal. Perhaps they believe that I'm a bicycle
cop. Perhaps they only ever turn on their turn signal when there is
someone opposite them, but in the olden days (pre-front flasher) they
never turned on their turn signal for a bicycle.

So if you need one more reason to use a front flasher (besides making
yourself far more visible in the daytime), consider the educational value.

Funny thing, a friend told me the same story, but he attributed it to
his favorite neon-pink shoelaces.

I asked "How can you be sure it's the shoelaces, and not just selective
perception bias?" He said "It's the shoelaces. I can just tell."

But at least, he wasn't earning commission selling Chinese shoelaces.

I (sort of) agree in that his conclusion is overly conclusive;
but I think you're letting *your* bias get the better if you:
Surely you don't deny that a flashing LED makes people more
conscious of your presence, which is apt to lead them to
consider a potential traffic conflict with you, which would
naturally prompt some of them to signal their intention to
you.

You're just mixing your antipathy for his lights with the
merits of the observation and inference. It's a typical
all-or-nothing, black-and-white, adversarial response -
but not "realistic".

On 6/5/2014 10:28 PM, Dan O wrote:

I (sort of) agree in that his conclusion is overly conclusive;
but I think you're letting *your* bias get the better if you:
Surely you don't deny that a flashing LED makes people more
conscious of your presence, which is apt to lead them to
consider a potential traffic conflict with you, which would
naturally prompt some of them to signal their intention to
you.

That's a good description of what the front daytime flashers excel
at--they make drivers conscious of your presence. In a perfect world all
drivers would be paying attention to their surroundings without the need
for any need for more vulnerable road users to do anything to increase
their conspicuity, but we're unlikely to get to that point, especially
since we're moving in the other direction so rapidly.

Of course as all studies on conspicuity have shown, flashing lights are
more conspicuous than steady lights (which is why emergency vehicles,
barricades, etc use them), and steady lights are more conspicuous than
no lights (this is why daytime running lights became popular).

You're just mixing your antipathy for his lights with the
merits of the observation and inference. It's a typical
all-or-nothing, black-and-white, adversarial response -
but not "realistic".

LOL, what else is new?

http://goo.gl/c0Ht5W

Per sms:
For some reason, in California, using turn signals is viewed as
completely optional. If you feel like signaling you do it, if you don't
you don't (this applies to law-enforcement, school buses, as well as to
POVs).

Long time ago when were vacationing in Puerto Rico I noticed that using
my turn signals seemed to worry other drivers. Everything seemed to
be done on eye contact... once I caught on, no problem, people were
quite accommodating and courteous.

But flip on a turn signal? I got the impression people were avoiding
me just because they didn't know what that lunatic was going to do next.
--
Pete Cresswell

Signals are optional in Florida for drivers out of the Appalachian and lower Midwest areas like NYC. Closer to Miami, more optional.

The optimals have eased up some over the last 15 years. Replaced by

IMA GRAND PRIX DRIVER IMA GONNA MISS YOU BY INCHES DUDE. Local traffic from Mal Arace

On Fri, 06 Jun 2014 09:20:29 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Per sms:
For some reason, in California, using turn signals is viewed as
completely optional. If you feel like signaling you do it, if you don't
you don't (this applies to law-enforcement, school buses, as well as to
POVs).

Long time ago when were vacationing in Puerto Rico I noticed that using
my turn signals seemed to worry other drivers. Everything seemed to
be done on eye contact... once I caught on, no problem, people were
quite accommodating and courteous.

But flip on a turn signal? I got the impression people were avoiding
me just because they didn't know what that lunatic was going to do next.


Errr.... which side of the road were you driving on :-?
--
Cheers,

John B.
(invalid to gmail)

http://goo.gl/SMJJps