To think people who don't use their indicators should be fined?

[candycoatedwaterdrops]

I am probably BU and there are plenty of other annoying foibles of my fellow drivers but really...!

I get irritated by people who think they don't need to indicate if their turnoff is straight on while the road they're on curves round

That's interesting. Assuming nobody is coming in the opposite direction, or waiting to turn onto the main or overtaking them, why would they indicate? Their speed won't change and nobody behind would have to check themselves driving around them.

My DD1 said to me the other day "You've left your conker on!" when I was indicating inappropriately. She called it conker instead of winker when she was tiny and I've never disabused her. She's now 14

Mind you , that also reminds me of my niece shouting at my sister "Oh mommy you went through those lights on ginger!" instead of amber!

MaidofStars of course they should indicate if they are turning off the road. It's laziness not to.

MaidOfStars in the situation you describe, the driver is turning to leave the road they are on and therefore they should indicate. Bowler is right, it is laziness not to do so.

Are there really people who literally cannot be bothered to lift a finger?

I always indicate when joining a motorway.

I did an advanced driving course and was certainly expected to obey the ruled of the road and indicate.

That's interesting. Assuming nobody is coming in the opposite direction, or waiting to turn onto the main or overtaking them, why would they indicate? Their speed won't change and nobody behind would have to check themselves driving around them

They're changing from one road to another. Of course they have to indicate.

Just thought I'd add another bug of mine that I encoutered again this morning.

Reecently, at great expense and distruption to traffic, the pavement was widened to accommodate a cycle lane. Just about the only people not impacted by the distruption were cyclists. Road was only open in one direction causing a massive detour to traffic and buses - the route for pedestrians was also impacted but cyclists continued to freely travel both ways. They also added in several traffic islands.

Anyway after all that, why oh why are cyclists continuing to travel on the road and hold up traffic? You can't overtake as the additional islands dont give enough space to pass in between. You can't even give them a bollocking as then you'd be up for road rage. If I drove my car down the cycle path there would be plenty said i'm sure!

The fact that a lot of them don't bother with visibility clothing or lights is another matter.

To whom are they indicating and why?

MaidOfStars are you being intentionally difficult?? (I see from your first post you are a non indicating person).

You do it because it's a habit you need to do. You do it so you don't ever cause an accident. You do it in case a motorcyclists comes up behind you and you haven't seen him. You do it in case there is some other danger you haven't seen. You do it to keep safe. And possibly more importantly, everyone else safe.

This is one of my big bugbears. I cannot bear people who are so arrogant or lazy that they don't indicate, whether or not it might appear obvious where they are going.

It's not that difficult. If you are turning in a different direction, you indicate. You might cause an accident if you don't.

And while we are at it, don't use your fecking mobile phone when driving either.

You also do it in case there are pedestrians ahead on the road you're turning into who are about to cross thinking the cars coming are staying on the road they're on.

MaidOfStars are you being intentionally difficult?? (I see from your first post you are a non indicating person)

I don't think I am being difficult, at least not on purpose . And my first couple of posts were clear (I think) that I always indicate when someone else's movement around the road might depend on me indicating, so it's not fair to say I'm a non-indicator. I indicate more often that I don't, by some way.

Example, last night I drove across Manchester city centre and used my indicator (I was keeping a rough count after this thread!) approximately 70 % of the time. The rest of the time, I was maybe in marked/filter lanes at lights/roundabouts, or there was nobody else on the road whatsoever. I think this is reasonable, and if the only thing that's unreasonable about it is that it's irritating to you (rather than necessary for safety), then I'm not going to worry about that too much.

I do appreciate that it's a good habit to have. And while this is not an excuse really, I did learn to drive a long time ago, and not even my instructor told me to always indicate. I was taught to never trust anyone else driving, whatever their indicator says they are doing/plan to do.

I will make more effort in future.

To the other road users.

See, I indicate if i am in a filter lane too. Sometimes just because someone is in a particular lane, it doesn't mean that's what they are actually going to do. I know they wont always do what they are indicating either, but it usually gives an idea that some concious thought has been put into deciding which direction they may be going in :o

I think that sme people think the rest of us have a magic crystal ball that lets us know where they are going, when they are changing lanes etc. Sometimes you can just smell in the air that someone is going to pull out though :)

I need to stop myself indicating when going round a tight bend so ingrained is the action now

YANBU - indicators are supplied with cars for a purpose. To let people know your intentions. The only time I don't indicate if there is no-one behind me (very rare) or I am at traffic lights in the lane that has a massive white direction arrow on it and I am going that way.

I indicate even if there is a massive white arrow on the road, especially if that arrow is pointing right, because the chances are that I am on top of it so the person coming up behind me can't see it and may not know it is a right hand turn lane.

We swapped cars a few months ago.

I drove a small Ford for about 6 years prior to that, and always indicated, well probably could count on one hand the times I didn't. I was very conscious of it and hated people not doing it on roundabouts.

Then we got this Vauxhall - it's not much bigger but it's different. When I am going to the third exit, it TURNS OFF the right indicator - it drives me insane.

I think I can see now that it isn't always deliberate when people fail to indicate. They may well have done so, but their car has just stopped it automatically at some point.

Dangerous yes - and when people just don't bother, yes that's stupid and hateworthy.

But I think it's worth saying that it could be the car doing it, sometimes. I always try and turn mine back on but it's quite tricky to do all that at once on a smallish roundabout, by the time I've realised it's gone off, I'm usually at the indicate left stage. So I do that instead.

'I should be using my indicators to indicate intention, which necessarily includes a target to indicate to. It is not automatic for me to turn my indicator on, it is automatic for me to check my mirrors/road/etc then turn my indicator on if necessary. Obviously, the checking part may not be extensive as any driver should know where stuff is around them anyway.'

With that focus you are removing the rights of pedestrians, motorists and cyclists whom you cannot yet see, but who can see your vehicle, to have the knowledge they require in order to make a safe decision for themselves.

With that focus you are removing the rights of pedestrians, motorists and cyclists whom you cannot yet see, but who can see your vehicle, to have the knowledge they require in order to make a safe decision for themselves

Yes, of course.

MaidofStars I will make more effort in future. .

I can understand why people don't think they need to indicate if there is no one around, but I think you should just get into the habit of doing it anyway in case there is a time when you simply haven't seen someone who is there, or if you don't know the road well there may be some hidden danger you haven't seen.

YANBU. it can cause accidents. and it's extremely impolite

Drives me fucking nuts. Lazy. Disrespectful. Dangerous. Bastards.

Phew, that feels better. Every day I come across them & don't even drive many miles but it really annoys me. Ffs, they're not ornaments. Grrrr

I got a minor in my driving test for indicating when there were no other road users present