to ask if you don’t use indicators…

[Merryoldgoat]

…why the fuck not?

Seriously. The number of twats tonight turning in and out of junctions with no signal.

Grrrr.

@BusinessMindThoughts

Their answer was no, in fact all these pictures show, is that the car’s indicator light is working. Their point being, of course, in a transparently PA way, that you can’t presume the actions of a car/driver from their indicator lights. Due to all the reasons stated above by prev posters.

I remember my driving instructor giving me a (kind) bollocking for making a turn that assumed another driver was going to do what he was indicating. I still remember that and wait for people to do what they indicate, but it doesn't change the fact that people should still indicate their intentions!

If you follow that logic then there will be many junctions where you simply won't move until say 11pm.

There’s a full dante circle of hell for people who don’t indicate.

This drives me mental. theres a road by where I live. to go out onto the main road you have to turn right. the main road is busy. Gaps are rare. Its so annoying when there's a potential gap on the far lane but a car is approaching on the near lane who then turns fucking left and by this time the far lane is no longer clear. I swear a lot. I could have gone if you fucking indicated and I knew you weren't going straight ahead.

What about the absolute wankers who indicate right at a roundabout to show they are going straight on?
They need nuking.

Thank you eastegg

I must admit I don't always indicate to change lanes if a car is far enough back, I always do at roundabouts etc.

I've walked into the path of cars that didn't indicate.

From the resulting arguments, I gathered it was apparently my own fault for not reading the driver's mind.

If we can't actually use the indicators to gauge someone's intention, why the hell do we bother putting them on cars?

The people who say there’s nobody around means they haven’t NOTICED anyone around. Better to indicate sbd if not be needed in my book then not indicate when it was.

Mind you these are.the same people who only look in the mirror to check if they have their glasses on 🙄

What gets me is those people who, at a set of traffic lights where there are two, one of which is for going straight on and the other is for straight on or turning right, go in the right lane without indicating, so you pull up behind them to go straight on. . Then as soon as the light changes they indicate right so you’re stuck behind them for ages as they wait to turn right.

Cyclists get a lot of stick on here, but as a former cyclist, I can tell you I lost count of the number of drivers who would overtake me, then immediately turn left without bothering with their indicators. That's a shitty move to pull anyway, but at least with indicators there's a better sign to brake in time to avoid going over the bonnet. It was mostly van drivers who seemed to believe that once they had manoeuvred me into their blind spot, I no longer existed. Only the fact that I am a very cautious (and considerate) cyclist saved me from being bonneted on an almost daily basis (yes, I live in London). You learn to look for the telltale drift, and the suspicious slowing down. I went into the side of a van once, and the side of a car once, but they left so little room after the overtake I'm not sure they even saw me at all.

@StarsAndSugarlumps That was brilliantly infuriating, and probably entirely accurate.

I indicate all the time, no matter if I think other people are around or not because it is utterly vital that indicating is automatic muscle memory IMO.

But it does remind me of an article I read once in Australia. Someone stole a car and drove away into the bus with police following him. All dark. he turned his headlights off to avoid detection. .... but kept indicating out of habit.

• drove into the bush

I know! It drives me mad and it could be dangerous as well. It irritates me when I'm at a roundabout and lazy drivers are turning left and I could drive on but they don't bother to indicate, making me stop when I didn't need to.
It's far , far worse when their lack of indications SHOULD mean I can drive on but, they are intending to drive across me and had I driven on, they would have collided with me. For instance, I'm turning left or going straight on at a roundabout, a vehicle is coming from the other direction not indicating, suggesting they're driving straight on and I should be able to go but NO! They're turning right at this roundabout, or even going all the way round and back the way they came! They just expect me to read their bloody minds!! This has happened far more often than I can believe! Luckily I seem to be able to read "car body-language" or have some sort of intuition that tells me I need to stop even though they haven't signalled, but I am afraid one day this will fail me and I'll be in an accident caused by someone being too feckin' lazy to flick a feckin' switch!!! That seriously vexes me!

@WetLookKnitwear

It’s not automatic for me.

Well you could cause an accident one day so you need to train yourself to use your indicators. It's only the flick of switch. Start doing it today before you end up hurting someone!

@WetLookKnitwear

Easy to forget

No is isn't! Not using them properly is just a bad habit. You can retrain yourself to always use them if you have the will. Stop making excuses and do it, before you cause an accident. You could seriously hurt someone!

@Agrudge

Nobody's business were I'm going

Is that what you'll say to the person whose car you damage or whose body and mind you hurt when you eventually cause an accident because you refuse to indicate? You must be a psychopath!

@DeckTheHallsWithGin

There’s a full dante circle of hell for people who don’t indicate.

There may well be, especially when you consider the attitude of some of them, like @Agrudge above!

@TimeToMakeACupofTea

I find it’s mainly on roundabouts, people tootling around with zero indication about where they’re going to get off.

I’ve had conversations with two separate people recently who are convinced that you don’t need to indicate if you’re going straight on. As in don’t need to indicate left to show where you’re exiting.

@spotcheck

While we're at it, can we all swear at people who follow too closely?

Oh tailgaters? I do swear at them, a lot1 I absolutely hate it because it's so deadly dangerous. I think it's a form of bullying sometimes as well, as it's usually the aggressive drivers, in larger or more powerful vehicles that do it to those of us in small cars that actually think the speed limits are INSTRUCTIONS rather than mere suggestions! They are usually the types that cause most of the RTAs. I can't stand them!

@Merryoldgoat

When I changed cars I kept swishing instead of flashing the lights for a few days.

I did the opposite- flashed when I meant to squoosh and the car coming towards me thought I was telling them to squeeze through the gap towards me 🤣

@TooBored1

Oh God yes. It's even worse if you are a pedestrian - apparently we don't need to know if the car is turning into the road we are crossing?

This! Twice recently I've nearly been hit after checking for cars who only start indicating as they turn then tooting at me! I wouldn't have started bloody crossing if you'd indicated earlier. I walk to and from school twice a day and it's an absolute night mare, I'll never let my children walk alone which is a shame as it's only a 10min walk crossing roads that have a 20mph limit but people are so self absorbed they speed and don't indicate.

@TooBored1

Oh God yes. It's even worse if you are a pedestrian - apparently we don't need to know if the car is turning into the road we are crossing?

and then the fuckers beep their horn at you!

@eastegg- I'm so sorry! This is the sort of occurrence non-indicators need to hear about though. It's not just inconvenience of others that they cause, nor cars that get damaged, but flesh-and-blood human beings too. They need to be shaken up. I hope he is fully recovered now?

@Agrudge I'm assuming you're on a wind up, because if that's what you genuinely think and do when you're driving, then you're the worst kind of driver.

Arrogant, thoughtless and entitled.

@eastegg

It says it all that you’re in London OP. I am too, and I have been on the receiving end of driving so shocking I wouldn’t believe it if it hadn’t happened right in front of me. Couple of quick examples:

Travelling normally, lights on, indicating to turn left and a car coming the other way turned right directly across my path so I had to suddenly stop. I mean what?

Waiting to turn right out of a side road onto a busy main road. I’m first in line with a few cars behind me. Waiting a good few seconds because it’s busy. Some knob in the queue decides he knows better, overtakes me to also turn right. Just as there was a gap which enabled me to start turning. Still not quite sure how a collision was avoided, I just must have managed to notice what the knob was doing and stop in time.

Some PP said calm down. No fucking way am I calming down about people who seem to go out of their way to endanger lives.

I know how you feel because it's the main cause of my outbursts and rages too. I live in Ireland and I have to drive to the nearest city and back at least once a day, 5 days a week. These dangerously stupid types of drivers make it an ordeal for me and others too! Underneath my anger is real fear, because motor vehicles are potentially deadly! They're always bemoaning "the CARNAGE on our roads" over here but yet some people just do NOT CARE! All they care about is if they can get away with it or not. Oh, they soon slow down and stop their bollixing when there's a Garda car or a speed camera van about! That shows they know damn well what they're doing is wrong! They are the types responsible for most for the people crippled and killed on our roads and they make me sick!