• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

driving - Do you "signal" when changing lanes?

Do you use your turn-signal when changing lanes?

  • never

  • sometimes

  • always

  • I care about vehicles & vehicle in Thai is "rot", so I care-rot (carrot)


Results are only viewable after voting.
I think the fundamental problem is that if you're talking on the phone -- hands-free or not -- you are either not paying adequate attention to the road or your're not paying adequate attention to the person you're talking to. Both are bad. Being hands-free has the advantage of being able to turn on your turn signal, but the divided-attention problem is the same either way.
 
It has been my observation that people talking on the phone with it clasped to their head or holding it in front of their face to aim the mic. at their mouth are horrible drivers!
That was the case yet again over the weekend, some lady on her phone turned at a light with me & then cut me off inexplicably.
Her phone never left her face, she had time for that, but no time for signaling her intentions.
 
Not only signal, but always LOOK over your shoulder before switching lanes. You can set your mirrors to eliminate a blind spot, but even so. Always look. It will save your ass one day.

Also, I just bought a 2000's Pontiac/Toyota car which has automatic headlights that come on at dusk. This is cool if the extra circuitry never fails. If you check the statistics on that, headlights should always be on, even in full daylight. In daylight they serve like extra "reflectors" , increase the chances of another driver seeing you.


I have a 94 Buick and the automatic lights still work at dusk. I can't even remember the last car I owned without them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Killed_by_Death
I'm not sure what's eroding in society that makes people get progressively worse at driving, but it's been noticeable to me since returning to the U.S. some years ago.
Today I saw another maneuver that reminded me of Thailand traffic.

3 lane road, center lane is for turning only, but some lady drove right down the center lane for a long while, before finally making her turn w/o any indication whatsoever.
She looked at me quizzically as I blew the horn while passing.
I missed my opportunity to roll the window down & scream "TURN SIGNAL!", because her windows were down.
 
Just now I saw a dude in 7/11 with a tiny puppy.
He left with the puppy & put it on his lap to drive, while not using any signal indicators he meandered around on the adjacent street and into the nearby pharmacy parking lot.
His windows were down, but that dude was about half a Meter taller than me & looked like he could get really mean if he wanted.

Time to start practicing Martial Arts again, so I can get these idiots in line!
:woot:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Recon1342
Boston and NYC are the worst. Half of their normal habits would be killing offenses here in the ‘Ville. Last time I was in NYC, driving my car, I couldn’t take it and asked my buddy riding shotgun to take over until we got out of the city to keep me from getting killed or ending up in jail on a charge of aggravated douchebagicide.
 
In an area (Hampton Roads, Virginia) heavily populated by military (from all over the country) and tourists (also from basically all over the country), traffic is sometimes so frustrating it actually passes through the barrier into comical around here. No two people drive the same way, and signals seem to be just one way in which we fail to communicate... And they ALL think everyone ELSE are the bad drivers....

...but that's why I have the train horn...
 
  • Like
Reactions: P_Robyn and DrMole
Yeah, I don't get it, either bass player are just better drivers than the hoi-polloi or we're liars, LOL!
I think there are at least a couple of explanations other than these. One is a self-selection bias: The people most likely to click on a thread with this title are the ones who care about this stuff and are eager to say so. Another explanation, which is related to but different from us all being "liars," is that perhaps everyone uses their turn signals whenever they think to do so. For many people that might only be a small proportion of the time, but they're the instances they remember, so as far as they can recall they "always" do. I kinda like this explanation, because I feel sure that the increase in poor driving is attributable mainly entirely to the proliferation of cell phones and other distractions -- i.e., people trying to multi-task to make maximal use of their driving time.
 
If I get a phone-call while I'm driving I keep it as short as possible & tell them I'll call them back (& I use hands-free bluetooth). I've seen other folks START a phone conversation as they're getting into their vehicle. What the Hell?!
It's not against the law in this state to drive while on the phone, which boggles my mind a little, but apparently it makes no difference in states where it is illegal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: P_Robyn
Like some others, it is muscle memory/habit.

I want/need to change lanes, I signal & I look (Mirrors & shoulder check) and when it is safe to do so--I do so.
Although there are sometimes those who speed up so you can't get over, hone slow down if you go to get in behind them
And there are others who don't even notice you there.
 

Latest posts