Indicators or the lack of indicator use

Floppybits

Commuting to work everyday and driving around I have noticed that a lot of people don't use indicators and it has been bugging me for some time as to why that is? People dont use their indicators when switching lanes on the motorways or when turn left, sometimes the dont use them when turning right or will only put them on when they have stopped to wait to turn right and roundabouts, why do people not use their indicators?

I took my driving test in England and it was drummed into me that everytime I make a move on the road I should use my indicators so as to warn the drivers behind me and in front of me of my intentions. It was also drummed into me to indicate my intentions in good time not when I am turning the corner or on the roundabout or what ever.

Is there a reason for not using indicators? Is this down to a lack of driver education or is that some drivers are too lazy to use them? This kind of behaviour is not confined to a certain group of drivers but goes across the whole range of drivers out there from L drivers to Truck drivers.

dodgyme

I have been on about this on the motoring posts also. Have people suddenly decided there is no need to let other driver know what they are doing and it is very annoying esp on a roundabout when you often see 2 or three cars taking the 3rd exit and no indicator. Maybe a new campaign is needed on tv to tell these stupid people what the lever beside the steering wheel is for.

stipey

Strangely as much as that annoy me, I get more annoyed by people who only indicate when they are half way through the turn. I think in those cases the thing that actually indicates that they are turning is the fact that they are turning!

Oh and the number of people who (who when driving on regular roads with a single lane in each direction) sit slap bang in the middle of the lane when waiting to turn right instead of moving towards the right side of the lane.

seamus

It's laziness I'd say more than anything. Although one big problem (which kind of incorporates this) I've noticed recently is drifting. People being unable or unwilling to maintain their lanes, rather aiming to drive as straight as possible, even if it impacts on the guy in the lane next to them.

Indication on roundabouts has always been a problem. The most common faults I've seen are:

1. "I'm going straight through, so I should indicate right, then left"
2. "I'm going left, so I don't need to indicate"
3. "I'm doing to a u-turn, so to avoid confusing people, I'm not going to indicate at all, and just make everyone stop and wait for me."

Wishbone Ash

Dublin Bus drivers are IMO probably the best 'indicators' out there. I don't think I've ever seen one indicating incorrectly or not indicating when required.

I find that those who use indicators unnecessarily to be equally annoying. For example, the habit in recent years, of using the left indicator when completing an overtaking manoeuvre.

Trampas

Of the people who brake first and then indicate.

Floppybits

Im happy now that Im not the only one that noticed this. I was out of the country for a few years and when I came back I noticed this lack of use of indicators. I had thought that there was a difference in the rules, I know there is a difference in the rules on the roundabouts between Ireland and England, I was reading the new rules of the road manual for here and they say in there that if you are going straight through a roundabout that you dont indicate coming onto the roundabout but you do indicate when you are passed the first exit that you going left, In England you have to indicate right going onto the roundabout and then left when you are going off it if you are going straight through.

I was thinking why do people not indicate and I think its a combination of laziness, bad driving habits, lack of education and the lack of enforcement. Another question would be can the garda pull someone over for not indicating? I suppose if they did they would cause a traffic jam.

lynchtp

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Dublin Bus drivers are IMO probably the best 'indicators' out there. I don't think I've ever seen one indicating incorrectly or not indicating when required.

Dublin Bus Drivers maybe..
But down south (Cork) they are dreadful, the amount of times a bus pull out from a pick up point without signal or check of their mirror is crazy down here. They also have a habit of speeding and pulling across lanes without any car ein the world.

I agree with a national campaign for indicator use esp. on roundabouts.

Other issues I have are people not using climbing lanes correctly, people driving in both lanes - if there are 2, people not using the overtaking lane when a slip road is approaching - i.e. merging traffic from the left.

Alun

Floppybits wrote:

In England you have to indicate right going onto the roundabout and then left when you are going off it if you are going straight through.

No, you don't ...

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/17.htm#162

stovelid

Annoying alright.

Nearly as bad is the casual flick of the indicator half way through your manoeuver ...

It's an indicator...you use it to indicate your intentions.

Floppybits

Alun wrote:

No, you don't ...

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/17.htm#162

Then my driving instructor was beating me up for no reason.:(

is_that_so

I am personally in favour of the reintroduction of capital punishment for this.
My all time driving pet hate. What most bothers me is the lack of indicator use on motorways, for any kind of manoeuvre.

Chris_533976

I always make a point of indicating, I hate it when people dont indicate. Stupid & dangerous.

Stark

Floppybits wrote:

Then my driving instructor was beating me up for no reason.:(

Did you do your lessons in Ireland or England?

Floppybits

Stark wrote:

Did you do your lessons in Ireland or England?

In England. He was always at me about indicating especially on the roundabouts. Made a big point of it. I suppose in his eyes that there was no harm indicating you are going right on the roundabout and then indicate left when you get to your exit unless you are taking the first left of the roundabout.

Alun

Floppybits wrote:

In England. He was always at me about indicating especially on the roundabouts. Made a big point of it. I suppose in his eyes that there was no harm indicating you are going right on the roundabout and then indicate left when you get to your exit unless you are taking the first left of the roundabout.

Strange. Was he Irish by any chance ? The first time I saw that particular behaviour, i.e. indicating right and then going straight on was when I moved to Ireland. I learnt to drive and passed my test in England too, and was always taught not to indicate upon entering a roundabout if going straight on.

jmkennedyie

I only learned recently that when approaching a roundabout I should only indicate right when I want to exit at third or later exit. I.e. if I want to exit at second exit I should not indicate right even if that second exit is physically to my right as I approach the roundabout.

I think there is a case for indicating right in this situation, and I used to do it all the time. What do others think?

Stark

Strictly speaking, the RotR say you shouldn't. But then again the RotR on roundabouts, consists of just a half a page, which only gives an example of a 2 lane, 4 exit roundabout with all exits at 90 degrees to each other.

Alun

Aside from the roundabout case, I find one of the most annoying places for people not to indicate is when exiting motorways and dual carriageways. I frequently come up behind someone dawdling along in the inside lane just before an exit, slot in behind him with my left indicator on, assuming he's just driving slowly for no other reason, and ready to dart up inside him when I reach the start of the exit slip road, only for them to then drift across in front of me without a care in the world and not an indicator in sight. Very annoying.

Wishbone Ash

jmkennedyie wrote:

I think there is a case for indicating right in this situation, and I used to do it all the time. What do others think?

I would use the "12 O'Clock" rule, i.e. if the second (or any exit) is more than "12 O'Clock" then I will indicate right on entering the roundabout.

Stark wrote:

But then again the RotR on roundabouts, consists of just a half a page, which only gives an example of a 2 lane, 4 exit roundabout with all exits at 90 degrees to each other.

5 pages in the new edition but all still standard N/S/E/W roundabouts. :rolleyes:

lynchtp

Was the new RoTR posted to everyone, I haven't got one if it has.

Floppybits

lynchtp wrote:

Was the new RoTR posted to everyone, I haven't got one if it has.

Nope not yet but I know its available on the internet on the Road safety Associations website.

lynchtp

Cheers for that.
I'm looking at it there now.

Drax

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Dublin Bus drivers are probably the best 'indicators' out there. I don't think I've ever seen one indicating incorrectly or not indicating when required.
Totally agree.

Wishbone Ash wrote:

I find that those who use indicators unnecessarily to be equally annoying. For example, the habit in recent years, of using the left indicator when completing an overtaking manoeuvre.

I assume you mean a regular single lane road? Not a motorway?

homah_7ft

I always end up talking to myself in the car saying (pointlessly), "what are you going to do?". No indicator as to which direction they are going to go when entering a road. Then I'll see someone indicating that they are going round a sharp bend. Absolutely maddening.