People who leave indicators on

Cabaal

Regardless of if your driving on a country back road, a national road or a motorway you'll always meet a fool who indicates to overtake, make a turn or change lanes but then leaves their indicator on.

I've always been curious how these people manage to do this given you can both hear and see that the indicator is still on, so what causes people to leave it on?

Is it laziness, are they just that unobservant or are they just that stupid?

My personal view is they are unobservant, which really worries me and means when I get the chance I'll try get away from such an idiot.

sentient_6

Worries me as well, it's indicative of a greater issue of the driver not being fully engaged & pottering about with their mind elsewhere.

damoz

Cabaal wrote: »

Regardless of if your driving on a country back road, a national road or a motorway you'll always meet a fool who indicates to overtake, make a turn or change lanes but then leaves their indicator on.

I've always been curious how these people manage to do this given you can both hear and see that the indicator is still on, so what causes people to leave it on?

Is it laziness, are they just that unobservant or are they just that stupid?

My personal view is they are unobservant, which really worries me and means when I get the chance I'll try get away from such an idiot.

Driving without due care and attention tbh. I wish we had functioning motorway policing in this country - like in the UK.

Trampas

what about the ones who don't bother to use them at all

iphone4g

I know it can be annoying,but they might have bigger things to worry about.
You have no clue what in going on in someones life (could have just got the worst news in the world)but that would not matter to the perfect people.
Oh to be perfect!!

Cabaal

iphone4g wrote: »

I know it can be annoying,but they might have bigger things to worry about.

That could be true but they still need to pay attention to whats happening around then, least they hit another car or a person due to not paying attention.

You have no clue what in going on in someones life (could have just got the worst news in the world)but that would not matter to the perfect people.
Oh to be perfect!!

If they are not in a good state of mind then they should pull over and take a breather, being upset and being in a state of mind where you don't know whats going on around you while driving a 2 tonne metal box is idiotic

Cabaal

damoz wrote: »

Driving without due care and attention tbh. I wish we had functioning motorway policing in this country - like in the UK.

Wouldn't it be great if we did, thing is I actually see this less on motorways.

I saw it on a national road one day when a driver took a turn at a roundabout and then proceeded to drive a further 5miles (atleast) with the indicator still on. wtf!

here.from.day.1

Had some bint in front of me with hers on for over 5km (possibly longer, I pulled away after that) on the M3 yesterday, was a pain coming up to the toll booth when I wanted to get into the express lane.

djimi

Its incredibly dangerous to leave your indicator on; the amount of times when waiting to pull out of a junction you see a car approaching with their indicators on as if they are going to turn into where you are coming out of, only for them to keep going straight on down the road. Scary stuff.

Although I will say that in my car at least the indicator is not very loud when it clicks off (especially considering there is little or no soundproofing in the car) and the light on my dashboard is very low especially during the day, so if the indicator doesnt click off by itself its easy to miss that its still on. Ill notice it a few seconds later but it happens. Sometimes its more important to worry about getting off the roundabout safely than worrying about whether the indicator clicked off...

Most other cars Ive had tho its a lot more obvious that the indicator is still on.

damoz

Cabaal wrote: »

Wouldn't it be great if we did, thing is I actually see this less on motorways.

I saw it on a national road one day when a driver took a turn at a roundabout and then proceeded to drive a further 5miles (atleast) with the indicator still on. wtf!

Most my driving is on motorways, so i may be skewed. I see it alot more often than i see a Garda car. What exactly do they traffic corps do?

OT - when in the UK ive seen there mobile patrols drive ahead of motorists who have indicators on, or fog lights on etc and they gave them a warning using a digitial display in the back window. E.G - PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR FOG LIGHTS . I thought this was good policing, no need to stop traffic or fine etc, just a slap on the wrists to make people engage their brains.

djimi

damoz wrote: »

OT - when in the UK ive seen there mobile patrols drive ahead of motorists who have indicators on, or fog lights on etc and they gave them a warning using a digitial display in the back window. E.G - PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR FOG LIGHTS . I thought this was good policing, no need to stop traffic or fine etc, just a slap on the wrists to make people engage their brains.

Oh how Id love to have one of those digital displays...

GET OFF MY BUMPER YOU BERK
DIP YOUR HEADLIGHTS DIP****

etc...

Matt Simis

Cabaal wrote: »

I've always been curious how these people manage to do this given you can both hear and see that the indicator is still on, so what causes people to leave it on?

Now in fairness, some cars, particularly fancier ones, have very quiet indicators. Combine that with bright shine and it makes it harder to see the intermittent low output flash on the dashboard.

Anan1

iphone4g wrote: »

I know it can be annoying,but they might have bigger things to worry about.
You have no clue what in going on in someones life (could have just got the worst news in the world)but that would not matter to the perfect people.
Oh to be perfect!!

What are you talking about?

loobylou

Recently changed cars and the new one has an almost inaudible indicator click.
Previous car was very loud so you always knew if it had not self cancelled. I have to admit that I have occasionally not realised that my indicator was still on in the new car.:o

bazz26

iphone4g wrote: »

I know it can be annoying,but they might have bigger things to worry about.
You have no clue what in going on in someones life (could have just got the worst news in the world)but that would not matter to the perfect people.
Oh to be perfect!!

The driver is in charge of a large moving lump of metal that can do alot of harm and damage. If their mind is on other things then they should not be behind the wheel of a car at that time.

Would you be bothered if on a flight and the pilot's mind was on other things than flying the plane?

OldmanMondeo

Gonna put me hand up here, Done it the other night on the way home for about 1 - 1.5 miles on the M4. Gonna admit I was tired, in Holles street all day. Soon as I copped on I knocked it off.

Wasn't being stupid, just tired and things on my mind.

iphone4g

bazz26 wrote: »

If their mind is on other things then they should not be behind the wheel of a car at that time.

It that was the case then noone would be on the roads at any time.
Are you telling me you think of nothing else but driving while driving,none of ye listen to music ,talk to passengers at anything ?
Get off the high horses!!

Anan1

iphone4g wrote: »

It that was the case then noone would be on the roads at any time.
Are you telling me you think of nothing else but driving while driving,none of ye listen to music ,talk to passengers at anything ?
Get off the high horses!!

Please stop trolling - final warning.

iphone4g

Anan1 wrote: »

Please stop trolling - final warning.

So I can't have an opinion unless it the same as yours

keithclancy

Never drive off an Indicator, or even someone beeping a horn.

Happened to me twice, heres what happened one of those times.

Coming up to a roundabout
Car entering roundabout at the next entrance on the left indicating right to leave on the first exit (the one i was entering on).
I stop at the roundabout, car behind me which was traveling quite quickly some distance behind brakes quite hard and comes right up to my bumper beeping his horn.
Other car enters roundabout with indicator still on and drives straight through roundabout leaving on second exit.

If I had driven off that persons indicator he would have ran into the side of my car, plus I would be in the wrong as I should have given way to him and the guy behind me would have been grand also.

I had to learn this the hard way from originally starting out on a bike, people don't use indicators properly at all, I had to abandon bike once as a guy indicating left all of a sudden changed his might and went right instead.

I'll always pay attention to a signal from another driver, but when in doubt at a junction I won't move at all until I understand whats happening myself. The person behind you beeping the horn can beep away

langdang

At least you know they're (most likely) incompetent and you can be extra wary of them. It's nice of them to do it.(in a perverse logic kinda way)
It's like wearing a flat cap, having baler twine holding your car together with one hand hanging out the window or holding the roof on, or driving a yaris, micra, corolla or focus really slowly - it's a valid warning sign to the rest of us that the person "in charge" of that vehicle could do anything, at any time for no apparent reason.

bazz26

iphone4g wrote: »

It that was the case then noone would be on the roads at any time.
Are you telling me you think of nothing else but driving while driving,none of ye listen to music ,talk to passengers at anything ?
Get off the high horses!!

Of course drivers listen to music, have conversations with passengers, most also still known when and when not to use an indicator or put their headlights on.

Using an indicator when appropriate, takes all of about 2 secs to think about. If somebody doesn't at least have that much awareness or cop on while driving then there is no chance they could try and avoid an accident down the road. Same goes for gob****es who drive totally obliviouse in the dark with no headlights on.

Maybe if stopped making excuses for poor driving practices then they might actually improve.

djimi

The amount of rubbish being spoken in this thread is unreal :P

Just because someones indicator doesnt click off (and as I and others have said there are some cars where its not at all obvious that is hasnt) does not mean that the driver is incompetent, nor does it mean they are driving without due care and attention. Okay if someone is going for miles with their indicator on then they probably are a bit of a plank, but it can happen that someone comes out of a junction or off a roundabout and it doesnt click off and they dont realise it for a little while down the road. Lets face it, its something that happens automatically without us having to think about it 99% of the time, so its not like its something youre going to instinctively check for when you come off a junction/roundabout.

Im not condoning it, and I know its annoying and even unsafe, but its not a clear cut indicator (pun intended!) that the driver is incompetent as some seem to be suggesting...

Anan1

iphone4g wrote: »

So I can't have an opinion unless it the same as yours

Banned for a week for discussing moderation on-thread.

keithclancy

djimi wrote: »

The amount of rubbish being spoken in this thread is unreal :P

Just because someones indicator doesnt click off (and as I and others have said there are some cars where its not at all obvious that is hasnt) does not mean that the driver is incompetent, nor does it mean they are driving without due care and attention. Okay if someone is going for miles with their indicator on then they probably are a bit of a plank, but it can happen that someone comes out of a junction or off a roundabout and it doesnt click off and they dont realise it for a little while down the road. Lets face it, its something that happens automatically without us having to think about it 99% of the time, so its not like its something youre going to instinctively check for when you come off a junction/roundabout.

Im not condoning it, and I know its annoying and even unsafe, but its not a clear cut indicator (pun intended!) that the driver is incompetent as some seem to be suggesting...

I think that has happened to me when driving rentals or someone elses car.

I.E. some cars have a strange cancellation system where by if you push the stalk the other way it just turns on the other indicator.

Or even some models where the indicator stalk is on the right rather than the left :pac: trying to indicate left and your just turning on the high beams instead.. drove me mad !!

langdang

djimi wrote: »

Im not condoning it, and I know its annoying and even unsafe, but its not a clear cut indicator (pun intended!) that the driver is incompetent as some seem to be suggesting...

Long term (kms) use of an indicator is usually accompanied by one or more of these - bad road positioning, erratic movements/braking, nose tipping off the windscreen, rear foglights in broad daylight etc.

Anan1

djimi wrote: »

Lets face it, its something that happens automatically without us having to think about it 99% of the time, so its not like its something youre going to instinctively check for when you come off a junction/roundabout.

I dunno, I notice when my indicator cancels, and i'd be aware if I didn't. It has happened that I didn't notice, and it was when I wasn't driving with due care and attention.

djimi

keithclancy wrote: »

I think that has happened to me when driving rentals or someone elses car.

I.E. some cars have a strange cancellation system where by if you push the stalk the other way it just turns on the other indicator.

Or even some models where the indicator stalk is on the right rather than the left :pac: trying to indicate left and your just turning on the high beams instead.. drove me mad !!

Every single new car Ive ever had seems to have the indicator and wiper stalks the opposite way around from the previous car; does my head in!

daveharnett

Anan1 wrote: »

I dunno, I notice when my indicator cancels, and i'd be aware if I didn't. It has happened that I didn't notice, and it was when I wasn't driving with due care and attention.

I wonder if the self-cancel on indicators makes this scenario less or more common.

It seems to me that if indicators didn't self cancel, we would have a rock solid habit of cancelling the indicators when we complete our maneuverer. As it stands we don't have that habit, because we only need to do it occasionally.

langdang

I almost never wait for the self-cancel (weirdo ), I'd go mad if I had one of the new setups where one slight tip gives you x flashes of the indicator with no way to cancel it.

And yes, the reversing of wipers/indicators is a great way to give yourself a little fright coming up to a roundabout in a strange car

djimi

daveharnett wrote: »

I wonder if the self-cancel on indicators makes this scenario less or more common.

It seems to me that if indicators didn't self cancel, we would have a rock solid habit of cancelling the indicators when we complete our maneuverer. As it stands we don't have that habit, because we only need to do it occasionally.

Thats pretty much what I was getting at alright. 99 times out of 100 the thing just clicks itself off, so we are not necessarily in the habit of checking it as we just assume it has clicked off. This is where mistakes can be made.

Idleater

As regards not paying attention to your car, the best I saw was a car I followed from work most of the way home (so was making progress) on the m1/m50 that I asked them (I was on the motorbike) at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre traffic lights what they could see from both of their side mirrors.

Both were folded in (as one may do when parking in a tight space). Yer wan just looked at me as she plopped the mirror back into place. I had considered that they were automatic ones that were broken, but no, they were normal ones.

"That all right now"? she says like nothing was even wrong with what she had failed to do. I just pointed at the other one and drove on.

Absurdum

langdang wrote: »

I almost never wait for the self-cancel (weirdo ), I'd go mad if I had one of the new setups where one slight tip gives you x flashes of the indicator with no way to cancel it.

new Minis have that, I HATE it, a little push gives 1 or 3 flashed and a harder push keeps it on, so fcukin annoyin :rolleyes:

NewApproach

Tbh, I can think of many worse things that drivers do on a consistent basis. If all the tailgating/poor lane discipline/incorrect speed could be sorted, I think I'd settle for people occasionally forgetting to turn off their indicators.

On a side point, if you crash into someone who indicated improperly, their incorrect indicator use is no defence legally.

antomorro-sei

I hate it, but happens to me sometimes. The indicator stork thingy doesn't cancel itself after the turn all the time, and the indicator light on the dash is very light, especially during the day.