Drivers Need to Do a Turnaround and Start Signaling

We’re all culprits, so let’s try a little exercise. Sometime soon, maybe the next time you slide into your car, look at that long, narrow lever sticking out from the side of the steering wheel.

Yes, shake hands with your turn signal.

Most of us certainly need a reintroduction. Just watch the cars on the freeway, and you will see folks who haven’t touched a turn signal in weeks. That’s not a good practice. It can wreak havoc with the nerves, let alone the sheet metal, of motorists both fore and aft.

Just listen to the personal testimony of Cathy Serra and John P.M. Richards III.

Dear Street Smart:

I would like to see a campaign to get everyone to use their turn signals. Have you ever noticed how few people do use them? I know a lot of accidents and fender benders could be avoided if only people would let other people know where they are going.

Also, what ever happened to being nice to other people on the highway? All people today seem to know how to do is give each other the finger or yell at each other out their windows using fowl language. I don’t even drive the freeway to work--and I notice all the above.

Cathy Serra, Laguna Hills Dear Street Smart:

It is time to crack down on drivers who habitually violate the motor vehicle code by failing to use turn signals when required.

Example 1) I drive up to an intersection with a stop sign and obediently stop and look in all directions for approaching traffic before crossing. All is clear except for one car approaching from my left, so I wait for it to pass. But as it gets closer, the car slows down and finally makes a right turn (without any turn signal) into the street where I have been waiting. Gnashing my teeth, I then look to my right and see another vehicle approaching, so I have to wait longer. If the car that came from the left had signaled for a right turn, I could have crossed ahead of both vehicles. Time wasted!

Example 2) I walk for exercise almost every day in my residential area. I try to avoid walking across any streets in front of approaching traffic, even at a pedestrian crosswalk. Furthermore, I walk on sidewalks, not in the street. So, here I am, waiting on the curb for a car approaching from my left to pass through. But noooo, instead of passing through, the car slows down and makes a right turn into the street just at my left elbow. There was no turn signal to indicate the driver’s intention, so I am left to gnash my teeth and look for other cars.

It’s my understanding that the motor vehicle code requires all drivers to use a turn signal before making any turn, right or left, and that this requirement is not qualified to say “whenever other vehicular traffic is within sight, or within 500 feet.” Therefore, I interpret this law to mean that a turn signal must invariably be used prior to making a turn. Why not? It doesn’t take any physical effort--just a flick of the finger or the switch. Of course, it does require a little mental effort, which may explain why so many drivers don’t use turn signals. They are thinking of something else at the time. But the use of turn signals can become a habit. Personally, I have been known to signal for a right turn when driving my car from my driveway into my garage. At least the neighbor’s cat can read my intention.

The fact is, the use of turn signals is not only required by law, but is helpful for other drivers, pedestrians and people traveling on bikes, skateboards or roller skates.

The question is, how do we enforce this simple, but important, part of the motor vehicle code? Clearly, traffic police have their hands full trying to control more hazardous moving traffic violations. They can’t be expected to monitor the use of turn signals in all parts of their territory. I have thought of the possibility of using a well-known hand signal to remind the driver that a turn signal had been forgotten. But such hand signals could easily be misinterpreted as being rude rather than helpful. I therefore leave it to Street Smart to answer the foregoing question.

John P.M. Richards III, Los Alamitos How can I top such gestures of sincerity?

Fact is, there are a fair number of citations handed out each year by police for people failing to use their turn signals while making a turn or changing lanes. In 1989, for instance, the California Highway Patrol issued 7,261 such tickets--and that total doesn’t include those handed out by local police.

But we all know traffic cops never seem to be there just when some knucklehead is violating the rules of the road, and that certainly holds true when people fail to use their turn signals.

“We only have so many people and so much time,” said Steve Kohler, a Highway Patrol spokesman. “As a whole, it’s part of our enforcement effort.”

Kohler also had some words of wisdom we should all remember--like when we enter week 23 of abstaining from touching the turn signal. Aside from being illegal, it’s dangerous.

“From a practical sense, the more you can inform the drivers around you what your intention is when you’re turning or changing lanes, the less likely you’ll be to get in an accident,” Kohler said. “From a self-preservation standpoint, it’s a real worthwhile thing to do.”