Signaling a Turn Is Not Only a Good Turn, It’s the Law

Dear Readers:

There’s still time to send in resolutions you would like to see traffic planners, police officers and other officials adopt in the New Year to improve the commute. Submissions will appear in next week’s column.

Meanwhile, this week’s column starts off with two pleas that more drivers signal before changing lanes or turning.

Dear Street Smart:

One of the easiest-to-follow rules is also the most ignored. As a consequence, it has the highest potential for causing accidents on the freeway.

I’m talking about signaling before a lane change. Most people signal after starting the lane transition or just before. A signal is a show of intention and should commence at least five seconds before the move. This will help other drivers slow down enough to allow a safe lane change and prevent accidents that happen when two cars try to change into the same lane.

Jay Doraiswami, Huntington Beach

Dear Street Smart:

Have people completely forgotten how to use their turn signals? Or have I missed something and signaling before turning is no longer part of the California Vehicle Code? Isn’t common courtesy a good enough reason to let the person in the vehicle behind you know that you are going to turn into the next driveway or at the next corner? Maybe signaling is going the same way as other courtesies--like saying thank you.

Richard C. Doyle, Santa Ana

Both readers make good points. Signaling is a courtesy--and sometimes a requirement--that can help prevent accidents.

Signaling is required by law for those making a turn into a driveway or at an intersection. It must come 100 feet before the turn, according to Ken Daily, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol office in San Juan Capistrano.

Drivers making a lane change are not required to signal unless the move will affect other autos, Daily said. For example, a driver who changes lanes without signaling on a deserted freeway is unlikely to be cited.

But though the law may not require it, Daily said signaling a lane change should always be practiced. “It’s a good habit to get into,” he said.

That’s especially so considering the hectic traffic that is commonplace in the county. Two cars may head for the same open lane, neither aware of the impending conflict because no one has signaled his or her intentions.

Daily warned that signaling does not give carte blanche to drivers.

“Some people are under the impression that that signal means, ‘Get out of my way, here I come.’ Those are the ones that usually get ticketed,” he said.

Dear Street Smart:

Would you please check and see how much longer Edwards Street between Ellis and Garfield avenues in Huntington Beach will be closed. Also, in the same area, Garfield from Golden West Street to Edwards? They’ve been closed forever! Or maybe it just seems that way.

The detour to reach Edwards from Golden West is to use Ellis. The problem is that Ellis is really dangerous. It goes downhill, then has a really sharp curve before it starts up again. It seems like there are only inches between cars on the road when they get to this serpentine part. Very spooky! Whoever is in charge of traffic in Huntington Beach must have been absent the day they set that up! Everybody I know calls it, “Suicide Gulch.”

Skip Pedigo, Huntington Beach

Both roads should open around April 15, according to Steve May, the city’s development engineer. They’ve been closed for about a year due to housing construction and were to reopen in March, he said. However, home construction in the area has been delayed by unexpected encounters with underground utilities and old oil wells, May explained.

As for Suicide Gulch, May said the traffic hazard is mostly the sharp curve rather than drop. The good news is that the city will be straightening out that road and work should be completed by the end of the month, May said. Construction shouldn’t interfere with regular traffic, he added.