Which Way Did He Drive, George?

Which Way Did He Drive, George?

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

After moving back to the area where I grew up, I had to start driving again. The car has been just how I remembered it, until a bit recently. Within the last few days the turn signals on my car started to become faulty. As of today, they don't work and I'll be getting them fixed tomorrow. However, as I was driving home I thought about their necessity. Do we really need to indicate the direction we are going? Or could we all get around just fine without moving that lever up and down every time we aren't going in a straight line?

When you are driving you are regularly confined to a single lane. It's possible for cars to be directly in front and directly behind you, parallel to your vehicle. If the car in front of yours starts to brake, you must prepare to brake your vehicle as well. The brake lights are indicators that the car is slowing or stopping so that you may make the necessary adjustment to your speed so as to not become part of their trunk unexpectedly. However, if the car directly in front of you decides to indicate they are going to make a turn what does this have to do with your car?

Granted, one of the thought processes you will have is "great, this'll be one less car to add to traffic once they turn from my lane" but that isn't changing your progress at that moment in time. Only until they slow their vehicle to make the turn (using their brake light indicators) will they actually affect your progress. But the turn signal indicator did not change your progress, they simply indicated the intent of the vehicle in front.

Maybe the turn signal would be more useful in a multi-lane road like a highway. Though I feel if traffic is moving well, there should be sufficient spacing between cars (think of the 2 second rule). You should be able to gradually move between the spaces of cars to the next lane without indicating to the driver behind you. It seems here, the turn signal is more of a courtesy than a necessity.

The only factor that I can imagine which makes the turn signal a necessity is within heavy traffic in a multi-lane road. Think about being stuck in traffic and you get the idea that if you leave this road and take a detour, you might fare better. However, the cars are very close together and you aren't in a lane that allows for an exit. You'll need to change lanes but can't simply squeeze between cars because they are only a few feet apart. You'll need to let the vehicles around you know that you wish to move to another lane. You may have several vehicles deny or even miss your request but, you will eventually have someone allow you to switch lanes in order to exit the road.

Now all I have to do is stop heavy traffic from ever occurring and then I wont need to fix my turn signal. Right? Or maybe it's left? You'll find out after I hit my brakes.