I want there to be a law that when changing lanes, you’re not allowed to move past rear of the vehicle that was previously in front of you for at least 2 seconds after the lange change is complete. This would not apply if the vehicle in front was stopped or applied brakes at any time during the lane change.
I seriously believe this has, not entirely though, to do with how audible directionals are in cars mfgd since the 2000s.
Back in the day, yes, when s h (I can’t believe this thing know what I was typing from just the first two letters!) - was real! The directional sound was a mechanical servo(?) or other device, buried behind the drivers side of the dashboard. It was LOUD, and there was not excuse for drivers to not notice their “left blinker on in the left lane”.
As a young child I was obsessed with that sound, the turn signal thingy, and would attempt to reproduce it at the breakfast table, tapping the table alternately with my bowl of cereal! I encourage others to do so, just to get an idea how loud the directional sound was, 30, 40 50 years ago.
Today, it’s an electronically produced sound, in some but not all cases routed through the main radio speaker system.
Another factor: Impressions. People in general are over-sensitive nowadays, and wouldn’t want themselves, or their passengers, to be jarred by the presence of something as basic as a turn signal sound.
Carmakers may also feel that a more discrete directional “t t…..t t….t t…” has a more “upscale” tone than “TINK-TONK…TINK-TONK!” lol
But can such be heard over the average level of conversation in the car, or the radio blaring?
Are you suggesting when you move over to the left lane in order to pass slower traffic you are to wait two second before passing?
BTW, law enforcement is at the discretion of law enforcement officers. There are laws concerning the use of the left lane, but very rarely do drivers that are obstructing the flow of traffic in the left lane issued tickets. I suspect the fine for left lane lurkers are too low.
My first new car was an 1988 Oldsmobile 2dr Ciera. A neat feature was this: When you turn your signals on you get the normal sound. But if you drove half a mile with them on it would start “chiming” at you. The first time it happened to me I wondered what was going on! I looked at the owners manual and sure enough they mentioned it!
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I would like the increase in volume included on vehicles.
I too have been guilty of not canceling a turn signal.
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Not as guilty as those who decided that the audible turn indicator should be softer in volume, almost melodic. Compared to the mechanical clink-clank on cars from 30 or more years ago.
Contrary to the misinformation spread by some people, not all cars had highly-audible turn signals in “The Good Old Days”. My father’s '63 Plymouth had a loud turn signal indicator, but when a friend of mine was riding in it, he found the sound to be “amusing”.
He said that it sounded like an old bed spring, compared to the nearly-silent turn signals on his father’s '64 Skylark. When I rode in that Skylark, I realized that he was correct about the Buick having nearly-silent turn signals.
In that guy’s opinion, nearly-silent turn signals were a sign of “true luxury”.
My S-15 GMC Pickup was the worse. It wasn’t loud and on a bright sunny day when I wore my sunglasses while driving I couldn’t see the blinker. Very poor design.
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And he left them on all the time.
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If the lane change is done safely, no additional waiting would be necessary.
Regarding this topic, surely it is about the lack of turn signals used by the BMW which caused the accident!
Ah, but your law would not allow that.
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BMW drivers are exempt from indicating lane changes or turns.
Some vehicles in the past had a specific mounting location for the turn signal flasher to better transmit the sound to the driver.
In the example below, the flasher is clipped onto the A/C duct. Some people found this to be inconvenient when replacing a flasher and left the new flasher hanging by the wires. This in one reason drivers could not hear the turn signal.
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Shortly after Fred Flintstone bought his fine ride, I went through driver’s education where they taught us to periodically glance at the rear-view mirror, the instrument cluster (if for nothing else but to monitor your speed) etc as a safety measure. When I took my road test, the inspector was watching to see if you checked your mirrors, speed etc.
So regardless of the audible annunciator, you should be able to see a green flashing light on your instrument panel if you’re glancing there periodically. Someone going mile after mile with the blinker on tells me they are not looking at the instrument panel at all. What else are they ignoring? No need to answer…
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Our Letsuck RX350h emergencyehicles’ green turn signal indicators cannot be seen - perfectly covered by the steering wheel.
And when driving redightsiren or at highway speeds, the wind noise covers the anæmic speaker-produced turn signal sound. Letsuck dealer says volume cannot be turned up.
On I-76 I drove 30 miles with lefturn signal flashing.
Their speedometer? That might partially explain why so many drivers speed.
Compared to cars from 50-60 years ago, it’s a lot more difficult in modern cars to perceive exactly how fast one is going. A glance down at the speedo, or at the heads-upon cars so equipped and enabled, might be quite revealing.
How do you have your seat and steering wheel personally adjusted? Is the seat height set lower than average, is the tilt steering up very high?
I alluded to this a few posts earlier, although what does ChrisTireWhisperer know? (He’s just blowing smoke out his a- donkey!)
Car makers need to go back to good old, loud obnoxious mechanical turn signal audibles, and stop with the ‘upscale exclusivity’ of delicate turn signal sounds.
By the way, I noticed that this forum allowed the term Letsuck, lol! Maybe the censoring algo is being tweaked.
Yes, with seat positioned highest and steering wheelowest, neither turn signal indicator can be seen.
Letsuck designers should have noticed that and placed the turn signal indicators closer to the instrument panel center.
My 1961 Volvo 544 had one lamp flashed by either turn signal!
From a 544 in a junk yard, I removed single-piece seat-belt/shoulder harnesses!
(In the windshield were two bulges apparently from occupants not wearing the safety belts.)
Ok, so as usual I guessed the opposite..!
So it’s the uppermost portion of the steering wheel rim that is blocking those directional arrows on the cluster.
Try, and this may be difficult to measure, but: lowering the seat bottom height a half inch, and, raising the steering wheel one half inch, and as the doctor said, call me in the morning!
Seems I remember that being mentioned in some of the advertisements on the Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. Anybody want to guess the sponsor, hint not the same sponsor as Dinah Shore.
I like my truck cause Toyota/Lexus years ago went to a lane change/turn signal stalk, it has by just lightly pushing down on the turn signal stalk a feature that only flashes 3ish times and then automatically turn off, or push it down normal and it does the normal turn signal self cancel when turning or stays on until turned off, I think Toyota preset is 3 blinks then turns itself off, but I turned both my daughters 17 Corolla and my truck from to 3 blinks to 7 blinks before it turns itself off…
I am sure other manufactures have done the same thing…
BTW, I don’t think a lot of drivers that have the lane change turn signals even knows they have it… lol
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