Turn Signals Are Overrated

I’ve been a licensed driver for over 36 years. Oof. And in that time I’ve gone from enjoying driving to hating it. Mostly because of the car-centric suburban hellscape we’ve built here in the US, and not because driving itself is bad per se. But I digress.

One thing I’ve come to realize is that turn signals are highly overrated. They’re fine in principle. The theory is that they are a way to provide information to (literally, “to signal”) other drivers about what is about to happen, so they are not surprised.

Except that hardly ever happens in practice. In reality, turn signal use falls into one of these categories:

• Late Signaling - The turn signal provides information too late to be of use—e.g. signaling a lane change after a lane change has already begun.

• Signaling the Obvious - The turn signal tells of something already quite apparent to everyone around—e.g. signaling a turn while standing in a turn-only lane. This is a special case of late signaling.

• Incorrect Signaling - The turn signal gives information that is immediately or eventually wrong—e.g. signaling left then changing lanes right.

• The Forgotten Blinker - This is a special case of incorrect signaling, in which the driver apparently forgets their signal is blinking away endlessly as they while away the miles.

• Tree Fall Signaling - When the driver signals and there’s no one around to see it. I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it’s good to be in the habit of signaling (properly) all the time. On the other hand, what’s the point of signaling no one?

• Pointless Signaling - This occurs when the information provided by the signal has no actionable outcome. That is, the drivers around you have no use for the information. For example, if I’m the second car at a stop sign on a two-lane road, I have no choice but to wait for the car ahead to go straight, turn left, or turn right. Whether they signal or not is completely immaterial since I can’t take any action based on that information.

• Successful Signaling - The signal actually comes ahead of the action, providing nearby drivers with actionable information before anything happens. Particularly important at high speeds or in high trffic situations.

It has been my experience over the years that the vast majority of turn signaling occurs in all but the last category. It would be very easy to simply say, “well F this I’m not going to use my turn signals.” And this is what some people do. I can’t change other people, but I can try to be a better citizen. So I try always to be in the successful signaling category, and give my fellow drivers advance warning about my intentions. Maybe it’ll do some good.

Updated to include “pointless signaling”