vehicle indicators
Posted by: chickenman
25th Dec 2022 09:40pm
drivers use indicators at different times and in different ways. it might prove interesting to know from drivers, why are indicators on vehicles, what do they believe is the purpose of indicators, and why people use them.
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Comments 4
rustyblue
Most people use indicators, to show where they intend to go, but some with older cars forget to turn them off, leaving those driving near them if they still intend to divert into our lane or not. I always drive with caution when there are indicators flashing on other cars, as you just never really know!
kidwithsmurf
In a simple opinion, indicators are required so people know where or what a vehicle is doing at anytime. If the indicator is not on, then it can almost always be assumed the car is fine and going straight at a relatively steady speed. If there were no indicators on cars, you would never know what a vehicle is doing and have to drive extra cautiously to adjust for this because you would never know if someone is going to stop suddenly, turn or anything. Not having them would also cause a lot more traffic incidents, crashes and the likes.
Yes, I know there are lanes and some may think if everyone is in the correct lane we will know what they are doing regardless of indicators. However, this doesn't work as not all roads have clearly marked lanes, no-one understands roundabouts and people new to a town/country may not be accustomed to the road rules to understand what drivers may do.
Hence, indicators are not fool proof but they do give other drivers on the road a sense of where another vehicle on the road is going and or what they are thinking of doing. This allows drivers to adjust accordingly. Thus, they play a major safety purpose, ease of driving purpose and should be kept well into the future.
jtmorri
Indicators allow traffic to flow better. Indicators show our intention when driving to other drivers so they can safely enter or exit a carriageway.
ab
Indicators are on cars so drivers can communicate with each other. It's a means of 'indicating' an intention or desire to proceed left or right, ie other than the forward/or reverse direction they are currently moving. Of course, when both are activated it's an indication of a hazard. Sadly, I've observed some drivers use an indicator like it's a right of way...I've indicated so like it or not, here I come.
I've also seen a couple of flashes of the hazard light being used as a thank you wave...back in the day when you could use left/right flashes of your indicator as a courtesy/thank you wave. These days, the touch of the indicator on a modern car can cause three consecutive flashes for a lane change, which makes the alternating left/right flash difficult, if not impossible, so I've seen the hazard lights flashed as a thank you. I still prefer to wave thank you to the driver in my rearview.
I have to confess though; I get a little lazy in lanes marked with an arrow. I don't always activate the indicator where all vehicles in a marked lane must turn as indicated by the arrow.
That's my two cents. Good question, chickenman.