Only about one driver in twenty signals their intentions before changing lanes. That worrying fact became obvious during one of the interminable bus trips that are a fact of life for we motoring journalists.
Popular opinion is that we spend most of our dreamlike existence driving on glorious roads in the south of France in high-performance sports cars. Sadly, the reality is that we spend countless hours sitting in buses en route from Tullamarine or Kingsford Smith airports to yet another conference room. Then test driving everyday cars in heavy traffic and busy motorways, before we finally get to the interesting country roads.
I don’t seem to hear many tears of sympathy out there!
But back to the bad news about drivers signalling what they are doing. My one-man, bus-seat research campaign, shows that ninety five drivers out of a hundred simply don’t do it. The silly thing is that virtually every driver does use their car’s blinkers, it’s just that they do so during the lane change maneuver, not before it.
Thus the signal, which should be “I’m about to change lanes”; is actually, “I’ve started to change lanes”. The first thing other drivers see is the car in front of them altering its direction, then its blinker comes on. So the signal is all but irrelevant.
Which is perhaps why most of our driving cousins in European and Asian countries have given up using their cars’ blinkers altogether on routine lanes changes. Instead saving them for occasions when they're doing something out of the ordinary. Which works surprisingly well, even if Aussies find it irritating when they first strike it.
Even worse, are the people who put on their car’s brakes before the blinkers when they are planning to turn off the road. The driver behind, who may have been following them uneventfully for many kilometres, suddenly sees brake lights go on for no apparent reason. Then several seconds later the blinker gives the reason why.
By then it’s too late, because the following driver’s attention has been completely distracted from everything else by the unexpected appearance of brakes lights. Most of the time that doesn’t matter overmuch, but there are occasions when that distraction may have pulled the driver’s attention away from something else of vital importance.
Keep in mind that your car’s blinkers aren't just there to look pretty, they are your number one method of communication with all the others with whom you are sharing the road. Get into the habit of thinking before you hit that blinker lever and you will make life just that little bit safer for everyone – and especially for yourself; and isn’t that a good thing?
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