Car indicators

[Martin McIntosh]

Nothing to do with model flying but has anyone else noticed the growing tendency for drivers not bothering to indicate, particularly when performing a U turn at a roundabout?

We are all aware that BMWs are not fitted with these as standard (sorry, but it must be true) but the trend appears to have migrated to many others. Is it just me, or have others noticed this?

[Shaunie]

On the other hand we have motorists who indicate for every tiny direction change, right up to the point where they suddenly turn off, where they most need to indicate, and there’s nothing!

[Bob Cotsford]

School drop-off and pick-up times are about the worst with cars randomly pulling out, doing U-turns and generally behaving erraticly while the driver spends more time looking at the back seat than out of the windscreen.

How about van drivers trying to negotiate narrow streets with cars parked both sides all the while chatting on a phone wedged under their chin?

[CARPERFECT]

This has come about from the lack of police .there is nobody to enforce the law. it will get worse, I teach people to drive, and see this everyday. Yesterday we approached a pelican crossing at red, with too men crossing. the car in front just drove on, passing just behind the men, we had stopped with a cop car behind us, and the copper did nothing. so its time to live with the times. as it will never return to how things were.

[J D 8]

It used to be that if you looked at the bottom corner of a vehicle you would see the orange indicator lamp and weather it was on or not. Now who knows where it will be? Hidden in the headlight, behind a dark cover in the front plastic bit [ wont call it a bumper] , in the middle of the rear brake light where it is hard to see on a bright day, at the top of the pillar or at the bottom or just a strip of LED's.

[Dwain Dibley.]

Exactly JD8, the good old days when indicators were in the right place, like on one of my 100E's.

Islands are the worst tho, especially when I'm on my push bike, having to guess when to go, only to find the car in the outside lane is going all the way round.

D.D.

[Steve Colman]

This isn't just confined to the UK.

 It's the same here in the small provincial town in Northern Spain in which I live. Many times I have remarked to friends and workmates that the cars must be specially imported without working indicators. And yes, the main protaganists do seem to be BMW drivers and drivers of other German cars in general, but not solely so. I say this as a VW driver.

In general, I find the overall standard of driving over here abysmal.

Edited By Steve Colman on 05/07/2019 06:14:07

Edited By Steve Colman on 05/07/2019 06:14:45

[Tim A]

It's the same here in New Zealand especially here in Dunedin where I live, I blame lack of indicator use on our Scottish Heritage! Too tight to use them in case they wear out the bulbs!

[Don Fry]

Charge them £16, and make them do a retest every year.

[Martin Dance 1]

I suspect that there is several levels of indicator non use. The prevalent one around where I do most of my driving is not to indicate left, particularly annoying at roundabouts where you are waiting to emerge this trick often causes a hold up. The second tier is to indicate after the front wheels have already indicated a change of direction and the manoeuvre is under way. The third tier is to ignore the signals of others driver indicating left to change lanes driver in nearside lane in blind spot decides to ignore it and scrape along the other cars side. The final and this is almost unique to BMW drivers is to approach a motorway junction. and to squeeze into the often quite small gap between two vehicles and onto the slip road totally ignoring the half mile empty space after the second car which would have made the manoeuvre much less risky.

[Peter Miller]

I once followed a police car round a roundabout, he took the third exit as I did.

HE NEVER INDICATED ONCE!!!!

It also seems that Mercedes drivers (And many others) never read the highway code on how to take roundabouts.

And my final complaint (well one of them). Long Melford is a very long village with wide nose in parking each side of the road through it. Unfortunately lots of people park there so there are not too many space.

You follow someone through and they say "Ooh theres is a space1 OH no there is another one on the other side of the road! Oh look that one is on our side and nearer the shop....."

So they go down the road indicating left, no right, no left for three or four hundred yards or more.

I call this the Melford waltz

[Julian Murch]

My first car was a 1938 Morris 8 saloon that had 'trafficators' built into the door frame. A little arm came out to indicate my intention to turn. The nearside one however did not always work so I often had to hit the door pillar from the inside to make it shoot out. The MOT was fairly basic in 1965 !!

[Ernie]

you've seen nothing, it's a national sport in France, we even have a national roundabout chicken team.

The french look on the highway code as a list of suggestions, some ideas to try out on a sunny day. I once challenged my ami Pierre why he'd made a particularly dangerous turn.

his reply?

because I'm French

ernie

[Don Fry]

Peter, to quote "I once followed a police car round a roundabout, he took the third exit as I did.

HE NEVER INDICATED ONCE!!!!"

Now he may have been bone idle, or his indicators weren't working, but be aware, police driving schools, particularly the advanced regional ones, do not encourage/permit the routine use of indicators. Who will benefit from the signal, the instructor will say.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Piers Bowlan]

Posted by Peter Miller on 05/07/2019 08:43:49:

I once followed a police car round a roundabout, he took the third exit as I did.

HE NEVER INDICATED ONCE!!!

That is probably because he was driving a BMW Peter.

[Piers Bowlan]

Try driving in India, simply unbelievable and very scary! The rule is, there are no rules.

Edited By Piers Bowlan on 05/07/2019 09:25:32

[Engine Doctor]

Not just the lack of indicating , driving standards have fallen drastically. No policing so who cares seems to be the way .

Re the police car with no indication of it was a Volvo they are exempt .

Ex Volvo owner .

[J D 8]

MALTA highway code, the smallest book in the world.

[Andrew Dunn 1]

[Alan Jarvis]

There is an Italian joke.

In Milan it is compulsory to obey traffic lights.

In Rome they are optional.

In Naples they are fairy lights.

[Derek Stevenson]

I have an Irish friend stopped by the police for driving down the middle of the road at 70m.p.h. When stopped the policeman asked him what he was doing, my friend said according to the highway code he was entitled to do it. T he police officer asked where it said that in the highway code? He took his out booklet and pointed to the little flap where it said "tear along the dotted line."

[ken anderson.]

I passed my test, you had to "demonstrate hand signals"...now the only hand signals you see are the unmentionable one's....

ken anderson...ne...1..communications dept.

[Peter Miller]

I once was in a taxi in London. The driver leaned out of his window and yelled at someoone else

"Where did you learn to drive? Dancing school?"

I still want to yell that at someone!

[Peter Miller]

I once was in a taxi in London. The driver leaned out of his window and yelled at someoone else

"Where did you learn to drive? Dancing school?"

I still want to yell that at someone!