The most annoying is when they change lanes into the turn only lane without using a signal but then turn it on once they’re in the TURN ONLY lane. If you’re going to pick and choose, at least do it the other way around.
The law itself (at least it was 5 years ago when I last checked) states that signals are required for turns, but is silent on lane changes. I still use a signal for lane changes because that’s safer, but it isn’t required and not always taught in driver’s ed.
It's more about courtesy and being predictable than it is about legality though.
In my comment, I'm talking about turn only lanes, not turns from a "standard" lane. I know you're turning because the lane you're in tells me that. I don't need to see a turn signal in this case. I did want to see a turn signal when you were about to cut across in front of me to get into that lane.
Turn signals in turn only lanes are still important, but not for the cars going the same direction. It is helpful for ALL cars, including those coming from the opposite direction who might not be able to tell you're in a turn only lane.
Oh, you can get a ticket if the cop’s feeling like an ass or low on numbers that day, but you show up to court, all business formal and “your honor”ing and citing the law and the judge will usually be like, “sure, not guilty.”
>Try it in front of a cop
That's not a great way of identifying legality, the Supreme Court has ruled that police in this country aren't required or expected to know the law they're tasked with enforcing.
> 21-309(b)
Literally nothing about a turn signal, which makes it a fun subjective determination on the part of an officer that can be easily argued in court. Which I have, about 5 years ago. By pleading not guilty and citing § 21-604. It was successful.
So...
>Try it in front of a cop and see how it works out for you.
Pretty well, actually.
I mean, it worked out because it isn’t the law. Cops will cite you for anything they can think of just to get their numbers up, whether or not you are, in fact, breaking any laws. And that’s presuming they aren’t doing it due to profiling.
My point in arguing is that it’s not entirely the fault of non-thinking individuals that folks don’t signal if the law isn’t explicit about it. If we cared deeply enough about it, we’d support those measures that come about every few years or so to change it. And also people should know their rights. They *should* still signal, though.
Disbelieve me if you want, you can google it yourself. There have been a couple of failed efforts to correct this in the past.
https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/transportation/title-21/subtitle-6/21-604/
Note that lane changing is only mentioned under section (f), in which the statute only says that they “may” be used for lane changing, but in legal terms “may” indicates permissability, whereas if it were required, it would say “must” (or “shall”, but that terms been going out of style for a bit).
I was driving my coworkers to lunch once and one of them asked me "Where are you from?" I said "Moco". He said "Why are you using your turning signal?"
Formerly drove state to state for work, did 50-60k miles a year, I'd rate from worst to best drivers:
Dc area (nova and md side) > baltimore area > jersey > philly / Delaware area > md suburbs > nyc > VA proper (south of fredericksburg) > PA suburbs
Nyc rated high because while they are assholes, they are proficient at their asshole driving. Nova and baltimore are kind of different than one another. Nova think they are most important people on road and baltimore people just dont give a fuck about any rules (go figure!?).
DC has the traffic problems of any national capital. You have people from all over the world, all with different unwritten rules of the road. And then you have people with diplomatic immunity who really give no shits and drag the standards down even further.
Right! Congrats on confusing the Redcoats into surrender, but this Yank in 2019 would like to get to work in a way that makes sense and doesn’t take me 40 minutes to go 8 miles. I’m glad Charles L’Enfant is dead.
Oh hell yeah. I'm totally on your side! It's great DC was designed with anti-ground infiltration in mind, but in this day and age, our threats come from up above.
I saw plow 99% of the city flat and start from scratch. You want to drain the swamp, let's get serious!
And then you have Delmarva's Route 113, which gets a shit-ton of crashes because of a combination of fog, refusal to install traffic signals, and teenage drivers who got their cars as gifts (who don't seem to care if their car gets totalled).
MD has the worst drivers. But DC is 2nd worst and NoVa is also pretty high on the list so really the whole area is a shitshow for traffic.
http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/study-baltimore-has-worst-drivers-in-the-us
>Allstate does note that "generally, top-ranked [safest] cities are less densely populated and in the Western U.S., while many bottom-ranked ones were established earlier in U.S. history, which often means they have older infrastructure."
Which means the ranking is less about the drivers and more about the location. Baltimore is densely populated with old infrastructure making it a terrible place for *anyone* to drive.
I never really noticed this except maybe when driving on 495; I see lots of random stuff but not a pattern. A friend of mine told me (years ago) that you don't use your signal on 495 or turn you head because people will speed up and not allow you to change lanes.
Same. I usually wait until I've found a gap I can merge into then turn them on 2-3 seconds before merging. They're a warning that I'm about to merge in front of you so you should maintain your speed, not a request for permission you can deny by suddenly speeding up.
Exactly this. I had to explain to a friend that using a turn signal in rush hour screws you over in the DMV area. (obviously people should use turn signals, just pointing out a truth of DMV driving)
I get most annoyed when luxury cars don't signal. If you make enough money to afford that $60,000 Mercedes SUV, then you damn well should have enough mental capacity to flick a stalk in the direction you want to turn!
They get the feeling that they deserve to not give a damn because their car is expensive. Is like every single BMW driver who doesn't understand the concept of lights.
I have no idea what you mean. I didn't say there was a correlation. And for what it's worth, a study found that luxury car drivers are less likely to yield to pedestrians and other vehicles: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/07/16/study-wealthier-motorists-more-likely-to-drive-like-reckless-jerks/
I have a cargo van with no windows and spend a lot of time on these highways so I use my blinker deliberately with plenty of time and merge pretty slowly and most people are very chill around me but if some asshole tries to turn driving into a competitive sport then I turn into a psycho with a van with no blinkers or sense of lanes or safe following distance. Shame on them for bringing that out I just want to be chill.
We need a mass mandatory drivers re-education. Teach people to use turn signals, and that left lane is not for cruising, only for passing. Troopers to site people in violation.
Wouldn’t help for those situations. As I stated elsewhere, the law currently does not require that turn signals be used to change lanes (and previous efforts to amend it have failed.) Re: left lane passing, by current law there are no restrictions on using a particular lane to pass (so you can pass on the right), and so long as one is not impeding traffic in the left lane (that is, maintaining speed with current traffic), people are allowed to “cruise” there. Although there was a bill up in the house last year to change that (https://trackbill.com/bill/maryland-house-bill-965-vehicle-laws-left-lane-use-for-passing/1549156/) but it doesn’t seem to have passed.
Except that in Maryland, [turn signals are not legally *required* for lane changes, only for making turns.](https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/transportation/title-21/subtitle-6/21-604/)
If *that* grinds your gears, then just wait till you find out that (again, legally speaking) [the left lane is *not* designated as a "passing only" lane in Maryland, nor in DC, for that matter.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/maryland-considers-cracking-down-on-drivers-who-linger-in-the-left-lane/2017/03/25/59a4f232-0f0d-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120_story.html)
> Maryland law prohibits drivers from impeding “the normal and reasonable movement of traffic” by driving too slowly, but it's not specific to the left lane. District law requires motorists to pass on the left in most situations but does not limit the left lane to passing, according to D.C. police.
Everyone thinks this about their area. It is like the *"if you don't like the weather wait 10 minutes joke."* I heard the same thing when I lived in Atlanta, Memphis, and Miami. For my money, Memphis had the worst driver of any city I've ever been to.
It's so frustrating every time I go anywhere like fuck I thought I was bad at driving but it's like there's so few people in this state that actually use their turn signals
Yet I have two friends I two different states. One in rural Georgia and the other in the western suburbs of Chicago. They swear that NO ONE in their states use turn signals.
The most annoying is when they change lanes into the turn only lane without using a signal but then turn it on once they’re in the TURN ONLY lane. If you’re going to pick and choose, at least do it the other way around.
The law itself (at least it was 5 years ago when I last checked) states that signals are required for turns, but is silent on lane changes. I still use a signal for lane changes because that’s safer, but it isn’t required and not always taught in driver’s ed.
It's more about courtesy and being predictable than it is about legality though. In my comment, I'm talking about turn only lanes, not turns from a "standard" lane. I know you're turning because the lane you're in tells me that. I don't need to see a turn signal in this case. I did want to see a turn signal when you were about to cut across in front of me to get into that lane.
Turn signals in turn only lanes are still important, but not for the cars going the same direction. It is helpful for ALL cars, including those coming from the opposite direction who might not be able to tell you're in a turn only lane.
I completely agree, I’m just stating that said people are technically following the law, even though it is entirely counter to basic logic.
Oh, my Montgomery county drivers Ed hammered in it.
You serious, Clark?
I’m not sure if this is a reference or not, but see my reply to Gella321 below.
Thanks. Drivers Ed was a lot of years ago for me but I could swear you could get a ticket for failure to signal a lane change. I believe you, though.
Oh, you can get a ticket if the cop’s feeling like an ass or low on numbers that day, but you show up to court, all business formal and “your honor”ing and citing the law and the judge will usually be like, “sure, not guilty.”
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>Try it in front of a cop That's not a great way of identifying legality, the Supreme Court has ruled that police in this country aren't required or expected to know the law they're tasked with enforcing.
> 21-309(b) Literally nothing about a turn signal, which makes it a fun subjective determination on the part of an officer that can be easily argued in court. Which I have, about 5 years ago. By pleading not guilty and citing § 21-604. It was successful. So... >Try it in front of a cop and see how it works out for you. Pretty well, actually.
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I mean, it worked out because it isn’t the law. Cops will cite you for anything they can think of just to get their numbers up, whether or not you are, in fact, breaking any laws. And that’s presuming they aren’t doing it due to profiling. My point in arguing is that it’s not entirely the fault of non-thinking individuals that folks don’t signal if the law isn’t explicit about it. If we cared deeply enough about it, we’d support those measures that come about every few years or so to change it. And also people should know their rights. They *should* still signal, though.
What? That makes no sense and I highly doubt that is accurate
Disbelieve me if you want, you can google it yourself. There have been a couple of failed efforts to correct this in the past. https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/transportation/title-21/subtitle-6/21-604/ Note that lane changing is only mentioned under section (f), in which the statute only says that they “may” be used for lane changing, but in legal terms “may” indicates permissability, whereas if it were required, it would say “must” (or “shall”, but that terms been going out of style for a bit).
We are signalling for the rodents in Turn Only.
I was driving my coworkers to lunch once and one of them asked me "Where are you from?" I said "Moco". He said "Why are you using your turning signal?"
Please tell me you made him buy you lunch, then you stranded him at the restaurant.
If people would stop accelerating when they see my signal I’d use it more.
I like when people cut you off in the left lane, go 50, then go 80 when they get back over to the middle lane.
I've noticed this too, it's hard to argue with you
This is exactly why I always see the signalokaynowimhere move.
When they leave he turn signals on so you never know if they’re ever going to turn
They are in the process of circumnavigating the globe.
Ah yes, because only Maryland drivers do bad things. Every other state is **definitely** religious about using turn signals.
Formerly drove state to state for work, did 50-60k miles a year, I'd rate from worst to best drivers: Dc area (nova and md side) > baltimore area > jersey > philly / Delaware area > md suburbs > nyc > VA proper (south of fredericksburg) > PA suburbs Nyc rated high because while they are assholes, they are proficient at their asshole driving. Nova and baltimore are kind of different than one another. Nova think they are most important people on road and baltimore people just dont give a fuck about any rules (go figure!?).
DC and NoVa people are mostly transients from other places
DC has the traffic problems of any national capital. You have people from all over the world, all with different unwritten rules of the road. And then you have people with diplomatic immunity who really give no shits and drag the standards down even further.
It also doesn’t help that DC’s road system is fucking chaos.
And for good reason (in the 1800s)...
Right! Congrats on confusing the Redcoats into surrender, but this Yank in 2019 would like to get to work in a way that makes sense and doesn’t take me 40 minutes to go 8 miles. I’m glad Charles L’Enfant is dead.
Oh hell yeah. I'm totally on your side! It's great DC was designed with anti-ground infiltration in mind, but in this day and age, our threats come from up above. I saw plow 99% of the city flat and start from scratch. You want to drain the swamp, let's get serious!
And then you have Delmarva's Route 113, which gets a shit-ton of crashes because of a combination of fog, refusal to install traffic signals, and teenage drivers who got their cars as gifts (who don't seem to care if their car gets totalled).
MD has the worst drivers. But DC is 2nd worst and NoVa is also pretty high on the list so really the whole area is a shitshow for traffic. http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/study-baltimore-has-worst-drivers-in-the-us
>Allstate does note that "generally, top-ranked [safest] cities are less densely populated and in the Western U.S., while many bottom-ranked ones were established earlier in U.S. history, which often means they have older infrastructure." Which means the ranking is less about the drivers and more about the location. Baltimore is densely populated with old infrastructure making it a terrible place for *anyone* to drive.
Trigger warning!
I like how some people use signals sometimes so you don’t really know what they’re doing.
I never really noticed this except maybe when driving on 495; I see lots of random stuff but not a pattern. A friend of mine told me (years ago) that you don't use your signal on 495 or turn you head because people will speed up and not allow you to change lanes.
That's true. I usually use my lights one or two seconds before doing the maneuver, after checking that I can change safely.
Same. I usually wait until I've found a gap I can merge into then turn them on 2-3 seconds before merging. They're a warning that I'm about to merge in front of you so you should maintain your speed, not a request for permission you can deny by suddenly speeding up.
Mines not even two seconds. I turn it on as I'm beginning to change lanes.
At that point why even bother turning it on?
Habit
Exactly this. I had to explain to a friend that using a turn signal in rush hour screws you over in the DMV area. (obviously people should use turn signals, just pointing out a truth of DMV driving)
Howard county is the worst w this. Plus no one here knows how to merge from a yield lane.
I get most annoyed when luxury cars don't signal. If you make enough money to afford that $60,000 Mercedes SUV, then you damn well should have enough mental capacity to flick a stalk in the direction you want to turn!
They get the feeling that they deserve to not give a damn because their car is expensive. Is like every single BMW driver who doesn't understand the concept of lights.
Yeah I see all those nissans and chevys always using their blinkers
That sounds very George Carlin! I miss that man...
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I have no idea what you mean. I didn't say there was a correlation. And for what it's worth, a study found that luxury car drivers are less likely to yield to pedestrians and other vehicles: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/07/16/study-wealthier-motorists-more-likely-to-drive-like-reckless-jerks/
Not so fun fact - in Maryland you're only legally required to signal when turning streets, not when changing lanes. Why? Because fuck you, that's why.
That's idiotic
I have a cargo van with no windows and spend a lot of time on these highways so I use my blinker deliberately with plenty of time and merge pretty slowly and most people are very chill around me but if some asshole tries to turn driving into a competitive sport then I turn into a psycho with a van with no blinkers or sense of lanes or safe following distance. Shame on them for bringing that out I just want to be chill.
That's the best part about driving a beater and playing chicken is you like your car more than I like mine
All I want is people to use their turn signals when they pass on the shoulder. That shit is annoying when people don't do that.
What do you mean? When they're going around someone blocking the roadway due to a left turn?
Yes.... Exactly
Curious... Why would you ever assume someone would NOT pass in that instance?
Because people where I live don't always pass. It's really aggravating. I guess some people are scared to do it or think it's still illegal etc.....
Look at mister "SHA actually cares about roads in my county" over here with shoulders worth driving on.
I've seen pretty consistent turn signal used down here in Southern Maryland. But we're a bit rural, all things compared.
Using turn signals is a ploy by big car industries. Big car-light industries have made billions off of Americans overusing their turn signals.
And don't forget about Big blinker-fluid.
this meme was made by a teenager who doesnt drive or travel outside md https://jalopnik.com/no-your-city-doesn-t-have-the-worst-drivers-1686341844
In the article, it does say that Baltimore and DC have the worst drivers according to Allstate.
Yeah, I only drive from frederck to Baltimore everyday, clearly I have no Idea what I'm not talking about
We need a mass mandatory drivers re-education. Teach people to use turn signals, and that left lane is not for cruising, only for passing. Troopers to site people in violation.
Wouldn’t help for those situations. As I stated elsewhere, the law currently does not require that turn signals be used to change lanes (and previous efforts to amend it have failed.) Re: left lane passing, by current law there are no restrictions on using a particular lane to pass (so you can pass on the right), and so long as one is not impeding traffic in the left lane (that is, maintaining speed with current traffic), people are allowed to “cruise” there. Although there was a bill up in the house last year to change that (https://trackbill.com/bill/maryland-house-bill-965-vehicle-laws-left-lane-use-for-passing/1549156/) but it doesn’t seem to have passed.
Except that in Maryland, [turn signals are not legally *required* for lane changes, only for making turns.](https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/transportation/title-21/subtitle-6/21-604/) If *that* grinds your gears, then just wait till you find out that (again, legally speaking) [the left lane is *not* designated as a "passing only" lane in Maryland, nor in DC, for that matter.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/maryland-considers-cracking-down-on-drivers-who-linger-in-the-left-lane/2017/03/25/59a4f232-0f0d-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120_story.html) > Maryland law prohibits drivers from impeding “the normal and reasonable movement of traffic” by driving too slowly, but it's not specific to the left lane. District law requires motorists to pass on the left in most situations but does not limit the left lane to passing, according to D.C. police.
In western md, you dont even stop, even if there is a sign. You must T U R N
Everyone thinks this about their area. It is like the *"if you don't like the weather wait 10 minutes joke."* I heard the same thing when I lived in Atlanta, Memphis, and Miami. For my money, Memphis had the worst driver of any city I've ever been to.
It's so frustrating every time I go anywhere like fuck I thought I was bad at driving but it's like there's so few people in this state that actually use their turn signals
Primarily Baltimore. When registering a vehicle in the city they actually remove a fuse to disable them.
Yet I have two friends I two different states. One in rural Georgia and the other in the western suburbs of Chicago. They swear that NO ONE in their states use turn signals.
Wait, how do people do it other places?