Indicating- can you resolve this debate for us please?

[Edie]

You know when you are on the motorway and a vehicle ahead indicates to show they want you to make way for them to pull out, whether or not there is currently space... is that okay?

I maintain no. That you should only indicate when you have space and are actually going to pull into the next lane.

The man says it’s perfectly fine and gives other vehicles the chance to move over to let you.

Am I right or is he right?

 

[platinumsage]

You’re right, you should signal your intention to move, not your intention to wait in the hope that an opportunity to move will arise at some point.

If you’re about to move having sat there signalling for ages, how will anyone know you’re about to actually move rather than carry on sitting there.

 

[Edie]

You’re right, you should signal your intention to move, not your intention to wait in the hope that an opportunity to move will arise at some point.

THANK YOU

 

[killer b]

what is this signal? I don't think I'd understand it - anyone doing anything that looks like they're trying to communicate me makes me assume I've done something wrong or have a flat tyre of a psycho in the back of my car and it stresses me the fuck out.

 

[Saul Goodman]

You're wrong. Somebody might have spotted that they're in the wrong lane, so they indicate and hope someone is courteous enough to let them into the lane they need to be in.

 

[Looby]

You signal when you’re going to change lanes. I have never heard of indicating to show intention to move. I’d wonder what they were doing.

 

[existentialist]

You know when you are on the motorway and a vehicle ahead indicates to show they want you to make way for them to pull out, whether or not there is currently space... is that okay?

I maintain no. That you should only indicate when you have space and are actually going to pull into the next lane.

The man says it’s perfectly fine and gives other vehicles the chance to move over to let you.

Am I right or is he right?

Strictly speaking, you're only supposed to indicate when you are ready to move, ie. there is nothing coming up on the outside whom you would cause to have to change speed or direction if you moved.

In reality - and I notice this more in the UK than any other country - people rarely spot that you want to come out, and hold back. In the circumstances, I think signalling to indicate an intention to move out isn't such a bad thing, so long as people don't actually move out until the vehicle behind has given some kind of sign (eg slowing down) that they are making room for you.

 

[cybershot]

mirror, signal, manoeuvre.
Not signal, wait, wait, wait, small gap, manoeuvre. Cause everyone else to hard brake.

 

[Saul Goodman]

I have never heard of indicating to show intention to move

That's what indicators are for, to indicate your intentions to other road users. The clue is in the name

 

[killer b]

oh right! I get what you're talking about now - yeah, I think it's fine.

 

[platinumsage]

What I love is when I’m overtaking a lorry and the driver starts signalling to move out, instead of waiting until I’ve actually overtaken it.

 

[Looby]

That's what indicators are for, to indicate your intentions to other road users. The clue is in the name

Well yeah, when you’re going to do it. Sorry I phrased it badly. I don’t think I’ve ever done what Edie is describing.

 

[killer b]

If you're on a busy motorway I dunno how else you'd do it - do you just stay trapped in the slow lane until a gap that's big enough comes up?

 

[Looby]

Strictly speaking, you're only supposed to indicate when you are ready to move, ie. there is nothing coming up on the outside whom you would cause to have to change speed or direction if you moved.

In reality - and I notice this more in the UK than any other country - people rarely spot that you want to come out, and hold back. In the circumstances, I think signalling to indicate an intention to move out isn't such a bad thing, so long as people don't actually move out until the vehicle behind has given some kind of sign (eg slowing down) that they are making room for you.

This does make sense.
I fucking hate changing lanes on motorways.

 

[Sasaferrato]

What I love is when I’m overtaking a lorry and the driver starts signalling to move out, instead of waiting until I’ve actually overtaken it.

It can be a 'fetch me my brown trousers' moment.

 

[Edie]

Strictly speaking, you're only supposed to indicate when you are ready to move, ie. there is nothing coming up on the outside whom you would cause to have to change speed or direction if you moved.

In reality - and I notice this more in the UK than any other country - people rarely spot that you want to come out, and hold back. In the circumstances, I think signalling to indicate an intention to move out isn't such a bad thing, so long as people don't actually move out until the vehicle behind has given some kind of sign (eg slowing down) that they are making room for you.

That’s exactly his argument. That due to how heavy the traffic is here you have to do indicate even when there’s no space. But it freaks me out, cos I think what if they’ve not seen me, and it’s not always possible to move over!

 

[Saul Goodman]

What I love is when I’m overtaking a lorry and the driver starts signalling to move out, instead of waiting until I’ve actually overtaken it.

If you indicate to overtake a lorry, and they also indicate right (in the UK) , they're usually telling you it isn't safe to overtake.

 

[Edie]

What I love is when I’m overtaking a lorry and the driver starts signalling to move out, instead of waiting until I’ve actually overtaken it.

Exactly!!!! It makes you shit yourself!

 

[Looby]

If you indicate to overtake a lorry, and they also indicate right (in the UK) , they're usually telling you it isn't safe to overtake.

How would someone know this?
I feel like there are all these rules that other people know but didn’t tell me.

 

[Edie]

How would someone know this?
I feel like there are all these rules that other people know but didn’t tell me.

I’ve never heard that either I think it’s bullshit

 

[killer b]

I do shit myself when a lorry does it, but when a car does that I usually flash them in, or just hang back an let them in if there's obviously room. It seems to be a fairly well understood custom... maybe driving round the M60 at rush hour on the regular means you get more used to this kind of driving though?

 

[Sasaferrato]

You signal when you’re going to change lanes. I have never heard of indicating to show intention to move. I’d wonder what they were doing.

You are going along the motorway in the inside lane. There is traffic to your right, in the middle lane. You run up behind a lorry, but there is no space to the right to move out and pass it.

In that scenario, if you switch on your indicator, it informs the traffic to the right that you want to move out to overtake the lorry.

If I'm in the middle lane, and this happens, I tap my brakes to show the person behind me that I'm slowing, and flash the car that wants to get out. Simples really.

Real life and the Highway Code are seldom synonymous.

 

[platinumsage]

If you indicate to overtake a lorry, and they also indicate right (in the UK) , they're usually telling you it isn't safe to overtake.

No it usually means they're too busy Facetiming their girlfriend to look in the mirror.

Anyway I'm talking about when you're already alongside them and they start indicating.

 

[Sasaferrato]

If you indicate to overtake a lorry, and they also indicate right (in the UK) , they're usually telling you it isn't safe to overtake.

Indeed. On one up one down roads they will often signal left to tell you that it is clear to pass, and that they are aware of you.

 

[Saul Goodman]

How would someone know this?
I feel like there are all these rules that other people know but didn’t tell me

Many years of driving many miles.

I’ve never heard that either I think it’s bullshit

Yeah but this thread already proves you don't know how to drive.

 

[platinumsage]

You are going along the motorway in the inside lane. There is traffic to your right, in the middle lane. You run up behind a lorry, but there is no space to the right to move out and pass it.

In that scenario, if you switch on your indicator, it informs the traffic to the right that you want to move out to overtake the lorry.

If I'm in the middle lane, and this happens, I tap my brakes to show the person behind me that I'm slowing, and flash the car that wants to get out. Simples really.

Real life and the Highway Code are seldom synonymous.

All these flashing lights and braking? What happened to maintaining a constant speed unless a suitable gap to change lanes presents itself?

 

[Looby]

Many years of driving many miles.


Yeah but this thread already proves you don't know how to drive.

Fuck that, I’ve been driving 14 years and no-one has ever told me this.

 

[killer b]

What happened to maintaining a constant speed unless a suitable gap to change lanes presents itself?

forgotten a couple of weeks after passing your test in most cases.

 

[Looby]

You are going along the motorway in the inside lane. There is traffic to your right, in the middle lane. You run up behind a lorry, but there is no space to the right to move out and pass it.

In that scenario, if you switch on your indicator, it informs the traffic to the right that you want to move out to overtake the lorry.

If I'm in the middle lane, and this happens, I tap my brakes to show the person behind me that I'm slowing, and flash the car that wants to get out. Simples really.

Real life and the Highway Code are seldom synonymous.

I do know how to safely change lanes thanks.
I don’t rely on people flashing lights on a busy and fast motorway.

 

[killer b]

there are various signals that truckers do which are clearly supposed to mean something, but they don't mean anything to me, and I suspect to the majority of people.