Re: Signaling

[shields@tembel.org (Michael Shields)]

> Am I to understand that whenever one changes lanes on a road that it is
> necessary to signal?  
> 
> Certainly some reasonable allowance should me made to permit application of
> some judgement on the part of the driver, don'tcha think?

Four things limit your speed.  In order of increasing subtlety:

One is the law.

The second is the physics of your car and the road -- the limits of tire
adhesion and engine performance.

The third is your ability as a driver to sense and use the available
possible speed, based on the other three factors.

And the fourth is the presence of other cars on the road.  You must
know where every other car is and what they will be doing in the future.
The rules of traffic are designed to limit the amount of possibilities
you need to consider -- for example, that someone will hammer up on the
right at a 30 mph closing speed.  But anything is possible and people
are not always good at making or executing their decisions.

Turn signals are just another way of communicating with the other drivers
on the road.  If there are none, it's no problem (though I tend to blink
once without even a thought).  You're not going to be a good driver by
following any set of rules no matter how complex -- you need to think
about what other people are doing and how you can persuade them to
accomodate your driving.

Just another tool.
-- 
Shields.