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Chip Thomas called this morning. He has a lot of beefs with Tampa Bay area drivers, but primary among them is their increasingly common failure to signal for a turn or lane change.
Failing to do so can be annoying, he said, and can also be dangerous in a car. But as an avid bicyclist, Thomas said the results for cyclists can be deadly.
“"It’s not a difficult thing to do,’’ he said. “"And it’s dangerous to yourself, never mind for others.’’
“"And the cops often don’t bother to signal, either,’’ he said.
Heather Derusha would agree wholeheartedly.
She drives about 500 miles a day on average, day-in and day-out, more than 100,000 miles a year, now for a medical supply company. She’s been a professional driver for 31 years and estimates she passed the 3-million-mile mark a while back.
This is how she qualifies herself as something of an expert on motorists’ increasingly turning or changing lanes without signaling in advance. She figures that is the “real” cause of a whole lot of crashes that safety experts and law enforcement investigators overlook, to the driving public’s peril.
“Oh, speeding may escalate a highway crash into a fatality,” she said. “But what most often causes the crash itself, is failing to signal.”
And officers on traffic patrol not only rarely ticket anyone for failing to signal, she says, in recent years police and highway patrol troopers don’t bother to signal for a lane change either, setting a poor example.
It usually unfolds like this, Derusha said:
One driver checks his mirrors, sees an opening and abruptly changes lanes. But when it happens just as the car in back of the opening speeds up - or another car moves toward the same space—one car is forced to swerve and loses control, or rear-ends another, sometimes causing a major pile-up.
And for the defensive driver who sees the trouble rapidly unfolding, she said, too often today roads are so crowded, and walled-in by barriers, there is no place to bail out.
She’s gone so far in her crusade as to mount a video camera on her dashboard, recording failures to signal by motorists and law enforcement, and even caught wrecks on video she says resulted from the practice. She’s buttonholed a variety of officials, trying to inspire a public awareness campaign for years now, with no luck.
Dick Miller, a highway safety consultant for Michigan AAA—where Derusha ran a limousine service for years—is one of them. He served in the Michigan Highway Patrol for 27 years and has since been a member of national safety committees and works on highway safety issues in Washington, D.C. for two years.
“She wanted AAA to mount a major, national campaign for signaling for lane changes,” he said. “That just isn’t going to happen.
“There are so many more serious hazards to vehicle safety - drunken driving, speeding, failing to wear seat belts, running red lights, reckless driving, even distracted driving - that the lane-change issue isn’t going to merit such attention.”
Miller concedes that “people don’t tend to signal as much as they used to. People just aren’t as courteous today. But accidents resulting from this sort of behavior tend to be sideswipes and rear-end collisions, not typically as serious as those resulting from other infractions.”
Derusha “is very committed to her cause,” Miller said. “But I know of no one who will support her. And I know I never once issued a ticket for failing to signal a lane change.”
Ironically, in the last session of the state legislature, lawmakers amended Florida statutes to make it specifically illegal to change lanes without signaling:
The law now reads: “No person may ... move right or left upon a highway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety, and then only after giving an appropriate signal...in the event any other vehicle may be affected by the movement.”
Larry Coggins, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a patrol spokesman, said he and other troopers have given out many tickets for failing to signal a lane change over the years, most often when it results in crash or a near-crash, or an officer is cut off.
“And we’ve seen the results of people doing that, forcing another driver to take evasive action, and maybe crashing himself,” he said. “But, no, it’s not among the major causes of crashes.”
Posted by Kelly Nixon, Tampa, Florida on 10/04 at 05:00 PM
A Ford F-250 crew cab changed lanes going around a 45 degree turn w/o signaling. I waved and pointed to my eyes (sign language for look) while having to apply my brake so I didn’t hit him. He then turned on his police lights and ticketed me for tailgating. A $120.50 ticket.
Posted by Kathleen Derusha, Atlanta-GA on 05/06 at 09:56 PM
We have started a national campaign on worlds largest networking website Myspace http://groups.myspace.com/turnsignals
Posted by David Derusha, Atlanta-GA on 05/05 at 12:23 AM
We need to start a national campaign on turn signal use and enforcement!
Posted by Grace Horne, Lakeland on 04/05 at 04:49 PM
Rick, I agree with Heather and Stan. The most prevalent thing I see that has the potential for a crash or a road run-off to occur is the majority of drivers, yes including the police, not signaling their lane changes. At a rate of 700 fatalities a year, doesn’t that add up to as many or more Americans killed by drivers not signaling lane changes than the number of Americans killed each year in our current war in Iraq?
Posted by Heather Derusha, Florida on 03/24 at 11:20 AM
Stan, I agree. The NHTSA lists 700 fatalities a year caused by drivers not signaling. So many drivers, including police officers, are unaware of the importance of turn signals. I know the 700 number represents only a small portion of reality. You would think that the 700 number alone would be enough for something to be done about this problem!
Posted by Stan Morgan, Pinellas County on 03/23 at 01:58 PM
Rick:
I heard that there is now special enforcement of a law requiring drivers to slow way down when they come upon a road ranger or police officer who has pulled over a driver on the road. Also that this is due to the fact that 2 road rangers in 4 years have been hit and killed while pulled off the road and dealing with a driver. I contend that many more average citizens have been killed on our roads by the lack of turn signal usage and there is no “special” enforcement of our turn signal laws. I greatly respect police officers and road rangers and appreciate their work very much it is just that I think that the average citizen’s life is just as precious.
Posted by Stan Morgan, Pinellas County on 03/23 at 01:54 PM
Good question Darcy!! There is a law on the books in Florida requiring drivers to signal their lane changes. Let’s get this law enforced NOW!
Posted by Darcy, Florida on 03/15 at 08:01 PM
I think everyone Should use there turn signal’s. I see people all the time cut other driver’s off the road or make them hit there breaks just because some idiot did not use there signal,
You know ! That’s why they come in the car’s just like the seat belt it’s the law and you will get a ticket if you do not wear your seat belt so why not a ticket for no signal use.
Posted by Stan Morgan, Pinellas County on 03/13 at 05:53 PM
I can’t believe you posted this nonsense from Jim Fleck and did not post my comment from 3-8-06. Does Jim know what we are talking about here?
TURN SIGNALS, JIM, WHEN CHANGING LANES!
Posted by Jim Fleck, Tampa on 03/13 at 09:35 AM
This seems a good time to suggest 2 signals I use regularly--neither of them officially recognized, but both fairly obvious. Arm down, palm back: I’m
backing off, although my brake lights may not be on yet. And, used when stopped at a cross street when traffic is coming, hands up and OFF the wheel: I see you and I WON’T pull out in your path. I always use this for bicycles and motorcycles; sometimes for cars. The 2nd one is primarily for politeness, although it may help keep traffic flowing; the 1st may well avoid a pileup--with me in the middle.
Posted by Scott, Tampa on 03/01 at 02:29 PM
Having just moved here, that was one of the things that chaps my hide. The problem is that when I use my blinker to change lane some jerk-wad behind me decides to make the move first, or someone speeds up to intentionally keep me from changing into the other lane. So, on one hand it’s aggravating, but I also see why so many people don’t use them. That is just one of many indicators of where we are headed as a society. Discourtesy reigns supreme. Thank you, to the 1980’s. The ‘me’ generation has bred a new more selfish beast.
Posted by Gwen firestone, clearwater on 02/28 at 02:56 AM
blinkers save lives.
Posted by Richard Formica, Tampa on 02/27 at 12:30 PM
I agree. Signaling one’s intentions for turning corners and changing lanes is a great way to reduce accidents. When a driverit shows she or he is aware of what they are doing and aware of their surroundings. Signalling makes a driver think about what they are about to do and shows they are paying attention to the maneauver. It is also polite and shows you care about your fellow drivers.
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