69-53. That was the total score.
A few weeks ago, I was coming along the highway with my mother (she was driving), and I took notice of the number of cars who failed to signal before changing lanes (including getting on and off the highway).
At first, it seemed like more cars were NOT signalling than WERE signalling, so I began to do a tally. Much to my surprise, the signalling cars were leading. More cars signalled than not along the busy main highway. I believe when we exited to the 2-lane parkway, the tally was something like 37-42. 42 cars used their signals to indicate a lane change, 37 did not.
The two parkways we drove along are a total of approximately 19km and take roughly 15 minutes to drive from start to finish. In that short distance, the tally changed dramatically. I witnessed a total of 43 lane changes, of which only 11 were signalled. That means any given driver was supposed to read another driver's mind roughly 32 times.
How does that work, I wonder?
Now, this tally does include entrances and exits off the highway. However, I noticed that those were where most of the signalling took place. It was the lane changes that were not signalled.
I think I understand the motivation. After all, if you signal that you need to switch into my lane, I might be a jerk and not let you. However, if you're not being a jerk and there is plenty of room for you to get in front of me, you don't need to worry about that.
Last time I checked, the human race had not yet perfected their telepathy. Until we do, let's play nice and use our signals. It's a flick of a finger... and no, not that one!
