I don't get the "it is bad driving to indicate when there's no one around".
1) There might be someone around who I have not seen - I do my best to be observant, but I am not perfect
2) If it is automatic to indicate before I manoeuvre, then I won't ever forget to do it when there is someone I need to signal to.
Surely making the decision to indicate or not to indicate is one more thing to think about when driving has lots for you to think about anyway?
when my mate did the IAM, we argued endlessly about this in the pub
..
the logic is
1. you should be in the habit of looking for others to indicate to,, road/peds/whateverm rather than just doing the indicate as part of the turning of the wheel!
2. if you take hand off wheel, then you are actually reducing your control.
now i think thats rubbish,, you still should quite obviously MIRROR before SIGNAL before MANOUVER
and come on everyone has power steering now and steering is very very light compared to 20yrs ago..
i just assume that it's stupid to assume you can see everyone, my visual position ISNT where the signals are so i tend to indicate often when i can't see anyone... though i suppose i tend to do this less in more 'open' areas where its obvious there isnt anyone?
so yeah, those coppers are right, you dont indicate, of course if there were other vehicles who could have used the information, then surely that isnt good practice at all ?
oh and cyclists, why would a cyclist not indicate if theres a road user/ped obviously waiting for them, it just shows they're not watching the road properly. daft ( and i've done this twice this week alone at t-junctions)
(hmm actually i've noticed i'm indicating more as i'm getting more confident and better at controlling the bike,, still can't go non-handed though,, used to ride 2 miles home from school without touching the handlebars
, err village very little traffic
)
