Road skills - do you signal left turns?

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BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
Here's a question for you. Do you signal left when turning left? I'm interested in not only what you do, but in what situations and why.
 
if it's on a straight road that i'm turning off then yes.if it's at a set of lights at a crossroads near home then no because evrey time i signaled left some pratt in a car coming from the other direction turns at the same time usually forcing me to stop to let him barge through or run the risk of being hit side on when i have right of way.
so i never indicate left at a crossroads if cars are coming towards me.
 

toontra

Veteran
Location
London
Almost always, in case there is a vehicle wanting to pull out on the left (if it's a T junction) or the right (if it's a cross roads) or if there are pedestrians about to cross the left turning.

It's just generally a good idea to let anyone around know what you are doing IMO.

It always irritates me, for example, when I'm waiting to pull out onto a main road from a side road and I wait for an oncoming car from the right which eventually turns left without having indicated.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Only signal left if there are cars waiting in the side road or to let traffic behind know that I am slowing slightly to go around the corner, or to let a pedestrian know... but they often don't bother looking.
 

Panter

Just call me Chris...
toontra said:
Almost always, in case there is a vehicle wanting to pull out on the left (if it's a T junction) or the right (if it's a cross roads) or if there are pedestrians about to cross the left turning.

It's just generally a good idea to let anyone around know what you are doing IMO.

It always irritates me, for example, when I'm waiting to pull out onto a main road from a side road and I wait for an oncoming car from the right which eventually turns left without having indicated.

Same here................
 

Membrane

New Member
BentMikey said:
Here's a question for you. Do you signal left when turning left? I'm interested in not only what you do, but in what situations and why.

I indicate when there is traffic that might benefit from it. That traffic can be behind me (possibly also wanting to turn left), coming towards me (if they want to turn right), on a right side road (if they want to continue straight ahead), or on the left side road.
 
Always. It's a good habit to have.
 

ash68

New Member
Location
northumberland
yep, always. Mostly as a courtesy to other road users and peds.As mentioned before by Toontra it's annoying when car driver's don't indicate, so good manners are called for.;)
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
Membrane said:
I indicate when there is traffic that might benefit from it. That traffic can be behind me (possibly also wanting to turn left), coming towards me (if they want to turn right), on a right side road (if they want to continue straight ahead), or on the left side road.

Beware of indicating for traffic that will arrive at the junction at about the same time as you.
Eg If a car following also wants to turn left, and you indicate left, some motorists will take your indication as an invitation to overtake on the corner which will very likely squeeze you into the kerb.

If there's any chance of that sort of thing, I take a leaf out of the motorist's book and indicate at the last moment when they don't have time to take action on it.
 

domtyler

Über Member
Never signal to go left unless there was a very good reason for doing so. Likewise for signalling right.

Reasons, firstly I prefer to keep my hands on the bars/brakes at all times, especially when making any kind of manoeuvre. Although I don't use hand signals I make my intentions clear through many other visual cues such as looking behind, changing road position etc. Finally, as has already been mentioned, explicit hand signalling can lead to 'funny' reactions from motorists.
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
andrew_s said:
Beware of indicating for traffic that will arrive at the junction at about the same time as you.
Eg If a car following also wants to turn left, and you indicate left, some motorists will take your indication as an invitation to overtake on the corner which will very likely squeeze you into the kerb.

If there's any chance of that sort of thing, I take a leaf out of the motorist's book and indicate at the last moment when they don't have time to take action on it.

Pretty much my attitude too. I do signal whenever appropriate, its a good habit to do, but I won't invite stupid overtaking by doing so.
 
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