Turn Signals Save Lives

As Seen in Thunder Road Magazine

 

If there was a simple, easy-to-use safety device built right into your vehicle or motorcycle, would you use it? If you could do one simple thing every time you drive or ride that could potentially prevent a crash from happening, would you do it?

 

I’d like to think that everybody would do almost anything, within reason, to prevent a crash from happening, but a recent study by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) makes me think otherwise. What they found is that people are not using one of the easiest, most basic safety devices in their vehicles and motorcycles: their turn indicators.

 

According to their research, the SAE estimates that at least two million crashes were caused by drivers neglecting to use their turn signals in 2012. They looked at turn signal usage for 12,000 vehicles when they turned or changed lanes. Among their findings, researchers noted that drivers failed to use their turn signals a whopping twenty-five percent of the time when making a turn. Let that sink in: one quarter of the time, drivers turned without signaling. Even scarier, the study found drivers neglected to signal forty-eight percent of the time when changing lanes. That’s right folks: in almost half of the lane changes they looked at, drivers didn’t bother to signal before moving over.

 

If you applied the same rate of turn signal neglect seen in this study to all drivers in America, you would see more than two billion instances per day, or 750 billion turns and lane changes each year without a signal. Surprisingly, turn signal neglect had never been studied prior to this SAE project.

 

To help put it in perspective, distracted driving is estimated to cause about 950,000 crashes every year. We’ve all seen and heard television and radio awareness campaigns practically begging drivers not to text and drive. There are all kinds of warnings out there about distracted driving and the dangers it poses. Heck, I even rented a billboard asking people to “X the Txt” when it seemed like everybody I passed on my motorcycle was texting and driving. In some areas, it’s against the law to text or even us a handheld phone while driving. And frankly, these campaigns and laws are necessary; as far as I can tell, people are still texting and driving all the time, regardless of the danger to themselves and others.

 

Again, the SAE study estimates that two million crashes were the direct result of drivers failing to use their turn signal before changing lanes or turning. That’s twice as many crashes as distracted driving is thought to cause! And yet, the last time I remember anybody talking about using turn signals was when my daughter was taking her driver’s education course. So what gives? Why are so many drivers not using their turn signals? And, why aren’t we talking about using turn signals in the larger conversation about road safety?

 

Here in Michigan, turning without signaling is against the law. The requirement to signal your intentions is part of the Michigan Vehicle Code (MCL 257.648): “…a signal required under this section shall be given either by means of the hand and arm… or by a mechanical or electrical signal device that conveys an intelligible signal or warning,” to other vehicles.

 

Turn signals have been the go-to safety device for over a century; even before lighted signals were built into vehicles and motorcycles, drivers, bikers, and cyclists were expected to use hand signals to indicate their intentions to others. Telling other drivers what you plan to do before you do it just seems like common sense, if not common courtesy.

 

I’m not saying that proper and consistent use of turn signals is going to stop all crashes from happening. And, I’m not saying that if a driver or rider doesn’t use their turn signal, they waive any rights or benefits under the law. What I am saying is, if something as simple as signaling before changing lanes or turning could prevent up to two million crashes, why aren’t we doing it? Maybe it’s time we all started incorporating using our turn signals into our driving routine, and reminding others to signal when we remind them to “Watch for Motorcycles”.