We all have our pet peeves when it comes to driving. People talking or texting on their phones, people driving too fast or too slowly etc. One of my absolute biggest pet peeve is when people don’t signal their intentions. Not only is it immensely inconsiderate of other drivers but it’s dangerous too and there’s now some stats to back this up.
Distracted driving is generally regarded as the worse offense for accident causes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pegged it for causing over 1 million accidents per year in the U.S.
That number doubles for when talking about turn signal related accidents to 2 million per year.
Whether it’s failing to turn when a signal is activated or just plain not using the signal altogether, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) says that this happens over 750 billion times a year. I’m not quite sure how they came to measure that number, but it’s staggering nevertheless.
The solution? Well according to SAE, it resides in creating smarter technology such as “Smart Turn Signals” which could turn off the turn signal automatically if it’s deemed to become a hazard by using sensors, or alert the driver if and when they fail to signal. And here’s why that won’t work:
1) People already feel there is too much out of their control when it comes to vehicles such as seat belt safety warning systems, speed limiters and traction control which, despite being in their best interest, really turn people off. In short, people don’t like being nannied to death.
2) Surely there will be some sort of way of disabling these ‘Smart Turn Signals’ which renders it useless in the first place.
3) Education is the best way to change habits. By making people realize the importance of using their turn signals appropriately, people will start to do it and it will become as common sense and as frequent as putting on your seatbelt – something most of us don’t even think about anymore, we just do it.
What do you think is the best way to get people to use their turn signals properly?
[Society of Automotive Engineers]
All drivers should be using handsfree.