Just need to vent...

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Mendel Leisk, Jul 6, 2022.

  1. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i'm not sure there are any left, but there are a couple who rarely post outside of it.
     
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  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    Got another: front turn signals tightly integrated with head lights.

    There's a spot we regularly need to make a left turn, and traffic other side of the intersection may or may not be turning left, as well. The cross street is a bit raised, so the cars opposite are canting up, making low beams pretty much high beams.

    Was there last night, late/dark, squinting at the opposite guy's headlights, and after 2~3 seconds, just barely discerned a small blinking-yellow zone.

    Ask my wife, for a cross-check, and she said nope, no signal..., oh wait: yes. But c'mon...

    This is with stationary vehicles, waiting on a red light. It's totally impossible to judge when both you and the oncoming are rolling.

    off topic: at least on a Windows pc, if you're in the Priuschat edit window, if you/'ve highlighted text, [CTRL]B, [CTRL]I and [CTRL]U make the text Bold, Italic and Underlined respectively. :)
     
    #2922 Mendel Leisk, Oct 15, 2025 at 2:40 PM
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2025 at 2:47 PM
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  3. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Not really a bother for me since this site has an Ignore User Feature.
    @ Gimli Glider:
    Few accidents happen for one reason.
    IIRC:
    The skipper took off with a broken fuel gauge (totalizer?) which allowed a math error to result in sucking the tanks dry.
    Years ago when I read about it, I learned that RATs onboard an aircraft are not always a bad thing.
    Perhaps if they'd just stuck with Freedom Units.....


    Fortunately both the pilot and aircraft retired normally, again.... IIRC.

    @ Poorly designed turn signals and headlights.
    I drive either a truck or a mid-size (small) CUV.
    The CUVs at least have adult sized tires - which is what allows them to 'identify as' (pretend to be) SUVs.
    I have not noticed the problem with the indicators.
     
    #2923 ETC(SS), Oct 15, 2025 at 8:31 PM
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2025 at 8:38 PM
  4. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    My nearest controlled intersection has a similarly sloped road across the way that tilts oncoming low beams into blindly high beams. Its traffic lights have left turn arrows that don't allow conflicting left-turners and straight-throughers at the same time. Some other intersections also have blinking yellow arrows that do allow left turns when gaps occur in the straight through traffic, but this intersection does not. (We don't have blinking green arrows like Canada has.)

    In daytime, I can see LED-DRLs turn off on the side with the active turn signal. Don't remember that happening with nighttime headlights.
     
    #2924 fuzzy1, Oct 16, 2025 at 1:36 AM
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2025 at 12:31 PM
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    It’s the turn signals on vehicles I’m having a problem seeing, night or day, though night is definitely worse. The intense headlights constrict your pupils, and tightly integrated blinking yellow turn signals are lost in the glare. Here’s a stock image example, a ford f150:

    upload_2025-10-16_5-25-53.png
     
    #2925 Mendel Leisk, Oct 16, 2025 at 8:26 AM
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2025 at 2:37 PM
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  6. Merkey

    Merkey Active Member

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    Same with the rear turn signal for me. When the turn signal is on the brake light should be off. Some manuf. do it right. GM seems to be getting it right with their most recent models.
     
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  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    The obvious solution, at least to me, is to separate the headlights and turn signals. but that increases complexity, cost, so...

    I actually emailed Transport Canada about this once, got nowhere of course.

    An example from yesteryear, an 81 Civic hatchback, in blue (the first car we had, conicidentally it was blue as well):

    upload_2025-10-16_8-47-54.png

    As John Candy might say, not much to look at, but note the nicely separated turn signals.
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i see this problem a lot. and then you have the 80% who don't even bother with turn signals.
     
  9. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Hand signals?

    Maybe I am an old fool, but if my drivers window is open I am as likely to use both hand signals and the signal lights.

    Was taught to ALWAYS use hand signals, even with signal lights, but I think that was back when electronics were not so reliable.

    So, if you see an old geezer in a Subaru using hand signals...

    Shoot; are hand signals still legal?
     
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    I've used them, once in a blue moon, maybe not in the last decade. If the kids were in the back seat I'm sure they were sinking down in their seats, just in case anyone they know might spot them. It's good for merging into a lane, if the weather's nice.
     
  11. Isaac Zachary

    Isaac Zachary Senior Member

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    I sometimes use both, usually when my window is down. It seems there are so many people who assume your turn signal is probably just an accident, seeing how most people don't use them on purpose.

    Another pet peeve, I see so often that a driver turning left waits until the entire line of cars coming from the other side is all through before actually turning left. The problem is they do this even if there are cars turning left coming at them. Sometimes both have their blinkers on to go left and they just sit there for a while, waiting for, who knows what, but waiting just in case the other car doesn't actually turn left I guess. Meanwhile, all the traffic behind those first cars is stuck because the driver in the front can't understand that if the car coming at him is turning left, there's no reason he can't also take advantage of that and also turn left.
     
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  12. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Yes, definitely! Just don't expect the vast majority of today's drivers to recognized them coming from a car.

    The majority of people using hand signals these days are bicyclists, followed by motorcyclists.



    Some of those drivers may have had prior bad experience with cars signaling a turn, but not actually turning. This sometimes happens from stale signals from previous turns, then not canceling.

    Then there are also the impatient drivers behind left turning cars, trying to rush straight through on the bumper of the turning car without safe allowance for oncoming left turners. I see numerous of these.
     
    #2932 fuzzy1, Oct 16, 2025 at 4:07 PM
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2025 at 4:15 PM
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  13. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Seems like these are the drivers who are too afraid to do the wrong thing & /or don't even know that it's legal to turn left before the light turns yellow. Get stuck behind 4 or 5 of these kind of drivers & suddenly that intersection might just mean your clothes have changed style by the time you finally get through.

    Don't know if it's legal, but when I'm directly behind one of these Uber timid left turn drivers, if I see an opening that's plenty big but still smaller than the couple other opportunities that the timid driver missed alread - I'll just sneak out from behind them & do my left turn - leaving them sitting there waiting waiting waiting. Got the idea from watching others do that when they're unfortunate enough to get stuck behind these left turn hesitators.
     
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  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    or they are looking at their phone and glancing up periodically
     
  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    anyone seeing a hand signal these days would probably think you're giving them the finger