I believe one of my first articles in this blog of mine…was
about one of my pet peeves…turn signals.
A recent article in The Detroit Bureau, by Paul A.
Eisenstein, shares information about a study done indicating 2 million
accidents occur annually relating to turn signals, or lack of proper use of them.
According to research by the Society of Automotive Engineers
(SAE), drivers either neglect to use their signals when changing lanes or fail
to turn the signals off 48% of the time, and when making a turn, the failure
rate is about 25%. Somehow, according to them, that works out to 2 billion
times a day drivers fail to use signals.
Again, somehow, in their calculation, this results in
about 2 million roadway collisions annually.
They go on to say, “all drivers have an ongoing duty to
use signals just as they have a duty to stop at a stop sign or a red light.”
I couldn't agree more.
Mr. Eisenstein goes on to suggest an alternative to this
problem is to create a “smart turn signal”. Such a system could automatically
shut off a turn signal when it is left on too long or by detecting when a
vehicle has finished changing lanes. This would work much as today’s cars
automatically cancel the signal after making a turn at an intersection.
For those who don’t use their signals, the system would
work much like a seatbelt reminder. It would be able to sense if drivers
routinely ignore their turn signals and start to flash what the study calls a
'friendly reminder'.
Of course...just as people choose to ignore the seatbelt
reminder...many would choose to ignore the turn signal reminder too.
But...even if 1 out of a hundred people choose to begin
using turn signals...using their numbers from the article...that’s 20,000 less accidents annually.
That’s a start.
Dan
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