Re: On Topic? Cars, anyway: 55 MPH speed limit...

"CharlesTheCurmudgeon" <n5hsr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:saidnU8q7qMcMgzVnZ2dnUVZ_uSdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> There was a law passed in 1965, too, that cars in Illinois changing
lanes 
> had to signal.  As far as I know, they haven't repealed it, but nobody 
> enforces it anymore.

Do people generally not signal when they change lanes in the US? Here in
the 
UK I'd say that about 90% of the time people indicate to move to an 
overtaking lane (on the right in the UK) and about 75% of the time they do

so when they move back to the "slower" lane again. OK, so a lot of the
time 
they indicate as they start to move, rather than giving a couple of
seconds' 
notice before moving - lorry drivers are very bad at this: they seem to 
think that if they indicate, the car on their right which they are about
to 
hit will magically disappear!

I'm not sure of the precise rules on indicating in the Highway Code, but
I'm 
sure it's one of those things which is very strongly advised even if it 
isn't strictly policed. It's also something which would almost certainly 
count against you if you were involved in an accident and didn't indicate
in 
a situation where the other driver would have taken avoiding action if
he'd 
seen that you were indicating to move into his lane directly in front of 
him. People who fail to indicate in borderline-dangerous cases often get 
hooted at and flashed.