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

"Hachiroku ????" <Trueno@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:pan.2008.07.31.21.59.51.678137@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:12:11 -0400, Willy wrote:
>
>> "Mortimer" <me@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>> news:9pKdndkEHv15ewzVnZ2dnUVZ8hednZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> "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  As far as I know, they haven't repealed it, but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.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> In some but not all states, the rule of thumb is you MUST signal when
>> changing lanes, 3 blinks if you're a car, and six blinks if you're
towing 
>> a
>> trailer, and / or a tractor trailer.
>>
>> Willy
>
> Wow. Is that to save electricity? That's the only reason I can think of
> for not using blinkers.
>
> I do 5...by that time I'm in the lane I want to be in. If not, I do a
few
> more.
>
> I want people around me to KNOW what my intentions are! That way, if
they
> dent my car, THEY have to pay for repairs!
>
>
>

What's really sad is when I put on my blinkers and they don't even pay 
attention.  I guess they think I think it's Xmas or something?

 I drive with my headlights on all the time anymore, started doing that
when 
Tennessee passed a law that all emergency vehicles had to have their 
headlights on at all times while moving.  Through an odd quirk, amateur 
radio operator's cars are considered emergency vehicles in Tennessee, and
I 
was up there quite a bit, so I just learned to turn on my headlights when
I 
pulled away from the curb back in 1985, been doing it ever since.  (Some 
Tennessee ham plates even say EMERGENCY at the bottom.)

Charles the Curmudgeon.