The major flaw with your method is that you seem to believe you're infallable. It's possible to not see someone coming. We've all done it. You almost pull out in front of someone and say "Whoa, I never saw them coming". That's why you use your blinker. You may not see them, but they see you.

For example, you turned left, with no signal because you didn't see anyone coming the other way, but what if you simply didn't see the guy coming the other way? You would've been T-boned and possibly killed becasue you didn't use your blinker. But just think about how much energy you saved!

And what about everyone else on the road? What if there was a guy on a bike coming the other way that you didn't see? You turn left right in front of him, he slams into you and dies. Impossible huh? Almost happened to me once in that exact scenario. I was the guy on the bike. They never saw me.

It's not all about you. Using your blinker is so freakin' easy yet you refuse to do it. You'd rather take the chance of possibly killing someone than flip that lever. Why? What are you afraid of? People will think less of you?

I drove home for lunch today and just arrived back in my office. Given this thread, I paid extra attention to my driving and decided to narrate my experience for the benefit of the FFA. Here is each lane change that I made:

1. Turning right out of my parking lot onto a public road. There was no car behind me and no car coming in either direction, so I didn't signal.

2. After 50 ft or so I come to a stop sign, where I need to turn left onto another road (there is no stop sign in any other direction). I come to a complete stop and look both directions. I will be going northbound, and there is no other traffic moving in that direction. There are a couple of southbound cars a couple hundred feet away, but I have plenty of time to make my turn and be on my way. There is nobody behind me. I don't signal.

3. I drive a few miles and need to turn left. There is no other car in sight, so I don't signal.

4. After a few feet, I need to turn right into my driveway. There is still no other car in sight so I don't signal.

I enjoy a nutritious lunch consisting of frosted miniwheats and skim milk. Not very exciting, granted, but frosted miniwheats are fortified with vitamins and minerals.

5. Now I need to turn left out of my driveway onto a public road. There is a truck coming at me in the distance, but there's a stop sign between me and him. There is no other vehicle within sight. I don't signal.

6. Now comes the tricky part. I am travelling east and the truck is travelling west. We reach a two-way stop where EW traffic must stop by NS traffic does not. I am going to turn right (S). The truck signals that he is going to turn left (S), and I reciprocate with a signal. This is a confusing intersection because the truck got to the intersection before me, so I think he has the right of way, but he sits there and makes it clear that he is going to yield to me since I am making a right-hand turn. Whatever. I go ahead and make my indicated turn (using my trusty turn signal!) and go on my way. My turn signal saved the day. Hooray for turn signals!

7. Eventually I need to turn right to head back to my parking lot. The truck from before is still behind me, so I signal to let him know that I will be slowing down to turn. Notice the pattern here: I use my signal when another motorist might beneift from knowing my intentions. I don't signal into thin air.

8. Now I need to turn left into my lot. Again, there are no cars or pedestrians of any kind nearby, so I recklessly make my turn without using a signal but no accident ensues.

It was a nerve-wracking, dangerous exercise in reckless driving, but I somehow lived to tell the tale.

Because it helps the other driver in these instances identify your location and your intent to the other driver allowing him extra time to prepare in case you do not see him.

Prepare how? He's got the right of way. What is he doing to do differently if I have my blinker on?

The major flaw with your method is that you seem to believe you're infallable. It's possible to not see someone coming. We've all done it. You almost pull out in front of someone and say "Whoa, I never saw them coming". That's why you use your blinker. You may not see them, but they see you.

For example, you turned left, with no signal because you didn't see anyone coming the other way, but what if you simply didn't see the guy coming the other way? You would've been T-boned and possibly killed becasue you didn't use your blinker. But just think about how much energy you saved!

And what about everyone else on the road? What if there was a guy on a bike coming the other way that you didn't see? You turn left right in front of him, he slams into you and dies. Impossible huh? Almost happened to me once in that exact scenario. I was the guy on the bike. They never saw me.

It's not all about you. Using your blinker is so freakin' easy yet you refuse to do it. You'd rather take the chance of possibly killing someone than flip that lever. Why? What are you afraid of? People will think less of you?

I only have one more comment, then I'll hang up and listen:

To an alert and perceptive driver, blinkers are in general superfluous. There are so many other tells that a driver is intending to change lanes that it is in most cases obvious where he's going.

Is he speeding up or down? Is his head looking over his shoulder? Is the car drifting toward another lane? Are there any exit ramps coming up? What does the traffic pattern look like? I may be alone here, but when I'm driving I'm processing all of this information continually, and I can predict where he's going with or without a blinker.

So in a way, people who rely on other drivers to use their blinkers are really doing so because they aren't paying enough attention to what's going on around them.

How does someone else not using their signals equal me not paying attenton to what's going on around me? Isn't it the person not using their signal who seems oblivious to everything around them.

We all look for other "tells" when driving because we have to. We have to because idiots don't use signals. If they did, we wouldn't have to play detective and look for all the other tells! What is confusing about this? Aren't turn signals the simplest and most obvious "tell" of all? Why not use them?

All I'm saying is, if you need a blinker to tell that what someone is going to do, then you are not paying attention.

This statement shows that you don't pay enough attention to the reality that most people are not very bright and need all the help they can get when guessing what your intentions are.

How does someone else not using their signals equal me not paying attenton to what's going on around me? Isn't it the person not using their signal who seems oblivious to everything around them.

We all look for other "tells" when driving because we have to. We have to because idiots don't use signals. If they did, we wouldn't have to play detective and look for all the other tells! What is confusing about this? Aren't turn signals the simplest and most obvious "tell" of all? Why not use them?

I only have one more comment, then I'll hang up and listen:

To an alert and perceptive driver, blinkers are in general superfluous. There are so many other tells that a driver is intending to change lanes that it is in most cases obvious where he's going.

Is he speeding up or down? Is his head looking over his shoulder? Is the car drifting toward another lane? Are there any exit ramps coming up? What does the traffic pattern look like? I may be alone here, but when I'm driving I'm processing all of this information continually, and I can predict where he's going with or without a blinker.

So in a way, people who rely on other drivers to use their blinkers are really doing so because they aren't paying enough attention to what's going on around them.