User yer - bleep - indicators!

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by ophic

I live near a big roundabout and I walk my dog regularly late at night, and crossing the roundabout is made twice as hard by people that don't indicate.

I'm curious, how's that. Are you saying that you trust an indicator enough to actually base your decision to walk out into the road on one?

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

I'm curious, how's that. Are you saying that you trust an indicator enough to actually base your decision to walk out into the road on one?

Not the indicator alone, but with road positioning and speed, plus a big bag of experience, you can make an educated guess at the best moment to cross. It's not a particularly clever roundabout/crossing to be fair. You can only see the cars for a split second as they come around the roundabout, before they're on top of you - and as its a busy dual carriageway, it's actually the safest place to cross. If you try further up the road you've got no pathway, a central reservation barrier to climb over, and the speed of the traffic is much higher.

Surely if everyone was so cautious they completely ignored indicators, there would be no point in fitting them or using them.

[Red Herring]

Road positioning and speed are a far more reliable indicator of another drivers intentions than an indicator light. Indicators do have a purpose, they give advance warning to another of what you intend to do, thus giving them more time to allow for your intentions, or even quite often to act to allow you to continue safely (for example adjusting their speed and position to facilitate a lane change).

It is interesting to note that several riders have posted that forgetting to switch off indicators is impossible unless you are some sort of inexperienced guppyfish.

Sadly I have been riding for a few years now, and still (only rarely admittedly but once is all it takes) leave my indys on after a maneuver. Also, on rideouts it is not uncommon to see bikes indicating erroneously for miles. This , I believe, is a stress indicator.

Originally Posted by petevtwin650

Sadly I have been riding for a few years now, and still (only rarely admittedly but once is all it takes) leave my indys on after a maneuver. Also, on rideouts it is not uncommon to see bikes indicating erroneously for miles. This , I believe, is a stress indicator.

Or means you cant see your indicator warning lights for your sat nav Moi?

[punyXpress]

Spot on, Pete
Mea Culpa

[Red Herring]

You can buy a bleeper for your indicators, much like some lorries have for their reversing lights. It's quite effective in towns as well, tends to make pedestrians look your way at junctions! You can just imagine the row though if everybody on a ride out had one...

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

Road positioning and speed are a far more reliable indicator of another drivers intentions than an indicator light. Indicators do have a purpose, they give advance warning to another of what you intend to do, thus giving them more time to allow for your intentions, or even quite often to act to allow you to continue safely (for example adjusting their speed and position to facilitate a lane change).

However there are occasions when road speed and position would be the same for multiple manoeuvres - and the indicator is then all you have to go on. Whether you trust it or not depends on a number of factors, including how much risk you're putting yourself at by trusting it.

[Red Herring]

Could you expand on that, perhaps with an example. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I'm trying to picture when a signal would be the only clue as to their intentions.

[ophic]

ok a sweeping right hand bend on a single carriageway road with a left turn junction off it. Traffic either follows the bend, staying on the main carriageway (no indication necessary) or turns left, (LH indicator should be on but no decrease in speed necessary as its effectively straight on).