Originally Posted by
JasonD67
I was behind a guy on a group ride once. We approached a right turn and he held up his left hand and and raised his fist to the sky. I was quite perplexed until I realized he was giving the (correct) hand signal for a right turn while driving a car. Never seen a cyclist do that, though. I think he was new.
The funny thing is when some old guy in a beater car raises his hand like that out the window. It always takes a while to realize that he's signaling. There's usually a cigarette in his hand, too.
Originally Posted by
JasonD67
I've always just pointed with the arm on that side to which I'm turning. I don't think 98% of drivers or other cyclists have any idea that a raised left arm means a right turn.
Hell, 99% don't know what a blinking signal means.
Originally Posted by
autonomy
I'm probably half the average age here and I use my left arm to signal. Don't care if no one recognizes it, that's the way I learned and that's the right signal. But the biggest reason I do it is that, anecdotally, it appears to confuse the hell out of drivers - they see me signaling an action but they don't know which one - so they slow down.
There is much to be said for this.
I like to use them in traffic - as in, I'm taking this lane
now. Usually accompanied by a head turn (no mirrors), and maybe even eye-contact if I can swing it.
I use my left-hand to signal right turns because I don't want to have to brake suddenly just using the front brake.
Maybe it's just my quixotic quest to instill good driving behavior in drivers of all stripes (bikes included). If I can use my signals on a bike, why can't you literally lift a pinky to do so in your car, rather than just blindly blunder across the road? Thankfully, I have enough street smarts that I usually know someone is going to turn before they do, but, still. Just a little courtesy, ya know?