Smee's test - specifics

Topics relating to Advanced Driving in cars
Smeeagain
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Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby Smeeagain » Mon Sep 05, 2016 9:24 pm

Yes I understand and I get that, and Ive no idea of the official statistics, but I sometimes drive 50k miles in a year, and I rarely see anyone indicate on a joining slip, but equally I rarely see accidents where the joining slip meets lane 1, so it appears to me on the face of it that signalling/not signalling doesnt make a difference to safety/accidents. For clarification and the avoidance of confusion, Im not advocating not signalling, just raising the question.

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jont-
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Location: Herefordshire

Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby jont- » Tue Sep 06, 2016 5:04 am

I rarely see other drivers sticking to 30mph in a 30 limit, and I rarely see accidents in towns/villages either....

Rolyan
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Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby Rolyan » Tue Sep 06, 2016 5:48 am

Horse wrote:
Rolyan wrote:
Astraist wrote:If the signal isn't meaningfull to anyone (even for purposes of conspiciousness) or if there isn't anyone around to see it, I still rather provide a very brief signal.

Why?


Perhaps add " . . . or in circumstances where someone could arrive, who might find the signal beneficial"?

I'm not convinced that a 'very brief signal' is beneficial to anybody, least of all a latecomer.

Astraist
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Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby Astraist » Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:09 am

Rolyan wrote:
Astraist wrote:If the signal isn't meaningfull to anyone (even for purposes of conspiciousness) or if there isn't anyone around to see it, I still rather provide a very brief signal.

Why?


Well, for me there is a legal consideration. In Israel, the law requires that a signal be given at any lane change or, strictly speaking, at any change in road positioning. There is no exclusion for whether other road users can benefit from it or not.

There's also the issue of third-part perception. Being an advanced driver in a country with relatively lax driving standards means you lead by example and if you don't signal in the presence of other road users (even if your signal is meaningless to them) it only adds to the (much exaggerated as it is) impression that the drivers around here are sh*t.

So it is something of a "token" signal where other advanced drivers would provide none at all. Surely it can't hurt.
Last edited by Astraist on Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Horse
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Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby Horse » Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:24 am

Smeeagain wrote:Yes I understand and I get that, and Ive no idea of the official statistics, but I sometimes drive 50k miles in a year, and I rarely see anyone indicate on a joining slip, but equally I rarely see accidents where the joining slip meets lane 1, so it appears to me on the face of it that signalling/not signalling doesnt make a difference to safety/accidents. For clarification and the avoidance of confusion, Im not advocating not signalling, just raising the question.


Where do you see the most crashes?
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

Astraist
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Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby Astraist » Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:29 am

Well, to base one's values of signaling purely on when and where one personally observes most crashes is to base it on anecdotal evidence, at best.

Smeeagain
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Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby Smeeagain » Tue Sep 06, 2016 10:35 am

Yes of course it's anecdotal but I did start my post by saying I dont have official statistics, but I do do high mileage and see a lot. To date I've driven around 930,000 miles or so (based on the buy/sell mileages of cars I've owned).
Where do I see most accidents - specifically 4 areas. Lane 2/3 where 2 has misjudged speed of 3 and pulls out with/without indicating. Hard shoulder/lane 1 where lane 1 has drifted over and/or hard shoulder traffic hasnt got up to speed fast enough and again misjudges lane 1 traffic speed when pulling out with/without dignalling. Next is all lanes where traffic is to close to car infront/behind and not enough separation. And lastly where there is rubbernecking for an incident on the other carriageway.
In my anecdotal opinion :D

Rolyan
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Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby Rolyan » Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:47 am

Astraist wrote:
Rolyan wrote:
Astraist wrote:If the signal isn't meaningfull to anyone (even for purposes of conspiciousness) or if there isn't anyone around to see it, I still rather provide a very brief signal.

Why?


Well, for me there is a legal consideration. In Israel, the law requires that a signal be given at any lane change or, strictly speaking, at any change in road positioning. There is no exclusion for whether other road users can benefit from it or not.

There's also the issue of third-part perception. Being an advanced driver in a country with relatively lax driving standards means you lead by example and if you don't signal in the presence of other road users (even if your signal is meaningless to them) it only adds to the (much exaggerated as it is) impression that the drivers around here are sh*t.

So it is something of a "token" signal where other advanced drivers would provide none at all. Surely it can't hurt.

I had forgotten the Israel connection and I agree, it wont hurt if an advanced driver takes a planned and conscious decision to always signal.

In the UK, if you've seen that there is no one around to see it (as opposed to not having seen if someone is around, which is a different thing altogether) I'm not sure I can see the benefit of a very brief signal. However, I'm not really too much bothered by different attitudes amongst advanced drivers, they aren't the ones causing the problems generally. A poorly timed or missed signal is way way down on the list of things likely to cause me problems on the road, although I realise that those suffering from self righteous indignation at roundabouts may not agree.

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Bumblebee16
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Re: Smee's test - specifics

Postby Bumblebee16 » Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:36 am

1. Signalling too late on motorway exit -I signalled at the 200 yard marker . . . it was late.


As a general rule, I tend to signal at the 300m marker when my speed is 60/70mph.
If I am travelling at 40/50mph I signal at the 200m marker and less than 40mph I signal at the 100m marker.

Obviously, I would adapt the timing to suit the road conditions and any other information when doing my observations.


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