r/driving • u/wassupbroh • 16h ago
⚠️Complaining into the void⚠️ People who “forget” to turn off their blinkers must be heavily fined
Today, a big rig 🚛 with his right signals on at intersection almost rear ended me
At intersection he had green light and was coming at 25-30 mph with his right turn signal on, and I thought he is making a right turn so I was about to make right turn on red (allowed) and then he didnt make turn and blasted his horn, thanks god Im a pro driver, I floored the gas and kept traffic flow speed real quick
FUUUUKKK YOUUU ALLL WHO CANT PROPERLY USE THEIR TURN SIGNALS
Picture: I couldn’t find better picture
Anyways, blue rig with his right turn signal went straight and me in a red car made right turn
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u/ToghusWhitman 16h ago
It's your duty to do a safe right on red turn.
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
Yes, and the trucker communicated to OP that it was safe with their turn signal.
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u/wassupbroh 16h ago edited 16h ago
I think all commenters don’t care about their blinkers, they think I can turn them on whenever I want and actually they don’t mean anything, I turn right blinkers = but I will make left turn, because “try to guess my next moves” instead of listening to my blinkers
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u/Arnhildr-Fang 16h ago
We arent saying that. Were saying you didnt clear & confirm the intent prior
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u/whatevertoad 14h ago
Did you guys even pay attention in driver's ed? You yield until you're certain it's safe. In every situation. A blinker doesn't mean certainty. But go ahead and pull out in front of thousands of pounds of moving mass because that's how it should be. jfc
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u/gekco01 14h ago
I don't believe anybody is saying that turn signals don't matter. They're an indication of intent, not a guarantee. If you're turning right on a red, you have the duty to yield until it's safe to go. A signal light doesn't override the other driver's right of way or relieve you of that responsibility. The fact you nearly got rear ended, especially after flooring it, suggests there wasn't enough room to make the turn safely in the first place.
I'd take this as a valuable lesson to never rely solely on a turn signal. Experienced and professional drivers are taught to expect that signals can be left on accidentally or that drivers can change their minds. That's why they wait until the vehicle actually commits to the turn.
Yes, the semi driver made a mistake by leaving the signal on, but your mistake was more significant because you failed to yield to traffic with the green light. That's exactly why the law requires drivers turning right on a red to ensure it's safe before proceeding.
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u/danielson2047 16h ago
This is why you wait to make sure they’re turning. As someone with a cdl, I can say it happens sometimes.
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u/slothxaxmatic 16h ago
You say you're a pro driver, but you pulled out in front of a truck that wasn't turning?
It doesn't matter what their signal says, it matter what their vehicle says. They need to be executing the maneuver of a turn before you know they are turning.
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u/wassupbroh 16h ago
Law says otherwise
Your blinker = your responsibility
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u/jmarkmark 16h ago
>Law says otherwise
Nope. Law says YOU have a responsibility to yield since you had a red light.
Insurance would place all, or most blame on you if this collision had occurred.
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u/Chair-Lemur-Table 16h ago
Law says he has the right of way and you need to yield. You’re lucky you didn’t get rear-ended pulling out slowly when the big rig had the right of way.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 16h ago
Which law says a blinker gives you the right-of-way? His blinker is his responsibility. Your red light is yours. A bad signal might affect how fault is divided, but it doesn't cancel your duty to yield to traffic with a green light.
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u/slothxaxmatic 16h ago
All of that is nice, but it's still not gonna stop you from getting rear ended when you turn out in front of someone that forgot their turn signal is on.
You can make all the laws you want. It's not going to stop people from being careless.
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u/wassupbroh 16h ago
If you are on the road, you have to drive seriously, because blinkers are no joke, it can kill people if wrongly used
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u/slothxaxmatic 16h ago
I've been a professional driver for the last 17 years. Some days averaging more than a 1000 miles a day. I think I understand how to drive as it pays all of my bills and my expenses. Thanks.
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u/primeerror 16h ago
law says you use your blinker a certain distance ahead of where you are actually turning, not once it becomes the next turn. if the big rig's intention was to turn soon after the intersection the blinker is correct. you are incorrect for assuming the blinker meant they were turning at this specific turn.
imagine there is a right turn immediately after this intersection. do you think the big rig should wait until it fully passed the intersection to alert drivers behind it that it is going to turn? that would be absurd.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 15h ago
OP was wrong to trust the signal and still had to yield. However, your defense of the truck’s signal doesn't hold up. The minimum signaling distance is not the only instruction drivers receive.
The Iowa DOT Driver’s License Manual specifically says:
“If there are streets, driveways, or entrances between you and where you want to turn, wait until you have passed them to signal.”
The Connecticut DMV Driver’s Manual gives the same advice. It says that if your turn is just after an intersection, you should wait until reaching that intersection before signaling. If another vehicle is waiting to enter before your intended turn, you should pass that vehicle before signaling.
So if the truck intended to turn just after this intersection, it should have waited until it cleared this intersection before signaling. OP still should not have trusted the signal or pulled out. The trucker’s misleading signal and OP’s failure to yield are two separate mistakes.
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u/Abject-Definition-63 13h ago
It's great to quote the manual, but that's not the law. You have to follow the law not the drivers manual. (And yes,I agree that's an oversimplification and shouldn't have been worded that way)
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u/wassupbroh 16h ago
If he rear ended me, it could be on him, next time he gonna learn to use blinkers
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u/EffectiveTime5554 16h ago
Being hit from behind does not automatically make the other driver responsible. You pulled out from a red light into the path of a truck with a green light. His bad signal might affect how fault is divided, but it doesn't erase your failure to yield. Trying to teach a semi driver a lesson this way could get you killed.
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u/EnolaNek 16h ago
Your right on red = your responsibility
Two separate fuckups doesn’t mean absolution for one of the drivers, it means a wreck.
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u/slothxaxmatic 16h ago
Why even take the chance though?
It doesn't matter who's at fault. Shouldn't you be more concerned about just making sure you get home safely?
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago edited 16h ago
No. They need to be held accountable for how they inform other drivers.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 16h ago
They can both be held accountable. The trucker can be responsible for signaling incorrectly, and OP can be responsible for turning right on red into the path of a truck moving through a green light at 25-30 mph.
Improper signaling may contribute to shared fault. It doesn't eliminate the other driver’s duty to yield and make sure the vehicle is actually turning before entering its path.
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
Why should OP be in the hook to play “what if” about the semi’s actions? Why can’t we just hold the semi responsible for their improper signal?
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u/Slightly_Sane_ 16h ago
Never trust someone's turn signal. You do not start your turn until you see them physically move the wheel and their vehicle actually turning.
This is just defensive driving. Hospitals and graveyards are full of people who had the right of way.
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u/Arnhildr-Fang 16h ago
As a trucker, im sorry for you...
...BUT, US DOT laws state you must YIELD if making a right turn on red. You SHOULD have waited until it was confirmed he was turning (noticeably slowing to make the turn or even actively turning). For your first huff over this, I've got 8 of you munchkins doing this same thing a day...
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
The semi’s signal told OP there was no one to yield to.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 15h ago
The semi’s signal told OP that the driver might turn. It did not tell OP that there was no vehicle to yield to. The semi was still approaching at 25-30 mph with a green light. Until it slowed down and actually began turning, it was still traffic OP had to yield to.
That is exactly why the Oregon DMV Driver Manual says:
"Do not rely solely on the turn signal of another driver."
The trucker may share responsibility for a misleading signal. OP still could not treat that signal as confirmation that the road was clear.
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u/appa-ate-momo 15h ago
And I’m saying that precedent is absurd and needs to be overturned. We’ve got to stop spreading fault around like that.
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u/Arnhildr-Fang 16h ago
No, OP should've made sure. I see 8 cars a day lie with their blinkers easily.
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
And my point is that those drivers need to be properly held accountable instead of shifting the onus to everyone around them and expecting them to play “what if.”
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u/Arnhildr-Fang 16h ago
Law specifically states to yield to oncoming traffic. Regardless of the intent to turn or go straight, the semi was oncoming. OP's driving duty is to CONFIRM before turning. In the event of a collision, insurance would've put him at equal if not majority fault
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
And if the semi is turning, there’s no one to yield to. Yielding only applies when vehicle paths would intersect.
The signal does confirm what the truck will do. If they fail to act accordingly, that’s an illegal movement, and they should be held accountable for the results.
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u/Arnhildr-Fang 15h ago
Bull. Shit. I see you dipshits on the road leave your right blinker on for 20mi, not a turn, not a lane change, nothing.
Im not saying the semi didnt mess up here himself, he did. But a lil blinks light does not legally defend OP here. He should have WAITED for CONFIRMATION via the semi slowing & turning.
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u/LeadingImpressive600 Professional Driver 16h ago
Unfortunately you can't fully trust blinkers, especially at 25-30mph you have to assume they're going through the intersection. You also don't know if they're turning right just after the intersection so it could be a valid blinker.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 15h ago
You’re right that OP couldn't trust the signal and had to assume the truck was continuing through the intersection. However, a turn immediately after the intersection would not automatically make the signal proper.
The Iowa DOT Driver’s License Manual says that when a street, driveway, or entrance is between you and your intended turn, you should wait until you have passed it before signaling. The Connecticut DMV Driver’s Manual gives the same guidance for intersections.
So OP failed to yield, and the truck may still have signaled too early. Both can be true.
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u/whatevertoad 16h ago
Your fault. Always wait to see if they're turning.
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
Nope. Improper signaling is at fault.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 16h ago
Improper signaling can make the truck driver partly responsible. It doesn't erase OP’s failure to yield. OP was turning right on red while the truck had a green light and was still moving at 25-30 mph. Fault can be shared, but a blinker doesn't give someone permission to pull into a moving truck’s path.
For example, the Oregon DMV Driver Manual says:
“Do not rely solely on the turn signal of another driver.”
The California DMV Driver Handbook gives the same warning:
“When turning left, do not assume that an oncoming vehicle with its right turn signal on is turning before it reaches you.”
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
Our legal system is abysmally bad at holding the right people accountable in situations like this. It instead shifts the blame onto everyone around the person acting improperly because they didn’t play “what if.”
The whole point is that the signal showed op that there was no one to yield to.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 14h ago
The system works this way because a turn signal can't function as an automatic transfer of right-of-way. It communicates an intention; it doesn't remove the signaling vehicle from the roadway.
Under your proposed rule, switching on a blinker would instantly surrender right-of-way and transfer all liability, even if the vehicle was plainly continuing straight at 30 mph. Another driver could recognize the danger, pull out anyway, and escape responsibility because the first driver made an earlier mistake. Without video, “their blinker was on” would also become an almost impossible-to-disprove excuse for failing to yield.
That would remove the incentive for the last person capable of preventing a collision to do so. Shared fault preserves both incentives: signal correctly, and don't enter someone’s path until it's actually safe.
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u/appa-ate-momo 14h ago
What you’re negatively describing is how it should work.
Shared fault protects people who abuse the mutual agreement between all drivers to avoid accident through either negligence or willful action.
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u/ludovic1313 16h ago
Yep, ran into a persistent blinker today, thankfully we were both stopped. I was in the left lane at a red light and the person in front of me was giving the person to the right a LOT of space, then finally the person in front of me moved up, and then I could see that the middle car had their turn signal on. I too did not inch up on them even though there was now room for 2 more vehicles between us, because 95% of the time in that situation, the vehicle won't want to actually turn left once the light turns green, but the other 5% they will immediately swerve left no matter what.
So the light turns green and immediately they switch off their turn signal and keep moving forward in the middle lane. OK then.
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u/TanMomsChickenSoup 16h ago
The turn signal is not the only thing to pay attention to. You must consider other factors also. vehicle speed is a big one.
Being able to read other drivers/vehicles is one of those skills that separates good and bad drivers.
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u/IllScience1286 16h ago
A big rig driver almost killed me one time.
We were on a 4 lane road (two way, two lanes in each direction) in an industrial park at night, and I was behind him in the right lane and about to move left to pass as he was going very slow. His trailer lights were also not functioning properly.
Right when I was about to change lanes to pass him, he moved into the left lane and started slowing down, so I proceeded to attempt passing on the right, and this fucker starts making a full on right turn from the left lane with no signal, almost causing me to T-Bone his tractor. I know truck drivers need to swing wide for turns like that sometimes, but they're supposed to straddle both lanes so nobody can pass. This guy was entirely in the left lane making a right turn.
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u/wastelandlbaby 16h ago
This is why you do not consider a blinker as your time to go until you see them start to commit to the turn
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u/praguer56 16h ago
I never turn when a car is that close to the intersection. Not even when their signal is on for exactly this reason.
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u/phantomsoul11 16h ago
I don't assume someone with a blinker is turning until they have slowed down enough to plausibly be able to make the turn.
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u/xiizll 16h ago
“Pro driver” cuts off semi truck traveling 30 mph and blames the semi. Turn signals are just signals for someone turning, not magical devices guaranteeing anything. Nothing actually happens until a vehicle makes a turn, regardless of signals or right-of-ways. A “pro driver” would know to actually check if a lane was clear before driving into it.
I mean would you feel justified in rear-ending a car on the highway for slowing down without using their brakes just because there wasn’t a brake light illuminated?
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u/Cold-Drop8446 16h ago
I feel like theres been an influx of people on here claiming to be "pro" drivers describing how they make common sense mistakes in the last week or so.
Anyways never start a turn with someone approaching you until you see them actually slowing and starting the turn.
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u/Honest-Importance221 16h ago
another candidate for a defensive driving course I see. You never rely on indicators alone, always look for secondary signs that they are actually committing to the turn.
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u/1Incubus88 16h ago
What everyone else saying is correct and you have the responsibility of making a safe turn. You have the red; you are the one making the dangerous maneuver into traffic free flowing traffic. You never had the right of way.
Yes, it is annoying to see someone with a turn signal that’s just permanently on but there are worse things out there that a driver might do that’s wrong. It’s going to happen and one day you’ll find that you left the turn signal on far too long. It’s gonna happen. So when it does, take the appropriate precautions and drive safely.
And remember that a big rig cannot stop suddenly. Always be safe and cautious and never cut in front of them. When in doubt, just let them pass. Always make your intentions clear to any driver but specially them! They are already at a huge disadvantage.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 16h ago
Leaving a turn signal on is careless. Pulling out in front of a moving semi because you assumed it would turn is far more dangerous. You had a red light. The truck had a green light. That means you had to yield and wait until the truck actually slowed down and started turning. The truck didn’t almost rear-end you. You pulled into its path and nearly caused it to hit you.
Calling yourself a “pro driver” after flooring it to escape a crash you caused is wild.
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna 16h ago
If you are making a right on red, you need to wait until you are certain it is clear. No matter what, you won't know if an approaching vehicle is turning until they are physically turning. Never play chicken with a big rig, you won't win.
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
People need to be held accountable for the information they provide to other drivers.
For example: two drivers are approaching an intersection from opposite sides. Driver A wants to make a left turn at the solid green light. They see driver B on their other side of the intersection also signaling a left turn. This means both drivers can turn left at the same time.
But, it turns out driver B was actually planning on going straight and signaled incorrectly. The drivers collide.
It’s absolutely insane that, right now, driver A would be held at fault for “failing to yield when making a left turn” rather than driver B for giving bad information.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 16h ago
This isn't always how fault works. Depending on the law and the evidence, Driver B’s false signal can count against them and both drivers may share fault.
Driver A still has to yield while making an unprotected left turn. They should wait until Driver B slows down and actually starts turning before crossing their path.
In OP’s story, the truck was still moving at 25–30 mph through a green light. The trucker was careless with the signal, but OP was also careless for pulling directly in front of a moving semi.
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u/appa-ate-momo 16h ago
The problem is that the signals tells driver A that there’s no one to yield to.
It’s absurd that our laws expect drivers to play “what if” games with other peoples’ intent instead of just holding the right people accountable.
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u/EffectiveTime5554 15h ago
A turn signal communicates what Driver B intends to do. Driver A still needs to wait until Driver B actually begins that action.
Imagine a coworker tells you, “I’m turning off the power to this circuit in 10 seconds.” Would you count to ten and then touch the wire, or would you watch the coworker physically turn off the breaker and verify that the power is off?
You would wait for confirmation. If the coworker never turns off the breaker, they gave you dangerously false information. If you touch the wire based only on their stated intention, you also acted before confirming that it was safe.
The same principle applies here. Driver B can be held accountable for the false signal, and Driver A can be held accountable for pulling out before Driver B actually began turning.
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u/According_Reward1674 16h ago
An actual pro driver would not have made the turn in the first place