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Dr. Delay

Don't be a knucklehead: Always use a turn signal

By LORRIE LYKINS
Published January 30, 2005

When do you use your turn signals? Only when you intend to turn? Never? I suspect that I'm not the only one who yearns for the days of my youth - when driver's ed instructors taught student drivers to use our turn signals to indicate we were turning and changing lanes.

At my high school, the driver's ed teacher was the school's bowling team coach, so those directional signal lessons usually came in the form of shouts, peppered with phrases such as "Watch it, knucklehead" or "Hey, goofball, pay attention!"

But no matter, we were a bunch of well-trained, turn-signal-using drivers of Pintos, Novas, Mavericks, Camaros and Trans-Ams (okay, the last two apply to the spoiled rich kids, but they too used their signals to indicate lane changes), thanks to Coach Hickman.

Maybe that's what some drivers need - a coach sitting in the front seat enthusiastically slapping the dashboard and shouting "Yes! Great parallel parking, buddy, way to merge!" Positive reinforcement is a wonderful thing. Too bad we don't get report cards praising us for driving responsibly.

Back to the use or neglect of turn signals, reader Debra Prewitt has an idea: She thinks we should stop calling them turn signals and rename them "vehicle movement indicators," or "VMIs" for short. Prewitt called me to say she is sick of people weaving in and out of traffic without indicating they are about to change lanes or waiting until they are halfway out of one lane and into another before using a signal of some sort.

As Prewitt noted, not only is it dangerous and irresponsible to change lanes with no warning to other drivers, it's also just plain rude (and knuckleheaded).

Stop signs are an issue that motorists, pedestrians and cyclists write to us about a lot. Some streets may seem ripe for a stop sign, and in a few cases I have received mail about recently, an additional stop sign in an area might seem to be the solution to a problem.

But stop signs and even traffic signals may cause more problems than they solve, especially if they are too close to each other. Impatient motorists may use detours to avoid traffic management devices they consider nuisances, increase their speed between them, or flat out ignore them. New stop signs or traffic signals are installed only after comprehensive studies of traffic patterns and volume are conducted. Creating more of a hazard by installing such devices is a consideration.

A reader in Seminole thinks additional stop signs are the solution to her concern about pedestrian traffic (which includes her elderly mother) between the Seminole Mall and 80th Avenue, which runs east and west. Many of the older residents living in Seminole Gardens cross 80th on foot to go to the movies or shop in the mall. One stop sign is in place at 80th and 112th Street and so is a pedestrian crosswalk. But the reader says motorists often don't stop at the stop sign and regularly exceed the posted speed limit of 25 mph. She thinks an additional stop sign within the same block would make the area safer.

It probably would not.

The onus here is on the pedestrians to walk and cross defensively.

Alertness and caution are as important on the part of pedestrians as they are on the part of motorists, and the presence of a traffic signal or stop sign doesn't guarantee safety, so always proceed with caution. And let's hope the sheriff's deputies patrolling the area watch for the stop sign runners.

More on parking. We recently discussed the ins and outs of parking in downtown St. Petersburg, which generated some feisty reader mail. Some vehement complainers insist they were only parking illegally for just a second or two, but they were cited anyway by the mean "meter maid" (the proper title is parking enforcement officers, by the way).

I have a hard time mustering sympathy for folks who violate parking regulations, then complain bitterly about being ticketed. The rules are the rules. It would be nice if we could skirt the rules and not get caught, but if everyone ignored the rules, thinking themselves somehow special people deserving of special treatment, it would be chaos.

Here is what Phil Oropesa of the city of St. Petersburg told me about the issuing of parking citations: "Parking enforcement officers are encouraged to use a great deal of discretion when writing any parking violation. They don't have a quota or get a percentage of the money from the parking ticket. Under normal circumstances, if the driver of the vehicle arrives during and even after the violation is issued, the officer has the discretion of "taking back' the violation and giving a verbal warning."

In other words, it pays to be civil. Throwing a curbside tantrum probably won't serve you well in such cases.

The bottom line is this: Read the signs on the curb. If it says No Parking-Loading Zone-Commercial Vehicles Only, it means you will receive a ticket if you park there and you are not in a commercial vehicle clearly marked as such. So pay your fine, park in a legally designated spot next time and move on with your life.

And if the ticket is hard to swallow, remember this, $7.50 of every parking fine collected on a citation issued in St. Petersburg goes to fully fund the School Crossing Guard Program, which provides crossing guards throughout St. Petersburg before and after school, so the children thank you.

Beginning tonight, crews will start resurfacing Dr. M.L. King Jr. Street N between 10th and Fourth avenues. The work should go on at night for one week. Afterward, this section of road will become two-way.

Until next week, happy and safe motoring!

Please share your traffic concerns, comments and questions with Dr. Delay via e-mail at docdelay@yahoo.com

[Last modified January 30, 2005, 00:10:19]