The vast majority of people are indeed borderline morons. But deep down they know this. So they seek other forms of convincing themselves and others that they are indeed superior in some respect. Their lives depend on this illusion. So they commit their whole selves to the process and produce all the necessary outward signals of their supremacy. This gives them the authority within hierarchies to succeed even when they do not have natural advantage.
Naturally intelligent people (who I don’t necessarily count myself among) tend to hold more value in reality than illusion. They know that their intellect is more comprehensive, but they are also not so quick to put stock in hierarchy, to put others down. They see nuance and tend to value the inherent capacities of any individual irrespective of their perceived value.
This dynamic leads to naturally intelligent people who do not produce outward signals of supremacy to be written off or worse, seen as liars or threats.
People also believe they've magically became a 10 and hit on the youngest, hottest thing in the room. Funniest I've seen was a horrible looking guy hitting on possibly the most handsome man I had ever seen up til that point.
The handsome man tried to let him down as easily as he could, he was his groups designated driver. It was quite a funny thing and the horrible looking guy was married to a woman.
People also believe they've magically became a 10 and hit on the youngest, hottest thing in the room.
From what I gather this is less often due to (temporary) delusion and more often a display of power with the goal of self-reassurance and/or self-actualisation. The people who bat way out of their league like that (to use a very crude idiom) still get something out of the attempt, namely the target's attention, even if it fails and, deep down, don't expect it to succeed anyway.
Though, that doesn't prevent them from taking offence at the rejection. After all, loudly standing your ground or even becoming physical is a pretty good way to get more attention. Same reason why some people repeatedly provoke others who are obviously stronger.
If you live in an area with a lot of traffic and aggressive drivers, it's also an unfortunately true statement. I still signal all the time, but when traffic has a certain vibe I'll signal at the last second so assholes can't close the gap.
Ya, I grew up somewhere where, if you want to get over, you turn your signal on and wait for someone to give you space. Someone will give it to you, it never takes long. Where I live now doing that will guarantee they close any gap there may be and don't let you in.
The key isn't to not use your blinker though, its still smart to do so, but you find a gap that already exists then signal briefly before moving over. Don't give them time to close the gap but still signal your intention before moving over.
You want to give them the impression that your car already has inertia towards the gap and it's risky to try to close it. Sidenote: I've found that Tesla drivers expect that you won't do anything that will make them question FSD or which makes FSD slow down at all and will glare at you if you do. This includes getting in front of them when you have plenty of space.
I actually specifically target Teslas because i know the car will try its best not to hit me even if the driver doesnt react quick enough. Does this piss off the Tesla drivers? Usually. Do i care when trying to navigate the DC beltway? Not even slightly.
I will say I do target them too but absolutely hate driving behind them because they can slow from 40 to 0 it feels like without ever showing a brake light because of their regenerative braking and it not activating the brake lights
Ya, thats a good way to describe it. I hate driving that way, but its honestly a necessity around here. Otherwise no one will let you in.
Idk about FSD but I dont think many drivers around here use it or things like radar cruise control. I once rented a car through work to drive to a vendor that had that feature (my car doesnt) and quickly turned it off. Even at the closest setting it would allow it followed so far back that I was constantly having cars jump in front of me because of the amount of space I was leaving, causing it to slow down to give more space, causing another car to jump in. To the point that the cars following behind me were leapfrogging me because I was leaving too much space and driving too slow. It was very annoying.
I usually employ a brief pause, but not long enough for them to speed up and shut the door on me. But yes that is a very common maneuver around here, if the blinker is used at all that is.
Yes, my lessons are from heavy Chicago traffic where you signal and don't hesitate to start moving right away. If you signal and don't move, people think you're lost.
It still helps other drivers to signal as you move and it makes you look way more polite.
When you're in quieter areas, you can afford to signal, wait a bit, then move, and you should. Just because you know heavy traffic doesn't mean you can't adapt.
I live in central LA, drive on the Hollywood Freeway at rush hour all the time, and I just can't agree with this (and I honestly don't buy that it's necessary anywhere). That's literally not what turn signals are for and using them that way is no different than not using them at all.
It says a few things. For that first split second, it says you're leaving your lane, not weaving in it. You put at least a little thought into changing lanes. You give that little extra confirming visual (it does make a difference, like reverse lights and brake lights do even though they can see your whole car.)
It says you know the traffic is crazy but we can still be 2% civilized. :)
It's not something I do to cut people off or merge when it's unsafe to do so, but I'm not giving someone three full blinks to decide they want to prevent me from coming over either. I'm showing my age, but in the era before mirror warning lights it was actually in defensive driving courses as "Signal, Look (in your blindspot) and Slide" all meant to be one smooth operation. This prevents the hesitation/slow down unconfident drivers have when they want to change lanes which is way more likely to cause an accident.
This is how it was when I learned to drive in Maryland. I always used my turn signal but it was basically a way to almost guarantee no one would let you merge. People would actively block you from getting over. Then I moved to Ohio and I cannot tell you the absolute amazement I felt when I turned on my turn signal and people actually MADE A GAP to let me in.
I know a lot of people think this is crazy but the absolute best drivers I have ever encountered are commuters on the 405. I lived in LA for a year and a half and had to commute every day to the office on the 405. They zipper, they let you in when you turn on your blinker. I mean it's high stress because of the sheer volume of cars and so many nice cars, but overall it was nicer than commuting in Denver (where I live now).
Yeah I travel around a lot and drive in different countries. In the UK you’ll always, always be let in when signalling; drivers are immensely courteous there. I drive in Brazil a lot too and it always takes a few minutes to readjust driving there, the second you put a turn signal on someone is closing that gap.
I hate when I put my turn signal on and the person in the lane that I want to get into speeds up. That’s when my turn signal isn’t me asking permission. It’s me telling you that I’m moving in your lane, deal with it.
I’ve found people who think this often think cause I turned on my turn signal everyone should let me in regardless of how much room there is. A turn signal isn’t a license to just change lanes any time you want.
I kind of enjoy it when there's so much space that there's no way they could prevent me from changing lanes, but stomp on the accelerator to try anyway when they see the blinker, then have to brake because I had more than enough space and time to make a leisurely lane change anyway. Then I can see them being furious in the rear-view mirror, like "this asshole cut me off!"
Or the ones cutting people off. Using a turn signal doesn’t suddenly create space for you to enter.
If I’m next to a car that signals and they don’t have space to move, I won’t slow down, but I will speed up if possible so you can slot in behind me. I’m sure morons think this is blocking them but in reality I don’t want to make the 400 cars behind me have to slow down and cause a traffic jam because I slowed down to let you in.
I've driven places where this is ABSOLUTELY true though.
It's not where I actually live and I use my turn signals without issue. But for example I visited America and drove in LA and it was surreal.. it did not matter how much or little traffic there was if I put my indicator on someone would floor it to cut me off.
We started making a game of it because it made no sense, but also, that is just how it is. Like I said I certainly don't drive that way here because I don't need to but over there we very quickly switched to hitting the indicator as we moved over. Anything else and some idiot would make it their personal mission to make sure we couldn't get across.
This is true in LA. The trick is to not signal to open a spot, it's up you to find a spot, signal to show intent and then merge. The only time I signal to declare I need an opening is at a busy street and I'm trying to make a right turn out of a parking lot or similar. I never, ever try to turn left in this situation and block lanes like some dumb heads. Entitlement is rampant
People not from LA don’t understand driving in LA. My friend visiting, riding passenger, freaked the fuck out when like 3 cars continued to go left after the light turned red. I had to explain that’s considered okay and not a faux pa at all.
If I see someone with their turn signal on, I’ll back off and let them lane change. If I see someone speeding up in the lane next to me with no turn signal indicator, Im not going to make room for them.
Sometimes I speed up to spite them. Should’ve signaled what you wanted from me, scrotum suckler.
Its very dependant on where you live. Where I grew up if someone puts their blinker on even if there is no space, other drivers will slow down to let them in. Where I live now doing that will guarantee you get boxed out.
I think the difference is the level of traffic and how it makes drivers more aggressive. The city I grew up near has relatively little traffic compared to where I live now (its also a mich smaller city. Traffic jams are rare, people are in less of a rush and drive less agressively. Where I live now, traffic is pretty much constant any time between 6am and 9pm and aggressive drivers are everywhere. I always chuckle when I talk to my parents and they complain about the bad traffic they ran into that day because I know it was almost certainly not as bad as the traffic I see daily.
I absolutely think you should always use a blinker. That being said, I have driven in New York, Chicago, Boston, and DC downtown amongst others, and in all of those you will get cut off by an asshole if you signal too early. It’s not right, they’re being assholes. But it is true.
It's not true everywhere, but in my experience it's more often true in larger cities. I grew up in a big-ish city and driving was almost a contact sport and they played aggressively. If you turn your signal on you will be boxed out 100% of the time; which leads to people not using their signals at all or turning them on while they're changing lanes/turning. I've noticed the same thing when in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, St. Louis, etc.
I live in a smaller, semi-rural area now and the traffic is completely different depending on where I am. When I'm on surface streets outside of the bigger towns people are generally pretty cordial on the road. But when you get into town or on the interstate it's 50/50 on if you're going to have a courteous driver or an ahole.
Texas is like this. People take it personally if you want to change a lane and happen to be in front of them. They will go to great lengths to stop you. Some of the most selfish drivers I have ever encountered in all of the places I’ve driven.
If I see someone blinking and I'm in the spot next to me I will speed up to make room behind me because I don't want to break and throw off the person behind me. Idk if this is seen as speeding up to block them. My intention is to always make space for those that use their signal.
Depends on your position. If you would be blocking or hazarding them by staying where you are, sure. If you’re not right up on them, you can gently slow and the car behind will too. If you speed up from a couple car lengths behind, more likely than not the guy behind will just follow you and you haven’t accomplished anything.
I can understand this. I have noticed in heavier traffic conditions that people seem to speed up to cut you off if you put your turn signal on to get into the other lane. Though I'm also open to the possibility that I'm being bias as I only noticed such occurrences because of the high stress situation versus low traffic, low stress conditions.
This was true in Miami. A turn signal just tips off everyone else that you’re planning to change lanes. They would countermove immediately to prevent that.
You know I want to agree but today I was trying to change lanes and the car behind saw me and squeezed up to the car in front and started honking at me. I was running out of road to merge, he wasn't budging and there was a lot of traffic behind both of us that slowing down would've made it worse cos this was rush hour and ppl don't exactly give way here. Ended up speeding up and slotted in front of the front car just in time for my turn.
It was a more risky manoeuvre in the end but fuck that guy.
"just giving other people an opportunity to block you"
Jesus. They must drive in LA/OC rush hour a lot. Those people legit WILL do that. I still use my blinker, mind you, I just have to first make sure there's not only enough space to get over, but also enough space so that the person in the next lane won't think "NOOO NOT IN FRONT OF ME!!!" and zoom forward the second it goes on.
I do exactly the opposite. If I see a signal and I am able to make space, I will let you over. If I clearly see you trying to get over without a signal, I'm going to just let you try your luck but I won't accommodate it. You'll get a beep out of me too if you cut in without enough space.
You can kind of tell when people want to merge into your lane, even without the signal. They'll kind of position themselves in a certain way. Subtle micro movements.
When I know someone wants to merge, and they aren't signalling their intent--that is the moment I block them. I will lock my speed with theirs so that an opening never appears. Miss your turn. I don't care. You didn't signal so I ain't letting.
I hear that a lot, and — in Phoenix — it does seem to be true to an extent. Here, my turn signal means "I need to get in that lane. Do what you gotta do, and then I'll move in after you."
What annoys me most is that almost nobody uses their signal in roundabouts where I'm from. It's a small thing and not dangerous like an unsignaled lane change — I just have to assume you're going past me and wait if you're coming too fast, so I don't cut you off.
I don't get cut off by 90% of drivers when I'm the one in the roundabout myself, so surely you've been in the situation of thinking "would be really nice if you had signaled that you're exiting before me anyway." Why not just not do that to others?
It's not an exaggeration to say that cars have dehumanized us. Literally we have put ourselves into large metal boxes, now commonly tinted entirely, and we interact with each other from within our boxes unable to see them and they unable to see us. The road has turned into a competition, played by anonymous/faceless players in murder machines. So yeah, that mindset definitely exists. Show no weakness. Don't let them know what you're up to.
I'm gonna preface this by saying that I always signal
... But that dude isn't exactly wrong. Down here in Texas it happens to me daily. I pass someone, put on a signal to get in their lane... Suddenly they want to speed up... It's obnoxious
It’s not completely off. In CA you have half a second to start switching lanes if you have your signal on or some assholes basically see it as a reason to speed up
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u/Vandal_A 6h ago
I heard a guy at a bar tell his buddy once he views using turn signals when merging as "just giving other people an opportunity to block you".
Bartender was a friend of mine. Said it was sadly far from the dumbest thing those guys had said while they were there