h a l f b a k e r yExpensive, difficult, slightly dangerous, not particularly effective... I'm on a roll.
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A bit of a rant, a problem solved:
The Rant:
Nothing is more annoying on the road than getting stuck behind someone on the roadway with their turn signal (left or right) continually on. You have no idea if they're going to change lanes, turn, or if they're telling you "I'm always right."
The
Solution:
A turn signal that automatically turns itself off after 3 minutes. Should be long enough to outlast even California stop lights.
(?) welcome the bling tone
http://www.halfbake...a/Car_20Bling-Tones
make existing noises more obvious rather than waiting for 3 minutes. [neilp, Oct 04 2004]
[link]
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Some recent vintage American cars have a "buzzer" that sounds if you leave the turn signal on for too long. Last time I rented a car I ran across this feature by accident on a long, gently curving highway ramp. "Why is it beeping?" |
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Some motion sensor would be required. If you've stopped at a busy junction and wait for ages to turn right, you don't want the indicator to suddenly switch off. |
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I think the solution you're looking for is thought-controlled indicators. |
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err.. don't normal cars have a click noise when the indicators are on ? surely this is more effective than a three minute off, as in the course of three minutes you're likely to have caused several small accidents.
Half baked with my Bling Tone enhancement. |
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Stupid people who foget to turn off their signals are also likely to be deaf. If you can't see a bright blinking light in your peripheral vision, nor hear a reasonably loud tick-tick noise what the hell are you doing driving? What's worse is, this means for all that time that guy your stuck behind on the highway has his turn signal on, he hasn't looked at his dash once to check speed etc. or else he'd have noticed the blinking light and turned it off. |
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I would have thought natural selection would have solved this problem through these kind of people having copious accidents. |
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As for solutions. my old nissan would automaticly turn off the signal when you turned the steering wheel back to straight (or a certain ammount in the opposite direct to which you indicated). |
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I had this one here ages ago. Mine only went to a minute, though. |
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Some motorbikes have a distance sensor which turns the signal off. |
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err.. or you could have a compass.. or GPS |
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personally i think it'd be a good idea to put small metal pads on the steering wheel, so if the turn signal is left on for a considerable distance without turning, it delivers minute electric shocks to the driver.. |
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That, or a timer relay in the signal that starts honking the horn in time with the signal. |
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all the cars that I've driven turn the signal off automatically when you straighten the wheel back up. |
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Yes, but if you've turned on your signal for some reason (ie. to change lanes, a turn not taken) then there isn't enough motion in the wheel to turn the signal off. Many cars I've driven have a very faint turn signal flash relay. I suspect those people who drive for miles with them on are:
1) deaf
2) possessing faint relays
3) have the stereo cranked up
4) Starbucks in hand, on the phone, one eye on the road, the other on the kids fighting in the back seat. |
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then it could modulate the volume in your stereo whilst the indicators are on ? |
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I think encouraging people to actually use their indicators in the first place is a bigger problem.
<rantette>Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the more expensive the car in front of you is, the less likely it is for the indicators to actually work.</rantette> |
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well, the signals do work fine, it's the drivers that need fixing.. i saw one bumper sticker. "Forget world peace, visualize using your turn signal!". |
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6 of one, half-dozen of the other i suppose.. which is the lesser of the two evils; the people that never use their signals, or the people that leave them on perpetually.. And then there's the 3rd group: The ones that turn the signal on AFTER they've made their turn, just to let you know where they came from. |
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I think 3 minuts is a way too long, maybe about 30 seconds max would be plenty of time. |
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