I am constantly waving at people (which may or may not see me) to indicate "your turn, go ahead". So, Instead of a passive receive only method of turn signals (current method). It would be nice to have a two dialog show clear intent that you allow the other car to go. For instance, consider you and two other cars converge at a four way stop, other cars ahead and to left. It become unclear as to who is go next and who is willing to wait. Usually with two cars lurching forward at the same time then everyone waving at each other signalling intent for to other car to go first.

If there were 3 lights on the front of each car, probably green (one center, one near each side similar to turn signals). These could indicate that you want the other cars to go. You would choose which lights to display. So in the prior example you could set Left and Ahead on, indicating that the other two cars should go and you will wait.

Of course these would be optional and only used when needed (less frequently then turn signals too). But could help for the socially awkward situations and prevent two people from pulling out at the same time.

The negative I could see is when two people turn on their go ahead signals at the same time. This system will only work if people have different levels of politeness.
-- tjhenry, Apr 20 2012

I've always wanted a "going straight" arrow on my hood. So when I'm approaching an intersection I can signal "going straight" so that nobody thinks I'm turning and goes right in front of me.

Seriously though, I think some type of car-to-car communication other than turn signals would greatly cut down on accidents.
-- DIYMatt, Apr 20 2012


Well, the signal for "not turning" is and always has been "not signalling at all". There's a hand signal for it though, which most drivers, in my experience, utterly fail to comprehend.
-- angel, Apr 20 2012


Yes, I would like a signal to emphasize the point. For instance, if I plan on going at a 4 way stop, I want to tell someone else "yes I am going now!"
-- DIYMatt, Apr 20 2012


No offense, but if you are // constantly waving at people ... to indicate "your turn, go ahead"//, it may be because you have the right of way and they're waiting for you. Here in Maine, where most people are pretty friendly and typically not in a hurry, 4-way stops can become very polite battlegrounds in the war between good-naturedness and traffic regulations.
-- Alterother, Apr 20 2012


Same here, but for some reason 'first come, first go' is too complicated for some drivers.
-- Alterother, Apr 20 2012


heheh, that just happened to me: myself and another driver were approaching a 4way; both of us slowed to a stop reeeeaaallly slowly to give the other the "first come first serve" token. The green light's a good idea [+], a red light might get confused between being a command for the other driver to stop or an indication that the vehicle's stopping.
-- FlyingToaster, Apr 20 2012


But if you have an 'after you' light then someone will come up with a 'no I insist, after you' light, and the next thing you know we're all driving around in a Monty Pythonesque ministry of silly stops sketch.

...(+)
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 21 2012


// the next thing you know we're all driving around in a Monty Pythonesque ministry of silly stops sketch//

and that's a bad thing?

If you could link that in with

1) A Macgregor tartan light that means "yes, I actually am indicating a right turn and I'm turning right, it's not that I just forget to turn it off after the last turn"

or

2) An alternating yellow/green light for "I'm not sure if I'm turning or not, it looks like the right corner, but the last time I went this way was at night..so I could be wrong".
-- not_morrison_rm, Apr 21 2012


//At a 4 way stop, the first to arrive goes first//

When I first mentioned 4 way stops to an Aussie neighbour who was a driving instructor he looked at me blankly and asked: "what's a 4-way stop?" When I then explained that whoever got there first went first and all the rest of the rules it sounded pretty chaotic even to my ears. But it works.
-- AusCan531, Apr 26 2012


No, what's chaotic is a _one-way_ stop, all-too-often found in my neck of the woods. That's a four-way intersection with only one stop sign; drivers coming from the other three directions can breeze right through. Why? I have no fu€#!ng clue.
-- Alterother, Apr 26 2012


Traffic circles are the way to go. Once we learned how to use the 3- and 4-lane roundabouts we encountered in England, we were stunned at how efficiently they moved heavy traffic through intersections. Even the ones with stoplights cycled much faster than signal intersections here in the States. We felt much more secure as motorcyclists, since everyone was going the same direction and each lane of traffic shifted at the same time. We weren't constantly looking out for 'Left-Turn Larry' (I guess in the UK that would be 'Right-Turn Ronnie') .
-- Alterother, Apr 26 2012


This makes me think that maybe all cars should be equipted with *traffic lights* of their own!
-- xandram, Apr 26 2012


//Traffic circles are the way to go//

Call them roundabouts. No, really. It's just much more fun than calling them "traffic circles". You've already called your major roads "freeways", which is much more positive than our "motorways". So, embrace "roundabout".
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 26 2012


[21], you said "Here in Washington State, the first person to the intersection has right of way. At a 4 way stop, the first to arrive goes first, then the rest go in clockwise order. "

So how do you deal with a situation where two drivers arrive at exactly the same time? Here in CA, the driver on the right has the right of way.

This fails to address instances where all four drivers arrive simultaneously. In that case, usually the two most clearheaded and assertive drivers going opposite directions go first, then the other two drivers go "Oh, that looks clever" and they follow suit.

I had somebody in a car with deeply tinted windows waving me on the other day. They may have been indicating that I could go first, or they could have been making obscene and threatening gestures - I couldn't tell which. A light such as referenced in this idea would have been useful (+).
-- normzone, Apr 26 2012


// Call them roundabouts //

I'd love to, as that's the term I prefer and clearly the more fun to say and hear. Sadly, many of my countrymen are not so worldly, and amongst those who even know what they are (a minority, I think) the term 'traffic circle' has taken hold. If only the concept would as well, but there are many who don't understand their function and others who proclaim that the cost and inconvenience of reconfiguring major intersections outweighs the benefit. They are, of course, bloody fucking WRONG, because once the thing's built the cost and inconvenience is over with, yet the benefit lasts until anti-gravity technology comes to every driveway and garage. But, we're Americans and subsequently have very short attention spans.

My hometown, which is actually a small city and is blessedly in another part of the state, replaced a cumbersome 3-way intersection with a single-lane roundabout a decade or so ago, saying that it was a 'trial' and more would come if it worked well. Predictably, it works very well, yet no more roundabouts--sorry, that's traffic circles--have appeared.

I live in a fiefdom where stop signs mean 'stop if another car is visible' and traffic signals are a magical wonder found only in far-away lands, so thankfully I don't really have to worry about this shit.
-- Alterother, Apr 26 2012


(marked-for-tagline)

"the benefit lasts until anti-gravity technology comes to every driveway and garage"
-- normzone, Apr 26 2012


I noticed that, in Italy, the right-of-way went to the driver first to cover his/her eyes with a forearm and accelerate violently through the intersection. It seemed to work remarkably well.
-- UnaBubba, Apr 27 2012


// You never heard of tarmac? //

Oh, I've heard of it. Even saw me a picture, once.
-- Alterother, Apr 27 2012


This would work good when telling pedestrians to go as well. I walk a lot and I often let a car pass before I cross the road (or else they just go on their own...). I don't tend to look at the driver (or if I do it isn't always easy to see them), so I don't know their intentions. This would make me feel a bit safer when crossing the road.
-- Quindora, Jul 07 2012



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