{"id":9154,"date":"2012-07-05T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T21:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=9154"},"modified":"2023-06-22T00:32:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T23:32:25","slug":"indicating-and-overtaking-obstructions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=9154","title":{"rendered":"Indicating And Overtaking (Obstructions)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was out on a lesson with a pupil recently and she was driving me mad, indicating for every parked car and stopped bus, all without looking in her mirrors. After we discussed it, it came out that she had been looking at “instructional” videos on the internet and these had told her to indicate every time. This is absolute rubbish, and if what she said was true \u2013 if ADIs really are instructing people to signal without thinking \u2013 they ought to be taken off the Register of Approved Driving Instructors before they indirectly end up killing someone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"No<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On that same lesson, the pupil also said that she\u2019d been told she only needed to indicate if she \u201cwas moving completely into another lane\u201d. That is also totally incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pupils can drive you nuts sometimes. You can bang your head against a wall and use every way of explaining something that you can think of, and they\u2019ll still keep doing it wrong. And yet one sniff of a YouTube video or Tweet from a friend who\u2019s just passed their test, and they\u2019ll have a shiny new habit that you’ve got to break them out of!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an aside on that, I was on a lesson with a guy who worked with one of my recently passed ex-pupils. He\u2019d asked my ex-pupil if he had any advice for the test, and was told \u201cyes, drive slowly\u201d. That same ex-pupil failed his test first time for \u2013 you guessed it – driving at 30mph on a NSL dual-carriageway! They\u2019re all experts when they pass!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But anyway. What are<\/strong> the guidelines for indicating when overtaking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re overtaking a moving vehicle then you should signal to move out<\/strong> (after checking it\u2019s safe, of course). At the very least, the driver you\u2019re overtaking needs to know what your intentions are, as well as those behind you and those coming towards you. Assuming that you\u2019re not cutting anyone up, you don\u2019t<\/strong> need to signal moving back in (but if you do it isn\u2019t the end of the world – just make sure you check that you\u2019re far enough ahead of the vehicle you passed to move in safely).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re overtaking parked vehicles or other obstructions, then you only need to indicate if necessary<\/strong>. You can only decide that by looking around you and assessing the situation, because every one is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cyclist<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What does that mean in practice? Well, if you\u2019re on a normal road, driving at a normal speed, with normal traffic following you at a normal distance, and normal traffic doing the same coming towards you, and there\u2019s plenty of space, you don\u2019t normally<\/strong> need to indicate to go past obstructions or parked cars and buses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you saw that the car behind you was getting closer then you might<\/strong> choose to signal as a reinforcement to your intention to overtake a parked vehicle. An alternative way of dealing with that might be to slow down if it looks like the car behind is going to overtake both you and the obstruction (yes, people can be that stupid). You have to interpret the situation at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example. If you had stopped behind a bus or other obstruction to wait for oncoming traffic to pass on a narrower road, as soon as you could see a gap coming you might<\/strong> choose to signal – either for the bus driver (who might be about to pull away) or the waiting cars behind (who might be thinking about overtaking both you and the bus). Again, you\u2019d interpret the situation at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And another example. If you saw a cyclist ahead and knew you were going to have to slow down or deviate to get by, a signal might<\/strong> be useful to drivers behind who may not be able to see the cyclist. Once more, you\u2019d interpret the situation at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, that\u2019s the key. If the signal is of use to someone then it is necessary. If it isn\u2019t of use – or is misleading – then it isn\u2019t necessary. Remember that unnecessary signals often are misleading: ask yourself how many times you\u2019ve seen someone signal, you\u2019ve thought that they were going to turn, and they haven\u2019t. That\u2019s why signalling for passing every obstacle is wrong. Signalling for every parked car, bus, cyclist, and road works makes them meaningless. then your signals become meaningless – completely misleading. The people following you wouldn’t know what the hell you were doing if your indicators were going on and off all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pigeon<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve passed your test, it\u2019s your choice whether or not you drive like that. But it isn\u2019t the right way. However, if you do it as a learner it could easily affect your chances of passing your test, and this is exactly what my pupil was doing – just mashing the indicator stalk without a thought for other road users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learners (and a lot of ADIs) often try to pigeon-hole things as a substitute for understanding them. That\u2019s where silly ideas like roundabout 12 o’clock rule<\/a> come from. The problem is that there are many things which simply \u201cdepend\u201d, and which cannot be conveniently pigeon-holed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in summary, you do not need to signal to go past parked cars and buses unless the signal is necessary<\/strong>. And you have to decide if it\u2019s necessary based on each separate event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n