Dear turn signal users: (Pittsburgh: license, renewal, train)

[little eggplant]

Hey, be grateful you don't live up here in New England - NO ONE uses turn signals here! Drives me craaaaaaazy. I am originally from Pgh and for the past 10 years I have had to deal with people casually drifting into other lanes, slamming on their brakes all of a sudden and turning with no signal, lane changing willy-nilly, etc etc etc....people even look at me like I'm nuts when I use my signals. Its like they don't know that little lever exists on their steering column.

[hnsq]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Yep, that's it. If we could just be like Somalia, where nobody is coddling the citizens with driving regulations, our economy would be going gangbusters.

And of course the economic crisis has nothing to do with an underregulated financial industry that created a huge housing bubble, then fell like a house of cards when the housing bubble burst. Nope, it was that darn DMV!



Your Post #31 came before your Post #36. That is kinda how the numbering works.

Sure chief. You need to learn some things about economics. You DO realize that recessions are a natural part of a healthy economic system, and that by allowing people who overextended themselves on mortgages they couldn't afford to lose their houses the economy would right itself. The only true free market economies in the world existed around the time of the American and British industrial revolutions, two of the most productive and high-growth times in the history of those countries. Excessive regulation has come into play since then. Please do your research before talking down to me about economics.

If someone wants to turn without a turn signal, go ahead! If you are not paying attention and don't see someone's car GOING A DIFFERENT DIRECTION, then you have bigger problems to deal with. mmmkay buddy?

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by little eggplant

Hey, be grateful you don't live up here in New England - NO ONE uses turn signals here! Drives me craaaaaaazy. I am originally from Pgh and for the past 10 years I have had to deal with people casually drifting into other lanes, slamming on their brakes all of a sudden and turning with no signal, lane changing willy-nilly, etc etc etc....people even look at me like I'm nuts when I use my signals. Its like they don't know that little lever exists on their steering column.

It never used to be like that either. I drove in CT last Fall and I'll say it still is not as bad as driving around the KC area. What you describe above is also a chronic problem in the KC area.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by hnsq

You DO realize that recessions are a natural part of a healthy economic system . . . .

As are massive credit/asset bubbles?

The only true free market economies in the world existed around the time of the American and British industrial revolutions, two of the most productive and high-growth times in the history of those countries.

Those weren't free market economies, and in any event the growth rates they experienced are typical of industrializing economies (see, e.g., China in recent years).

Excessive regulation has come into play since then.

Regulation comes and goes. We stepped up regulation of the financial industry during the Great Depression, and there were no major financial system crises for the next several decades. Then starting in the late 1970s, we started deregulating the financial industry, and we started experiencing a series of worse and worse financial systems crises, leading to this last one.

I'm sure that is all coincidental, however.

If someone wants to turn without a turn signal, go ahead! If you are not paying attention and don't see someone's car GOING A DIFFERENT DIRECTION, then you have bigger problems to deal with. mmmkay buddy?

And if someone wants to fire a gun randomly into a crowd, go ahead! It is your own damn fault if you don't get your head out of the way. mmmkay.

[hnsq]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

As are massive credit/asset bubbles?



Those weren't free market economies, and in any event the growth rates they experienced are typical of industrializing economies (see, e.g., China in recent years).



Regulation comes and goes. We stepped up regulation of the financial industry during the Great Depression, and there were no major financial system crises for the next several decades. Then starting in the late 1970s, we started deregulating the financial industry, and we started experiencing a series of worse and worse financial systems crises, leading to this last one.

I'm sure that is all coincidental, however.



And if someone wants to fire a gun randomly into a crowd, go ahead! It is your own damn fault if you don't get your head out of the way. mmmkay.

The IRs in America/England were nothing like the current state of China...I am not sure how you can make that claim. A financial crisis due to regulation does not happen immediately. The consequences of economic policy take a long time to be realized. The economic crisis due to the regulation of retirement (aka, Social Security) is looming. It might not happen for another 30 years or so, but it will happen. Economic policy needs to be more forward thinking than what saves us money at the current moment. You exemplify a problem in policy making - looking only to what solves current issues, rather than looking to what can create a sustainable system.

And the fact that you would claim that shooting into a crowd is equal to sitting at a traffic light without a turn signal on is nothing short of offensive. Do you actually read what you post? good lord.

[airwair]

Seriously? It's our fault if we cause an accident as a result of someone who didn't use their turn signal because we're idiots if we "didn't see the car going in a different direction"?

That has to be one of the most ignorant statements I've ever heard.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by hnsq

The IRs in America/England were nothing like the current state of China...I am not sure how you can make that claim.

Obviously they are in different periods and in different places and so were different in various ways, but basically you are still talking about shifting from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. That typically corresponds with very rapid growth rates.

A financial crisis due to regulation does not happen immediately. The consequences of economic policy take a long time to be realized.

That's a convenient fudge. History doesn't look the way your theory says it should look, but that can be explained by decades-long delays in action, that just happen to push the predicted effects out into a periods of deregulation. Nothing ad hoc about that.

The economic crisis due to the regulation of retirement (aka, Social Security) is looming. It might not happen for another 30 years or so, but it will happen.

There is nothing in particular wrong with Social Security that minor tweaks can't fix (and even those may prove unnecessary).

Now the crisis caused by people underfunding their 401Ks--man, that is going to be brutal.

You exemplify a problem in policy making - looking only to what solves current issues, rather than looking to what can create a sustainable system.

We've always been wrong in the past, but we really believe that someday we will be right, so that is why you should listen to us right now!

And the fact that you would claim that shooting into a crowd is equal to sitting at a traffic light without a turn signal on is nothing short of offensive. Do you actually read what you post? good lord.

You're the one who is arguing that it is OK to operate multi-ton high-speed vehicles in a reckless matter, and that is up to everyone else to watch out for you or they deserve what they get. good lord indeed.

[huphollandhup]

My reason for originally posting was simply to vent about something I encounter every day. Other than honking at the late signal user (which probably just confuses them) there is no real way to let someone know my frustration.
To reiterate, and this happens daily: I'm waiting at a traffic light in the left lane. The car in front of me does not have its turn signal on. The light turns green and surprise, the person then indicates he/she wants to go left by turning on the left turn signal. I'm left waiting as cars in the right lane proceed, followed by everyone else behind my who decides to follow suit. If I had known that the person was intending to turn left, I would have chosen the right lane. And if you're going to tell me to simply take the right lane, consider the fact that buses use them and stop frequently, so that's not always the best option, either.
It's an annoyance for the most part, and far from the worst thing that can occur on a roadway or otherwise. But when it happens with the frequency I've experienced, it can really grate on a person.

[Yac]

Folks, remember this thread is about people not using turn signals, not about the recession.
Yac.

[marktheshark]

A perfect example of huphollandhup's complaint is in the North Hills. When you are heading south on Rt.8, there is an intersection with West Hardies Road, northern Hampton Twp. People making the left often forget the turn signal to turn left onto West Hardies Road. Should this happen, a southbound driver could easily sit through at least one light, as the right lane going southbound can be clogged with traffic. Anyone familiar with this area might be able to relate.

In addition, using a turn signal isn't a courtesy, and failure to do so can lead to a traffic citation.