Maryland Drivers and Turn Signals

My friend and colleague, James Howard, asks in his blog: why don't Maryland drivers use turn signals? (The poor boy is originally from Ohio but then, I'm originally from Kansas, so perhaps that has no bearing.)
At any rate, I once formulated an hypothesis about Mayland drivers and the use of turn signals. In the DC suburbs here, a great many people work for the federal government; seemingly most in our city (Bowie) work for the National Security Agency. That's the background observation.
I figure most people around here, therefore, approach using turn signals on a need-to-know basis. It's part of their built-in outlook on life, and they view it as a security issue. Is there any reason that the driver behind or in front of you really needs to know that you will be turning?
Either that, or it's related to competitiveness in driving (which phenomenon is one of the foundations for my Theory of Driving Behavior, about which I'll write more someday, including my short list of Rules for Washington Driving). In short, the thought process goes like this: "This is my road, asshole, and no way am I going to give you any power over me by indicating that I'm about to turn."
As I write this, I realize that whichever effect is at the root of the behavior, it is basically anti-social, non-cooperative behavior. This is, of course, contrary to safe driving and smooth traffic flow for everyone.
(Memo to self: work on the game-theoretic analysis of anti-social driving behavior, which will demonstrate that most of the things that irritate us while driving are brought on by our own bad driving habits.)

Posted on October 19, 2004 at 10.37 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Splenetics

One Response

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  1. Written by Jennifer
    on Friday, 22 October 2004 at 13.06
    Permalink

    I like your theories. I for one am a stickler and always try to use my signal if I think it appropriate ;)

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