…i always use my signals to unambiguously communicate intent; the only time i’ve been embarrassed is after carrying that habit onto the track, but it’s tough to break…

…my wife uses her signals to ask permission, which i feel can cause confusion, but she feels the same way about me…

no because i am an uncouth so and so

I use it 100% of the time when the rules of traffic prompts me to use it.

Within a small single-lane housing area: I blink.

When exiting my driveway and the road reaches a dead end 100 meters in the one direction, so it should be very obvious which way I’ll go: I blink.

The roundabout in town which is so tiny that it looks more like an intersection, and when heading straight through it: I blink.

It’s so much better to have a habit of blinking and making unambiguous signals than to forget it. It helps with the flow of traffic and probably lets everyone get where they need to go quicker.

First thing: the blinkers are for your own safety, but they’re also for other people’s safety and to help improve the flow of traffic (for example, if somebody waiting at a T-junction to go into your lane sees in a timely fashion that you’re going to exit at the junction, they’ll know earlier they can come in rather than have to wait to see what you actually do and this kind of thing times many such situations adds up to better traffic flow).

Second thing: it’s a lot easier and cognitively simpler to just do it without thinking rather than considering the situation to see if you should do it or not and a good mental trigger point to train that as an instinctive movement is “if I’m going to turn out of my lane, I’ll turn the blinker on for the side I’m turning to” - so, turning of the road -> blinker on that side; changing lane -> blinker on the side I’m moving to; going to stop and park on a side of the road -> blinker on that side.

Personally I just use the blinkers for all such situations and don’t even have to think about it, and as for the first point I made, that just informs how early I do it (I’ve trained myself to do it quite a bit before I turn in order to help with traffic flow). This does mean that at times I’ll use the blinkers when there is nobody else around to actually use that information, simply because I’m not actually thinking about “should I do it or should I not?” I’m just unthinkingly executing a trained impulse. Never had any problems with excessive wear and tear of blinker lights and since I don’t need to think about the “should I turn the blinker” decision I can focus on more important things, so as I see it, even at the cost of at times using the blinkers when there is nobody to see it so there is really no point, I’m still better of having trained myself to do it like this.

That said blinker usage amongst drivers massively depends on the country and the general driving culture there. For example were I come from, Portugal, most people only use the blinkers in situations were they stand to gain from it themselves (for example when exiting a road to the left, crossing a lane, were others might give you way, out of good manners if they know your intentions), then of the rest most will use it for the safety of other cars but almost none will do it for the safety of pedestrians, whilst in The Netherlands (were I picked up my current habits on this) they’re generally pretty thorough on using blinkers in all situations they should quite independently of seeing or not people who might use that information (possibly because of all the bicycles around, as they’re often hard to spot using the mirrors when in certain positions relative to a car which are exactly the positions were knowing that the car wants to turn is important for the safety of the cyclist)

Use your blinker, return your cart to the corral, and mind your business

I’m sure I’ve missed it sometimes over the years, but if you make it a habit it’s harder to forget or ignore

It’s actually easier to just use it every time. Deciding whether you need to is cognitive load that’s better spent on other things.

I’ve never understood how a simple hand motion can be beyond anyone’s skillset. It’s just part of driving.

Only sickos don’t use their blinkers

It’s normal to use it pulling out of a driveway and in parking lots, don’t worry about peer pressure and other people’s bad habit

Always. Drive predictably it helps.

Yes. Don’t listen to people who tell you not to.

The indicator is for communicating your intent to change the position (which lane you’re in) or direction (turning in or out of a road, parking space, etc.) of your car.

The safest thing you can do as a driver is to be PREDICTABLE to other drivers. The indicator communicates necessary information for other drivers to predict your actions.

Not using one when changing the position or direction of your car is inconsiderate and dangerous to other road users. It is also illegal.

Use them. Please.

100% I use that bitch in parking lots.

I don’t drive a BMW, so yes.

I use them 100% of the time. Which yes, includes my own driveway.

You should train yourself to use them automatically instead of a manual step. Like a reflex.

And if you’re at a light and you plan to turn, you have that blinker going. Even if it’s a long red light, even if you think no one is around.

It’s better to use your blinkers all the time than 90% of the time.