Watch for ‘ostriches’ on the highway

There’s a new list of derogatory names for drivers who don’t signal when changing lanes.

Don’t worry, this is a family newspaper. We won’t print that list, or what’s really uttered behind the wheel.

Instead, consider “daredevils,” “lazy,” “swervers” and “ostriches.”

Those are some of the driver types who tend not to use their turn signals, according to a Connecticut-based insurance company.

In a national survey of 1,000 adult drivers, Response Insurance said 57 percent admitted they didn’t use their turn signals when changing lanes.

The company was especially excited by the excuses: not enough time, just plain lazy, often forget to turn off the signal, merge too frequently to bother, and “other drivers don’t.”

Some of the drivers even combined several of the excuses.

Most worrisome, they said, were the few dozen who said that not signaling “adds excitement to driving.” They’re the so-called daredevils.

Like “Smokey and the Bandit”? “This is Sheriff Buford T. Justice. I’m in pursuit of a black Trans Am. He didn’t signal. He’s all mine, so stay outta the way.”

Or “The Fast and the Furious,” with Vin Bio-Diesel, running fuel straight from a Snohomish County farm?

About two-thirds of those who skip signaling are men, especially younger men ages 18 to 24.

“The younger group is right out of driver training school, and they’re not starting with good habits,” Reliant spokesman Ray Palermo said.

I drive with the morning rush-hour worker drones, when the smear of clouds blowing across Mount Baker looks like someone tried to erase it.

Almost everyone I see uses their turn signals.

I’m also a veteran of the I-405 route to Bellevue. That said, the survey figures feel too high.

More than half don’t signal?

“I think it’s about right,” Palermo said.

The key concern is that drivers who don’t signal cause crashes.

Whether or not a driver signals may depend on how much freeway they’ve got to work with. An afternoon gridlock crawl from King County is no easy place for swerving without signaling.

But the highways open up after commute times. That must be when drivers skip signaling, when I’m stomping around downtown Everett on foot and not in my car.

Palermo said he signals for everything, even leaving his driveway.

Sadly, me too, Ray. Me too.

Mystery overpass

Question: “I was wondering what the new overpass being built just north of the 128th Street overpass is going to be used for?”

J.B. LaRue, Mill Creek

Answer: The state has $4 million to build a pedestrian and bicycle overpass at 124th Street SE. With help from Snohomish County, the project will improve traffic and connect with the Interurban Trail.

When complete, bikers and walkers won’t have to cross three freeway ramps, use a road shoulder or otherwise mix with 60,000 cars, state project engineer Marlin Lenssen said.

Girders across the freeway are expected to be put up this spring. A little patience will be needed, though. It’s a two-phase project, and won’t connect the trail until fall 2007.

Ask us about traffic

Have a question about traffic or street rules around Snohomish and Island counties? We can help find an answer. E-mail The Herald at stsmarts@ heraldnet.com.

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