Turn Signal

April 9, 2004 - Turn Baby Turn

Condoleezza Rice was on the car radio yesterday. She was testifying to a bunch of politicians about what went on in the months before nine-eleven. The dedicated staff of edhat.com was listening to her testimony as we were parked next to busy intersections counting whether or not drivers used their turn signals before they turned. Rice said that although she and Bush knew that a terrorist threat was imminent, they did not have any clear signals as to where, when, or how the attack was to take place. In other words, it was not their fault.

Obviously, clear signals are a good thing for those trying to avert danger. If the president had known the date or target of the attack, then he could have closed down the airports, evacuated buildings, and deployed fighter jets. In fact, that’s what President Palmer did on “24” last week. Likewise, but of course on lesser scale, are signals about what other cars on the road are doing. If you are at a stop sign and the car across the way is going left, it is helpful to know that you both can’t go at the same time.

And that’s what the dedicated staff was doing yesterday. We were counting to see what percent of cars signaled before they turned. And, we were checking to see if there is a difference between traffic lights and stop signs, or left turns and rights.

We decided to survey only busy intersections. It is a numbers game. Only a fraction of cars in an intersection are turning, so you need a busy intersection to get an adequate number of lefts and rights. The stop sign at Cota and Garden was an obvious choice. The unusual location of the Garden freeway on and off ramps and the fact the one-way streets in town ALL GO THE WRONG DIRECTION, causes the intersection to be quite busy. There was a nice parking spot in front of the church.

For our traffic light we chose Milpas and Quinientos. We got a southeast facing parking spot on Milpas, nice for viewing, but a little scary when big trucks squeeze by at high speeds. Also, we parked under a tree that was dropping heavy objects (figs?) onto the roof of our car.

Overall 82% of drivers signaled for turns - 90% of lefts and 71% of rights, 84% at stop signs and 80% at lights.

While Rice and Co. claim their information did not provide an adequate signal, the dedicated staff’s signal information was adequate enough to make a couple of claims. Yes, people do signal more often when turning left. No, it does not make a difference if it the intersection is controlled by a light or a sign.

The dedicated staff believes the left/right paradox is caused by the ‘need to know’ mentality. A right turn can sometimes be done without interfering with traffic. Therefore, there is no reason to communicate these intentions with others. We wonder what Ms. Rice thinks about this?

In the daily contest, most subscribers already knew that more drivers signal for left turns. And, rightly so, they were split evenly on the light/sign question. The average guess for overall percent was a little low at 70%. The winner with a guess of Left, Stop, and 82% was K2Dezign. K2 will be given the choice of the box of the left (movie tickets), or the box on the right (coffee card).

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