High School Engineering Project

[high school engineering]

Hi everyone! I am currently a high school student in the course, engineering design and development. For this class we are conducting research (data) on our problem. We need to gather data to prove that our problem for our project is truly a problem. Our problem statement is, According to the West Law Office in Houston, Texas, approximately two million automobile accidents occur annually from U.S drivers failing to use turn signals. Miscommunication during lane changes, at intersections, and in parking lots is a leading cause of automobile accidents because it causes confusion, misunderstanding, and even road rage. Please take a minute to fill out my survey, thank you so much!!

https://forms.office.com/r/5JBTmnvhx2

 

[3DDave]

Find a grocery store or shopping mall and ask people who have driven there these questions. You will get hundreds of potential contacts per hour; you can start with the teachers at your school.

 

[GregLocock]

Unless US drivers are even worse than as shown on TV and youtube, I very much doubt that "Miscommunication during lane changes, at intersections, and in parking lots is a leading cause of automobile accidents".

 

[3DDave]

It's from a personal injury law firm. Here's a link to the likely article:

Major Cause of Car Accidents: Failure to Use Turn Signals

In a crash? Seek legal help from a Houston car accident attorney from The West Law Office, PLLC.

www.houstonpersonalinjury.law

I subscribe to the thought that there are plenty of enraged drunk drivers who are legally blind fumbling under the floor mat for their crack pipe when they aren't aiming at pedestrians and bicyclists that the continuous fake-outs with turn signals aren't as big a deal as them flooring the gas pedal on the orange signal.

 

[IRstuff]

Turn signaling is only one of many factors involved in an actual collision; while there are numerous people making turns and lane changes without signaling, there are other factors like speed, clearance, distracted driving, etc., that contribute as much, if not more so, to accidents.

 

[LittleInch]

A few lessons here I think.

1) Don't believe everything you read from a law firm - they can over do things
2) Look closely at the wording and be critical of the way it is expressed
3) Check cause and effect

Yes turn signals are important to signify your intentions on the road, but I'm struggling to see that this is a primary or root cause of 2 million collisions. Note "collisions", not "accidents" as that is a more descriptive term. "Accident" implies that it's out of your control, when in the vast majority of cases it is in the persons control, but they lose concentration, fail to indicate, make poor judgements about speed and position etc.

Anyway I have filed out your form which has a few odd questions in it, so maybe road test those questions to see if you're asking the right thing.

Not sur eif you've seen it, but some cars now have some sort of detection device on the wing mirrors which lights up red or orange when there is a vehicle very close which could hit if you changed lane. Very useful.... You can even get retro fit ones. "Blind Spot monitoring" seems to be the correct search term.

good luck.

 

[waross]

Isn't the root cause more likely to be;
The driver changed lanes without checking to see if the lane was clear.
Compared to that, not signalling may be expected and a minor annoyance.
Compare:
The driver did signal before driving into the car in the adjacent lane.
The driver did not signal before driving into the car in the adjacent lane.
Not much difference and either way you can't fix stupid.

And from bitter experience driving the US interstates for 10 or 11 hours a day for about a year:
When pulling a long trailer, it was common for some idiot to pull up beside the back corner of the trailer as soon as your turn signal came on.
An, with heavy traffic and not enough room to change lanes, if you signaled your desire to change lanes with your turn signal, occasionally a polite driver would back off a few feet to make room.

I see almost no correlation between lane change accidents and turn signals, except;
You can't fix stupid.

 

[rb1957]

yeah, but that's not what the OP wants to hear !

I agree that signaling helps communicate with other drivers if done politely (I'm intending to changing lanes) rather than as an order (I'm changing lanes, stay out of my way).

But I also agree not signaling is probably not the cause of accidents ... not looking is (and worse these days with those damned "blind spot warning lights" ... dumb everything down, including the drivers ...

 

[LittleInch]

There is the difference where I really like those blind spot warning lights and find them useful, but hate with a vengeance the lane assist things which fight your steering and in some cases you need to disable every single bloody time you get in the car. There value to me is wildly overstated and I fail to see how it actually helps prevent any collision or incidents at all. Maybe very long stretches of dead straight very boring road, but trust me, there are very few of those in the UK I can tell you.

 

[rb1957]

a straight road in the UK ? ... that'd be your driveway ! Yeah, I disable all those "safety" features too, and bloody "smart" cruise control. Blind spot warning ... I have my mirros set to see the adjacent blind spot, so I check my mirrors (and shoulder sometimes), indicate, and the damn thing goes off. WTF! what have I missed ? I think ... oh, you're complaining about that car 100 yds behind moving a little faster than me (but no hazard) ... sigh.

we are a bunch of cranky olde farts !

 

[stephaniesmith]

A few lessons here I think.

1) Don't believe everything you read from a law firm - they can over do things
2) Look closely at the wording and be critical of the way it is expressed
3) Check cause and effect

Yes turn signals are important to signify your intentions on the road, but I'm struggling to see that this is a primary or root cause of 2 million collisions. Note "collisions", not "accidents" as that is a more descriptive term. "Accident" implies that it's out of your control, when in the vast majority of cases it is in the persons control, but they lose concentration, fail to indicate, make poor judgements about speed and position etc.

Anyway I have filed out your form which has a few odd questions in it, so maybe road test those questions to see if you're asking the right thing.

Not sur eif you've seen it, but some cars now have some sort of detection device on the wing mirrors which lights up red or orange when there is a vehicle very close which could hit if you changed lane. Very useful.... You can even get retro fit ones. "Blind Spot monitoring" seems to be the correct search term.

I've definitely seen how not using signage can lead to confusion and even accidents. I filled out your questionnaire and hope that it will be useful for you. While working on my own school projects, I came across https://personalstatementhelper.com/ and it is a great help for college applicants and students in general. It is exactly what I used when I was planning to apply to college soon. Good luck with your research and the rest of your engineering class. Projects like yours are really making a difference in raising awareness about road safety.

good luck.

Blind Spot Monitoring is a game-changer. Turn signals matter, but driver awareness and judgment are the real keys to safety!

 

[IRstuff]

but driver awareness and judgment are the real keys to safety!

Maybe mindfulness might be a better term, or possibly forebrain thinking before making a move, not unlike counting to 3 before responding to rude remarks.

 

[Ron247]

First, a confession, I am 68 years old and therefore by the Rules of the AARP, I leave my left turn signal on all the time. So, I use my turn signal all the time and people still get mad or confused.

Next, while the school appears to have good intentions, their direction is lacking. Problem solving is a methodology that starts with an accurate definition of the problem. I do not see that here. I see a conclusion, not a problem statement. As an example, you are on a train trestle (bridge) when a train approaches you. What is your problem statement?

1. There is a train-No
2. There is a train coming. -No
3. A train is coming towards me. -No
4. The train is going to hit me.-No
5. My body cannot withstand the impact of the train.-No
6. At some speed, my body cannot withstand the impact of the train.-Yes

The statement enlightens you to what the solution needs to address. You are trying gather evidence to refute or confirm a conclusion. That is not problem solving.