If you signal at a roundabout, a study has found, the driver behind you is more likely to signal as well.
According to another study, drivers entering roundabouts are more likely to yield to other vehicles when those other drivers are using their turn signals.
Combine those two findings, and it suggests that using turn signals can increase your safety in a roundabout – and that of the driver behind you.
Oh, and did we mention that both of these studies were performed by a Grade 9 student in Kitchener?
Ruth Meyer says she’s always been fascinated by things like roads and roundabouts.
When she was in Grade 8, her science fair project looked at whether drivers were more likely to signal in a roundabout if the driver in front of them was signaling.
She got her mother to drive through roundabouts hundreds of times as she sat in the passenger seat, taking notes.
To ensure accuracy, they signaled their intention half of the time, and went without signals the other half.
In the end, Meyer found that there was an effect: Drivers were more indeed more likely to signal their intention if the driver in front of them was doing the same.
This year, for an encore, the 14 year old decided to take a look at whether signaling had an effect on drivers coming from another direction.
Once again, she found, it did.
“Signaling actually increases the safety of drivers, because (other drivers) will yield to you,” she says.
Meyer’s work will be showcased next week at a national science fair in Regina. It has also attracted the interest of a civil engineer and “roundabout expert” in Michigan.
