Occasionally when I am driving at night, I'll hit the lever to switch high beams on or off. Sometimes, I'll activate the signal by mistake, but I can't shut it off! If it's signalling right, I'll push it down, but that signals left, and I can't stop it. Yesterday, I discovered why. If you just tap the signal lever up or down, it will return to the center position, but it will signal three times, and you can't stop that. Moving it again will just continue the signaling cycle. I don't think that "feature" serves a purpose because, even if you're just changing lanes, three blinks isn't enough of a warning.

 

I use that quick tap pretty much daily. I'm pretty sure it's a "Honda thing..." as all the Honda's I've driven have had it.

 

Interesting. I don't think our 1997 Civic had it.

 

on older cars, I could tap the signal and "signal once" ..... it seems like all these newfangled new school cars all come with this "3x" signal when you tap the signal. I for one ... not a fan

 

Going way back, it became possible to signal without snapping the lever into position. They called that the Lane change feature. Just move it into position and hold it till you complete the lane change.

 

Love the 3 blink feature. Have it on my Lincoln and VW. Pretty sure it's becoming an industry norm. Lincoln is a '13 so they've had it at least that long.

 

I noticed the 3-blink feature but I can't figure out what use it is. You click the lever left (or right) and imediately push it back to the middle – and instead of the blinks immediately stopping, you get 3 blinks. Why would you want 3 blinks.

 

It's to signal you're making a lane change, 3 blinks seems to be a standard among more cars these days, so state authorities must have decided 3 blinks is the minimum required to signal.....it's just a lazy convenience thing, which seems to be the standard of cars these days. If you want more than 3 blinks, you can move the lever all the way down/up and let the car turn it off when you complete a turn (or click it back to "neutral" position if turn was not sharp enough or you just used it for signaling) or you can just hold it up/down, not far enough to engage it to turn signal position for as many clicks as you'd like, then let go. None of this is rocket science, by the way....I'm sure it's explained more concisely in the owner's manual than in this late night diatribe, but...there you have it. If you don't want only 3 blinks, either hold it partway up/down for desired number, or push it all the way up or down and leave it there until a) you've completed a sharp enough turn that it undoes itself or b) you take it back to middle manually

 

That might be the reason, but three blinks aren't enough. The closest I could find for NY is that we have to signal continuously when turning left or right for at least the last 100' until the turn is completed. I couldn't find anything specifically about changing lanes.

 

I do use the tap/3 blink option, but not real frequently - it's handy on a wide open divided highway that's not bumper to bumper with traffic. On major roads around here, I'll hold it down for as many blinks as I feel I need, as local drivers are some of the worst I've encountered in the several states I've lived in. If I'm actually turning (stop sign/light) I click it on and leave it until turn is complete. The 3 blink option is something I could easily have done without, and having variable intermittent wipers would be far more usefull!!!

 

Definitely! Speaking of turning, don't you hate it when the car in front of you wants to turn left, but he stops at the line, rather than entering the intersection? Then the light turns red, and you're stuck there for another cycle. Don't people realize that when the light is green they can enter the intersection?

 

In the cities I drive in, any more than 3 blinks and you'll never get over. Whether I'm in ATL, Miami, Orlando, etc as soon as the other driver sees that turn signal, they gas it to block you out of "their" lane.

I find 3 blinks to be perfect. I literally hit the lever and move over. That way they don't have time to block.

May sound harsh, but I'm one of the very few I see in those cities that use the turn signal at all.

 

Thanks for the info Fuelish.

GAFIT, hardly anyone signals in Asheville NC either.

 

Funny! : : )

 

Our other car, Hyundai have this 3 blinks feature, too. We used it all the time.

 

I use the 3 blink quick tap in 2 scenarios, mostly:
-On a mostly empty highway (where most wouldn't signal at all), to indicate a lane change, when I'm sure no one is around (because I always signal every time....a novel concept, I know)
-And at a fork (like on highway junctions), where I want to signal my intent to go in one of the 2 possible directions, but there is 0 chance of someone being in the space I want to go, since a new lane is forming

 

Good idea. Years ago, when I was still riding a bike, NY passed a law requiring cars to signal before every turn, whether they saw another car or not. As a biker rider, I appreciated this law.

 

I checked with friends who have CR-Vs a few years old. Theirs don't have that feature. I'm waiting for a reply from a friend with a 2018 CR-V.

 

My Dad has a 2017 CR-V EX. It has the 3 blink feature along with a million other things. The 3 blink I like, the rest is awful. He just turns them off.

 

Sometimes, less is more.