"How do I get these fucking things to turn off"?

- commented one of my pupils, the other day.

He was referring to the indicators on the DS3.

You see, it comes with a special "motorway" setting that means if you just slightly move the indicator, it will flash 3 times.

Now the DS3 is a lovely car to drive, and to teach in, but for learners, this particular feature is a dangerous distraction, and for me, it's a constant source of irritation.

It's distracting because having inadvertently signalled, the pupil then tries to cancel the signal, but succeeds only in signalling the opposite way, leading to further attempts to cancel the signal, and them taking their eyes off the road to look at the indicator stalk.

It's dangerous partly because of this, and partly because the hazard caused by an incorrectly timed signal is magnified. I've already had to do one emergency stop because someone pulled out of a junction in front of us because they thought we were turning left into a sideroad.

When the car went in for a service the other day, I asked if there was a way of switching off this function, as I've been through both the vehicle handbook, and the various menu options on the car's displays.

Nope, they said, but try asking Citroen directly.

This I have done, and got a polite response suggesting I ask my local Citroen garage.

I replied further, on March 19th, clarifying my concerns, stating clearly that this feature is potentially dangerous in a learner car, and asking for some assurance that they would actually look at the issue I'd raised. To date they have not yet replied.

So if you, dear reader, have reached this blog after having some kind of accident involving a DS3 and this feature, please do be assured that Citroen have been made aware of this issue, even if they choose to do nothing about it.

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