People mix this up with failure to yield, and they are not the same thing. Failure to signal means a driver changed direction or lanes without giving the required turn signal in time. Failure to yield means a driver did not give the right-of-way to someone who legally had it. One is about warning others what you are about to do; the other is about who gets to go first. A driver can commit one, the other, or both in the same wreck.

At street level, failure to signal usually means turning, merging, or changing lanes without using a signal soon enough for other drivers, riders, or pedestrians to react. In New Hampshire, RSA 265:45, Turning Movements and Required Signals (2024), requires an appropriate signal before turning or moving right or left on a roadway, and for a turn the signal must be given continuously during at least the last 100 feet before the move. Miss that, and the ticket is not just technical nonsense - it is proof the driver gave nobody fair warning.

In an injury claim, that matters because it can help show negligence. If someone cuts across a lane without signaling and causes a crash, the missing signal supports the argument that the collision was preventable. It can also feed a comparative fault fight if the other side claims the injured person should have anticipated the move. In New Hampshire damage claims, lost wages are usually calculated without a state income tax deduction issue, since the state has no wage tax, and no sales tax can affect how some out-of-pocket losses are documented.