Massachusetts Hand Signals: Rules, Fines, and Liability

In Massachusetts, hand signals are required whenever your vehicle’s turn signals or brake lights aren’t working or aren’t installed, and you’re about to turn or stop in a way that would affect another driver. The rule lives in Chapter 90, Section 14B of the Massachusetts General Laws, which spells out three specific arm gestures and sets a minimum $25 fine for each violation.¹

The Three Gestures

Every signal is made with the left arm extended out the driver’s side window:¹

Left turn: left arm straight out, horizontal.
Right turn: left arm out, forearm bent upward at a right angle.
Stopping or slowing: left arm out, forearm bent downward.

The upward bend for a right turn and the downward bend for a stop are easy to tell apart from a distance, which is the whole point. Drivers of older vehicles without factory signals use these gestures for every turn and stop, not just as a backup.

When You Have to Use Them

The statute sets a hierarchy. Use your brake lights, turn signals, or directional indicators first. Hand signals become mandatory when those built-in signals aren’t operating or aren’t installed, whether because of a burned-out bulb, a blown fuse, a wiring failure, or a physical obstruction that makes the lights invisible.¹

Turning isn’t the only trigger. You also have to signal before stopping if the stop would affect another vehicle’s operation. A sudden stop on a busy road with no working brake lights absolutely requires a hand signal. The statute ties the duty to “any turning movement which would affect the operation of any other vehicle,” so pulling into an empty driveway with no one behind you arguably falls outside the rule. On any road with traffic, the obligation applies.

Massachusetts does not set a minimum signaling distance. Many states require signaling at least 100 feet before a turn, but Section 14B just says the signal must be given “before” the maneuver and must be “plainly visible.” In practice, that means giving other drivers enough lead time to react.¹

Cyclists Follow a Different Rule

If you’re on a bicycle, Section 14B isn’t the statute that applies to you. Bicyclists are covered by Chapter 85, Section 11B, which lets you signal with “either hand.” That means a cyclist can extend the right arm horizontally to signal a right turn, rather than being locked into the left-arm-only system.²

Two practical exceptions apply to cyclists. Signals don’t need to be continuous, so you can signal and then put both hands back on the bars before finishing the turn. And no signal is required when both hands are needed to safely control the bicycle.²

Fines, Insurance Points, and Your License

Section 14B sets a floor of “not less than twenty-five dollars for each offense.” No maximum is stated, so a court has discretion to impose more depending on the circumstances.¹

The ticket itself is modest. The bigger cost usually shows up on your insurance. Under the Safe Driver Insurance Plan (SDIP), a signaling violation falls under “minor traffic law violation” and adds 2 surcharge points, which your insurer uses to raise your premium.³

Your license can also come into play. Three surchargeable events within two years triggers an RMV suspension notice, and you then have 90 days to complete a driver retraining program before the suspension takes effect.⁴ A single missed signal won’t suspend anyone’s license. But if you already have one or two surchargeable incidents on your record, a signaling ticket becomes the event that pushes you over the line.

Civil Liability If There’s a Crash

Where a failure to signal gets genuinely expensive is in a lawsuit after a collision. The other driver’s attorney will raise negligence per se: when you violate a safety statute and someone is hurt in the kind of accident the statute was written to prevent, courts treat the violation as proof that you breached your duty of care. The injured party doesn’t need to argue you were careless; they only need to show your violation caused their injuries.⁵

Section 14B exists to prevent collisions caused by unpredictable movements, which makes it a textbook fit for a negligence per se argument. The financial exposure in a personal injury case dwarfs any traffic fine.

Defenses If You’re Ticketed

The most practical defense is factual: your signals were working and visible, and the officer was mistaken. Dashcam footage, a signal demonstrated at a later inspection, or passenger testimony can all support that challenge. A second angle is that the maneuver wouldn’t have affected any other vehicle’s operation. If no one was behind you or approaching, the statute’s triggering condition arguably wasn’t met, since Section 14B ties the duty to situations that “would affect the operation of any other vehicle.”¹

Massachusetts also recognizes a necessity defense, drawn from Commonwealth v. Magadini (2016), when breaking the law causes less harm than following it would. A realistic example might be swerving suddenly to avoid a pedestrian who stepped into traffic, where signaling is impossible and the danger is immediate. Forgetting to signal, or not wanting to take a hand off the wheel in light rain, won’t meet that standard.⁶

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 90 – Uniform Stopping and Turning Signals on Ways
2
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I, Title XIV, Chapter 85, Section 11B
3
Mass.gov. Safe Driver Insurance Plan (SDIP)
4
Mass.gov. Suspensions From Multiple Offenses
5
Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. Negligence Per Se
6
Mass.gov. 9240 Necessity