The chance of dying in a car accident is only 1 in 100 over my lifetime, so, it might as well be nothing... Well, 115 children in the US are abducted by strangers, sexually assualted and murdered every year. 115 yearly. That isn't an urban myth.
When driving in residential areas you should signal around 30 meters (100 feet) in advance of making a right or left turn. This is assuming there are no other turns on the same side of the road before the turn you intend on taking, else you will need to signal after this turn. For high speed roads this distance increases. 70 mph dual carriageways for instance, signalling should start from around 275 meters (900 feet) from your exit.
The driver should use the area on the wheel between 11 and 8 o'clock with the left hand and the area on the wheel between 1 and 5 o'clock with the right hand regardless of the direction of the turn. Simply reverse the process to bring the vehicle back to the desired path.