It's Called a Turn Signal - Use It!

Around the time I learned to drive many years ago, the state of Oklahoma was entertaining the concept of making seat belt use mandatory for those operating motor vehicles. Knowing this was the case, I just got into the habit of clicking my seat belt every time I sat down. Today, many years later, I don’t even think about it. Putting on my seat belt is as much of the process as putting the keys in the ignition.

Something that didn’t suddenly become the law in the late 1980s was turn signals. I don’t know for a fact, but I’m guessing the requirement to use a turn signal dates back to the creation of cars or at least several years before I was born. It seems like there was probably never a time when it wouldn’t be considered necessary to use a blinker as a safety precaution for any number of possibilities that could happen on any roadway at any time.

Yet, it is clear we live in a world when people just don’t believe in using their turn signals. Just the other day, I sat a light and noticed that eight of 10 people in the left-hand turn lane failed to follow the law regarding their turn signals. That is excessive based on what I’ve noticed throughout the three decades I have been behind the wheel, but I am never surprised anymore when I see at least one car in a group fail to use their blinkers.

I even saw one car change lanes with no blinker, then changed back to the original lane and over to a turn lane with no turn signal. And then they turned without ever using the blinker. It’s ridiculous that someone can be that clueless.

I don’t get it. What would cause someone to consistently not use their turn signal? Laziness seems to be the number one reason. People might say they just forgot, but laziness can be at the heart of someone failing to remember to do something that seems to be an integral part of operating a two-ton piece of machinery. Plus, it seems as if the same people who fail to turn on their blinker when changing lanes tend to do it repeatedly as they weave in and out of traffic with little to no disregard for the other drivers. But, if you can remember to continuously text your friends while you are sitting at a light, it should be at least equally important to remember to flick your wrist in a manner that turns on your turn signal.

It seems to me that arrogance may also be a reason for people failing to operate their vehicle legally. Some people apparently seem to think they are too cool to do something as childish as use their turn signals. I’ve brought up the issue with random people just to let off steam about it and the response is often one of making me feel like I’m crazy for expecting people to follow the law. And then I remember all the times I have had to wait too long crossing the street as a pedestrian or having to wait to drive into traffic, all because some moron thinks his or her life is so difficult that they couldn’t possibly ever use a blinker legally. After all, it is all about their convenience, even if it causes delays or problems for the rest of us.

So, whether you are lazy or arrogant or so dumb that you are just now learning that a turn signal is part of the legal expectation for those who operate a vehicle, it should be clear by now that there are eyes upon you. And mine aren’t the only ones who are watching. Maybe the next bad driving video that goes viral will feature you as the star showing off how not to drive. Think about it the next time you get behind the wheel. Because you know I will be.