Blinkers—It’s Just Common Courtesy

We’ve been noticing a really annoying pattern while driving lately. Actually, it’s been going on for a long time, but it’s getting so bad that we need to get this off our chest. Why have people stopped using their blinkers?

When our mother taught us how to drive she instilled two important lessons. Number one—always remember that the other cars have breaks, so even if we’re not the greatest drivers, they know how to stop and get out of our way. And, number two, turn that blinker on before you’re going to turn… not too early because you’ll confuse people… not too late because then it’s just useless.

But for some strange reason, it’s like blinkers don’t exist anymore. People don’t use them during lane changes on the highway. And no one seems to want to make it clear that they’re taking a right so you can get around them to the left.

Just last week we saw an older neighbor of ours driving his big ‘70s gas guzzler down the street and he actually put his arm out the window to indicate a turn. We almost drove into him thinking, “Is he waving at us,” before we realized that this was the ultra-polite old school method of letting all the other drivers know the plan in advance. Of course, had a 16-year-old been behind him, there would have been a fenderbender for sure.

Anyway, we’ll get off our soapbox about this now. But if you aren’t using your signals, just remember, it’s a simple flick of the wrist and it will make everyone’s drive a whole lot easier. Tell your friends. And drive carefully.