Did You Know that Your Car Has Turn Signals, Seatbelts, and Headlights?

I have a couple of automotive "pet peeves" which have driven me insane since the day I started learning how to drive. The most frustrating one has to be the fact that an astounding number of drivers seem to have never been taught the importance of using their turn signals. What the heck do people think that turn signal stem is there for? Decoration? I don't think so because it is not even very attractive.

Do they think everyone else driving around them is clairvoyant? How the heck am I supposed to know that you wanted to turn left across two lanes of stopped traffic just so you can peel into a third lane of cars traveling in the other direction, most of whom are going well over the speed limit? This is the most annoying thing that drivers "forget to do." I mean how hard is it to use these signals to tell the world of your intent to "squeeze" your monster SUV in between me and the vehicle ahead at 65 miles per hour, all so you can be idling in front of me at the end of the exit ramp?

Are we really so lazy that the simple act of clicking a stem up or down one or two inches is literally killing us? We should all know that once you put these on they will automatically go off once you execute the turn? While it is true they are not intuitive enough to turn themselves off if you are simply changing lanes, but it seems that we should all be capable of remembering to turn them off after a few thousand feet, and at most a couple of miles.

Maybe we are too busy sending text messages to everyone in the world, or tweeting "hey I am cool because I can get stuff done while I am driving, poorly" I say get the first job done properly then text me when that is done. Let's face facts, not everyone can really multi-task, but almost everyone thinks they can! I mean come on now, you just need to use the tools which came with the car. even Amish buggies have turn signals these days, are you telling me that your forty thousand dollar car does not come equipped with working turn signals?

Okay so now some of you have shown me that you are turning, but it is too late because I could not see you in the rain because you did not know to turn on your headlights? I mean really? this is one of the most basic automotive things we learn about when they first give us the keys. If you think the other driver can see you because you can see them then you are sadly mistaken, some people have impaired vision, while others are simply too busy living their important lives to even notice you. So your best defense is to simply put on your headlights no matter what the weather. There is no denying that this can help make your vehicle more visible in all situations. It should be obvious that you can be seen much better even in daylight when your headlights are on. Why do we think rental cars have them come on automatically? It is for your own safety.

And another thing about headlights. Ohio and many other states have a traffic law which states that if your windshield wipers are on then you must put on your headlights as well! This is for your own and my safety! How hard is it to do that extra step and cut on the lights? Ideally the manufacturer should build this into every car so that I can finally shut my cake hole on this topic. I am certain that some of my friends would be more than happy to have this headlight and wiper issue simply go away.

Finally what is the deal with people not wearing seat belts? Just because one famous and incredible drummer lost his arm to the evil seat belt monster does not mean that we should avoid using one of the most important safety features we have at our disposal. Recently I saw on the local news, here in Northeast Ohio, that a driver was killed when his car hit a retaining wall where he was promptly ejected from the car into that wall.

Can you imagine your head hitting a cement wall at 60 miles per hour? Well I can and there is not reason for that to ever happen to me because I always wear my seatbelt! Even your air bag system can't pound the dummy out of this kind of ignorance. To my way of thinking there is no reasonable excuse for not wearing your seat belts. For one thing using them is the law, and by not wearing them you are automatically breaking the law, thereby giving the police probably cause for pulling you over!

So if the police had all the time in the world to protect stubborn drivers from themselves then we would definitely have safer roads to drive on.

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