Signal Wish
Grr! Here’s a question: why don’t you – yes YOU – use your turn signals? This is a serious question demanding serious answers, so none of that “I’m out of blinker fluid” bullshit or “no one else uses them” nonsense. PLEASE let me know why! This has me utterly confounded, and as you can probably tell it gets me irrationally worked up.
I’ve only been a driver for a few years (I was somewhat late to the party), but the amount of drivers utterly incapable of using their turn signals is astounding. You’d like everyone else to use them 100% of the time, right – so why shouldn’t you? Be the change you want to see in the world – start using your turn signals! Ok, now I can breathe.
Oh, and this comic is animated! I hadn’t animated anything in Clip Studio Paint since ditching Photoshop – and it worked out pretty well, I think. (Assuming it worked and you actually see an animation!)
Also – today is Norway’s birthday. Happy birthday to us! I will probably celebrate by playing Elden Ring all day.
I have your answer. Personally, I used my turn signal (before I moved to a country/city with actual public transportation), but I have asked a lot of people why they don’t use theirs, and I have found there are two reasons that can function independently but also have some overlap. 1. Just laziness. The same type of laziness that causes a person to litter instead of holding trash til they find a can, the kind of laziness where personal convenience is priority #1 and the safety of other humans including supposed friends and family is a very distant second priority. That kind of laziness. 2. Formerly considerate drivers who found that often when they used their signal cars behind them would speed up to prevent them entering the lane. So they started as the victims of the hyper-competitive people who view even a trip to the grocery store as a zero-sum game with winners and losers, but they internalized it and starting playing that game to win. Both motivations can be a factor. Hope that helps, Kristian.
The first time I checked I somehow only saw the first panel… and I thought it was pretty funny!
In my case, my answer is “because I don’t drive”, but I understand that’s not the answer you’re looking for.
Animation works fine. I agree, all kinds of asshole drivers are annoying. Although these days I’m more annoyed with the 95% of cylists in my city who don’t give a shit about traffic rules (I’m in the 5% so they make me look bad too). I’m pretty sure the main reason is selfishness. “What’s there in it for me?” kind of thing. Then again I live in a country where somewhat disregarding rules is the norm.
I trymy best to use ’em, the few occasions when I don’t is simply due to stress or absent mindedness.
I feel you there Kristian, can confirm there are many drivers where I live who just don’t use them, real fun on the highway at times too.
There’s one thing worse than people that don’t use their turn signals, and that’s people who only occasionally use them. I recently saw a guy who used them to go to the left lane, but never turned them off, even after passing me and going back to my lane, not after I flashed my lights a couple of times, nor when he took a right exit a bit later, all while merrily blinking left…
Those people just don’t give a f-k. Or they’re smoking, and can’t be bothered to put down their cigarette. Most often, they’re just on their phone, either talking phone-to-ear, or worse, checking FB or whatnot.
Today’s comic reminds me of this joke:
Q: Why did the dim-witted man always make left turns when driving a car?
A: Because he forgot to turn off his turn signal.
I like the way that the first panel hints that the first two wishes were ice cream cones.
I confess to sometimes not using them when I’m in a turn-only lane; they’re not conveying any actual information in that case.
Today’s cartoon reminds of a time, about ten years ago, when I was a passenger in a friend’s car. My friend was trying to switch lanes on the highway, but no one was letting him in. He complained, “No one is letting me switch lanes!”
I said, “Yeah, a lot of drivers are like that.” But then I realized that I didn’t hear any blinking, so I asked him, “Do you have your turn signal on?”
He said he didn’t, so I responded, “How are drivers supposed to let you in when you’re not using your signal? You can’t blame them for not letting you in when they don’t even know you’re trying to switch lanes!” Honestly, I was rather shocked that he expected other drivers to let him switch lanes when he didn’t give them any way of know that that’s what he wanted to do.
A few hours later, we’re back on the highway again. This time my friend used his turn signal before switching lanes, and surprised, he says, “Hey, the car behind me is letting me switch lanes in front of him!”
I said, “Of course. Because you used your turn signal, nice drivers like him will give you space to switch lanes. But not all drivers will do that.”