Blinking

My son and I were cruising along in Denver recently when a pack of cars passed us and this mid-sized sedan faded over in front of us without using the turn signal. The car kept drifting over into the next lane and eventually vanished from sight in the over-the-speed-limit bumper-to-bumper driving.

It bothered me that someone was stupid enough to drive in that much traffic at that speed and not use their turn signal. They were a danger to everyone around them — namely us.

Two days later a news release passes across my desk that says a new national survey shows that 57 percent of American drivers say they don't use their turn signal when changing lanes.

Fifty-seven percent!

National auto insurer Response says 42 percent of those drivers say they don't have enough time while 23 percent say they are just plain lazy and 17 percent don't use their turn signal because they forget to turn it off too often. Another 12 percent say they change lanes too frequently, 11 percent say it's not important, 8 percent say they don't signal their turns because other drivers don't and 7 percent say it adds excitement to driving.

Before you verbalize what you're thinking: Men are more likely not to use their turn signals than women by a 62 percent to 53 percent margin. And, not surprisingly, youngsters — age 18-24 — are more likely, 71 percent, than older drivers — age 55-64—, 49 percent.

I've actually heard people in some rural western states say that drivers don't use their turn signals because everyone knows where they're going. I've also read that failing to signal a turn or lane change may be a big source of "road rage."

Around here we tend to get lazy often turning down streets, without any other drivers around, without using our turn signals. It becomes a bad habit that we carry into more crowded areas of town.

Too often, I think people just don't want to wear it out but statistics show that won't be a problem when the rest of the vehicle is a mish-mash of steel, aluminum and plastic strewn across the road surface.

Be caureful out there, and for heaven's sake use your turn signal. — Roger Morris