Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Signalling: The Dying Art

Once upon a time, in a land right outside your window, drivers used to signal before moving their car to the left or to the right. I am very serious; this used to happen on a regular basis. The purpose of this finely tuned art was to tell all of the other road users where you were about to move your vehicle.  Simple, yet it made a world of difference.

Since everyone could tell where you needed to move your car, they would actually make room for you in that lane. There was no need for cutting someone off when you got fed up with them for not being able to predict that you needed to get into their lane. Honking at someone, because they started slowing down for no apparent reason only to suddenly turn, was not necessary. If someone needed to turn, they would signal and let you know that they were about to do so, giving you a reason for their slowing and time to go around them if you did not want to slow down.

I know all of this seems crazy and illogical, but this ancient system worked. All it really needed to survive was for people to continue moving their fingers over to the signal handle and lightly pushing up or down. Unfortunately, over time, sausage fingers became popular and the tiny amount of force required to turn the signal on was not worth the risk of loosing any finger fat.

Signalling did not get a happily ever after.

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