WHILE DRIVING IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GO MORE THAN 1 MILE BEFORE FINDING SOME MISTAKEN DRIVER MAKING A RIGHT OR LEFT HAND TURN WHO DOES NOT USE THEIR SIGNAL. THERE IS NOT REALLY A REASON I COULD CONSIDER TO NOT USE THEM UNLESS YOU ARE A MAIL TRUCK, AMBULANCE, FIRE TRUCK OR POLICE CAR.  FOR THE LAST THREE ON THE LIST MOST OFTEN THERE IS SOME KIND OF FLASHING LIGHTS TO MAKE DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS AWARE OF THEIR PRESENCE. 

THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF TIMES THAT I HAVE WITNESSED POLICE OFFICERS WATCH DRIVERS MAKE RIGHT ON RED TURNS WITHOUT SIGNALING THEIR INTENT TO TURN.  MOST OFTEN ON A SIX OR LARGER LANE ROAD IT IS NOT REALLY HELPFUL WHEN MAKING A RIGHT EXCEPT IF THERE HAPPENS TO BE A DRIVEWAY IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THAT RIGHT TURN BUT KEEP IN MIND "IT IS THE LAW."  RECENTLY, I WAS BEHIND A CARAVAN TRAVELING AT ABOUT 40 MPH WHEN SUDDENLY THEY MOVED INTO THE LANE TO OUR RIGHT RIGHT IN FRONT OF AN POLICE CAR THEN SUDDENLY TURNED RIGHT.  DURING THIS WHOLE EPISODE NOT ONCE DID THE DRIVER OF THE CARAVAN USE A SIGNAL.  WHEN I CAME TO A STOP DOWN A COUPLE BLOCKS I LOOKED OVER AT THE OFFICER IN THE POLICE CAR WHO LOOKED AT ME BRIEFLY. 

AS A SECURITY OFFICER I AM REPEATEDLY COMPLIMENTED WHEN PURSUING A SUSPECT THAT I AM FULLY AWARE OF MY SURROUNDING AND FOLLOW PROTOCOL DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL.  MAYBE THIS IS DUE TO THE YEARS OF WORKING IN CORNER STORE/SELF SERVE GAS STATIONS BEFORE VIDEO MONITORING WAS A REGULAR NECESSITY.  CONTINUALLY GATHERING LICENSE PLATE NUMBERS OF FOUR TO SIX DIFFERENT PUMPS LOCATED AT DIFFERENT CORNERS OF THE LOT WHILE COMBINING EACH ONE WITH MAKE AND MODEL OF THE CAR.  I HAD TO TESTIFY IN THREE DIFFERENT CASES BECAUSE I WAS THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE MEMORIZED THE DRIVERS BUILD AND LOOK WHILE ALSO HAVING THE VEHICLE INFORMATION THAT HELP CONVICT TWO OF THE THREE.  SOME TIMES THE THEFT OF GASOLINE WAS JUST $15 BUT IT WAS THE STATION OWNERS WHO WOULD PURSUE A CASE IF THE SUSPECT WAS FOUND.  ON SEVERAL INCIDENCES THE DRIVER WAS FOUND DUE TO MY INFORMATION WITHIN THIRTY MINUTES AND OFTEN IT WAS IN THE MORNING AND THEY WOULD PAY FOR THEIR IN STORE ITEMS AND FORGET THAT THEY PURCHASED GAS AND WOULD RETURN TO PAY. 

WHEN I BEGAN MY CAREER IN DELIVERY THE BEST THING THE OWNER OF MY COMPANY DID WAS MAKE SURE WE ATTENDED ONE DEFENSIVE DRIVING CLASS A YEAR.  ONCE I USED THE THINGS I LEARN ON A CONSISTENT BASIS EVERYTHING BECAME ROUTINE AND AUTOMATIC.  I TESTIFIED IN SEVEN DIFFERENT CASES OF ACCIDENTS I WITNESSED AND FOUR OF THEM WERE DUE TO ONE PARTY NOT USING THEIR SIGNAL.  THE MOST SEVERE ACCIDENT I EVER SAW WAS WHEN ONE PARTY MOVED ONE LANE TO THE LEFT AS THEIR LANE WAS ENDING CLIPPING THE VEHICLE ALSO MOVING INTO THE SAME LANE FROM THE LEFT.  THE SECOND VEHICLE SPUN AROUND SLIDING IN REVERSE AND COMING TO A STOP AS IT HIT THE GUARD RAIL ON THE OVERPASS.  I REMEMBER HANGING OVER THE SIDE OF THE GUARD RAIL HOLDING THE FACE OF THE DRIVER AS IT WAS ACUTELY SLASHED.  THE DRIVER HELD THE CELL PHONE WHILE I APPLIED PRESSURE TO STOP THE BLEEDING AND ALL I COULD THINK OF WAS IF THE DRIVER USED THEIR BLINKER THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.      

WHEN DRIVERS ONLY HAVE A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND AND BE AWARE OF, IT IS NOT MUCH TO ASK TO JUST USE YOUR SIGNAL WHEN CHANGING LANES OR MAKING TURNS.  EVEN IN PARKING LOTS WHICH IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT AS SPACE TO ESCAPE IS LIMITED.  TAKING DEFENSIVE DRIVING CLASSES HAS MADE MY SENSE OF SURROUNDINGS CRUCIAL OUT ON THE HIGHWAYS WHERE SPEEDS CAN EXCEED 60 MPH.  IN A PARKING LOT THE ABILITY TO AVOID A CRASH IS SO IMPAIRED THAT USING YOUR SIGNAL GIVES THE OTHER DRIVERS A MOMENTS NOTICE WHICH IS JUST ENOUGH TIME TO AVOID DENTS & SCRATCHES THAT CAN NOT ONLY BE COSTLY BUT CAN RAISE YOUR INSURANCE COST.