One of my biggest pet peeves is people who do not use their blinkers. Ever. If you want to get on my bad side, hear a few choice words, and maybe receive the occasional obscene gesture from me, then go ahead you make that turn, you switch to that lane, and all without using your blinker one time. In all honesty, I do not recommend doing that and here are a few good reasons why:

For starters, not using your blinker can be dangerous. You should always use your blinker when you are:

1. Making a turn. Use your blinker EVERY time.

2. Changing lanes.

3. Just use it to be courteous.

By not using your blinker:

1. You can cause an accident.

For example, let us say you are sitting at a stop light, and you have the option to either go straight or make a left turn. You have no blinker on so the car across the way thinks you are going straight. That car decides to take the right turn they believe to be open, but you are actually going left. So, BOOM! Car accident. Before you choose to not use your blinker, think about how much you enjoy having money and not having to spend it on preventable damage to your car or possibly another car (or how much you enjoy, I don’t know… LIFE).

2. You can really make some people mad.

For example, on the interstate maybe you are just cruising along on your way to meet your mom for lunch and you realize your exit is coming up but you are not in the correct lane and need to get over in a hurry. You had BETTER turn on that blinker and let the driver next to you know, “Hey, I need to get over can you be so kind as to slow down or speed up so I can squeeze in just in time to make my exit that I failed to realize was coming up because I was probably distracted singing my favorite song or thinking about what I was going to get to eat when I meet my mom.” If they do not let you over then just know you are the better person because you did not choose to rudely cut them off but instead to slow down and find an opening to squeeze into just in time for your exit. Now perhaps you chose not to be the bigger person and you cut that person off with no blinker at all. Some consequences that may occur are A.) That person could be having a terrible day and you just really make them angry so they follow you until you reach your location. They park their car and get out and, deservingly, they start yelling at you telling you that you are an awful driver, how you should not be allowed on the roads, and blah blah blah. You may even have a drink poured on you. No one wants that. Or they could follow you until you park and when you get out they go key your car or leave you a hateful note on your windshield in sharpie expressing how terrible of a driver you are so everyone else can see it too and be aware and B.) They hit you which will result in money being spent unnecessarily or DEATH and the only thing you had to do was use that blinker.

3. I have the right to steal your parking spot if you do not claim it with your blinker.

This may sound unfair but the blinker claims the parking spot in the parking lot. You could’ve waiting there for five minutes as a family unloads their groceries and packs up their car but if you do not have that blinker indicating you are waiting for that specific parking spot I will assume you are just some weirdo just chilling in a parking lot lane for no reason whatsoever. Sorry but not sorry.

4. Lastly, it is illegal to not use your blinker.

You can get a ticket for that nonsense, so, use your blinker. It literally takes little to no energy to just flip the lever/switch up to indicate which way you want to go. Just do it.

So what we have discussed today is that you should always use your blinker in every instance it is required: such as turning, changing lanes, indicating you are waiting for a parking space, etc. Another good time to use your blinker is when you are parallel parking. If you blatantly choose not to use your blinker (we all know how to use it because you should not have a license if you do not know how) then you can cause an accident, make some people very angry, your spot can be taken from you and you have no right to complain about it, and you can get a ticket because it is illegal. So be smart, use your blinker.

*If someone does not use their blinker I do not recommend retaliating for their lack of common sense but instead be the bigger person, take a breath and let it go or throw an obscene gesture their way and keep driving, do not follow these terrible people because if they do not even use their blinker who knows what else they are willing to not do.