When I first moved to Florida, I was shocked at the number of cars on the road, the speed at which people drove, and the rudeness of those drivers. I made a vow that I would not leave Florida until I taught every single person how to drive! Although that is impossible, I wish I could at least get more drivers to use their turn signals.
There is nothing more frustrating then trying to figure out if someone is turning. How many times has this happened to you? You are sitting at a stop sign, waiting to make a turn, and have an opening except for one car? The car is too close to turn in front of at the posted speed, so you wait. But suddenly, the car slows down and you wonder if they are turning. You may actual say aloud, as if they could hear you, "Are you turning?". At the last possible moment, they turn on their signal and turn, or worse, they just turn without a turn signal. Either way you have lost your opportunity to turn, and are forced to wait for the next opening.
I think about people who don't use turn signals. I wonder what possible reason they have for not using them. Could it be that they don't know that they are turning. Maybe they don't know that they are supposed to signal 100 feet before the corner. Could be that the noise hurts their head. I also considered that maybe they just assume I will know that they are going to turn or just simply don't care.
When I was in college, I worked a job that started at 6pm. We finished when the work was done. Some nights it was midnight, but during peak seasons, it could be 6am. Mostly, I would be driving home at 2am. At that time, there was no traffic, but strangely, the traffic lights continued to change. I found myself sitting at a red light with my turn signal on at an intersection completely void of traffic. The irony of waiting for traffic that wasn't there, and signaling a turn to miles of emptiness didn't escape me. Just as I was preparing to take my foot off the brake to run the light, a police car pulled out of one of the parking lots and crossed the intersection in front of me. It was a reminder to me that the rules always apply, even when we think no one is around.I think about our personal turn signals. Signals that we give each other about what our intentions are, what direction we are going in, and what it is that we are expecting from others.
When we plan our lives in such a way that others can plan their next move, it is a beautiful thing. Lives move smoothly. But what happens if we don't use our turn signal as intended.Imagine coming to that same stop sign, and seeing that the only car coming has it's turn signal on. Of course, you proceed to turn, only to be hit by the oncoming car. What happened?
I know people who often make the mistake of driving through their lives with their turn signal on all the time. They are waiting for something, but don't know at what point in it will appear. They go slow so that they can read the street signs ~ except they don't know what street to turn on to. Maybe they think they will know it when they see it. I think many of us do that. We are looking for love, a new career, or a place to live. we are looking so intently for that place, that we fail to look at the road ahead of us. We don't see the beautiful landmarks. We don't see the people on the side of the road that need our assistance. Often the people behind us get irritated and pass us. Using your turn signal all the time is almost worse than not using one at all.
It is as true with our lives as it is with actual road driving, that using our turn signals are more than a courtesy to others and an act of safety. When we use our turn signals, we are indicating that we have a plan. A turn signal is a commitment to an action. Our intent is clear and the action associated with that intent is predictable. Without that plan we may just continue to turn right at the red lights instead of waiting for the light to change. We may also be so lost that we just follow the person in front of us. We turn when they turn and follow them to their destination only to be disappointed at the end of the drive. We are more lost than ever and don't know how to make it back to a familiar road.
Along the road of my life, I spent many years using the street signs to guide me. I never made it to my destination because I never knew where I was going. I followed others. I made unexpected turns. I've been lost, but kept driving without stopping for instructions.
Years ago I decided to use the Bible as my map, and asked God to be my navigator. This combination is better than any GPS system around. I can trust God and his map. I have gone down unfamiliar roads when He asked. The roads are not always easy but I trust Him to get me to my destination. That's not to say that I haven't had to brake suddenly or that I haven't missed a few turns in my life. I have. In retrospect, I know that it wasn't because the directions were wrong. It was because I wasn't paying attention. I was busy checking my mirrors, reaching for my cell phone, or changing the radio station.
If we become familiar with God's map and trust Him to provide directions, we can guarantee that He will show us the turns we need to make. As drivers, our responsibility is to signal our turn, slow down to an appropriate speed, wait for pedestrians to exit the crosswalk, and then follow through with the turn.
The next driving tip: How to merge.
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