Torque talk

Imagine this. You are commuting home from the office on a day like any other. The traffic on the multi-lane street you are driving on is starting to display the usual signs of the 5pm crawl.

Suddenly, without warning, the car in the next lane cuts across in front of you to avoid the traffic backing up in its lane, all without so much as a blink from its indicators.

These days such occurrences are not uncommon. I have heard many stories from others having experienced similar situations. Whether slowing and turning without previously declaring their intentions to the car behind, or bounding into another lane on a whim, one could argue there are plenty of people on Canterbury roads who just don’t think to use their indicators.

This is a pet peeve of mine.

The road code clearly states that one should signal for at least three seconds before turning left, right, as you exit a roundabout, or when changing lanes.

Signalling by way of vehicle indicators or hand gestures has been iron-clad since the pioneering days of Kiwi motoring.

So please, do your utmost to let others know of your desired direction on the road at all times. Otherwise, you may receive another kind of hand gesture from the driver of the car behind.