There are many things to be thankful for this week. Some are major and often recalled but there are minor items we tend to overlook.
For example, this week I was reminded to be thankful turn signals are now standard equipment on motor vehicles. I even have turn signals on my three-wheeled electric bike. But turn signals have not always been available.
My first automobile didn’t have the signals. If I wanted to make a left turn I was to roll down the window and extend my arm straight out. For right turn I was to raise my arm along side the vehicle. For the stop signal I extended my arm down along the side of the vehicle. That was a frightening experience for the window had to be cranked down and up, taking my hand off the steering wheel. Steering that old heap was not easy. It didn’t have power steering and when it came to direction of travel it had a mind of its own. Thirty miles an hour was top speed and it required both hands to be firmly on the steering wheel correcting the wandering vehicle.
But that may not have been all bad. I remember riding with a friend who liked to remove both of his hands from the steering wheel and brag about how well his automobile held the road.
A co-worker was in California recently and alarmed to see driverless automobiles cruising the roads in that state.
At my father’s gasoline, we were sometimes called upon to fix nonworking turn signals. Remember driving a truck that had the front signals mounted on three-quarter inch steel pipes welded to the truck’s channel iron front bumper. I liked that arrangement as the mounting raised the lights above the fenders and helped the driver (me) in tight quarters avoid hitting an obstacle. For the driver, the signal lights marked the truck’s left and right front corners.
Another great invention is the emergency circuit that flashes all four turn signals. Before our service truck had emergency flashers and we were called to a stalled vehicle along the highway, we were supposed to park and put out flares. We had both reflective flares and kerosene filled pots that had to be lit. Both took valuable time to put out and I was never sure they would catch the attention of an approaching driver. With the electric signals, I could pull the switch and start my vehicle’s lights flashing as I arrived on the scene.
And so this Thanksgiving I am thankful electric signals were developed and we are not dependent upon the signal glove that came to market in 1924.
The illuminated signal gloves were to be worn on a driver’s left hand. They were coated with a phosphorus substance that would reflect the light from another vehicle when the driver stuck his hand out to signal a turn or stop.
I’ve never had the opportunity to use a signal glove but if I was still driving my first automobile, I would be a prospective customer. In the daylight, I could signal a turn or stop by sticking my arm out the window but that maneuver was useless in the dark. Thankfully I seldom drove the car after dark as all I had for a driver’s license was a school permit.
It has been a long time since I observed a driver stick his arm out and signal a turn.
The last time I had occasion to give such a signal, a I wasn’t sure the following motorist understood the meaning of my arm position. I tried to get his attention by pumping my vehicle’s brakes to flash the brake lights which I hoped were still working. And I put repairing the turn signals in the high priority class.
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