Hand Turn Signals
Just like the other chopper riders back in the eighties I got rid of the stock electric turn signals Harley had supplied. After that in order not to be run over by the traffic behind me I learned how to use hand signals every time I was turning off the road. This just explains how the old technique covers several other vehicles as well.
Using your left arm to signal a changing of lanes is one old driver skill that fits several different vehicles. Unfortunately it is getting lost as none of the new drivers are being taught those old skills that originated way back along with the motel T Ford car.
The hand signal that is mostly used by skilled drivers is to hang your left arm out of the driver’s window. You point it straight out to your left if that is the direction you are turning. You hold your hand straight up to show the drivers behind you that you are turning right. The main thing that holds for both directions is to keep your palm facing behind you so none of the drivers coming at you think you are waving at them.
Being able to do a hand signal as you are about to turn onto another street is something we all should master. That’s because it can be used while driving any vehicle allowed on the road. It was learned by myself back in high school. Back then we were still allowed to drive all kinds of old cars. The safety regulations didn’t cut that off from us.
As a teenage driver one had to figure those tail lights on your nineteen fifties pickup never worked. You would always use your left arm to keep from receiving any traffic ticket. That was why I had to catch on to this driving skill. It was surprising how that ability would fit into driving other vehicles.
Back in the eighties just about no biker would keep the stock turn signal lights on his ride. Most of them to learn about using their left arm just to allow their chopper to survive. It’s just that many of them used their left arm to compensate for not having a horn to honk. When some drive did something like cut you off you could easily flip him off.
Most of those chopper rider would have thought that their skill had to be mastered by tractor trailer drivers. Most of those truckers had to pick it up because sitting around trying to get their tail lights fixed cost too much. They’d just check them lights every morning before hitting the road. That way they could use their left arm and save themselves a lot of bucks.
This tiny bit of knowledge shouldn’t just be restricted to these vary different forms of transportation. It ought to be mastered by all of us so we will at least understand why the driver on front of us is hanging his left arm out.
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