The Blinker
People of Orlando, for the love of God, use your damn turn signal! When I moved to Orlando, Florida from New York a few years ago there were a number of cultural differences of which I had to adjust. Some adjustments were easy. I learned to love beef jerky, and I now understand what real barbecue is all about. The biggest cultural adjustment was sharing the road with so many pickup trucks. The Ford F-Series pickup is one of the top selling vehicle of all time, and by my estimate, 85% of them travel on I4 between the hours of 4 and 6. I eventually, sort of , got used to the truck being used as personal transportation, but I will never understand why Floridians refuse to use their turn signals.
Now, I'm to picking of Florida, and I'm not a New York snob. Trust me, there is a TON of things that irk me about the Northeast, and I will most likely blog about them in the future. I just cannot comprehend how an entire region of the country tries to merge onto highway traffic without the aid of a device that was invented 1907. Traveling on Orlando roads, you will see drivers desperately trying to get over two or three lanes, the worried expression on their faces as if to say, "I wish the other drivers knew that I have to get across all these lanes to make the left turn. If only there was an invention that would allow me to signal to them that I need to turn!" Eventually, the driver gets over and makes the turn but not before almost killing a van full of nuns. I think they were nuns. They may have been penguins being transported to Animal Kingdom.
Even worse than the 'lane traveler' is the 'merger'. This driver thinks the white line on the right side of highway ramp is a virtual 'rail' that they can ride from the side road onto the highway. This driver believes that he has the right of way, and that every other driver must make a space for him because, like it or not, here he comes! Of course, there's the 'cowboy' too. He's the guy who is weaving in and out of rush hour traffic, trying to get to the next traffic jam before you do. This driver will knock the rain drops off your bumper as he squeezes between you and another car. Man, if you did that in New York without using your turn signal...well, let's just say that EMS would be involved at some point in the future.
