Learning To Drive: Nervous Wreck 3939However, driving experience in rural areas differs significantly from driving experience in city areas. It is important to be familiar with both types of environments...
Well, I think it's important to signal. However, I know a good reason not to. One car I owned was old enough that it almost qualified for "antique" plates. But my brother (a good mechanic and body man) had rebuilt it to the point where it was pretty much showroom condition. It had a new, freshly painted body, a rebuilt engine and rebuilt tranny, etc. All the suspension, brakes, EVERYTHING had been recently re-worked. The interior was re-upholstered, etc. It was basically a brand new car. I drove it for a few years and had no problems at all with it, it was SWEET. But eventually the turn signal switch got worn down to the point where it couldn't hold itself up anymore. I had to tape it up to prevent it from signalling "left". I could live with that (the whole rest of the car was PERFECT), but I was living in a state with annual mandatory safety inspections. Of course a car with inop. turn signals wouldn't pbutt inspection, so it couldn't be legally registered. So I had to replace the turn signal switch. The turn signal switch was $800. Yes, $800. I searched local junk yards to find a used one, but all of that model car had the turn signal switch removed already. (because a new one costs $800, obviously, making the used ones a high-demand item). I ended up spending $800 on a fricking turn signal switch. If I'd have known that the switch was going to cost $800 to replace, I wouldn't have been using it at all, other than for state inspection. The area I was living in at the time, the use of turn signals was kind of rare anyway, so I would have blended right in if I hadn't been using them. -Dave
