Here's a public service announcement that apparently needs to be made in the year 2025: your car has a turn signal. It's that little stick on the left side of your steering column. It clicks up for right, down for left. Revolutionary technology — been around since the 1930s.

And yet, driving anywhere in the Bay Area right now feels like participating in an unregulated demolition derby where nobody bothers to communicate their next move. Fremont might be ground zero, but let's be honest — San Francisco's streets aren't exactly a masterclass in defensive driving either. Between the lane-splitting without warning, the aggressive merges, and the casual 50-in-a-35 cruising, it's a miracle more people don't get hurt.

This isn't just a pet peeve. It's a public safety issue that local governments seem perfectly content to ignore. SFMTA will happily paint a new bike lane or install another set of "traffic calming" planters, but actual enforcement of basic traffic laws? That's apparently too much to ask. SFPD issued fewer than 8,000 moving violations in all of 2023, a fraction of what a city this size should expect.

And let's talk about professional drivers, who should theoretically be better than the rest of us. As one SF resident put it, "Every time you give a taxi driver a chance, you're going to learn why Uber is a multi-billion dollar company." Another local recounted being physically grabbed by a cab driver at SFO over a tip — the kind of experience that makes you swear off an entire industry forever.

The broader point is this: when enforcement disappears, norms collapse. People speed because they know nobody's watching. They skip the turn signal because there are zero consequences. The city spends millions on Vision Zero — its plan to eliminate traffic deaths — while doing almost nothing to enforce the laws already on the books.

You want safer streets? You don't need another task force or community engagement survey. You need cops pulling people over for running red lights. You need actual consequences for reckless driving. It's not complicated. It's just not politically fashionable.

Until then, keep your head on a swivel out there. Nobody else is watching the road for you.