When’s the last time you brushed up on your driving rules? If it’s been awhile, you might find one day you don’t know basic things like whether it’s illegal to not use your turn signal at the drive thru.
TikTok user @20.civic says he was recently ticketed while driving. Like most people who’ve been financially smacked down by the long arm of the law, he’s become overly cautious.
However, it appears that this caution has extended to other driving scenarios that don’t include highways and residential streets. Like a fast food drive-thru.
The TikToker asks a valid question that others may have wondered themselves: Where do the rules of the road stop and begin?
Drive-thru turn signaling
In a viral TikTok that’s garnered over 57,000 views, @20.civic records himself in his car, waiting in a drive-thru line. Over the steering wheel, a line of cars in front of him can be seen.
However, the queue isn’t one that looks straight ahead. It curves to the left where drivers turn in after ordering to pick up their food. This is set up like pretty much every fast food location’s drive thru.
But he’s worried that if he makes this turn without putting on his signal, will that technically violate the law?
“Is it illegal to not use your turn signal in a drive thru?” he asks in a text overlay of his clip. “Got a ticket and have been real scared since,” he added in a caption for his clip.
It’s a scary thought, wondering whether or not a plain-clothes fast food police officer is just waiting for someone to slip up.
But is it against the law?
It’s difficult to find a definitive answer. The websites of Traffic School Online, the Wise Drive, The Sacramento Bee, AAA, the Davis Law Group, First Time Driver, don’t include mention of drive-thru etiquette.
But nearly all of the aforementioned resources state that turn signals are required while driving on roads under any circumstances. If you’re merging on the highway, or turning on a road, the signal must click on.
This is even the case when there aren’t any cars around. But there is something called situational context. If you’re in a drive thru picking up some late-night Jack in the Box tacos and you don’t use your signal, a cop probably won’t slap you with a ticket.
However, again, it is generally considered illegal for someone to make any type of turn in their vehicle without signaling first. So if you did get a cop who is ticket happy, it seems like legally they’d be in the right.
TikTokers bring up good points
One person remarked that they were once driving behind someone who popped a turn signal in a roundabout. “I saw someone use their blinker at a round about. There’s only one way to go, my friend,” they wrote.
Someone else said this same logic should apply to fast food drive thrus as well. “The thought of using a turn signal in a drive thru never crossed my mind, but everyone knows what you’re doing, so you’re good,” they wrote.
Another simply said, “Where else would you be turning.”
Again, these seem like common sense arguments. The only time a turn in a drive thru without signaling could be seen as potentially dangerous is a turn out of the line.
One commenter wrote about the usefulness of turn signals while driving in parking lots, however. They said, “It’s just polite if you’re in a shopping center so people know to go around you.”
But that situation is a bit different than waiting in a line for some burgers and fries, isn’t it?
@20.civic Got a ticket and have been real scared since 😞 #foryou #chickfila ♬ huawei ringtone – Penguin
The Daily Dot reached out to @20.civic via TikTok comment and Green Light Driving School via text for further information.
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