Seat belts, emergency lights, braking system, airbags or turn signals. The technological development of cars has come a long way in recent decades. The technological changes that have taken place in the motor industry have made it possible to increase the safety of the members of the vehicle in addition to responding to society’s demand for a safer and more environmentally friendly vehicle fleet. The safety of today’s vehicles we owe, to a large extent, to everyone who invented the basic safety elements of the cars of the last century. Among them stands out a woman: Florence Lawrence. Lawrence is a well-known Hollywood actress and the motor world. She was the inventor of a safety staple in today’s vehicles: turn signals and brake lights.
Lawrence was passionate about the automobile industry. This renowned actress with more than 300 films to her credit decided to invest in vehicles. In 1914, she herself designed a device that moved depending on the type of button that the driver pressed, indicating to the drivers the direction in which he was going to turn. This is how the blinker was born, a decisive element in today’s automobile safety and that we owe to Florence Lawrence. But in addition to the turn signals, this invention was the forerunner of what is known today as brake lights. Because? Because when the driver was not going to turn but braked, a “STOP” was displayed.
Pointing out the direction in which we are going to turn is essential on the road so as not to endanger other drivers. This gesture is of vital importance since it is one of the few means we have to communicate with other drivers when we get behind the wheel. The turn signals help make driving as safe as possible by indicating if we are going to overtake on the road, change direction, join a new road, indicate the place where we are going to park and a long etcetera. Failure to warn other road users of the maneuver that we are going to carry out through the turn signal is a serious offense that can be penalized with up to 200 euros. For their part, the brake lights warn drivers that we are going to slow down and are automatically activated the moment we step on the brake pedal.
