Forming an Opportunity Belief

I believe there is an unmet need that exist in the automotive industry in regards to the signal light, also known as the blinker. The blinker is a tool that allows those around you to know when you have an interest in moving into another lane. The problem that we have is that people don’t use this tool and cause accidents because they are not paying attention. If there is technology to automatically stop a car before it collides with another car, then I think there is an opportunity for a technology that can either prevent the merging of a car into another lane without signaling or prevent you for merging completely if there is a car right next to you.

I think that any and all drivers have this need. No driver is perfect and there is always that chance that you forget to signal or merge into a lane that already has a vehicle. This need has always existed. I think it has been around since the first vehicle was created. With technology constantly progressing and people using portable devices while driving the risk of collision is a lot great than that in the past. In more recently released vehicles there is a light that is located on the side mirrors that illuminate when there is a car near you. This lets you know that you are not cleared to merge. However, some drivers fail to use this light as a tool and still merge into lanes. I am about 75% sure an opportunity exists here.

#1 Female, Early 40's

• Do you ever find yourself not signaling when changing lane? If so, why do you do this? 

"No, I even use the turn signal when I’m in a right turn only or left turn only lane."

• Do you think that the blinker is an important accident prevention tool? Do you think everyone should be required to have it on their vehicle? 

"Yes, it’s a big preventative tool to make others aware of what you’re doing. No one is a mind reader, and it is on the car, people are just too stupid to use it."

• How often would you say you use the blinker correctly? 

"9/10 times at least"

• How long have you been driving? 

"14 years" 

• What do you do to help you drive carefully when there are cars around you? 

"Pay attention, pay attention to other cars, other people signaling DUH."

• Do you think that's good enough or do you believe there can be more done to make driving safer? 

"We as drivers, should be required to take a new driving test when our license expires, and if you’ve got X number of traffic offenses, it should be an annual requirement."

• Did you know that there are twice as many accidents caused by not signaling in comparison to distracted driving? 

"No, but I believe it, people are stupid heads."

• Do you think it would be safer if the car could prevent you from merging into a lane if you are not using the proper signaling? 

"Smart cars should be smart enough to know when you’re going to turn left or right, how do we make that happen?"


#2 Female, Early 20's

• Do you ever find yourself not signaling when changing lane? If so, why do you do this? 

"Yes, when there is no car around me. Because, I don’t feel like Jesus cares where I am turning."

• Do you think that the blinker is an important accident prevention tool? Do you think everyone should be required to have it on their vehicle? 

"Yes and no. People turn on their blinkers and still merge even if there is no room for them to do so. Yeah, it should be on every single vehicle.

• How often would you say you use the blinker correctly? 

"I would say 90% of the time."

• How long have you been driving? 

"Almost 10 years"

• What do you do to help you drive carefully when there are cars around you? 

"Self-awareness. I think that self-awareness is the most important part about driving and then everything else falls behind that."

• Do you think that's good enough or do you believe there can be more done to make driving safer? 

"I believe that people should retest their ability to drive because they forget the road rules. Also, vehicle inspections to make sure that everything is working properly."

• Did you know that there are twice as many accidents caused by not signaling in comparison to distracted driving? 

"That actually does not surprise me."

• Do you think it would be safer if the car could prevent you from merging into a lane if you are not using the proper signaling? 

"Yes, I think so."


#3 Male, Early 30's

• Do you ever find yourself not signaling when changing lane? If so, why do you do this? 

"I always signal even when there is no one there. I do this because it is a habit."

• Do you think that the blinker is an important accident prevention tool? Do you think everyone should be required to have it on their vehicle? 

"Yes, I believe that. Yes, I do."

• How often would you say you use the blinker correctly? 

"Like a percentage? Like 90% of the time I would say."

• How long have you been driving? 

"10 years I have been driving."

• What do you do to help you drive carefully when there are cars around you? 

"I drive slow. I use my turn signals and I use my side and rear mirrors to make sure that I am clear."

• Do you think that's good enough or do you believe there can be more done to make driving safer? 

"Whatever I just said should be good enough, if you check your surrounding and use the tools you are given then you should be good to go."

• Did you know that there are twice as many accidents caused by not signaling in comparison to distracted driving? 

"Yeah I knew that and that doesn’t surprise me."

• Do you think it would be safer if the car could prevent you from merging into a lane if you are not using the proper signaling? 

"Yeah. Because if it stops you enough times maybe the person will start getting into the habit of using the signals."


Reflection: After the interviews I realized that the opportunity would actually be very useful no matter who is driving. People said that they would find the opportunity useful and one person even wondered why don’t we already have that available. Length of driving experience does not matter when it comes to whether a person uses their blinker or not. I was a little surprised that the people who claim to never find themselves not signaling also stated that they use blinkers correctly less than 100% of the time. This proves that there is room for error even for those who think they are perfect drivers.

Summary: I do think that there is still an opportunity as I originally suspected. No one ever said that they 100% of the time use their signals, which means that there is a problem that exists. But I also learned of other possible unmet needs that can lead to opportunities. Everyone agreed that signaling is a very important accident prevention tool but they also believe that other things along with that can make driving safer. I do believe that my opportunity is more accurate than when I started because people do believe that more things can help make driving safer. I do believe that entrepreneurs should adapt opportunities based on customer feedback. You are hearing first hand from customers of what they want. That would make them attracted to the product or service. Why would you as an entrepreneur make something completely different than what the customers ask for? You wouldn’t be successful if the customer is not happy. I feel like companies are always making adjustments to products and services everyday based on what people have to say.