When the hitmen floor it and McQueen attempts to start his pursuit he is blocked by cars making a left turn in his way. I notice a lot in this movie and in older reel footage from the era that the people are pointing their turn out the window kind of like bicyclists might do now. Was this something driver's ed required at the time?
shareTurn signals is a relatively new invention, it wasn't standard up until the 60's. Most European cars until the mid 50's had "trafficators", mechanical semaphors extending from the car making clear the intention of turning.
I don't know about drivers ed in the US, but in Europe (As I'm a European) learning hand signals is mandatory and has to be used if the turn signals on the cars malfunction. One could legally use hand signals instead of turn signals at any case even today. What is required by law is for the driver to make his intention to turn known and clear to other drivers, by any necessary means, turn signals or hand signals alike.
As the film was made in the late 60's, many people in those days used hand signals just from old habit, or because they were lazy. It's just a sign of Bullits laid back coolness he thought it was easier to just pull out his arm through the window than turn a stalk. All in all, it's very neatly done, and tells much of his character.
Wikipedia has this to say about turn signals:
"Electric turn-signal lights date from as early as 1907. The modern flashing turn signal was patented in 1938 and later most major automobile manufacturers offered this feature. As of 2013 most countries require turn signals on all new vehicles that are driven on public roadways. Alternative systems of hand signals were used earlier, and remain common for bicycles. Hand signals are also sometimes used when regular vehicle lights are malfunctioning or for older vehicles that are not so equipped."
It looks like turn signals first became standard equipment on upper-tier GM division cars (Cadillac, Buick, etc.) in 1941. While they might not have been standard, by the end of the forties, it looks like all auto manufacturers were offering them as an option. I'd guess that by 1955, they were standard across the board.
So, it's quite likely that just about everyone driving the cars in 1968 (the year Bullitt was released) had, at the very least, went through driver's license training at a time when turn signals were definitely not on most cars, and using arm signals was a normal, regular driving procedure.
Remember, too, that this is San Francisco, a place with fair weather most of the time, and lowered car windows would be much more prevalent the entire year than much of the rest of the country.
Interesting.
I'd just think it'd be easier to see the tail light flashing than look for a little arm out the window pointing left or signaling for a right turn.
There are other reasons why turn signals are a whole lot better than hand signals. For instance, hand signals are surely more difficult to see at night. Then there's the whole time-consuming process of having to lower the window during inclement weather. Remember, this was back in the day when power windows were a rare feature reserved for luxury cars and manual window winders were the norm.
But what's most fascinating is that the switch to turn signals was done during a time in this country when federal safety regulations were almost non-existent. You have to wonder if turn signals would have been implemented much sooner if the same sort of government intrusion into safety existed back in the day.
Hand signals were a standard element of driver's ed courses when I entered high school a few months before Bullitt was shot, and were among the requirements when I took the driving test for my CA license in '69.
Poe! You are...avenged!
When I had Driver's Education class in a California high school in the late 1960s, we were taught arm/hand signals for turning and stopping. People used to actually do these signals, and they are still legal. We did them on motorcycles, too.
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