It might be a bold statement devoid of a factual basis.

It also might be a bit of puffery on my part.

Call it what you will, but I am firm in this belief.

Folks, I’m sad to tell you, an increasing number of people are forgetting how to drive.

I’ve been noticing this phenomena practically every time I set out on the roadway. If you turn left or right, for instance, I think you’re supposed to use that “whatchamacallit” on the steering wheel column to let other driver’s know about your intentions.

I think I read that somewhere in a book once. But, alas, the simple act of using a turn signal seems like a forgotten art.

And when you’re driving on a 4-lane highway, I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to use one of the lanes for coasting along merrily and the other for going around slower traffic.

Judging by almost all of my experiences of late, I think the South Carolina Department of Transportation has committed a serious error and switched the lanes. Either that, or the South Carolina lawmakers have quietly signed a law to put passing lanes on the outside.

I didn’t get that memo.

Ok, this may sound a little grumpy on my part and maybe it’s not as bad as I think. But maybe many of you have noticed the same things, even if on an unconscious level.

What’s causing it?

Go out onto Interstate 85 right now. As one of my colleagues here would say, “I double dog dare you.” And you know you can’t back down from a double dog dare.

First, try to do the speed limit and see how many people whiz by.

Second, try to hold your vehicle to five miles over the limit and see how many people whiz by.

No matter how fast you drive, you’ll be passed like you’re standing still.

And if by chance you aren’t passed like you were standing still, you’ll no doubt become intimately involved with a tail-gater who wants to mate his or her car with yours.

I don’t think common courtesy, like using a turn signal or giving other drivers a little space, was this lacking just a decade or so ago.

And bad weather seems to exacerbate the somewhat recent (at least in historical perspective) spate of driver memory loss.

When it rains there will be an increased number of wrecks, of that there is no doubt.

I can confidently tell how busy police, firefighters and paramedics will be based simply on the forecast.

When the rain comes down in buckets you sometimes have to take your foot off the gas pedal. You may even have to allow yourself a little extra stopping distance.

We forget that, I guess. What’s the solution?

I used to think it was flying cars.

Like many of you, I watched the Jetsons cartoons in my younger years and imagined the day we’d have flying cars. I’ve since given up on that dream, however, since it’s apparent that brain cells can lock up easily in the sky, too.

You likely heard about a recent national news story in which a pair of Northwest Airlines pilots overshot an airport by 150 miles while no one could reach them on the radio. The incident has since been blamed on pilot distraction, as the pilots admitted they were working on laptop computers and lost track of time and place, according to the Associated Press.

Both pilots had their licenses revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration.

If only all solutions to a brain lock behind the wheel were so easy.