Um, that is exactly what the article said: "The 28-year-old was in the middle of moving from Texas to the Chicago area when she was collared during a troubling traffic stop when she forgot to put on her turn signal."
Are you really this dumb? Damn!
Yes, I really am dumb enough to believe that when an article says that she was stopped for not using the turn signal and subsequently taken to the police station, that that is what the article said.
You have some real issues. Let's start with your apparent belief that failing to use a turn signal is just as bad as, for example, driving on the left side of the yellow divider line (or on the right side in English or Japanese speaking island countries).
I don't know about where you are, but here, it is exceedingly common for people not to use the turn signal. It is very annoying, for example, when I am waiting on a side street to enter the main road, and someone comes along and I wait for them to pass, but they turn instead--and if they had used the turn signal, I would have known they were turning and would have been able to go. But it probably balances out for all the times I see someone has the turn signal on, and I wait anyway because I don't know if they turned it on to turn, or they forgot to turn it off in the recent past.
“DPS stated that Bland was arrested because she kicked Encinia.[21] She was charged with assaulting a public servant.[1] DPS said that she “became argumentative and uncooperative” during the arrest.[23] Officers took her to the Waller County Jail and placed her in a cell alone, because they said they deemed her a high risk to others.[9]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Sandra_Bland
“Yes, I really am dumb enough to believe that when an article says”
Yes, apparently you are.
I never said anything about my beliefs regarding failure to use a turn signal being as bad as anything.
You said- “Running a stop sign seems like a valid reason to pull someone over. Failing to use a turn signal is not.”
So if anyone has real issues, it’s you. How about you go out in your car and make some turns without signal in front of police cars, and see what happens as a result.
I really don’t even know what the purpose of discussing this is. The stop was legit. She broke two laws, got pulled over, proceeded to behave in a way that angered the officer, got into a fight with him and went to jail where she later killed herself.
The officer had nothing to do with her suicide. if his department determined that his behavior ill represented the department and subsequently fired him, fine. if further investigation reveals negligence on the part of the jailers, fine.
She took her own life. She is responsible for her death. That is all there is to it.
Many drivers do not use their turn signals here. I have no idea if they are ever pulled over for it, but I doubt it.