Ever Been In A Scary Situation? These TikTok Hand Signals Could Save You In WNY

These hand signals could save your life, and if you don’t have a TikTok account, then you probably have not seen them.

The hand signals on TikTok became more popular as the pandemic and quarantines continued. People turned to the social media site, TikTok, to come up with a way to ask for help over mandatory zoom calls for work, school, etc.

You may be wondering, “What kind of help are these people asking for?”

With the pandemic causing a lot of people to stay at home, work from home, and spend a lot more time with their housemates, there was a notable spike in domestic violence calls. 

TikTok users, which were also growing in their online presence, developed a sign to show friends, family members, strangers, or whoever was within eyesight that someone is in trouble and needs help. 

Make note of these hand signals in case you run into a scary situation here in Western New York.

If you are skeptical of the signal’s effectiveness, then you will be shocked to know how one teenage girl was saved from a scary situation last week.

While traveling down a major highway and sitting as a passenger in a silver Toyota, the teenage girl turned around and made the hand signal to the car driving behind them. The car behind the Toyota was able to pick up on the subtle hand signal, meaning “I need help” or “violence at home,” and immediately called 911.

When law enforcement arrived and pulled the vehicle over, they found out that this teenage girl had just been reported missing in Asheville, North Carolina.

Throughout the girl’s time with the 61 year old man who took her, she had tried to get passing drivers and bystanders to pick up on her hand signal and call 911.

Luckily, someone did. 

Always be on the lookout because your neighbor may be communicating with you … without saying anything at all.