It's not the technology.

Post #267,983 by pwhysall 9/18/06 3:57:54 PM Reply	It's not the technology. Fact is, American drivers crash a lot because they're badly educated. We drive much the same cars (minus some of the true monsters) in more crowded conditions over here and we crash less. A lot less. About 10% as much, in fact. The difference? We have harder, more rigorous driver testing (which is still inadequate, imho). Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes! [link\|http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?pwhysall\|A better terminal emulator]
Post #267,986 by jbrabeck 9/18/06 4:03:32 PM Reply	American Driving Test Part 1. The written test. 1) what color means stop? 2) What color means go? 3) What is your name? If you get two right you pass. Part II. The driving test 1) Start the car. 2) Turn on the lights. 3) Honk the horn. 4) Work the turn signals. 5) Drive around the block without hitting anything. Get 80% or better to pass. A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. (Herm Albright)
Post #267,999 by boxley 9/18/06 6:49:36 PM Reply	dont drive around the block in georgia setup of pylons, drive nose in, back in a 3 point turn to reverse then parrelel park on the next set of pylons. None of them go down you have a license. thanx, bill Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
Post #267,993 by Ashton 9/18/06 5:46:25 PM Reply	I've always Loved the L-plate! For Muricans -Learner == a big-L prominently displayed near license plate. It's just so freaking Sane: A new driver needs to be educated; the other drivers need to be warned. ..now throw in the Competitive Edge: that L- guy (especially) NEEDS to get that sucker off his Aston-Martin S.A.P. - so he graduates to the Hard test S.A.P. Duh. Muricans just Do Not Get the really hard stuff - like this.
Post #268,007 by Meerkat 9/18/06 8:45:02 PM Reply	They don't do that in the US? Eek! Here we have L's while you're learning, and nowadays we have a two phases of "P" (Provisional) plates. Red P-Plates for (at least) the first twelve months, and after passing another test, on to Green P-Plates for a further two years. The tests I believe still aren't great, but probably an improvement from when I was learning to drive. Two out of three people wonder where the other one is.
Post #268,018 by Ashton 9/18/06 9:38:03 PM Reply	I suppose this can be overdone But I (still) like the idea inculcated into the supplicant: We Shall reTest you (twice yet.) Now if the tests aren't 'very good' - I guess I'd deem this a rare situation where even a crappy 'test' has the necessary psych effect. So your folks could, in time, clean up their act - we don't even Have an act. We are absurd about this stuff.. driving today in US needs some of the wisdom of Nuvolari, Fangio - just to dodge the cell-zombies in suspended animation, so in love with the mouth. On-ramps need some real seat/pants basic physics Experience (real-slow/cautious is as bad as juvenile bravado.) I no words.
Post #268,021 by boxley 9/18/06 9:59:58 PM Reply	when I drive here I assume that everyone on the road is attempting to kill me. Keeps you alert and is probably inadvertantly true., thanx, bill Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
Post #268,048 by mmoffitt 9/19/06 11:36:37 AM Reply	Agree. But that's not the only reason. I'd wager that the average Murican spends a lot more time in an automobile than the average European. Part of it is cultural (we don't live in the bad cities, but work there. We live 30-50 miles away and the only means of transporation to/from work is our auto). Part of it is geography. But the biggest part, imo, is the absolutely insane "American love of the automobile." So intense is this ludicrous "love of the auto" here that it overrides the death and destruction this worst human invention has foisted upon us. Several years ago I went to Washington and saw the Viet Nam War Memorial with a friend. He said, "Look at that. Look at the waste, the ultimate stupidity." I replied, "Yes. But consider the size of the monument we'd have to erect to memorialize all the US dead from automobiles during the same period. It would be 15 times the size of this one. That's ultimate stupidity." bcnu, Mikem It would seem, therefore, that the three human impulses embodied in religion are fear, conceit, and hatred. The purpose of religion, one might say, is to give an air of respectibility to these passions. -- Bertrand Russell

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