1e9083e0   
   XPost: misc.phone.mobile.iphone, comp.mobile.android   
   From: rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com   
      
   Paul M. Cook  wrote   
   > PeteCresswell wrote   
      
   >> 5. They are (or, at least, were...) all playing by the same   
   >>    rules - although this may have changed since the   
   >>    Eurozone got off the ground.   
      
   > Yes. In the USA, you may find a few people who know the rules   
   > of the road (e.g., when a truck passes, you flash him with your   
   > headlights so he knows he can pull back in front of you,   
      
   There is no such 'rule of the road' and no truck ever needs   
   you to do that because he can see a hell of a lot better than   
   you can whether it is safe to pull back in front of you when   
   he passes.   
      
   > and then he flashes his brake lights twice to indicate a thank you).   
      
   No one here ever does anything like that in that situation.   
      
   > But, in Germany, it seemed *most* people knew the   
   > rules of the road! Far more than the Americans seem to.   
      
   Even sillier than you usually manage.   
      
   >> Something to do with having to take driving lessons   
   >> to get a license plus, as a people, pretty much owning   
   >> the concept of respect for authority is my guess....   
      
   > One place you'll find more consistency here in the USA   
   > is bikers know how to properly take turns (it's a catenary,   
   > and not an ellipse, for example, if you have the room)   
   > and how to downshift while panic stopping, etc.   
      
   Even sillier than you usually manage.   
      
   > That's because almost all bikers take a few   
   > classes during their lifetime in safe riding skills.   
      
   Corse nothing like that happens outside the USA, eh ?   
      
   > But cagers think they know it all, and, well, as I have   
   > said many times, driving is an inherently simple task.   
      
   Even sillier than you usually manage, particularly with women drivers.   
      
   > Of course, if you ask 100 drivers if they're better   
   > than average, about 99 of them will swear they are,   
      
   Even sillier than you usually manage, particularly with women drivers.   
      
   > which is funny, when you think about it.   
      
   More interesting with those that do.   
      
   > A better-than-average driver should have a few things, which we   
   > could discuss ad infinitum, but, which might include the following:   
   > a. Never once in his life have had an accident (fault or no fault)   
   > b. Many times have taken additional training (like bikers do)   
      
   Plenty don’t.   
      
   > c. Never once in his life have had a moving violation (duh)   
   > d. Intimately know his engine and handling and suspension   
   > e. Know the coefficients of friction of his brake pads, for example.   
   > e. etc.   
      
   > PS: My brake pad coefficients for cold/hot friction are FF, by way   
   >    of example. What are yours?   
      
   Don’t need to know that.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)