Narrow Escape

[Rave Racer]

    ok, ok... joking guys, here's my stereotypical one word analysis of each
of the drivers I have encountered from some of the areas I have driven.

    Canada (Toronto rural area)        -  Unaware
    Canada (Toronto Metro)            -   Ignorant
    US (New York area)                  -  Aggresive
    US (Southern States)                   -  Arrogant
    Scottland/England(cities)              -  Selfish
    France (NW Coast)                    -  INSANE
    Italian (rural)                                -  Violent
Of course, that may just be my inability to understand their firey hand
gestures

        Now where's my Nomex?  For the love of GOD, what did I do with my
FLAME SUIT?

       Rave Racer
'89 Jetta 1.8L 16V GTX
 http://www.vwot.org/members/Pete.html
'87 Audi 4000 Quattro Sedan
 http://www.audifans.com/registry/view.php?action=viewCar&carid=110
'72 Triumph GT6
 http://motorcities.com/contents/01I3H011116682.html
'83 Toyota Tercel (yoda)     Possible future Sandrail donor...  Maybe

----- Original Message -----
From: Fringe Ryder <fringe at fringeweb.com>
To: <ccohen5 at compuserve.com>; <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2002 12:27 PM
Subject: RE: Narrow Escape


Warning: Gross generalizations follow.  (Although not nearly as gross as
the source poster's)

Colin, I've been around a chunk of Europe in the last year.  In answer to
your (somewhat prejudiced) question...

Yes, things are a LOT safer in the U.S.  You Europeans run roads like you
run your economies.  U.S. roads are a LOT wider, a LOT straighter, and of
course don't forget normal drives through huge distances in essentially
unpopulated areas.  We also have the benefit of a recent start, while most
European buildings I saw/stayed in were much older than the automobile, but
even if Europeans could do it over, they wouldn't do it much differently
because the concept of "independence" is subjugated to the concept of
"society", whereas here it's the opposite.  (This applies to guns, taxes,
medical care, and much more, not just cars and freeways.)

And yes, things are a LOT safer in the U.S., because inside the cities, you
can't get up enough speed to do any damage at all.

And yes, U.S. drivers are often selfish and dumb... but so are Italian
drivers, French drivers, and British drivers.  (I haven't been to
germany.)  U.S. drivers come a lot closer to paying attention to the laws,
minor things like stop lights, stop signs, lane markers, yield
requirements, etc.  French and Italian drivers may not even bother looking
towards the road, if they're in an interesting conversation with a
passenger.  In London even more than in the States, you can't get enough
speed to do any damage, but people park for "just a few" right in the
middle of the street!  (Also not much fear of carjackings here, a big
problem in London currently.)

Drivers adapt to the conditions around them.  This list is composed of
enthusiasts who probably pay a lot more attention than the average, but the
average everywhere just pays enough to get by.  How stupid you look is
entirely determined by which cultural metric you're measured against.