re: fog lamps

[Bernie Strub <bstrub@silverlink.net>]

frank sed:
>M&PK are just too stoopid to adjust their headlights properly - so we have

>laws limiting us to 55W beams and DOT lenses.  does this make you feel
safer?   

My understanding of the current state of the US headlight regulations leads
me to believe that our govt developed these laws not with M&PK in mind, but
are leftovers of a time when the techlology needed a boost to be safe.  The
laws are no longer needed, since the technology has far outstripped sealed
beams, but the beaurocracy remains...No, this does not make me feel safer.
I just installed euro's in my 4kq, and the _improvement_ in safety was
enough to make my (non-gearhead) wife exclaim in shock...Yes, I'm now
officially a scofflaw...in this area, at least...

>M&PK are just too stoopid to buckle their own seatbelt.  now we have laws

>making no-seatbelt usage a primary offense.  does this make you feel safer?


I feel no less safe with others wearing of safety belts.  *I* won't get hurt
any differently if they get into a wreck.  This is a matter of protecting
them in their stupidity.  If they choose to live dangerously, who am I to
object.  However, I object to mandatory "passive restraints" that could
explode in my face.  We automotive consumers were forced to accept this
"solution" over the miserable passive belts.  I personally believe that the
best compromise of safety and convenience, for street use is a properly
fitted, inertial locking 3-point belt.  I continue to boycott this
"solution" by not owning a vehicle with an airbomb in it.

>should i go on?                                       

Fine with me...I love a good discussion...                         

>can you say mandatory helmet laws - for passenger vehicles?  don't bet
against  
>it!  someday a kid will get busted for riding his big wheel in the driveway

>without a helmet.  all of our cars will have a variety of strobes, lights,

>sirens and beepers so that everybody can see and hear everybody.  except

>S/N won't change a bit.

DRL's are a perfect example of this.  Excuse the rant mode, but...Here's a
technology, foisted on us by a few manufacturers, that is dangerously
misused by people who don't take driving seriously enough to think about
what they are doing...I have seen vehicles, ripping down the highway in full
dark, visible only from the front (HIGH BEAMS!), and no dash lights, because
M&PK are TOO F'ING LAZY to turn on the real lights.  This sort of
irresponsible behavior endangers everyone else on the road, and is typically
laughed off by the lowlife goobers that do it as "harmless".  Additionally,
since GM decided that lowbeams were not enough, we have to deal with high
beams at all times.  They are still aimed at oncoming drivers' eyes.  Seems
to me that GM confused brightness with aim, a common error.  Moral:  The
bleeding hearts have given the goobers another weapon with which to cull the
rest of the species...

God save us from the bleeding heart liberals that will try to save us all
from our own stupidity.  Sometimes I wonder if some of the more "charming"
examples of brainless activity don't actually deserve to be rewarded with a
quick death...rather than breeding more of their kind...  
                                                       
>i think i'm capable of deciding whether or not i need visibility while i

>wipe the glass! 

Yes, perhaps _you_ are, but M&PK...?  I have been in very few rainstorms
that didn't _significantly_ degrade the visibility of other cars.  A simple
fix is to procedurally link headlights with wipers.  You still have the
option of running them solo when the mood strikes, but when the water comes
down, your visibility to others is enhanced.  My current state doesn't
require it, but I do it anyway because I think it is a good idea.  Many of
the natives don't even consider doing this, "they're used to it".  I've even
gotten some wierd looks for this simple safety precaution...

Egad, I've gone and done it again!  Sorry, I'll go away again (for now...)
>>>>>Bernie
QCUSA #1765
Member #47 NW Region AQC