lazy cops, road leeches (negligible Audi content)

[Phil Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>]

>Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 10:08:53 EST
>From: DFAUTOHAUS <DFAUTOHAUS@aol.com>
>Subject: Re: Yo, everyone, who are those Colorado drivers?
>
>No doubt these kind of drivers are a pain, but I can't help thinking that they
>are the cause of the phenomenon known as "road rage". What happens is, they
>sit there, blocking the lanes and when someone wants to get thru they wake up
>to the fact that they aren't getting where they're going and the race is on.
>Next thing you see are cars weaving in and out at higher speeds. Obviously a
>dangerous situation in a mini van or a Volvo
>I can't help thinking that if "keep right except to pass" was the law or
>enforced or both, things would move along more smoothly.
>Any of you listers out there in law enforcement? What do you think of this?
>DF

Enforcing traffic laws has clearly become a _very_ low priority, IMO. I
have long believed that in the USA (well, let's make that in my upstate NY
area), law enforcement has gone on leave with respect to enforcing all but
blatant, in-your-face instances of erratic driving. They clearly have
reduced their attention to speed-limit enforcement: by either lurking in
speed traps or cruising with their radar guns azapping, and they appear to
spend the rest of their highway time speeding back to the "office" at 25
mph over the posted limit (with no flashers on). It appears that a
collision (preferrably with death and/or dismemberment) is needed to see
someone cited for driving infractions. Unless of course the "Authorities"
are kinda interested to see what some suspicious-looking
(dark-complectioned?) guy is _really_ doin' cruising along in such a nice
car--(Maybe Audis can gain one an exemption from such harassment?)

For example: NY State was quite tardy in deciding to permit "right-turn on
red". Now, after about 15 years of _NO_ enforcement of the "details" (i.e.,
must be complete stop and cannot interfere with flow of cross-traffic), the
common practice is for drivers to pass right through red lights on a right
turn--directly into nearby traffic with nary a pause--let alone anything
remotely resembling a stop.

The natural consequence is an "anything goes" mentality among a great many
drivers. Tailgating, stopsign violation, no lane-change signals, etc... Of
course some of the problem might be attributable to the difficulty the
police face in getting a conviction in traffic court.

End of rant.

Well not quite. I've been thinking that the Audi rear foglight switch (with
some Paynesque, 150 watt enhancement) might help to deal with my _real_ pet
peeve. It brings me closest to "road rage". It occurs on almost every
weekly trip I make along the NYS Thruway, and it happens in other regions
of the US, as well. These are drivers whom I call "leeches". They approach
from behind and then settle in to follow--forever after. If I speed up,
they close the gap as soon as possible. If I ease off the throttle, they
are soon right on top of me but continue to follow almost indefinitely at
the lower speed. And so forth. Usually they tend to follow at about 1/2 of
what I consider a safe interval (my rule of thumb is to maintain no closer
than 2 seconds of interval). They refuse to be shaken off. In some cases
I've put the pedal to the metal and push off at 20 or 30 MPH faster to
establish an additional mile or two of interval, but within a few minutes
they are back, settling in behind me at the previous speed.

I've even responded by pulling onto the shoulder to force them by, waiting
10 or 20 seconds. When I resume, there they are ahead, cruisin' at 5 or 10
MPH slower than they previously had been following me. I then have a
choice: follow the leech at a slower speed than I desire, or pass him and
certainly have him resume his "game". Any suggestions? Is it illegal to
direct a 100 watt light to the rear? My wife just advises a "chill pill".
She's right, I know.

Sorry for the WOB, but heck, trying to do a better job of driving our Audis
isn't completely off the mark for the qlist, I hope.

Some Audi content:

		"A Monday Afternoon in the Country"
		Act 1, Scene 1 (at Oneonta Audi/VW--authorized Audi dealer).
salesman: Yep, I been sellin' Audi for _twelve_ years!
me: 	  Hmmm. That's quite some time.
salesman: Yep. That's a nice '91 200qw we got over there.
me: 	  Hmmm.
salesman: Yep. Got that 20V turbo engine.
me:	  Hmmm.
salesman: Yep. That's 228 horsepower!
me:	  Hmmm. Well... actually just 217 horesepower.
salesman: Yep _really_, its _228_ horsepower.
me:	  Hmmm. Almost. 217 is _almost_ 228, but really 217 is what it's rated.
salesman: Yep. Well, 228 is what the _book_ says.
me:	  Well, maybe you're thinkin' about torque. 227 HP is for the S4
engine.
salesman: S4?

Phil Rose		Rochester, NY
'89 100			pjrose@servtech.com