[Leica] The best drivers?

[douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp)]

Funny,
at least in Milan the Italian drivers seem to be amongst the most 
considerate to pedestrians, cats,dogs etc and even other drivers.
In Germany, drivers tend to accelerate when the see someone attempting 
to use a pedestrian crossing, widespread, although illegal, is steering 
with one hand while using the other to hold your mobile phone - this 
makes drivers very alert (but mostly seconds too late)
Creeping up the front man's exhaust at 250kph, or overtaking on the 
wrong side is also an everyday pastime. Cutting in, and just a dab on 
the anchors to scare the bloke you just overtook into an emergency stop, 
is a jolly bit of fun too. The German drivers real sense of fun comes to 
the fore when there's thick fog (and preferably black ice too) on the 
autobahn - - the standard aftermath phrase is - ....at speeds 
inappropriate to the weather conditions - the Englishman's home may be 
his castle, but a German's car is his Panzer. Only not quite as tough.
Douglas
As the German driver said to his wife "What do they mean on the traffic 
news -somebody's driving on the wrong side of the Autobahn? There's 
hundreds of them"
Or the German driver's memorial headstone,  " here lies ........ he did 
have the right of way"

B. D. Colen wrote:

>And here I always thought our rules were:
>Green means go;
>Yellow means go faster;
>Red means go really fast and wave to oncoming drivers with the third finger 
>of your left hand.
>And finally, when turning left always begin your turn from the far right 
>hand lane.
>Master those four simple rules and you can drive anywhere - even Rome. :-)
>___
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>www.snappermail.com
>
>...... Original Message .......
>On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 07:45:25 -0400 Jim Hemenway <Jim@hemenway.com> wrote:
>"< Having said that, I must say that because drivers are better and 
>"society less litigious here, insurance is considerably less here than I 
>"paid in New Jersey>
>"
>"The world's best drivers are here in Boston because we have unwritten 
>"rules which lead to a certain personal efficiency. ;-)
>"
>"A yellow light really means speed up... one has at least another second 
>"before the light turns red,
>"
>"When stuck in slow traffic, don't use your turn signals to change lanes, 
>"the other drivers consider it a sign of weakness and force you to remain 
>"in slow mode unless you're proficient in the art of the "sidesqueeze" or 
>"the "cutoff",
>"
>"When attempting a left turn in heavy slow traffic, edge halfway across 
>"the intersection until it clears. Don't worry about the oncoming cars 
>"that you are blocking, they can wait! Be sure to keep your car on the 
>"center line so that no one behind you is tempted to pass,
>"
>"Don't leave a full car length between you and the car in front of you as 
>"it will be immediately filled by someone else executing the "sidesqueeze",
>"
>"and, always remember, Thou shalt not yield.
>"
>"Larger cars are more intimidating!
>"
>"Jim, "Oldsmobile" Hemenway
>"
>"
>"
>"
>"Nathan Wajsman wrote:
>"> Don Dory wrote:
>"> 
>">> As a sidelight, people wonder why Americans drive such large cars with
>">> relatively huge engines, costs are much, much less here.  If you live 
>">> in a
>">> normal city and work for a largish company then your costs would be
>">> Porche 911:  62000 to 85000
>">> Insurance: 1800/yr
>">> Gasoline/93 Octane 0.82/litre
>">> Parking: generally free at work and home
>">> Parking: events might vary from $5 to $10
>">> Tolls: in Atlanta 0.50 each way on the only toll road for several 
>hundred
>">> miles
>">>
>">> With costs so low compared to a lot of the world, no wonder we drive 
>">> so far,
>">> so fast(Nathan, the normal speed on Interstates in Georgia is 
>">> 130-140Km/hr),
>">> in such large vehicles.
>"> 
>"> I was not going to comment on this thread, but since my name got 
>"> mentioned (or is there another Nathan in the bar?), I will just briefly 
>"> make a few points as someone who has lived both in the US and Europe for 
>"> many years.
>"> 
>"> - Don is right that Americans drive big cars because they are cheap, 
>"> fuel is cheap and there is lots of space. In Europe gasoline has been 
>"> expensive since the early 1970s, and it is by design. Most of the EUR 
>"> 1.40/litre I pay here in the Netherlands is tax. And it is a sound 
>"> principle to tax activities that are harmful, such as driving cars that 
>"> consume lots of fuel. The result is not, as some Americans think, that 
>"> everyone drives tiny cars. I have a station wagon and my wife has a 
>"> Toyota Previa minivan, identical to the ones sold in the US except that 
>"> it has a smaller engine (2.4 l) and manual transmission, both of which 
>"> contribute to better fuel economy. As I look around in my suburban 
>"> subdivision, I do not see many VW Polos; the prevalent cars are various 
>"> shades of Audis, BMWs etc. that would be perfectly at home in American 
>"> suburbs. In Amsterdam and other cities there are of course smaller cars, 
>"> because incomes are lower and the places are more crowded, but that is 
>
>
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