The American Spectator

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German Drive

12.12.03 @ 12:01AM

LIGHTER FLUID
Re: Gene Healy's Freedom Is in the Air (cough):

The smart money in New York City has it that Mayor Bloomberg will make smoking "licenses" available to bars and restaurants willing to pony up the fee; that this, in fact, was his plan all along. We'll see.

Thanks!
-- Rich Meade

DRIVING ALONG IN MY AUTOMOBILE
Re: Eric Peter's Unsafe at Any Speed:

I commend Eric Peters for his piece exposing the incompetence of American drivers. But the primary reason Germans have lower accident and fatality rates is this: they do not drive drunk. Their penalties for drunk driving are an effective and tangible deterrent. It's that simple.

Best wishes for the holidays,
-- Stephen "Doc" Watson
Beaumont, Texas

Great essay! States have to start treating a driver's license as the privilege it is instead of the right most people seem to assume. The essay was especially pertinent for me today since I will be making the 45-minute drive from my home to downtown Denver using Interstate 25. This travel time will be spent dealing with and trying to avoid police radar, left-lane cruisers, and other generally passive-aggressive incompetent drivers. My teeth are on edge already just thinking about it.
-- Evelyn Leinbach
Fort Collins, Colorado

It is acceptable to have increased highway deaths, insurance costs and prices of goods shipped by truck. The States have ceded their responsibility in the traffic area to the insurance companies, i.e., if you can get insurance, you can drive.
-- Bruce Peek

Eric Peters' article made me want to drive on the Los Angeles freeways as fast as I can, which is about 40 mph and only for a very short distance.

In 1965, I purchased a 360 HP Pontiac GTO. I was 18 years old. The driving test I took for that car was the same test you would take for a 80 HP VW bug. What's wrong with this picture?

Today's driving test should include how to operate communications and entertainment devices at speeds above 65mph. The "training" the average U.S. driver receives is a violation of minimum health and safety laws applied to almost any other activity, not to mention common sense. Yes, the method to obtain a license is way beyond reform and the backlash would crush any attempt to change it.

But this seems common in almost everything in the U.S. population today. If you don't like a law, protest against it, ignore it, etc. Thus the need for red-light cameras at intersections. After all, red lights are just suggestions.
-- Len Labounty

Please also consider the fact that trucks in Germany stay in the far right lane and DO NOT speed. They do not pass autos at any time. I believe this is a main reason that the highways are safer in Germany. Even smaller trucks or towed vehicles are relegated to the right lane. I never saw a truck with three trailers either. This is a subject that surely needs investigation and hopefully changes in our laws in the U.S.

Thank you for your consideration,
-- Marianne Mosley

On a trip last spring from the Niagara Peninsula to North Carolina with a route through West Virginia on the interstates, I found it particularly hairy and scary trying to overtake on the sinuous mountainous roads because of the parkers in the passing lane. The problem is in the signage. "Slower drivers keep right" is an invitation for some people, who decide that they are not slow drivers, to stay in the left lane. The more sensible message, keep right except when passing, would probably go a long way towards eliminating the problem of left-lane parkers.
-- unsigned

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