🚀 go-pugleaf

>>>I sometimes hear complaints that people are angry when someone comes
>>>up behind them, flashes their lights to indicate their desire to pass.

>>>But, in all of Europe and in most of the international community, this
>>>is a standard practice. And it is usually taken as a polite reminder
>>>to the driver up front, as in "Excuse me, please. I'd like to pass."
>>>
>>>The rest of the international community does *not* become upset when
>>>they are flashed from the rear. Instead, they speed up a bit and get
>>>out of the way. Only arrogant buttheads get upset and then
>>>deliberately block the passing lane(s), as they do in the USA.
>>>

A common practice in Europe seems to be, in order of importance,

1.	Drivers watch their mirrors and move over to the rightward
	lanes on their own;
2.	The overtaking driver first puts on his left indicator;
3.	If no response, flashes lights 2 or 3 times;
4.	If no response, gives long hard flash;
5.	If no response, beeps (but I have never seen that!).

The problem in the US seems "cultural" (i.e. drivers have a different set 
of shared values).

1.	Society is legalistic rather than law abiding (Western Europe is
hardly "lawless");
2.	Society cannot bring itself to state that not all laws can be followed
all the time; that physical reality is different from legal constructs; that there
are differences in the relative importance of different laws;
3.	Vigilantism is well developed;
4.	People have little first hand experience of driving in Western 
Europe; they do not seem eager to learn from others or even to acknowledge
that theirs is not the best or only way;
5.	Shortsighted selfishness and insistence on individual rights ("I am
king-of-the-road" when I block others until I meet the next k-o-t-r 100 yards
later who blocks me).
6.	Insistence on laws which are simple, easy to follow but lack nuance
to deal with varying situations.
7.	Mercenary enforcement of easy-to-ticket for lack of compliance law
rather than of the more important law (see 2 above).

Such a shame, such an annoyance, such a waste.

Nitin Kibe.

(Personal views, of course).