HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: kappa@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Glenn Capuano)
Subject: Re: SPEECH ON SPEEDING W/IMPUNITY
Organization: Monash University General Access Unix
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 02:44:40 GMT

Khan (tmkk@uiuc.edu) wrote:
> >	I assume you're talking divided highway/freeway here! I wouldn't
> >want to overtake that slowly on a two-way country highway!
> 
> ;-)
> 
> You're absolutely right. Passing on any highway without controlled
> access cheanges the rules entirely. Unfortunately, with many people it
> appears to be "don't pass at all."
> 
> Over the summer I took a road trip which included about 150 miles of
> two lane blacktop (and no, I don't drive a Goat ;-). I can't count the
> number of times I came upon a "convoy" of vehicles moving at 50 MPH or
> less, with some truck or van+camper trailer at the front and a bunch of
> cars trailing behind, the drivers of which were too scared to attempt a
> pass. In most cases, the drivers would also tailgate, making it
> difficult to work one's way up through the crowd one vehicle at a time.
> More than once I was forced to pass 4, 5, or 6 vehicles all at once.
> Not a real problem, but more dangerous than it needed to be, and I
> certainly didn't do it with only a 5-10 MPH speed differential! ;-)

	Hehe...I know the feeling of being stuck behind a "convoy" like
that. I live in a tourist area and just about every day it seems I get
stuck behind a tourist travelling at 40-50kph. Unfortunately the roads are
winding and there are hardly any places to pass...

> I get the impression that many people who have been raised on expressway
> driving just can't deal with a 2 lane road. They'll come up behind a
> slower vehicle and just stay there, rather than pass it. I'm sure part
> of the problem is the Geo Metros some of these folks drive; in this
			^^^^^^^^^^please explain this term!
> situation, most "practical" cars get downright UNpractical. ;-) ;-)

	I haven't come across many people who are unwilling to pass on the
open road, maybe because there are fewer freeways and more major highways
are two way, perhaps they don't get a chance to become "freewayized". On
the other hand, maybe I've just been lucky ;-).

Regards,
	Glenn
From: bense@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Ron Bense)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
Subject: Re: H. Ross Perot's proposed gas tax
Date: 6 Oct 92 20:51:10 GMT
Reply-To: bense@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Ronald Bense)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD

In rec.autos.driving, c23st@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com (Spiros Triantafyllopoulos) writes:
>In article <1992Oct6.150427.22498@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> whs70@dancer.uucp (2
>2501-sohl) writes:

>Car pooling is one option, but how many people can do it? I used to carpool
>and i found it saved me $20 a month and cost me 10 mins a day. You can
>do your own math and see if $20 a month is worth the time wasted.

If you don't have the $20....

>100 miles a day; I was talking about the $10K/year technically working
>poor ...
>tax. Simple. Or, give up a good job and take a lower paying one so they

There is a distinct oxymoron there... anyone else see it? And no, I'm
not belittling your point, just refuting it. These jobs are generally
available near where the working poor work. Their cars frequently die,
and they can't afford a long commute in the first place since they would
be fired for constantly missing work due to car failures. More discussion
about these points are  in other posts on this thread.

>>More people would want to live nearer to where they work.

>But that has changed since the suburbia explosion. It's unlikely to change
>back in many parts of the country. I don't particularily agree with it

But suburbia is primarily composed of those who can afford the tax.

>Once the government sees the automobile as a source of revenue there's
>little the average citizen can do. We already have $120 fines for
>exceeding the parking meter time by 5 minutes, $80 for illegal left turns,
>and $500 a year for licence plates. Will the automobile be the next
>Social Security Trust Fund?

What do you mean, "once"? I already pay $500 a year for the mere pleasure
of having 4 wheels in my driveway. (known as a property tax) I also
must pay another $25 a year to obtain a sticker for my windshield to
prove that I paid the aforementioned tax. I also must pay a $35 liscense
fee, and a $13 inspection fee. Every other year I must pay a $13 (at
present) fee for emissions inspection, and should I fail, must pay a
maximum of $400 (or so) in repairs to place my car back in spec. And
you claim that they *don't* use the car as a source of revenue? (Not
to mention the insidious local gas taxes which are more than double
the federal tax, and then also the state tax and sales tax.

>You also have dual incomes, just like me. Do you think that the guy driving
>a 1982 K-car 60 miles a day to work at a local mall from a rural area
>('cause there are no jobs there and housing is cheap) will be able to
>continue doing that?

Then he can get a roommate like I was forced to do for a while. Maybe
housing prices will stabilize for a while until salaries catch up to
the rediculous amounts they cost, at least around here.

Ron                          Think about this one (seen on a bumper sticker):
			     The road to hell is bumper-to-bumper
			     Make a U-turn to God.
The irony is priceless.
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
From: welty@cabot.balltown.cma.COM (richard welty)
Subject: Re: Senate dilemma
Organization: New York State Institute for Sebastian Cabot Studies
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1992 20:00:32 GMT

In article <19ub32INNjaq@spool.mu.edu> jason@studsys.mscs.mu.edu (Jason Hanson) writes:

>Vote for Democrats because then there will still be a favorable majority
>in the group.  Just because Moynihan is the chairman doesn't mean he has
>SUPREME control.  And, there is a lot better chance Moynihan will come
>around than Chafee.

i don't know anything about Chafee, but i can speak up for Moynihan;
even if you don't agree with his politics, he is an intelligent, thinking
human being with an open mind.  there are far worse senators in the
US (one of them is even from New York.)

richard
-- 
richard welty                            518-393-7228
welty@cabot.balltown.cma.com
  ``if you can read this, mario, you're too close''
    -- bumper sticker seen on a CART safety truck
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
From: jailbird@next12csc.wam.umd.edu (serial killer)
Subject: stupid ticket
Organization: Workstations at Maryland, University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 19:45:16 GMT



Hey guys, a friend of mine just got a ticket for having 3 fog lights 
instead of 2.  And another ticket because they weren't 12 inches of
the ground.

this was in Baltimore MD

anyone ever hear of this because I work with a state trooper whose a
lietenant and he says he never heard of it either
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving,sci.physics
From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan)
Subject: Re: Laser Jammer Sighting?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 13:38:27 GMT


In article <1actbmINNlvn@early-bird.think.com> shaig@Think.COM (Shai Guday) writes:
>With all this talk of laser jamming,  I was wondering whether or not this
>is in fact a viable option.  Simply put,  is it possible to emit a
>harmless (to other motorists and passersby) infra-red light source
>that would cause LIDAR detectors to fail?

If it could be produced, it would definitely be a hot commodity. Pun
intended.

Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
From: jern@visual1.jhuapl.edu (Bob Jernigan)
Subject: Re: SPEECH ON SPEEDING W/IMPUNITY
Reply-To: jern@visual1.jhuapl.edu (Bob Jernigan)
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 92 12:27:55 GMT

 In article <92268.193819DJS148@psuvm.psu.edu> DJS148@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
 
> I would greatly appreciate any ideas concerning how to avoid
> receiving a speeding ticket.  I have a speech comm. class
> presentation due on Oct. 5.  I need enough practical methods to
> speak about for ten minutes. 

Drive the speed limit?
From: jason@studsys.mscs.mu.edu (Jason Hanson)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
Subject: Re: Left on red
Date: 28 Sep 1992 19:25:30 GMT
Organization: Marquette University - Department MSCS
NNTP-Posting-Host: studsys.mscs.mu.edu

I hate to sound like a novice, but what is exactly is meant by "roundabout?"

Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
From: nau@ssesco.com (William Nau)
Subject: Re: Truckers ARE professionals
Organization: SSESCO
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 19:32:17 GMT

< bunch of stuff deleted >
>This is true. Like or not truckers are professionals and we should all take
>some lessons of highway etiquette from truckers. I get tired of people bashing
>truckers, yes, there are some bad truck drivers, but on the whole they are
>the best drivers on the road.
< bunch more stuff deleted >

Absolutly.  I agree with you (of course, there are exceptions).  In general
truck drivers are very curtious.  They realize that they are driving this
big, annoying, unresponsive vehicle and try to make up for it.  I have 
respect for most truck drivers on the road today.

However, this was not always true.  Ten to fifteen years ago, I noticed
a lot more of them were road hogs.  They could dwarf you and knew it.
Muscle makes right.  That's changed, but a lot of people remember those
days.  Given time those memories will fade and so will the attitudes
against truck drivers.

Note: I am speaking about what I have seen in the midwest.  Other parts
      of the country may be different.
From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
Subject: Re: tips for Indiana, Ohio ?
Date: 2 Oct 92 16:15:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.BvI56J.MH1
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana


In article <1992Oct1.214926.16223@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> rjwade@rainbow.ecn.purdue.edu (Robert J. Wade) writes:
>
>gee, how nice that our tax dollars buy the police sports cars

This may come as a shock to you, but the 5 liter Mustangs and Camaros that
police departments purchase actually cost LESS than the beached whale
Caprices and land yacht Crown Vics. Buy buying these "sports cars"
they're actually SAVING some of our tax dollars.
From: stresres@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Mark Vanetten)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
Subject: Re: tips for Indiana, Ohio ?
Date: 1 Oct 92 20:05:31 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center

Indiana also has a few new Camaro RSs, in the Lafayette-65 area look for a
bright metallic green and a black one, (less common than the green one), 
also any dark Mustang LX with a Marines bumper sticker or stuffed Garfield
in the window.  (Just wait, we probably have one of the gentlemen listening
in!).  Oh, and one white RS for the city of Lafayette.

Also, Purdue Univ. has a total of FIVE undercover cars now, three old Caprices,
gray, blue, and dark red, and two new whales, black and midnight blue, both
with Limo tint all around. (?WHY?due to the new style, MOST new Caprices are
cops!!) And also a white full size Blazer with BIG tires.  And West Lafayette
has an S-10 with a topper,(blue), and a Jimmy-Blazer (Blue, w/ black rims.).

(Welcome to the United Police States of America)


Mark

And that is just P.U.s undercover force,
not counting the marked cars!!!!!
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving,sci.physics
From: ptrei@bistromath.mitre.org (Peter Trei)
Subject: Re: LIDAR workings (was Re: Laser Jammer Sighting?)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 13:46:00 GMT

In article <b=fp#md@dixie.com> jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond) writes:
>
>I would imagine it would take a fairly powerful and pretty close to 
>(optical) frequency to jam the [lidar] unit.  Doable but not trivial.  
>I'll know more in a couple of months when I get one in for evaluation.
>John De Armond, WD4OQC
>Marietta, Ga          

     I'm the person who originally suggested jamming lidar with
military surplus IR spotlights. The basic argument is that 

(1) The laser is in the milliwatt range. It can't get higher, for
reasons of size, weight, power supply, and last but not least, safety.

(2) The receiver has to pick up the laser pulses in the microwatt
range - only a fraction of the light will be reflected back to the
gun. A receiver sensitive to such low levels probably (note
qualification) has a limited upper range, and can be swamped.

(3) The receiver is probably as inexpensive as possible, and relies
more on time domain intensity variations to identify it's returned
signal than on precise frequency discrimination.

(4) Therefore a jamming device does not need to be exactly the same
frequency as the laser source - it just needs to return enough energy
in the entire frequency range in which the detector is sensitive to
overwhelm it. (Note that this can be countered with a frequency
specific filter on the detector).

     John, when you get your hands on a lidar gun, a lot of us will be
interested in what you find. For a start:

*     What warnings vs, say, pointing it at the sun, does it carry?

*     What happens when you point it at a very HOT car - say a black paint
      job that's been sitting in the Georgia sun all day?
     
*     If we can't do a brute force intensity jam, how about an intense,
      rapidly flickering IR source (eg, hot object behind fan blades)?

*     How well does a license plate cover reduce IR return? Glass?
      Plastic? Should we rely on absorption or reflection away from
      the lidar? What can we do about rear (and front) reflectors?


							Peter Trei	
							ptrei@mitre.org
							N1MNV

Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
From: jbn@photon.com (Joe Naiman)
Subject: H. Ross Perot's proposed gas tax
Organization: Photon Research Associates, Inc.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 15:28:35 GMT


In case you missed this morning's Wall Street Journal, Henry Ross Pee-rot
wants to have a Federal gasoline tax of 50 cents a gallon.

Just thought you might like to be aware of this.


Joe Naiman

Xref: sparky rec.autos.driving:5757 rec.autos:23032
From: jason@studsys.mscs.mu.edu (Jason Hanson)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving,rec.autos
Subject: The Club
Date: 30 Sep 1992 19:14:58 GMT
Organization: Marquette University - Department MSCS
Distribution: world
Reply-To: jason@studsys.mscs.mu.edu (Jason Hanson)
NNTP-Posting-Host: studsys.mscs.mu.edu
Originator: jason@studsys.mscs.mu.edu

The school I attend offers The Club as a lease (indefinite) for $20.  This
seems like a good deal as compared to $70-100 in mail order.  But, how well do
they work?  Also, my car has a steering wheel lock built in (one of those that
won't turn without the keys in the ignition)... Will this help me?

Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
From: kappa@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Glenn Capuano)
Subject: Right/Left turn laws
Organization: Monash University General Access Unix
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 06:54:43 GMT

Hello people,
	    For my fellow Australians reading this newsgroup, I'm
interested in the unique law here in Victoria, that left turning traffic
must give way to right turning traffic at an intersection, traffic coming
straight through gives cover to the left turner. I think it's a good law,
because it gets right turning traffic out of the traffic stream more
quickly, and it's one less thing the right-turner has to give way to,
while the left-turner can usually use cover anyway. However the laws
regarding this should be the same throughout the country, it's confusing
driving interstate to remember to give left-turner's right of way, and
no-doubt more so for interstaters driving in Victoria, if not downright
dangerous. I'd be interested to hear some opinions on this law and I was
wondering if there are any plans to make the laws uniform throughout
Australia?

	For the American and international readers, what is the situation
re: right and left turns in the US, and do road laws differ from state to
state in this way?

Glenn Capuano
Science Student, Monash Uni,
Melbourne, Vic, Aust

Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving,sci.physics
From: carl@aoa.aoa.utc.com (Carl Witthoft)
Subject: Re: Laser Jammer Sighting?
Organization: Adaptive Optics Associates
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 11:55:37 GMT

In article <1actbmINNlvn@early-bird.think.com> shaig@Think.COM (Shai Guday) writes:
>With all this talk of laser jamming,  I was wondering whether or not this
>is in fact a viable option.  Simply put,  is it possible to emit a
>harmless (to other motorists and passersby) infra-red light source
>that would cause LIDAR detectors to fail?
x
The concept is simple: direct a IR beam at the LIDAR detector which
is of sufficient amplitude to swamp the "desired" signal, and which
is of appropriate frequency (measured at the receiver, so don't forget
your vehicle's motion) to read either <speed limit or a random
failure.
The bigger problem is in aiming your jammer at the LIDAR and doing so
fast enough to avoid all true readings.  A continous, wide-angle
beam will dothis.  
The remaining physics is relatively straightforward and doesn't differ
much from the radar equation used to build a radar jammer.
The philosophical/moral question is not so straightforward and is not
appropriate to this group anyway.


-- 
Carl Witthoft @ Adaptive Optics Associates
aoa!carl@bbn.com  carl@aoa.utc.com
54 CambridgePark Drive, Cambridge,MA 02140 617-864-0201
"My Karma just ran over my Dogma!"
From: leonglaw@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com (Lawrence LEONG)
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1992 12:32:15 GMT
Subject: Pigs falling from vehicles
Organization: HP Singapore
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving

Well, so far all the threads have been about inanimate objects falling from
vehicles.  Yesterday's incident is with a little twist.....

The radio announcer, on the way to a meeting, mentioned that there was some
congestion at a particular junction due to some accident.  Didn't think much
of it as I wouldn't pass there.  Later, some guys who were late gave the
excuse that there were pigs wandering around the road.

(Turned out that this accident involved a truck carrying livestock of the
porcine type)

The obvious question popped up "Were they wearing uniforms?"  Meeting cracked
up.

lawrence

Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan)
Subject: Re: tips for Indiana, Ohio ?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 13:38:48 GMT


In article <1992Sep30.234548.21536@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> shultz_ed@macmail1.rtsg.mot.com writes:
>
>many times over if it was true.  However, the number of cops in Ohio is much,
>much higher than what you may be familar with in Illinois and Indiana.

That's for sure. You can drive hundreds of miles on Illinois interstates
and never seen a single cop.

>Another thing to look out for are Indiana cops in unmarked Mustangs.
>Usually, Indiana is fairly safe but once in a while (often holidays) they
>pick a spot and have 5-6 unmarked Mustangs pulling over cars, often two at
>a time!

Is Indiana using Ka band radar? On a recent trip to the Dan Quayle
state, I passed one clocking cars at the bottom of a small hill.
Fortunately, I was allowing some old geezer in a Nissan to run
interference for me, and saw him nail his brakes in time to slow down
before I topped the hill myself. My X-K detector never made a peep, but
just after we passed, the cop took off and went after some car going in
the opposite direction.

Was he using Ka, or did he just eyeball it?
From: jdonsbac@cvbnet.prime.com (Jeff Donsbach)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
Subject: Re: 55:  And Then There Were (Please Help)
Date: 1 Oct 92 21:37:04 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Computervision, Bedford MA

In article <1992Sep25.195757.18749@cabot.balltown.cma.COM>,
welty@cabot.balltown.cma.COM (richard welty) writes:
|> alaska has no highways which could qualify for 65.  i'm not sure
|> that hawaii has any significant mileage that would qualify.  rhode
|> island sure doesn't have much mileage of that type.
|> 
|> NY, CT, MA, NJ, and PA are all 55 states, although i think that
|> PA is on the verge of going over to 65, although the governer
|> continues to threaten a veto.
|> 
|> richard

MA raised the speed limit to 65 on the Mass Pike (I90) west of Auburn (dropping
to 55 in and around Springfield). Every other major Interstate still has a
55 mph limit, even in the rural areas that would qualify for 65.
(mumble mumble *^*&^*^ hypocrites mumble mumble)

Luckily, MA troopers won't usually touch you for 70 or under anywhere
unless you are the only one on the road, it's the end of the month or s/he's
having a really bad day.....

-Jeff

-- 
=========================
Jeff Donsbach, Computervision Corp, 14 Crosby Dr. MS 5-2, Bedford, MA 01730
UUCP: {decvax|linus|sun}!cvbnet!jdonsbac | Internet: jdonsbac@cvbnet.prime.com
"10 bucks is 10 bucks" - Geddy Lee                       (soon to be CV.Com ??)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving,sci.physics
From: goudreau@robin.rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: on which side of the road do you drive
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 18:30:52 GMT
Organization: Data General Corporation, RTP, NC

In article <1992Sep24.024337.12431@eng.umd.edu> russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) writes:
>In article <1992Sep23.190504.5734@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov> sns@bondi.jpl.nasa.gov (Sam Southard) writes:
>
>> What does the traffic pattern look like when you go along a road
>> from country A to country B where country A drives on the right
>> side of the road and country B drives on the left (or the other way
>> around)?  Or is there no such road?
>
>The major countries where there is driving on the left are the UK,
>Ireland (?), Australia, and New Zealand.  All islands.

You forgot the biggie:  Japan (another island nation, of course).
But there are also plenty of countries in African and South Asia
(mostly former British colonies) that drive on the left, and some
of these countries have land borders with countries that drive on 
the right.  Anyone here ever driven across such a border?

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Goudreau			Data General Corporation
goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com		62 Alexander Drive	
+1 919 248 6231			Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA
Xref: sparky rec.autos.driving:5840 rec.autos:23235
From: jreiser@scott.skidmore.edu (jason reiser)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving,rec.autos
Subject: Re: (Defeating) The Club
Date: 2 Oct 92 21:22:42 GMT
Organization: Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs NY

The club is a great deterent for your average joyriders, but a real
thief will get by it one way or another.  Of course, besides just
towing the car, the club has a ratcheded area that extends in front of
the steering wheel (to fit several vehicles) and while it is
supposedly difficult (or perhaps impossible?) to cut through, it can
be cracked.  If you spray this with freon, and then smack it with a
solid object like a baseball bat, it will split.  A friend had his car
stolen with the shattered club left in his parking spot.  Talk about
adding insult to injury...
There is another product to consider that does a similar (though,
perhaps better) job.  It's called a Thunderbar and is made by
Carbrella Industries.  It locks on the top of the wheel and holds
quite a bit of the wheel in it's clamp (thus making cutting the wheel
a less effective method of theft -- you'd have to cut in two spots,
not just one) and it also has a built in alarm.  If has a motion
sensor that allows a 30 second entry and then blasts a painfully loud
siren in the handle.  (Now the thief has to try to get it off in 30
seconds)  
I suppose you could also get a glass break sensor mounted in the
interior of the car, and hard wired to a siren.  This would sound the
siren whenever the siren in the Thunderbar is going off... perhaps
attracting a little more attention.

Just a thought.
				- Jason
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving