In article >,
pws > wrote:

Hoho, Pat, you're so funny.

> unless our driving schools have changed, they
> don't even tell you that there is a difference between FWD, RWD & AWD.

Heh. When I took Driver Ed, it was not much of an issue. I mean, no high
school used Citroëns, Tuckers, or Jeeps.

> They also do not teach weight transfer, counter-steering, or any of the
> many other things that would save lives. All I learned in that driver's
> education class was the rules of the road

Weight transfer: slide your fat butt over so I can get in, too.
Counter steering: bench racing on a stool at the soda fountain.

In the early '60s, seatbelts were still catching on in race cars. They
weren't even optional in most passenger cars yet. I bought a set at
Western Auto and installed them in my parents' '59 Ford, after one of my
friends was partly ejected from the car he rolled before the door closed
on his waist and cut him in half. That'll wake you up, yessiree.

It was all most 10th graders could do to stay on the pavement; if you
never crossed the centerline, you got an A. I mght have gotten as much
as an hour total behind the wheel, including the oval behind the gym and
parallel parking. The rest of the time was spent watching bloody movies
like "Signal 30" and "Mechanized Death." Fortunately, my mom had already
taught me to drive properly. I only needed the class to get the
insurance discount.

I recall one girl who lost it while backing up and knocked over the gas
pump. They evacuated the school. She became a hero. She passed the class
anyway.

Somehow, despite the manifold shortcomings of my motoring education, I
still haven't hurt anyone or totalled a car.

--
Lanny Chambers
'94C, St. Louis
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html