Fun_People Archive
28 May
drive-by anthropology

Date: Fri, 28 May 93 17:42:50 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: drive-by anthropology

[The following is the cream of the crop from some net newsgroup like
comp.human-factors or alt.folklore.computers, (passed on by a trusted
correspondent whose taste in such matters is above suspicion and beyond
reproach ... well, okay; let's just say it's beyond changing.  -psl]

 From: dave@yost.com (Dave Yost)
 From: The Stuff You Always Wanted To Know Department

_________ THE SETUP _______________________________________________________

u912078@daimi.aau.dk (S|ren Erland Vest|) wrote:
>> They are even still driving in the 'wrong' ;) side of the road...

to which don@zl2tnm.gen.nz (Don Stokes) replied:
> I cannot let this pass.
> 
> The Reason you should Drive on the Left Hand Side of the Road is so that
> you may Engage an Oncoming Enemy with your Sword Hand in the Optimum
> Position for Effective Defence.  By driving on the Right Hand Side, you 
> are Risking the Lives of Yourself and your Passengers to the Thieves,
> Vagabonds and Murderers you may Encounter whilst Travelling.

_________ Reply 1 to THE SETUP ____________________________________________

> Right, almost. By driving on the Right Hand Side you can block Hostile
> Blows with the Shield you Surely wear on your Left Arm, instead of
> Getting your Sword Arm Cut up and Cut off your Body.
		-- sverkerw@student.docs.uu.se (Sverker Wiberg)

_________ Reply 2 to THE SETUP ____________________________________________

> So what you mean is that driving in the UK (or NZ or any other country
> that drives on the wrong side of the road) without a sword can be
> hazardous because there are so much thieves and murderers on the road.
> (Does this mean that you can take a sword through customs without problems
> in these countries or is the sword included when renting a car ;-)?
		-- eal@etek.chalmers.se (Andreas L}ngstr|m)

_________ Reply 2.1 to Reply 2 ____________________________________________

> Now that I'm in the US I can see the sense in driving on the right!
> It means that you can keep your machine gun on your lap pointing at
> on comming trafic and still have the trigger to hand (right hand).
>
> I think the fact the the UK ( and other countries ) still drive on
> the left proves that they are much safer. We don't need to drive on
> the right so we can carry machine guns!
		-- guyd@austin.ibm.com (Guy Dawson)

_________ Reply 3 to THE SETUP ____________________________________________

> Ahhh, but this explains perfectly why in the states the drivers seat is
> on the left side of the car!  
> 
> In Europe you may worry more about Thieves and Vagabonds
> you may encounter, but here in the states the primary concern is that
> when being persued by the authorities you can easily turn sideways in 
> your seat, reaching your right arm out the window and shooting at
> the police who are following you during a high speed chase.  In
> Europe you would first have to shoot your rear window out before
> being able to fire upon the officers.  Likewise, a single officer
> persuing you by himself would have difficulty shooting forwards:
> that is why they always travel in pairs.
> 
> Also, in a drive-by shooting, you can rest the shotgun in your lap
> and only place the last three or four inches of the barrel out the
> window.  In Europe you would have to hang the entire weapon and
> the majority of your arm out the window.  Much harder to
> control your shot, and would alert your adversary to your intents.
		-- ewl@sacco.cs.nyu.edu (Emery W. Lapinski)

© 1993 Peter Langston