I heard on the news today that putting offensive bumper stickers on your vehicle makes it 20% more likely (I don't remember exactly how much, but it was around 20) to get into road rage. Some examples are: My kid just beat the crap out of your honor-roll kid; Keep tailgating! Your right in range; and Keep Honking! I'm Reloading.

Since I'm new to the roads, I was wondering if you guys have found any icrease in the incidents with bumper stickers.

ofcorse that depends on what you bumper sticker says...

I think they didn´t get cause right. Those stickers usually reflect a certain attitude. This attitude often leads to a more aggressive way of driving. The more aggressive way and the lack of gestures of apology (even if they are made they won´t be seen) leads to the phenomenon called road rage.
However it´s wise to keep some distance between you and an individual that thinks it´s cool to offend others just for the sake of it.

I personally prefer as much anonymity in public as possible. I am often bemused with vehicles vestooned with business logos, religious artifacts and political causes. I am hardly likely to patronise the ACME Plumbing Co., save the variegated Mount Lassen butterfly or free Tibet when the ensconsed driver just cavalierly endangered my life. Driving sadly reflects many of the social problems of society. I try to extend extra courtesy myself. I let a carload of Goths exit a driveway in bumper to bumper traffic and merge in front of me friday. I was rewarded with Maryland Manson music rattling my teeth <img src="images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />. half a block later I watched them reciprocate and let an elderly couple pull out <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

In working traffic for 16 years, I've found that when you show courtsey to other drivers, even if they drive irresponsibly, you may shame them into better driving.
You also don't cause yourself as much anguish.
Give them room and stay out of the crash.

There are plenty of bad drivers out there (perhaps the majority). Those individuals who advertise thier offensive personalities are just more identifiable. I think that it is a reasonable deduction that someone who chose to put an offensive advertisement on thier vehicle "My bully just beatup your honor roll snot" etc. not someone who will go out of their way to "drive polite". OTOH, you can't deduce that someone will not ram you for being slow when the light turns green just because they aren't displaying a bumber sticker.

My personal experience is limited since I seek anonymity in public. I once bought a car with a marines sticker in the window and it helped in getting some forgiveness from the PD. Not that I lied but I did nothing to correct thier presumptions. Same with the "Troopers are your best protection" stickers. Even though I personally believe that my friends "Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson" are probably my best protection.

No matter what your bumper sticker says it will cause offense to someone. Driving through a jewish neighborhood with a cross on your bumber will offend someone, Driving through a Baptist neighborhood with a Star of David on your bumber will offend someone, etc... What you believe and say to individuals will be taken in the context of your relationship with those individuals. What you braodcast from your bumber will only be taken in the context of your driving behavior as displayed at that moment. If you hold a view strongly enough to want to advertise it and perhaps engage in unnecessary fights with anonymous individuals whom you would not otherwise meet over it then by all means advertise that view as loudly as you can to as many as possible.

OTOH, if you think that your driving habits may reflect badly on a group that you are trying to affiliate yoursef with then you might want to reconsider attaching thier logos onto your vehicle. There are many very lousy drivers on the road whose bumberstickers proclaim that you can follow them to heaven but their driving might convince you that they are truely in a hurry to get there.

I like alot of those bumper stickers. If somebody goes nuts it's not the bumper sticker's falt thay where going off the deep end anyway.

OK, so the key here is (like almost anywhere <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) to use moderation. Thanx guys, when I get a jeep (or whatever my parents decide to get me) I will remember this. Remember, FORD stands for
Fix it more
Often than you
Ride the
Darn thing!

And your parents decide to get you a Ford.

That will be the day! I have never seen someoine loath somethinbg so vehemently as my mom hates fords. Oh, and the above was a bumpersticker about fords. One bumper sticker I just can't understand is the 'bad cop, no doughnut' sticker, I mean, that's just asking for a ticket!

You see! Us headbangers aren't so bad afterall! <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

Found
On
Road
Dead

or fiat

Fix
It
Again
Tony

Oh, there are a bunch of them out there for just about every make and model.

That one does have a tendency to make us less likely to issue a warning.

What should you do If you get pulled over anyway, I have heard everything.

Any for Chevy? Or Harley Davidson? How about Honda?

Chevy? Here's one I heard many moons ago.

Cracked
Heads
Every
Valve
Rattles
Oil
Leaks
Every
Time

Can't believe I remembered that after these many years.

Pull over to a safe spot. Shut the vehicle off or put in park. Flashers on.

Stay in the vehicle, hands in clear view (top of steering wheel is good). If at night, and if you can do so without looking like you're reaching for something like a weapon, turn on your dome light. [In some countries it is offensive to make the officer walk to you, and you are expected to walk back to them. But in the US, that's NOT what most LEO's want!]

Then do what you're told. Remember, Attitude will be met with Attitude... so BE NICE. Sounds silly, but you'll probably be somewhat anxious and some people are apt to act too macho under those circumstances. Be Nice! I work with many, many LEOs who tell me "the guy was wrong, but nice.. I let it go"

I heard it was

Cant
Have
Every
Vehicle
Run
On
Luck
Every
Time

Good information! Hands and what can be in them are what we worry about. Window tinting also makes us nervous.
Driver's attitude is a major factor once contact is established. Have had people talk themselves into a ticket or even jail because they let their mouth overload other parts of their annatomy. Don't argue with officer about offense. If you believe you are not guilty, then by all means exercise your constitutional right and request a trial in court.

If you have a weapon in a location where it is legal to carry, most of us would prefer to be told up front. We may check it to determine if it is reported stolen, but will return it.

I for one believe in the right to bear arms by every lawabiding citizen and the lawful use of firearms.

So would they ask about the weapon, or do you just kind of run it by them.

Also, what does HAM stand for, and why do you need a liscence to operate or own one?

Oh, and does anyone know how wide a hummer is?

HAM See here www.arrl.org/whyham.html

License requirement http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/hamfaq.html

A Hummer is 86.5 inches wide w/o mirrors, 184.5 inches long w/o winches, hitches etc

Hope this helps

Ed

Much of this may seem off-topic - sorry.

HAM

Not sure where the term HAM comes from but it means Amateru radio operator. The FCC stepped in a few decades ago and decided that we couldn't just turn a radio and broadcast on whatever frequency we wanted and since then they have been making a bundle auctioning off the rights to broadcast of specific frequencies. The existing amateur radio community at the time decided it was better to allow this and pay a lisencing fee to the FCC in order to continue broadcasting on as many frequencies a possible. The lisence signifies that you know the limitations both to power and frequency that apply to amateur radio broadcast and that you are capable of operating your radio in a polite manner that doesn't make it difficult for another to communicate via the same frequency. As with all lisences it can be viewed cynically as another opportunity for the government to tax the citizens and remove their liberties - or optimistically as the valid operation of government regulating a public resource to prevent abuse of some users at the hands of others. In anycase you will need to take the course, pay the fee and have the lisence before you do much broadcasting on the amateur frequencies.

You can, of-course, get an amateur radio quite readily and go ahead and start broadcasting. It is easy to trangulate on a radio signal and there are othere HAM's out there who will resent your broadcasting without having paid the fee and they will turn you in. I think that the penalty fee is probably worse than the lisencing fee. The class is usually a 4 hour saturday affair where they will teach you how to cheat your way through the test. The questions in the test are known ahead of time and the instructors will teach you the answers to the questions - no more - no less.

Of course if you want to get truely into the spirit of the hobby you will want to take a basic electronics course, a basic radio theory course and probably a true corse on radio operations, read the ARRL Operators manual (400+ pages) and really understand the theory, operation, circuitry and regulation of amateur radios. Then take the test and you will pass with flying colors (and have a new, exciting, expensive hobby and probably a $3000 100foot or taller radio tower in your backyard within a year while you chat in morse code with new friends in Japan, South Africa, in orbit, and anywhere else that humans happen to be.) Yes you can reach that far with an amateur rig costing under $1000 - even with a home-brew rig costing less than $200 - That's where the fun really begins in this hobby.

links
HAM
FCC's Amateur radio page
Amateur Radio Relay League
FEMA on Amateur Radio
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
SkyWarn weather spotting amateur radio operators
U.S. Army Military Affiliate Radio System
U.S. Air Force Military Affiliate Radio System
Radio Amateurs and the Boy Scouts

CB
Radio Emergency Associated Communications Team

There are a bunch of other organizations out there using various radio frequencies as emergency communications. I have only listed U.S. services and organizations that I am aware of but I am sure that if you contact your local Gov't they can guide you to the Amateur radio operators locally. You'd probably get a decent start for international organizations from the ARRL web site.

JEEP=

Just
Empty
Every
Pocket

FORD=

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

I've owned both (1980 Jeep Wagoneer, 1984 Ford Tempo)



Due to inflation, my $20.00 is now worth $0.02

eodman, thanks for the hummer intel, rastro, lets not move in on my ideas now, alirght? <img src="images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

So a HAM is an actual radio station! How in the world do you get that in your car? That sounds like a good winter project, getting the parts for, or getting the money for the parts of a radio station. Would you need the airplane warning lights on it?

My Ham station for the belt. Kenwood TH-F6A

My Ham station for the car. Kenwood D700A

Emergency comms HF Ham station in the BOB Rock-mite in an altoids tin - need code and general lisence to use this gadget.

There is a big difference driving in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc... and that is S T R E S S .. What sort of shape are you in after commuting 1 hour ? 2 hours ? Its not like driving to the mill in Frogsuck, Ontario. A bumper sticker is the least of your worries.

Years ago, when I was in Grad School, my neighbor had a "Love it or Leave it" sticker on his windshield. He lost three windshields that year.