Where's the sign with the finger?
An idea this stupid could only have come from a government official (or university professor).
CARS could be fitted with "I'm sorry" lights or signs in a bid to reduce road rage in Victoria.
A parliamentary inquiry into road rage will consider apology signs to prevent communication breakdowns on the road.
"It has been proposed that cars be fitted with some kind of mechanism, such as a light or sign, that can be activated by a driver when they wish to apologise for their actions," a discussion paper released by the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee stated.
Comments:
Whatever happened to the simple simple smile and wave??
Posted by: Perry June 1, 2004 03:55 PMI agree that fitting a car with a special apology flasher does seem absurd, but I like the spirit of the proposal. I live in Japan, where more often than not the horn on the car is used to mean 'escuse me,' 'thanks,' or 'sorry.' I recall walking down a busy but narrow street in Omiya with a Canadian woman--there was no sidewalk, and a car came from behind us and gave us a little honk. She started swearing at the guy, but what he meant to say was 'Heads up, passing through,' for our benefit, not 'Out of the way hairy barbarians!' as she seemed to think. Not that car horns never get used in anger over here, but it's rare compared to back home.
At the risk of drawing fire from the blogger, I wouldn't think poorly of a car with a separate, more pleasant sounding horn (a chime, a 3 note melody?) to indicate an apology. Might even cut down on road rage if we could refrain from using it sarcastically.
Posted by: John Ziemba June 1, 2004 08:45 PMNo blogger recriminations here. It does bring to mind, however, this passage quoted by Richard Lederer in his book Anguished English:
From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo:
When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.
You got that from one of Jack Seward's books, didn't you? If so, very impressive of you to recall it. If not, I heartily reccommend Seward.
Years ago when I was leaning left, I remember being put off by some of his observations on crime and punishment in Japan and the US. I couldn't understand how someone so international, so eloquent, so funny could be at heart sight a conservative. Seward does give the impression of being a bit of a racist (although not where the Japanese are concerned), but makes a lot more sense to me now.
Posted by: John Ziemba June 2, 2004 08:11 PMNo, I actually got it from the Lederer book I referenced above. He may have initially gotten it from Seward, but if so he doesn't say. He just presented a collection of odd English signs and brochures found around the world.
Posted by: John Hudock June 3, 2004 10:20 AM