Hi Tracy,

>You forgot to mention the cost of gas... :o)
Nope - I was just *very* diplomatic about it. I wrote about redistribution <bg> - less than 25% of the taxes on cars and gasoline is put back into transportation infrastructure. The hikes are euphemised as ways to lower other "burdens"...

>It was VERY expensive when I was there in the mid 80s on the economy.
Even more expensive today (1.25 EUR per litre high octane) - so expensive that border traffic for gasoline is so great that they are considering lowering the taxes near the border. Imagine that in our regulation happy country!

>The only time I purchased gas on the economy was when I was traveling. I drove to Netherlands a few times, to Spain, and to Switzerland as well as a few other locations. When I was just driving around in Germany, I tried to purchase my gas on military posts to get the better deal on price.
Sound economics. Did something similar for myself with high proof alcohol when I was not yet allowed to drive<g>.

>Also, they still sold leaded regular gas when I was there - have they stopped that now and switched totally to unleaded?
Yupp. Also many cars have diesel engines now - and some of them are really fun to drive. Also autogas (babelfish says it's the same in english - I mean the "non-liquid" stuff) is gaining like crazy.

>There is nothing like driving along the autobahn at 90 mph and having a Mercedes drive by in the left lane so fast you only see a flash... :o)
So that was YOU creating slowdowns back than <g>!

>You learn pretty quickly to move when one comes up behind you - inches from your bumper - and flashes its lights...

Those idiots coming right up onto your bumper are even more stupid than those always staying on the left instead of sneaking into pockets when overtaking other cars. I think this tendency to hog the middle and left lane is increased by speed limits ("that other car is not supposed to drive faster!"). But that is no reason to go bumper to bumper - especially if the car in front is only slowed down because of another car in front. This is quite dangerous at +200 Km/H - but idiots are everywhere. Perhaps it is our current way of natural selection, since we have rigid gun laws <g>.

regards

thomas