Hank

so I'm driving back home (surface streets)and the street I'm on has two lanes for each direction. The left lane that I'm in slows down ... I check the right lane and its clear so I signal and make the lane change ... ALL of a sudden a white Nissan pulls out of the curb and nearly hits the passenger side of my AG! As I'm honking, I have two choices: a)slow down and get hit by the Nissan or B) gun it and out run the Nissan. I chose B and passed the Nissan.

I came to a red light and the stupid Nissan was behind me. I turn around to look at the driver, and it's a female talking on a CELL PHONE! She's just laughing and smiling while she's talking. I don't think she realized that she almost got in an accident! For the record, I don't think too highly of female drivers ... probably why the two female drivers (Fisher & St. James) at the Indy 500 this year crashed each other out!

OTOF

job of "crashing each other out." So I could say that all male race car drivers stink. Aren't gross generalizations just wonderful?

Hank

Ironic that the only female participants of the Indy 500 this year manage to take each other out of the race .... in case you missed it, Fisher and St. James ran into each other and both crashed! Also ironic that not too many female drivers race! Hmmm, I wonder why?? Do you see any female drivers in NASCAR, Toyota Atlantics,Indy Lights,IRL, CART, F1? I can't think of any, can you?

Larrytt

MEN run the business world and don't want to see poor little "girls get hurt! They want a MAN to be the corporate image.

I have raced with women for years and let me tell you they are just as good and quite often MUCH, MUCH better than the men.

Why are their not a lot of women racers? It does not always interest girls the same as it does boys when they are growing up. Lots of girls think "car are dumb". This image is usually the result of an assh0le boyfriend that puts down their driving or anything else that a girl tries to do. How many girls do you think give up their racing passion because they might be afraid to intimidate a guy that they might like. (please don't jump on me for that comment, I know of 2 girls that quit because of this!).

All I am trying to say is that in most sports women can be just as competitive as the men. Racing is more about reaction and guts then sheer muscle.

Now getting back to your question about women in other forms of racing? Their are LOTS of women in NASCAR, just not any on Winston Cup. NASCAR is made up of dozens of different classes and women participate in those just as well as the guys.

Ever hear of Shirley Muldowney? Janet Guthrie? Did youn known that Lyn St. James won many a race in IMSA? Ever hear of Melanie Troxel? Top Fuel Driver, NHRA, Lori Johns, Top Fuel Driver.

Hankk, their might not be as MANY top female drivers as their are male drivers, but I guarantee that they are out there!

You are right about Fisher and St. James crashing each other out. Fisher is a 19 yr old girl that was a rookie. Lyn was the victim of a mistake by Fisher. What would you have said if she had knocked out a guy? You do relaize that Lyn has competed in IndyCar racing for many years, don't you? You do realize how hard it is for a guy to get sponsorship, let alone a woman, don't you?

Give these ladies credit for what they are doing. No need to make a generalization like this. On a daily basis someone is almost hit by either a man or a woman, last night it was your turn and it just happened to be a woman driving. Tonight it could be a guy driving.

Think about it . . .

jdan

So I suppose you would have the same to say if Juan Montoya crashed out Buddy Lazier? Gender is NOT an issue. Competence in skills is the issue.

If Lynn St. James is so bad in your opinion, why has she been racing competitively for so long? Lots of racers don't win and are still quite talented so don't go there.

Mom always said if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything.

dan

OTOF

Thank you jdan and Larry TT, was going to respond, but you did so beautifully; I don't need to.

Just Plain Cliff

by acculturation (to save you the trouble of leafing through a dictionary, this is the process, beginning at infancy, by which a human being acquires the culture of his/her society). Believe me, there are enough diverse cultures present in the human race to demonstrate that biology is not the sole determinant of destiny. Perhaps it is time to reconsider your sexually-biased opinion. Do you think driver inattention may have been the factor that almost caused you to get hit, rather than the fact that the inattentive driver happened to be female?

PaTT

I would call her an idiot for talking on the cell phone while entering traffic. I am not willing to generalize about women drivers, but I am willing to generalize about irresponsible cell phone users<p><B>Pat R</B> -- Arlington, Virginia<i>
<img SRC=" http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/pattsig.JPG" BORDER=0>
<I>‘00 180Q TT Coupe Grey/Grey</I>
"GreTTa"

Hank

involved female drivers. Last night, the one on the cell phone, and five months ago when a lady was putting her make on a red light and almost rear ended me when the left turn only lane was moving! If you were in my shoes, you might have a different opinion!

smallTTs

I'd fly Col. Eileen Collins' wing any day, anywhere.
I can't imagine saying that 30 years ago. Times change, attitudes change, social barriers fall.
Both genders should rejoice.

My $.02