[rescue] anti-roadrage devices

[Chris Hedemark]

On Mon, 2002-06-24 at 12:57, Kris Kirby wrote:

> Right. This is why I figured that having an ex-cop car capable of 140 MPH
> is a good getaway car from a manic in a pickup throwing pennies at 60+
> MPH. If you slow down, he can too -- but if you kick it and Get Gone(tm),
> he can't follow.

My younger brother, a more mechanically inclined person (he designs
industrial machinery for a living) had a nifty smoke screen device in
his car a la Jame Bond.  You have a second washer fluid tank under the
hood, filled with mineral oil or transmission fluid or any other
lightweight oil.  You have a washer fluid pump, pumping the oil out of
that down into a little bung fitting in the exhaust pipe just downstream
of the catalytic converter about 6 to 8 inches.

This works best in a manual transmission vehicle.  You take it out of
gear, rev the motor up a bit to get the pipes nice & hot, and then hit
the button for a few seconds to dump oil into the exhaust.

Thick bluish white smoke belches out of the tailpipe, and the guy behind
you has no other choice but to slow down otherwise he is driving blind. 
The smoke has a side effect of leaving an oily film on the car behind
you, so when they inevitably turn their wipers on to clear the droplets
from the glass it smears all over the glass to the point that the raging
driving that has been tailgating you now has to pull over and clean
their glass if they want to get anywhere.

He pulled this trick on me once and I assure you it was quite
effective.  When the fog cleared enough for me to drive again, he was
long gone.