What is the purpose of fusees, flares

Newbie with a Chrysler has a general car question. I hope you can
help.

What is the purpose of fusees, flares?

I know that they are there to warn traffic of a car stuck in the road
or near the road, but how much good can they do if they burn for only
15 minutes. Most people, when they break down, are there for more
than an hour. A box of fusees contains maybe 3 15-minute ones. Are
people supposed to carry several boxes and to keep lighting them every
14 minutes?


If you email me, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
If necessary, change domain to erols.com.

Directions are given as if you know nothing.
There's a big range here but I don't know who knows what.

 

They work grate for starting bonfires!!

or if your car really pisses you off you can toss one under the seat!

 

They don't, actually. Have you ever tried to start a fire, even with dry
wood, using a flare? It's almost impossible.

 

OK, sheesh ya got me on that one! I haven't tried to start a fire with them.
I think they will burn under water though!!

 

That's 2 1/2 times longer than you'll remain stuck on a Houston
freeway

 

Cartlon Shew wrote:

Why don't you explain WHY?

Houston can go rot in hell- if I have a flat tire there's no WAY I
should be forced to pay a towing fee instead of being allowed to change
it in the breakdown lane, and I'll be the one holding the tire-iron when
the tow truck tries to hook on.

Houston's new "law" (in quotes, because that sucker's gonna get
overturned the first time its challenged!) is a clear example of the
influence of the towing companies at City Hall.

As if I needed ANOTHER reason to despise Houston.... its sinking almost
as NY, Chicago, and LA on my list of hives to avoid.

 

They will tow your car????In Nashville there are TDOT trucks with
air,gas,water,they help you get your vehicle back on the road and not charge
you(I think you may have to pay for gas)but thats southern hospitality for
ya!

 

I have. Would've been nice if it had worked.

 

Yep, unconditional towing for ANY stopping on the freeway, be it out of
gas or a flat tire. The goal is to have a towtruck on your bumper within
5 minutes or something insane like that- allegedly to "prevent traffic
congestion." There's already been a death related to this stupid law- a
guy ran out of gas and crossed the freeway to get a can of gas. He
apparently saw the towtruck hitching on, and was killed trying to run
back across traffic to get to his car. Anyone from Houston please
correct me if I've got it wrong.

We have TxDOT "freeway rescue" trucks with air, jumper cables, etc. here
too, even though Austin is in some ways one of the most car-hating
cities around (most of the politicians here try to cater to the
enviro-nuts by making it painful to drive or park, so that everyone will
"choose to" ride bikes and busses).

 

You got it wrong - the law is stupid, but that guy that got killed was
a victim of Darwin

bullshit - it's very easy to drive around Austin - parking can be a
bit tough downtown, but that's not the enviro-nuts fault.

 

True- saving your car from the towtruck isn't worth risking life and
limb and he was stupid to do so. But had the admittedly stupid law not
been there, the guy might be alive.

Bull on your bull. Austin is NOWHERE NEAR big enough to warrant
45-minute commutes and sub-10 MPH crawls on the major arterials during
"rush 3-hours" (morning and evening), if the highways weren't 20-odd
years behind the demand. It consistently ranks as having the worst
traffic congestion OF CITIES ITS SIZE. Over the past 30 years (I've
lived here for 40) there has been constant and unrelenting pressure
against building roads in the misguided belief that "if you don't build
it, they won't come." But, as any sane person knew already, the presence
or absence of highways never affects population growth at all. Do I want
it to grow? Heck no, but I'm a realist and don't see any point in
cutting off my nose to spite my face.

 

Back in the 70's, I moonlighted at a service station in the little town
the Navy base I was stationed at was located in in Florida. Florida had
a law on the books that said that whenever there was an accident, the
first tow truck on the scene got the towing job. I'll never forget that
day there was an accident right in front of the service station. A town
cop arrived on the scene and stoppped with lights flashing, and before
he could get out of the car, a tow truck comes flying down the road
through the intersection, and with rear wheels locked up, runs smack dab
into the rear of the police car, giving the cop whip lash.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

 

There ya' go - you just proved how easy it is to drive in Austin.
Rush "hour" is only 3 hours long.

blah, blah, blah - visit Dullass sometime

and yet, they keep building

 

You obviously didn't put enough gasoline on the wood before applying the
flare.

Matt

 

Raleigh, NC is having a different towing "problem". Politicians are yelling
about predatory towing. People go to an event in downtown Raleigh at night
when the private lots are vacant. There are signs all over saying towing
enforced 24 hours, but instead of paying for parking in a public lot like I
do they park in the empty private lot and are pissed when their cars are
gone after the show. Hey, I have a solution.... instead of bitching to the
politicians.... don't park on someone else's private property especially if
the sign says you'll be towed if you do.

 

They do this in Dallas too, but the wrecker drivers took down all the
no parking signs.

 

Not the point at all. The point is that other towns the size of Austin
don't have half the traffic problems.

I Dallas is 5 times as big. Its a completely different situation.

EXACTLY.

 

If enforcing no-parking was REALLY that important to the property
owners, they could just put gates on their parking lots. Sounds like
they've found an easy cash cow, to me. Wouldn't it be far better PR to
open their parking lots, even if they hired someone to collect a buck a
space (or 3 bucks a space, or whatever)?

 

Same here in Virginia.
Change your tire, supply gas, air, water, etc all at no charge.
Keeps the motorists safe and the tow sharks at bay!

 

Or a victim of the fear of having his only vehicle which he used for getting
to/from work towed, knowing he would not be able to afford the tow/impound
fee. Shame that all the rich bastards think everyone has pockets lined with
cash like the politicians that pass these laws.