The self-resetting FRAZ - a superfluous invention?
05/12/2012
When I was allowed to drive my parents' Fords and VWs (never Opels) for the first time after passing my car test (on an Opel), I quickly got used to the lack of amenities of Teutonic workmanship. Power steering? After all, you've had a good breakfast. Electric windows? Only available from GXL upwards for an extra charge. Automatic transmission? Four gears to pick yourself, please! But there was one achievement: the self-resetting FRAZ lever(technically: direction indicator lever - colloquially: blinker lever). That was still quite funny on the country roads of Aargau. After the "clack" turn, the blinker is back in. You didn't have to think about anything. Great!
But then it happened that I wanted to visit my sister in the "city with its own bird". Yes, that's what the Aargau capital (Aarau) really used to be called, but today it no longer has so much humor. The network of traffic routes featured many streets with turning lanes and right-of-way turnings. To make your intentions known, it was important to signal diligently. And that's when I began to "love" the self-resetting blinker. In the middle of a left-hand bend, it comes back on even though I haven't turned right yet. On the other hand, if I also turn left in the left-hand bend, it stays on even though the turn has long since been completed. Am I supposed to steer wildly in the opposite direction just so that I indicate correctly - but collide with the side of the road or oncoming traffic? The main thing is to signal correctly. Or flashing? Of course, you can resist this and hold the blinker lever in position with your left hand. If you steer in the opposite direction, the tricked-out reset device cracks wildly in the steering column, so that you can hear it say: "One more time and I'll fall off!". And then there were the cars that drove other road users crazy for miles at every turn because they stubbornly drove straight ahead despite having their indicators on. Why put it back? I have a GXL with a self-resetting FRAZ.
But then redemption came: my first car was a Citroën GSA. It had infinitely ugly but equally infinitely practical control satellites. Everything was draped around the steering wheel. The blinker went in - clack - and stayed in until I put it back - clack - again. In the city with my own bird, this was infinitely practical, as I had to turn right in a left-hand bend and then immediately left again in the right-hand bend to get to my sister. And I never provoked misunderstandings because I always blunk, blonk - no blink - correctly. Later, you could only sell cars with self-resetting indicators because the species of self-thinking (Citroën) drivers was extinct. And then automatic windshield wipers with rain sensors were invented. But that's another topic...
