My friend recently described an incident he had just experienced in traffic that you and I have seen a hundred times.

As we approach highway construction work, we see lights or arrows informing us that one lane is closed ahead, so two lanes of traffic must merge.

Most of us take the signs at face value, turn on our signals and move into the appropriate lane well ahead of the actual closure. Not everybody plays the same game, however.

Invariably, there are always a few drivers who don't merge. They stay in the soon-to-be-closed lane as long as they can, zipping past those of us who merged, until they get to the front of the line. There, they play on the sympathy of kind-hearted drivers and crowd in, well ahead of cars they had been trailing.

They're rude, thoughtless and dangerous. Apparently, they're also better than the rest of us. They can't be bothered by rules. They're in a bigger hurry.

"If those guys do this in traffic," my friend said, in so many words, "can I take the same tack in the grocery store? Let's say all the checkout lanes are backed up with loaded-down shopping carts. Can I just go to the front of a line and break in, without saying a word? Surely shoppers are as accommodating as cars in traffic."

I don't think he has tested his theory, though; the last time I saw him, he still had all his teeth.

MOORE ON CARS: I recently lamented the loss of features on our cars, things such as vent windows, horn rings and spare tires. Here are some of your replies:

Brian Mulherin, of Augusta, said he misses having the headlight dimmer switch on the floor, where it was tapped with the left foot. It was easier than the lever we activate by hand, he said.

Of like mind was mgroothand : "Automatic dimmers or dimmers on the floorboards."

Carolyn Ogles, of Augusta, wrote: "We had forgotten some of those features (like the spring in the hood!)."

Bill Dekle, of Millen, Ga., wrote: "Yep. Vents, spares, bumpers, more headroom, etc.; all great stuff that's gone with the 'experts' who made things worse rather than better."

Daniel Moore posted: "How about a push-button automatic transmission like was on Ford's Edsel?"

Boogaloo posted: "Rumble seat for the kids."

Going even further was Paul L. Cook, of Augusta, who wrote: "I would ask Detroit to add rumble seats to cars. The first car I bought was a 1936 Ford coupe with a rumble seat. I bought it in 1952 and I was 17 years old. I paid $100 for that car. It had no power equipment (steering, brakes, windows) nor air conditioning. In fact that car predated hydraulic brake systems. It had mechanical brakes wherein steel rods were connected to the brake pedal and to each wheel, which when the brake pedal was pressed the steel rods expanded the brake shoes against the drums. Obviously, it did not stop very well, but thoughts of it bring back fond memories of a time past that, sadly, will never return."

Posted by tk det : "I can remember my dad's '53 Chevy. It had a manual choke and you rolled down the window to signal a turn. Automatic turn signals either weren't invented or they were an expensive option. Gas was 15 cents a gallon. I would like it if vent windows, horn rings and roll-down windows were still on cars. You could not afford the weight and loss of aerodynamics of the other features with gas at $3 to $4 a gallon."

Posted by imdstuf : "Some cars still have full spares, as well as some have hoods that stay up on their own. I would hate to go back to the days before cup holders and back to the days of vinyl seats -- ugh."

Finally, there was this, posted by hockey : "I'd settle for a vehicle coming out of Detroit that didn't totally disintegrate after 5 years."

Reach Glynn Moore at (706) 823-3419 or glynn.moore@augustachronicle.com.