re
So Scott, can I take it that you would have some criticisms to make
> of this situation?

not 'criticsm' ....more like empathy.

I have worked on many cars in the street, in the woods, in gravel. etc etc.

perhaps I am very safety conscious.
I see a cop sitting by the side of the road finishing off paperwork, and I
think that's the dumbest thing in the world..
cars whizzing by, drunks , people fiddling with cell phones..
I don't think people realize what an inherant hazzard being on the side of a
road or street is.
People do not *always* guide cars where they mean too - duh.

to to perserverate too much ...
saw a cop with his car presented fully sideways toward freeway traffic, on a
bend, so he could shoot his radar gun out his window.
Talk about dumb. Cars heading right at him at 55 +, right at his driver's
door, where there is very little impact protection.
He likely has a wife and kids at home......get my drift ?

there's a saying in flying ..there are old pilots, and bold pilots, but no
old bold pilots.

so for cops sitting fully exposed on the driver's side of their car, with
cars coming straight at them at freeway speeds, and figuring every car is
going to be awake and make that curve ...
it's an odds game. You do that 400 times....
eventually ....you know ?
Sides of streets and highways are hazzrdous places.

a famous ski racer got killed by going asleep in the back seat of a VW
Rabbit broken down on I-5 near Bakersfield , CA , late a night.
A drunk came along ....killed the guy right there.
Probalyh didn't hard the drunk much either.

Being on the edge of where cars go by at any speed is taking a big risk.
Should be pretty obvious I'd think.
Humans do not guide their car where they mean quite often !
Like a thousand times a day in this country, at least.

so not criticall at all,  but empathetic ...........if anyone has to work on
their vanagon in the street, or right next to one.
Plus if there's a slope toward the gutter, like many city streets have, that
just makes everything harder too.  I've done it, plenty.

just give me  a flat level hard surface, and after that a roof, then
electricty ...
then walls and compressed air....then it's pretty decent.