h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is not waving at oncoming cars like you're attempting to attract the attention of a rescue ship to your desert island (unless you want/need to be rescued, from the children in your car for example).

It's more of a casual raising of the fingers of one hand (usually the right) slightly off the steering wheel, in an offhand, cool & knowing, salutory sort of way. Generally suggestive of an "I do this sort of trip all the time, 1500kms in a days driving is average, if you have any trouble I'm your man & Crocodile Dundee calls me Sir" type attitude.

;^)#

This "casual raising of the fingers of one hand slightly off the steering wheel, and an off-hand..." waving phenomenon sounds exactly the same as the Secret Wave of Jeep Wrangler Owners. This is the official trademark wave given by one Jeep owner to another when passing or driving by each other on the road in the States. The wave is an acknowledgement that your new road pal is also a Joe Average cool guy or girl (of any age) who had the common sense to purchase one of these excellent vehicles, knowing that any minute now, you both may be required to drive off-road, and boy are you ready.

I wonder if this is a local phenomenon, or something common to Jeep owners locally?

or globally . . .

Its also the Secret Wave of the:-
a: Motorcylist
b: Truck driver
c: Harley rider to another Harley rider (they wont wave to non Harley riders
e: various 4 wheel drive marques
d: Jaguar owners
e: Triumph owners

and is often combined with a mimed nod/wink sort of deal.

In fact any goup that seems to think its identifiable in some way & has found a kindred highway spirit - this of course includes the Intrepid Adventurer in the Australian Outback (ie anywhere without street lights).


;^)#

This casual raising of the fingers from the steering wheel is also a very lazy way to say thanks for someone letting you past a mutual obstruction. (A custom familiar only to the British because we always have and always will build roads that are too narrow). City planners still refuse to acknowledge that

a) EVERYBODY has AT LEAST one car.
b) Roads are no longer principally used for herding pigs to market.
c) If people want to do something inconsiderate like parking outside their home (we don't build driveways either), the road is going to get congested quite quickly.
d) Four and a half standard car widths would therefore be a sensible size to build a road.

But we need something to complain about or we just aren't happy

I just got back from Camp Jeep and I noticed this phenomenon in not only Wrangler owners, but Cherokee and Grand Cherokee owners as well. It has spread to at least a national level.

I've just got to ask: "Jeep Camp?"

No it is Camp Jeep - he was the Vietnamese bar owner in Robin Williams Good Morning, Vietnam. It was his nickname, you see. "Hey, let's go to that bar in town" "Oh - Camp Jeep's?"

No, it's actually an attempt at building customer loyalty and brand recognition, which has been running since 1995. Also, it has a nifty logo.

Cool! Where can I get more information? I'll send my brother who's always saying "I will be buried in my Jeep thank you very much!"

I've sort of glanced through your user page and have used my unusually keen detective skills to assume that you're British. If this is wrong, just say so. However, this poses a bit of a problem (if I'm right). The probelem is this: I think Camp Jeep is just a thing they do in the U.S. where everyone is more prone to manipulation by the media. So if you don't have the misfortune to live in America where they hide Red Dwarf on PBS really late at night, I'm afraid I can't help. Sorry

Try again, Mr. Holmes. I live in Pennsylvania.

Once again using my incredible deductive skills, I have successfully determined that I've done something incredibly stupid, most likely angering you or causing at the very least a raised eyebrow. I would like to apologize. Having said that, I've just gone through all of the promotional literature they sent and have been unable to find a return address. I had assumed that ownership of a Jeep automatically meant that they sent you their propoganda. This is obviously not true. Therefore, I would suggest that you go down to the Jeep dealership and ask for the literature, as they don't seem to be particulary inclined to give it to you via snail mail. Again, sorry about my inaccurate deduction and any misgivings it may have caused. I shall refrain from further such actions in the future.

A long, long time ago - when few Australian roads outside the cities were bituminised and before the invention of laminated windscreens - regular outback travellers developed a method of minimising windscreen breakages. When two vehicles approached on a rough gravel road, each driver would slow slightly and place their fingers against the windscreen to support it against bouncing rocks. To the uninitiated (city drivers) this appeared to be a friendly wave and the custom spread. Modern laminated screens reduce the incidence of broken windscreens in the outback but if someone waves, at least you know the vehicle you just passed isn't a mirage.

p.s. F100 drivers don't feel the need to worry about whether other drivers think they're cool - we know we are.:=)

When we first drove our new Corvette (new to us, anyway ), we were surprised to see other 'vette drivers performing this wave. Very interesting . . .