Truly safe?
What car safety policies would you like to see implemented? Are there any current car safety laws you'd like to see repealed? We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the myths and realities of car safety.
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2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-2021 Sahara 4xe-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Mandatory wrapping of all occupants of a motor vehicle in: bubble wrap, egg crates, and those little foam peanuts. It's the only way!
I would even take it another step, and while minimum guidelines are being set out as to what those changes would be in driver licensing, I would make it mandatory they learn how to get their license driving a stick shift.
And part of the test would be to do a parallel park, on a steep hill, and all without excessive clutch slippage. And enforce that little tidbit vehemently.
If after passing the test, they choose to drive and own an automatic, well, so be it...unfortunately. I say unfortunately, because a manual lets an owner 'retain' those skills mile after mile, year after year, rather than become complacent with the less interactive familiarity of an auto. A manual forces you to be more interactive with your car more than any other aspect of the driving dynamic. It's right up there with steering.
- Fair and equal enforcement of all highway laws, not just speed limits. This would include writing tickets for offenses such as not signaling a lane change, cutting someone off, driving in the left lane, or stopping on the side of the interstate without turning on your hazard lights.
- Wipers on/headlights on law.
- No foglights on except when conditions warrant.
- No driving with parking lamps on.
- Side turn signal repeaters required on all vehicles. Rear signals must be amber, not red.
- No unmuffled exhaust brakes.
- No exhausts (OEM, aftermarket, or rusted out) that exceed a certain sound level. No "fart can" mufflers.
- Owners and riders of motorcycles with straight pipes shall be drawn and quartered.
Dunno what state you are in, but the state I am in, left lane driving, except for passing will net you a hefty ticket on most highways in the state. Cutting someone off, will net a careless driving ticket or in some severe cases, a road rage fine. The only one I do not agree with is the stopping with out turning on hazards. If you have an electrical failure, you might not be able to turn them on and being fined for that is ridiculous. But, in our state, if you park on the side of the road in an unsafe manner, you might be fined or if the vehicle is left, it may possibly be towed at the owner's expense.
- Wipers on/headlights on law.
So you want wipers on all the time? A little extreme, don't ya think?
If you are referring to weather, there would be a grey area there. If the intermittents are on, how do you prove the weren't. Silly laws cost taxpayers money.
BTW, there is laws in most states that currently dictate that headlights be on between certain times of dusk and dawn.
- Side turn signal repeaters required on all vehicles. Rear signals must be amber, not red.
Federal laws already address this and the costs of studies to change those federal laws would hardly be worth any "supposed" safety increase.
And are you referring to mid mounted turn signals on cars when you say repeaters? If so, no one uses turn signals anyway, so how would that increase safety. It would only be an added expense on already expensive vehicles.
No unmuffled exhaust brakes.
There are very few heavy trucks on the road with unmuffled exhaust brakes anymore. Post 80 heavy trucks are required to have a muffler.
Don't confuse loud exhaust/jake brakes with unmuffled.
- Owners and riders of motorcycles with straight pipes shall be drawn and quartered.
Most of the exhaust problems are usually addressed by city noise ordinances. If your city does not have such an ordinance, then that is something to take up with them. There are federal laws for such a thing, but are generally not that easily enforceable.
I see a lot of accidents and a lot of them are from driver error from either lack of experience, lack of attention or ignorance.
Govt continues to pass laws and create safety "protection" to protect people.
Freedom to decide is becoming a thing of the past, only because there are those who, like those about the turn signal colors, seem to think that adding safety items will be a good substitute for proper learning.
Just my opinion.
I am sooo jealous!!!!! Tell me what state you are in and I will abandon California post-haste!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I would like to add citations for mis-aligned headlights, (after one warning), and for failure to dim high-beams, including on divided highways and when following another vehicle. Special (higher) rates for HID-equipped vehicles.
You must live in some sort of Utopia if those laws are actually enforced as heavily as the speed limit in your area. It requires more work on the part of enforcement. Obviously, you can't turn on your hazards if your car's electrical system fails, but it should be a requirement in all other instances.
If you are referring to weather, there would be a grey area there. If the intermittents are on, how do you prove the weren't. Silly laws cost taxpayers money.
BTW, there is laws in most states that currently dictate that headlights be on between certain times of dusk and dawn.
If it's cloudy enough to be raining, your headlights should be on. Many states have this law (and again, it's not enforced as well as it should be), but the signs on the interstate always say something like "wipers on, headlights on."
And are you referring to mid mounted turn signals on cars when you say repeaters? If so, no one uses turn signals anyway, so how would that increase safety. It would only be an added expense on already expensive vehicles.
Yes, that's what I'm referring to. The European Union has required them for a long time--it's about time we caught up. As for the fact that most people are jerks who don't use their turn signals, see my thoughts above about how traffic enforcement in the US tends to focus on the idea that "speed kills" while almost completely ignoring any other type of highway infraction.
If your city does not have such an ordinance, then that is something to take up with them.
Not everyone lives or works within city limits, and there are many residential areas in the US which fall outside city limits. That doesn't mean that their hearing isn't worth saving. And again, I rarely hear (no pun intended) of someone receiving a ticket for a loud exhaust.
I do find the idea of "taking something up with the city" in terms of ridiculous noise to be funny - cities move slower and more wastefully than other venues, guaranteed cronyism at work. It's not so easy. None of this will happen until the change from revenue (speed) based law enforcement takes place.
Left lane driving is prohibited, except when passing on most highways.
The Interstates are the only places where it isn't posted or enforced.
On most highways, especially on the coast range, where people driving in the passing lane is a problem, it is enforced. Mostly because the ones riding the left lane are usually ones from out of state.
There are signs on just about every highway in Oregon where ever there is double lanes, specifically stating that it is illegal to use the left lane, except when passing. And yes, it is enforced by the state patrol.
It is probably the only way that anything will be done. Noise levels aren't a priority for state enforcement, so the only way that anything will ever get done is to have city ordinances. I didn't say I agreed with it, just that it is probably the only way anything will ever get done about it.
Actually, I'm in favor of the newer vehicles with DRLs And auto on headlights. It's one of those improvements that actually makes sense.
Motorcycles are required to have headlights on all the time, so it makes sense that DRLs or headlights on all the time isn't such a bad idea.
I have had this discussion before and you can potentially go round and around with it. i don't plan to anymore other than to elaborate what my reasoning is since your didn't understand.
First, I am not suggesting that ALL auto drivers are incompetent. Of course not. There are many capable auto drivers. I do suspect that the best of them though did drive a manual at one time or another earlier. Those tho, who had to replace more than one clutch before 200k miles, need not apply for this designation (obviously not including known faulty trannys like the clutch-hungry one in the Matrix XRS) though.
My primary point, is that those who learn to drive on a std, learn the relationship of friction with the road better and faster than anyone with an auto. No one can rationally dispute that. No one. And the reason is that with an auto, you don't stall an engine if you haven't managed clutch take-up and grab point properly. I could elaborate, but not gonna. In my first post above, i cover a lot of bases in my example, for why i say what i say. I was going to make the parallel park scenario on a 'snow-covered with a bit a sand mix' hill, cuz that would further separate those who totally get it, from those who sorta get it ok.
I am aware though that not all people understand this concept of applying/managing (think managing and/or better still being aware of an impending near skid on slush on a corner and if u do things right, nothing bad happens) the friction. If someone is trying to control going wide with their Expedition in that corner and plow headon into me and my family in our 'Civic' let's say, I say I'd prefer that Exp driver had mastered and even regularly drove a stick. I want every 'edge' there is, available to me. It's just good ol' healthy common sense.
If they have finally changed legislation on that then it took them over 15 years
I will say while I am here, among many other good suggestions I've seen here, I do see the wisdom in having a standard turn signal amber lense right across the board. I ALSO think that rear light assemblies should have an extra bright white light (use the back up light lenses) that activate when the brakes come on on all red vehicles. Surely i don't have to elaborate why i say that tho...red on red, bright sun..
Now that many brake lights are LED that has helped, but there are so many inconsistencies. I was following a Mazda 6 the other night, and was very impressed with its ability to notify. The rear end lit up like a Christmas (Happy Holidays?) tree.
You may well be right, but your conclusion seems to be based on perception. Would it not also be reasonable to perceive that people who choose to own stick shift cars may also tend to be more aggressive behind the wheel than owners of cars with automatics?
A complicating factor in this discussion is that fewer and fewer cars even offer a third pedal option.
But to the masses, control is what it's all about. Some would also tout longevity.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
This is a very real issue...daylight lit clusters should be tied to automatic headlamps that go on at dusk or when the wipers are activated. My father's Infiniti G35 does this while our Subaru Legacy doesn't...guess which car runs around with dim headlamps and no tail-lamps at dusk/dark?
Another point, some years ago there was a proposal by George Bush I that we were going metric (like Canada where the speed limit on highways is 100 kmh, equal to 62 mph). That rule was killed by Bill Clinton soon after he became president. We're the only county in the world still using miles!
Metric proposals have been around since Jefferson. There was a big push bacvk when Canada converted but the U.S. Metric Board was disbanded under the Reagan administration in '85 due to lack of Congressional and public support. Efforts since then have flopped too.
All speed limits and distances are still given in miles or miles per hour in Britain.
I'm on the hunt right now for some 15mm bar stock for my miter slot in my table saw.
That was an absurd rule that had absolutely no impact on highway safety. It was a textbook example of the safety nanny "sounds good, let's make it a safety standard" idiocy that permeates the DOT bureaucracy. Speedometers should display the maximum speed of the vehicle plus 10-20 mph.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-2021 Sahara 4xe-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Also, foreign cars were exempt...look at the gauges in a 1980s German car.
USA won't go metric just out of spite.
The oddest thing about USA measurement is the size of your gallon. It should be Imperial sized cuz it is out on its own.
UK has been kph, then mph, then back to kph...are tey back to mph again now? I know they used to use Fahrenheit, then Celsius and I think they are still using Celsius now?
Back in 78 when Cda went metric, it was the biggest hoohaw ever. Aside from the tremendous financial manipulation/loss/costs, (just think road signage. Plus... our 'quart' immediately lost 54 ml even though the price at the time of 99 cents a quart, immediately became 99 cents a litre while our gvt peed in our ears proclaiming not to worry, it was only water, and many other examples too) people actually lost their lives due to incorrect administered amounts of meds in hospitals and roadside emergency services.
I always felt that Cda didn't need to go metric until the USA did, and with any luck I'd be dead when that happened..I constantly have to convert to Imp measure in order to 'know where I'm at'. I can think in litres (in both USA and Imp amounts...3.7854 vs 4.54609 and in kms and miles...1 mile = 1.6093 km
and when I do fuel mileage calculations, i do right there at the pumps every time whether in car or on bike. While I have a metric convertor calculator, I don't need it for FE calcs anymore.
litres/100 km (4.54609/62.138818 miles) is just soooo much easier than MPG.... NOT!!!
And we constantly go back and forth here. We still use inches for many measurements than otherwise end up in numerous decimal places, or a kazillion numerals. Look around and ask your average carpenter on the street building a home and see if his tape measure is in centimeters and millimeters. NOT!!! "Hey Joe, how long did you say that staircase drop have to be? It's 5669.28 mm Charlie...but we can live with 5669 mm if that makes it easier for ya". Ya right..... NOT!!!
In some ways I am an UKr at heart, and in many other ways I am American....like i say, the only thing I don't like about you guys is that tiny, short-changed gallon you guys hold onto with a vengeance..
US spec cars also had the ridiculous 85 mph speedometers. I have copies of the BMW Club magazine ROUNDEL; back then there were several companies offering to recalibrate and label OEM US speedometers. Fortunately the moronic law was history by the time I picked up my 1987 535is...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-2021 Sahara 4xe-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
What irked me most about those old units is that 55 would be highlighted or even framed. I remember it was that way in the Ciera we had when I was a kid, and I think the same in the Tempo. Tempo was fun, speedo went to 80, I remember driving it with the needle pegged :shades:
Canada went metric because the US was already in the process and then the US dropped it. As a Canadian friend puts it it's like we were saying "This would be funny. Let's tell the Canadians we are going metric and then we won't!" Pretty close to what happened.
There's a stretch of Interstate in southern Arizona that's all metric.
Years ago I'd be all in favor of joining the rest of the world. The older I get the more attached I am to miles and inches and such. Of course if we went metric tomorrow my generation would still be talking and doing everything standard.
http://articles.cnn.com/1999-09-30/tech/9909_30_mars.metric_1_mars-orbiter-clima- te-orbiter-spacecraft-team?_s=PM:TECH
WSJ: Key to Next Push for Safer Driving: Technology
While I think certain systems can be a help, I think though that if it becomes nationwide accepted, there will be too much reliance of the proximity system rather than our own senses that are not as prone to wiring and software glitches etc. (at least in most of us :sick: :shades: ) And if a spot of dirt gets on our lens, we know about it right away.
If only they would quit trying to idiot-proof everything :sick:
Not to mention that some of us have permanent spots in our eyes.
I wasn't sure your emotorcon Steve, (it's showing as blue check mark) but if you really do have spots, you should not put off seeing a doc about them. It can be the early stages of a retinal detachment, and the earlier you catch it, the more they can do for you. A friend is going through this very thing right now. He did not act on the signs he had and now is awaiting wondering if he will ever get full use of his eye back.
Retinal detachments can be pretty serious business. My step father had a successful operation, but later (after the operation) puked cuz they found out they administered too much anesthesia. And the retching detached the retina again and they were not able to do anything about it. He lost that eye
I know a bit about detachments too unfortunately - my spots are silicone "fish eggs" left behind after my second repair. Only bothers me when I weed or star gaze though.
Good point about the fuses, but I think the benefits of tools like these outweigh the occasional glitch. Too many people never look in the first place.
The first thing should be a receiver in cars to detect a warning signal from emergency vehicles. The warning signal would cause the radio to be turned down and perhaps cause a verbal notification. My GPS already does this for navigation directions. (Imagine, "Warning - emergency vehicle approaching" being spoken in that nice female computer voice.)
This is fairly simple off-the-shelf technology but would help make collisions with police cruisers, fire trucks and ambulances a thing of the past.
Our cell phones, tablets, laptops and other mobile devices communicate so easily. There's really no good reason why higher end vehicles don't have Wi-Fi and/or built in cell phones for safety purposes. Wi-Fi is becoming more popular in vehicles (i.e. Vi-Fi) so this may be just a matter of time but legislation would help move things along faster.