I have gone from a 1970 VW Beetle to getting (with almost no real practice) 45 passenger busses and 48 foot tractor trailer rigs. On my tes to get the big rig license the examiner had me hook up to a trailer parked backwards in a huge indoor garage that had support beams literally littering the whole structure. It was truly sink or swim or bring the house down I passed with 100%.
We had one around here with 4 teens girls in a brand new (2003?) VW Beetle (at the time the VW had one of the HIGHEST crash ratings) At 50 or so mph hit a telephone pole. ALL 4 girls DOA. All wearing seatbelts.
Why do people act so surprised about these things? We we not all teens before? Don't we all know how teens are? Does it take a scientist to tell us the kettle is black? It amazes me how common knowledge is completely ignored until a scientist backs it up. Then it is quickly forgotten. I find it so funny that he has to state teens are higher risk takers. DUH! Where has he been hiding? We know that! Whatever happened to common sense? People as so hung up on 'my rights' and 'their rights' that they don't use common sense to protect the masses. Why would you give a deadly weapon (ie...car) to a kid who isn't even accountable under the law as an adult?
i think you've proven someone can be killed in a small vehicle as well as a large vehicle - if you're a tean learner, i think you should be in the car with a parent, not another tean.
but my point about the SUV was made because of the higher rollover potential and a child's poor understanding of vehicle physics and rapid changes to control inputs. SUVs can be dangerous for adults in this respect as well.
Okay...you moved up one. I'm not sure if anyone is arguing. I think we're all moving towards a common agreement. It's really sad for me because now I'll have to pick fights with my mother for some action. Can't we all disagree on something???
Teens scare me when they're in cars. When I used to ride my bicycle around Omaha, Nebraska, the frequency of harrassment increased when school was out.
" think you've proven someone can be killed in a small vehicle as well as a large vehicle - if you're a tean learner, i think you should be in the car with a parent, not another tean. "
I think it is undeniable that folks can be killed in SUV's and by suvs. but even more so by small cars!!!!! I think a lot of folks are missing the point that structurally both % percentage and volume and RATE wise,most folks get killed in and by small cars!!
This ideal that SUV's only cause accidents with small cars and kill only the small car folks is NOT, I repeat not backed up by the NHTSA statistics. It is also not backed up by the IIHS data. Are the suv more prone to rollover accidents? Absolutely. But it is more of self danger than danger to other participants in the collisions. Small cars are more of a danger to themselves AND to other participants. This again is in % volume and more importantly RATE.
I had to make about a 250 mile round trip this morning, all in the rain, bascially all of it on interstates. Fairly heavy traffic, not a lot of visibility from the spray. Coming up I-83, two lanes, coming to an exit that has an extra long exit lane that appears on the right.
The running order : I'm in the right lane, following an F350 that's behind a semi. There's a semi behind me in the right lane, and another in the left lane off my rear quarter. We're all travelling about 60mph. The exit lane appears to my right, and after a couple of hundred feet, the F350 puts on his signal and starts to move into the exit lane. Suddenly, I see a stopped delivery type pickup in the exit lane appear out of the mist the semi is throwing up. No 4 ways, no lights, just sitting there right in the middle of the lane with PLENTY of shoulder to pull off the road available. The F350 swerves back into the right travel lane JUST missing the MAJOR accident that could have happened. Less than 6" of space between the vehicles is my estimate. Had he hit the parked truck i think he would have definitely been thrown back into the right travel lane at least, and there was no place for anyone to swerve or slow down to.
I did NOT notice if anyone was sitting in the stopped truck or walking down the side of the exit. I'd LOVE to hear the excuse why you left a vehicle sitting in a lane where vehicles routinely are travelling 55+!! :mad:
Whoa, scary near-miss. Road spray can be a major problem. I've noticed that visibility is more impaired during the day than at night. At night you can still see lights through the mist, but daylight reflecting off the spray washes everything out.
I've also noted that truckers are not inclined to slow down for rain... higher speeds > more road spray.
A word of warning...when you have a lot of rain on the road, don't use your cruise control. I read a bad story about a lady who did that and her car began hydroplaning. The cruise noticed the wheels weren't turning at the right speed and nailed the accelerator, shooting her off like a watermelon from a catapult.
I would never do that on a bicycle. So why don't they let bicycles onto the interstate then?
What I hate is on state roads with huge 15-foot shoulders and 55-60 mph limits, you have people making right turns and they are too afraid to get a little ding on their precious vehicles, so they slow down to about 20 mph turning speed on the road instead of using the gigantic shoulder. And then they say cyclists block the road! I have to ride my bicycle in that crap...the least they can do is get their gigantic rump off the road onto a shoulder built for them so the rest of the sane public doesn't have to slow to a stop for them to make their turn. So rude...that always deserves a honk.
good point. This happened to me once on the NJ turnpike. Thankfully it was low traffic that day. I had the CC on (rare to start with) and hit a low spot with standing water. Well, the car decided to freak out. The traction control ( I think, not sure) kicked in, and the CC kept trying to speed up. Got kinda squirrly until I hit the off button.
I think that is a big flaw with CC, that you can't just let up the throttle to let the tires regain traction.
OT, it would have been very inconsiderate of me to start doing donuts in the middle of a wet highway!
Well, according to the law in most states, you're never supposed to ride on the shoulder, even when making right turns, unless there's a dedicated right turn lane.
I didn't have the cruise on, but a similar thing happened to me on I-78 in NJ in heavy rain. I was going uphill and the pavement had ruts left by the trucks (parallel to the direction of travel). Suddenly, the speedometer zoomed upward, and I knew the front wheels had lost traction. I instictively lifted off the gas, so nothing untoward happened. Luckily, the road was straight at that point.
Recommend locking out CC on compact snow, ice, & other slippery surfaces.
Recommend tying in the headlight switch to the wiper switch.
Recommend a beginner driver learn on a four speed stick including starting uphill without rolling back using the parking brake in conjunction with the clutch and gas pedal while pulling out into traffic from the curb!
"i don't agree with you on your assertion that it's better to learn on something unwieldly and cumbersome. you're practically admitting it will be a problem for them to drive. don't you want the experience to be successful and promote confidence? don't you want the rest of the commuting public to be safe? (sort of tongue and cheek - i understand the point you are trying to make, and also assume you're going to be riding in that econoline providing direction and encouragement)."
On all questions, the answer is unequivocally "YES!"
I use the terms "unwieldy" and "cumbersome" based on the reference point of a modern day mid-size car. Many folks today would argue that modern full-size SUVs or any SUV fits this bill, but again, point of reference! For a child just learning, there is no point of reference. This individual's point of reference is the van - which, BTW, is probably far more prone to rollover, etc., than any modern vehicle, period. Even modern full-size vans catch a lot of flak for this tendency. Heck, the university here recently retired all of their full size vans for this reason and replaced them with.... of all things..... Ford Excursions (the biggest SUV out there... I think....)!
I learned to drive using this very vehicle (the Econoline)... well, passenger vehicles anyway. I had driven tractors, etc., for years. I started driving it at 13 with my dad on crummy dirt roads with no traffic. I drove that and a '79 F150 manual tranny with him. It was not until I turned 15 and received my learner's permit that I started driving sedans, etc., on public roads.
But, as far as confidence, it gave me far more. I remember feeling timid when driving the pickup the first couple times, then the first time parallel parking! Now though, I can parallel park my Subaru with less than 12 inches on each end and I don't think twice about it. Confidence is learned young. I still cannot convince my wife that she knows how to drive our '69 Chevy C20 (manual tranny), even though I taught her how to drive it 6 years ago and she has more than 4000 miles behind the wheel.
It's a mindset and an opportunity that requires the parent to be both competent and confident, and to love/respect the child enough to be confident in the child's ability even when the child is not. But..... I'm still 11-12 years off teaching my son to drive, so who knows, maybe I will have given up on my van and truck by then and surrender him to the ignorant bliss.
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I agree with you about the Jeep (or any vehicle) comment.... I have seen no teenagers who respect their vehicles or their own limitations when they are given a car (regardless of what it is). I had a my van "given" to me at 18, but had already spent 5 years rebuilding the thing from the ground up before that day, so it meant more to me than even having gone out and purchased one with my own hard-earned money. Without the investment/responsibility, it just seems to be too much "independence" too soon, regardless of the make/model of the automobile.
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
"Plus in Alaska, aren't most rural roads still 2-lane? So all it takes is one errant driver crossing the centerline for disaster."
2-lane? I wasn't aware that our rural roads had lanes... :P
Seriously, though. Everything in life involves risks, and I certainly would not allow my children to drive it unless I felt it was mechanically sound and the area was appropriate to allow them to practice driving without significant risk to themselves or other drivers.
Recent model pickups are not clunky. The last time I was behind the wheel of one ('97 F350 crew long bed), I wondered why people were looking at me with horror when I was backing it into a parking spot in a crammed parking lot... apparently they felt it was "clunky." But, one try, centered, and 6" off the bumper of the vehicle behind me (right where I wanted to be), I could only shake my head at those poor fools that have a heard time parking their compact p/us. Again, it all depends on your point of reference.
I imagine the newest models are even more car-like than those of 8 years ago.
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
A word of warning...when you have a lot of rain on the road, don't use your cruise control. I read a bad story about a lady who did that and her car began hydroplaning. The cruise noticed the wheels weren't turning at the right speed and nailed the accelerator, shooting her off like a watermelon from a catapult.
Be WARE.
As sad as it sounds, that just won't happen. While it is unsafe to use cruise control in the rain, that is not why. See, the cruise control's job is to keep you going at the same speed. If you hit a patch of water and hydroplane, your tires are getting no traction and spinning very fast. In a situation like this, the cruise control is going to think you have suddenly took off and cut the throttle, not nail it. Then, when you regain contact with the pavement, it will look like you suddenly returned to the speed you were going, so the cruise control will moderately increase the throttle to hold your speed.
Good example. It's all about knowing your vehicle.... equipment, limitations, EDGES, etc. Same thing for trailers, except that it also takes an understanding of the interaction between the two (or more) units. Unfortunately, most people are of the "get in and go" mindset. I have to laugh when I see someone in a truck or... even worse.... a smaller car back out of a parking space, stop 4-8 feet from the nearest object behind them, pull forward to within 4-8 feet of the object in front, and continue this until having "maneuvered" out of the parking space. I'm not sure why I laugh.... I should probably be cringing, but pathetic is often funny.
It is a shame that parallel parking is not required for driver exams. A failed parallel parking attempt with 24" off each end of the vehicle should be an automatic failure for the test as it demonstrates that the driver does not have a solid understanding of the vehicle.
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
I look at people like that around here because they usually lack the skills. Heck, even parking them in regularly, they are usually an inch or two from the car opposite them, way off in the spot, horribly crooked or hanging way out in the aisle.
Oops... okay, so I am the bad man that drew the conversation out.
Yesroh now has another bit of ammo.... :mad:
PF, how do you manage to come across so many near-death situations? :surprise:
I see disabled vehicles abandoned in lanes quite often and it always puzzles me.... why would anyone leave a vehicle there?!!! The liability alone would prompt me to push it to a curb.
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
I have to laugh when I see someone in a truck or... even worse.... a smaller car back out of a parking space, stop 4-8 feet from the nearest object behind them, pull forward to within 4-8 feet of the object in front, and continue this until having "maneuvered" out of the parking space. I'm not sure why I laugh.... I should probably be cringing, but pathetic is often funny.
I was cringing the other day. This guy was backing out of his spot, stopped a good 8 feet from the cars behind him. Pulled forward towards me, stopping just inches from my bumper, backed up a little bit and went by just barely clearing my bumper.
Why is it that people here can't figure out how to use them! This van comes down the merge lane today (here they are exit only lanes, so the on-ramp from one exit turns into the exit for the next) on their cell phone going all of 55 MPH in a 65. I'm moving in the next lane at 60 MPH looking for a spot to get in. Next thing I know the van is drifting towards me, with its rear quarter-panel lined up with my front quarter panel. I lay on the horn to no effect. I hold on as long as I can and then slam on my brakes. I happen to catch a look at in my right mirror to see this Yukon swerving back into the merge lane. What happened is that the driver was attentive and speed-matched to my lane and moving into an open spot when I had to slam on my brakes. When she saw that I was now going about 10-15 MPH slower than her, she quickly recovered without rolling her SUV.
In an incident like that, the person on the cellphone should be guilty of reckless driving! :mad:
I don't think it's a problem on wet roads unless there is puddled water. I watch...and I think if you're aware of the problem you could probably kill the CC before it's too late.
Hmmm...well, I didn't make up the story. Maybe my explanation was wrong but the story was something I read. I'm too hungry to think of an explanation at the moment...and now I know I'll be thinking about it on my date tonight. Darn!
No explanation needed. Its a widely circulated Internet hoax. I think what people are thinking is that when they hydroplane the wheels stop moving. In that instance I might be able to see the cruise control nailing the throttle, but the wheels don't stop moving.
PF, how do you manage to come across so many near-death situations?
Honestly... I think I have a poltergeist! I TRY to mind my own business, but these things DO seem to seek me out. Could also be that I have 221,000 on the car and that's a lot of "exposure" :surprise:
It wasn't an internet hoax, or at least that's not where I read it. I can see that if the car hydroplanes long enough and starts to slow, and the wheels are still spinning at the same speed and then the car hits dry road, the car would accelerate as it gains traction. The cruise works off the engine or wheel speed.
My date and I were surprised by a policeman last night. I played it cool and we came out okay. I guess it's not good to make out in a public school parking lot.
Heh, we're in the same boat. But when I think about how inconsiderate we're being to fellow drivers - the dangerous recklessness of it all! - when we're out with our dates in an empty parking lot, I realize the cop's just doing his job. And saving society from an utter collapse into anarchy!
After all there are red light cameras out there that need monitoring as they raise millions in funds for the companies that peddle them to cities as a fund raiser and safety enchancer. The companies are probably run by excops.
I had to do quite a few errands this morning, and actually saw almost no inconsiderate drivers. It was shocking...a 3 hour long suburban driving trip with no road rage.
"The same baloney that speeding is a victimless crime is wrong."
The vehicle very seldom "criminalizes" vehicle infractions. This includes stuff that you would think is actually criminal.
For example, parking lot dings could easily meet the grand theft $ criteria. Imagine opening a car door and leaving a ding and walking away coming back to felony hit and run and grand theft.
you put your turn signal on to telegraph your desire to make a lane change, and you see the vehicle in the lane you're about to enter actually speed up to make it impossible...
They could be ID's (inconsiderate drivers), but my experiences with a rental vehicle on vacation could offer another possibility.
We've been driving strictly manual transmission vehicles since 1979, but this summer we had the need for a larger vehicle for vacation and rented one. Automatic transmission, so my left foot was kinda lost
The biggest difference I noticed was how cruise control functions in an auto vs stick. In our cars, you set the cruise in 5th gear, and the car stays at that speed as the cruise adjusts the gas. If we come to a slight grade, more gas is applied. If the grade gets too steep, the cruise eventually kicks off.
With the auto, the cruise would downshift to a lower gear to maintain speed on a grade, and this always seemed to bring on a temporary increase in speed. Maybe that's not the best way to describe it. It seemed like the grade would start to slow the car down, then the downshift would give us a burst of acceleration. It was VERY annoying, and several times another vehicle was in the process of passing us as our speed dropped, and the cruise would downshift, making it appear that I was trying to not be passed. Which was NOT my intention at all!
For me that is why I usually give a person the benefit of the doubt. As a matter of fact I (should probably not admit this) usually give the benefit of the doubt the second time. It is only after the third time that I think in terms of mitigation, if the situation should warrant it. Most folks really could care less what someone else does as long as it does not directly effect/affect that driver.
So in the case of signalling and being passed, that is indeed one choice and from the person's point of view that whose lane you are trying to move into; a safer one. Dropping back to allow a lane change is another. The one I do not like is the one who will move up along side of you and go forever!!!!!
OK on my way to work there is this one stretch of road that is about a mile and a half long going through a forest preserve. This is a four lane divided road with no cross traffic at all and is perfectly straight. Its a 45 MPH speed limit with traffic usually doing about 5 over. Well the other morning traffic was tied up by this clown on a scooter doing about 35 MPH tying up traffic.
To make matters worse at the end of this stretch there is a light and this clown in the scooter drives between the stopped traffic and ties up all the traffic that got around him again. Geez where is a cop when you need one.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
When I lived in Spokane, Washington there was a stretch of road that was 35 mph. Then it went up to 45mph. Often people would try to pass when the speed limit went up to 45 mph and then get upset if I increased my speed 10 mph as they were coming around me. One guy even chased me once and threatened me (I outranked him but spared him) and that particular time I didn't even check my mirror to see if anyone was passing. Why should I have to check my mirrors to see if anyone is behind me when all I'm doing is increasing my speed in accordance with the law? It's like trying to pass someone and cut in front of them while accelerating from a stoplight and getting upset that they don't stop accelerating so you can get in front of them.
Depends on how far into the 45 you started accelerating. It may have looked to the other driver like you waited until he was passing to speed up. No matter your rank, you could have ended up in a world of hurt, no matter if you didn't intend to be a jerk. I always am mindful of surrounding traffic when speed limits undergo their random changes. I don't want anyone to think I am starting a fight.
When people accelerate when I pass, I just accelerate more (I can beat about 99% of vehicles), get a good distance ahead, and then resume my planned spead. Most jokers back off once they've been slaughtered by another car, as they know they'll be dusted again.
Once on I5 in the fintail, I had some inbred in a beat old Caravan accelerate as I went around him (why do some have to defend their manhood against ancient cars? they forget these old cars are usually driven by maniacs like myself...)...I soundly beat him, then got in front of him and drove a little on the shoulder, as the shoulder was wet and the road was dry. My rooster tail made him back off...he was over the horizon behind me in no time.
I once had some impotent in a Suburban play the same trick as I was driving in the fintail. He kept up a little more...but a fintail at 100 must be better than his whale, as he too gave up.
I accelerated when I reached the sign that said "45mph". The thing is, I'd gotten tired of people in this section doing this repeatedly. The road went into an uphill section right where the speed increased, so often I'd try to accelerate, they'd pass, squeeze in front of me, and then not be able to make the hill at speed. So I made a habit of not checking my mirrors because the responsibility is on the person passing to be able to complete the pass, and when they see the speed limit increasing then they should logically expect me to speed up. In this particular situation I nailed the accelerator because of the uphill and intentionally didn't look in the mirror...knowing my natural tendency to want to teach stupid drivers a lesson...so I accelerated as I thought necessary for the hill and speed independent of the idiot behind me. I nailed it and the dummy was just upset that his ugly truck couldn't take a 4-door Honda Civic 4-cylinder with a passenger on an uphill.
your responsibility as a good driver is to maintain the best situational awareness you possibly can. as part of your active scanning, you should be checking your mirrors on a regular basis, and even looking over your shoulders to see if you got someone hanging out in a blind spot (i see that all the time).
it's courteous to honor flash / pass when conditions are safe to do so. obviously, you wouldn't want to be an enabler for the pass if it was clearly dangerous up ahead (although - if someone is stupid to pull out - you can help make sure everyone involved gets another chance to say i love you to someone special, by pulling to the right and slowing), nor would you want to make the pass problematic just to teach someone a lesson. ...that may backfire and cause many people to die. dumb dumb dumb.
if you are in a chase with someone (in atlanta - i see people goated into doing this !@#$%^&* all the time), it's gone way way too far. you're now risking everyone's life on the road at that point. plainly stupid in my book. ive seen some chases and thought for sure beyond the turn or up over the hill, i was going to see flipped cars. thankfully - not yet.
Regardless of whether I checked the mirrors or not, I sped up because the speed limit increased and if he'd had the power to pass he would have done it. I still maintained my usual 50mph on that uphill once he tried to pass and he couldn't pull it off, and he was upset with me. I suppose he expects everyone to slow down so he can get in front of them and block. Once I was at speed I noticed a guy running parallel to me on a 2-lane road, yet he didn't pull ahead. He was just a redneck Airman who must have had his manhood wrapped up in his pickup.
Comments
Towing explosives and nukes a speciality.
james
I find it so funny that he has to state teens are higher risk takers. DUH! Where has he been hiding? We know that! Whatever happened to common sense? People as so hung up on 'my rights' and 'their rights' that they don't use common sense to protect the masses. Why would you give a deadly weapon (ie...car) to a kid who isn't even accountable under the law as an adult?
but my point about the SUV was made because of the higher rollover potential and a child's poor understanding of vehicle physics and rapid changes to control inputs. SUVs can be dangerous for adults in this respect as well.
james, (happy to be in last place)
I'm not sure if anyone is arguing. I think we're all moving towards a common agreement. It's really sad for me because now I'll have to pick fights with my mother for some action. Can't we all disagree on something???
Teens scare me when they're in cars. When I used to ride my bicycle around Omaha, Nebraska, the frequency of harrassment increased when school was out.
I think it is undeniable that folks can be killed in SUV's and by suvs. but even more so by small cars!!!!! I think a lot of folks are missing the point that structurally both % percentage and volume and RATE wise,most folks get killed in and by small cars!!
This ideal that SUV's only cause accidents with small cars and kill only the small car folks is NOT, I repeat not backed up by the NHTSA statistics. It is also not backed up by the IIHS data. Are the suv more prone to rollover accidents? Absolutely. But it is more of self danger than danger to other participants in the collisions. Small cars are more of a danger to themselves AND to other participants. This again is in % volume and more importantly RATE.
The running order : I'm in the right lane, following an F350 that's behind a semi. There's a semi behind me in the right lane, and another in the left lane off my rear quarter. We're all travelling about 60mph. The exit lane appears to my right, and after a couple of hundred feet, the F350 puts on his signal and starts to move into the exit lane. Suddenly, I see a stopped delivery type pickup in the exit lane appear out of the mist the semi is throwing up. No 4 ways, no lights, just sitting there right in the middle of the lane with PLENTY of shoulder to pull off the road available. The F350 swerves back into the right travel lane JUST missing the MAJOR accident that could have happened. Less than 6" of space between the vehicles is my estimate. Had he hit the parked truck i think he would have definitely been thrown back into the right travel lane at least, and there was no place for anyone to swerve or slow down to.
I did NOT notice if anyone was sitting in the stopped truck or walking down the side of the exit. I'd LOVE to hear the excuse why you left a vehicle sitting in a lane where vehicles routinely are travelling 55+!! :mad:
I've also noted that truckers are not inclined to slow down for rain... higher speeds > more road spray.
james
Be WARE.
What I hate is on state roads with huge 15-foot shoulders and 55-60 mph limits, you have people making right turns and they are too afraid to get a little ding on their precious vehicles, so they slow down to about 20 mph turning speed on the road instead of using the gigantic shoulder. And then they say cyclists block the road! I have to ride my bicycle in that crap...the least they can do is get their gigantic rump off the road onto a shoulder built for them so the rest of the sane public doesn't have to slow to a stop for them to make their turn. So rude...that always deserves a honk.
Tried to slip in a little cyclist propoganda...
I think that is a big flaw with CC, that you can't just let up the throttle to let the tires regain traction.
OT, it would have been very inconsiderate of me to start doing donuts in the middle of a wet highway!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Recommend tying in the headlight switch to the wiper switch.
Recommend a beginner driver learn on a four speed stick including starting uphill without rolling back using the parking brake in conjunction with the clutch and gas pedal while pulling out into traffic from the curb!
On all questions, the answer is unequivocally "YES!"
I use the terms "unwieldy" and "cumbersome" based on the reference point of a modern day mid-size car. Many folks today would argue that modern full-size SUVs or any SUV fits this bill, but again, point of reference! For a child just learning, there is no point of reference. This individual's point of reference is the van - which, BTW, is probably far more prone to rollover, etc., than any modern vehicle, period. Even modern full-size vans catch a lot of flak for this tendency. Heck, the university here recently retired all of their full size vans for this reason and replaced them with.... of all things..... Ford Excursions (the biggest SUV out there... I think....)!
I learned to drive using this very vehicle (the Econoline)... well, passenger vehicles anyway. I had driven tractors, etc., for years. I started driving it at 13 with my dad on crummy dirt roads with no traffic. I drove that and a '79 F150 manual tranny with him. It was not until I turned 15 and received my learner's permit that I started driving sedans, etc., on public roads.
But, as far as confidence, it gave me far more. I remember feeling timid when driving the pickup the first couple times, then the first time parallel parking! Now though, I can parallel park my Subaru with less than 12 inches on each end and I don't think twice about it. Confidence is learned young. I still cannot convince my wife that she knows how to drive our '69 Chevy C20 (manual tranny), even though I taught her how to drive it 6 years ago and she has more than 4000 miles behind the wheel.
It's a mindset and an opportunity that requires the parent to be both competent and confident, and to love/respect the child enough to be confident in the child's ability even when the child is not. But..... I'm still 11-12 years off teaching my son to drive, so who knows, maybe I will have given up on my van and truck by then and surrender him to the ignorant bliss.
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I agree with you about the Jeep (or any vehicle) comment.... I have seen no teenagers who respect their vehicles or their own limitations when they are given a car (regardless of what it is). I had a my van "given" to me at 18, but had already spent 5 years rebuilding the thing from the ground up before that day, so it meant more to me than even having gone out and purchased one with my own hard-earned money. Without the investment/responsibility, it just seems to be too much "independence" too soon, regardless of the make/model of the automobile.
2-lane? I wasn't aware that our rural roads had lanes... :P
Seriously, though. Everything in life involves risks, and I certainly would not allow my children to drive it unless I felt it was mechanically sound and the area was appropriate to allow them to practice driving without significant risk to themselves or other drivers.
Recent model pickups are not clunky. The last time I was behind the wheel of one ('97 F350 crew long bed), I wondered why people were looking at me with horror when I was backing it into a parking spot in a crammed parking lot... apparently they felt it was "clunky." But, one try, centered, and 6" off the bumper of the vehicle behind me (right where I wanted to be), I could only shake my head at those poor fools that have a heard time parking their compact p/us. Again, it all depends on your point of reference.
I imagine the newest models are even more car-like than those of 8 years ago.
Be WARE.
As sad as it sounds, that just won't happen. While it is unsafe to use cruise control in the rain, that is not why. See, the cruise control's job is to keep you going at the same speed. If you hit a patch of water and hydroplane, your tires are getting no traction and spinning very fast. In a situation like this, the cruise control is going to think you have suddenly took off and cut the throttle, not nail it. Then, when you regain contact with the pavement, it will look like you suddenly returned to the speed you were going, so the cruise control will moderately increase the throttle to hold your speed.
It is a shame that parallel parking is not required for driver exams. A failed parallel parking attempt with 24" off each end of the vehicle should be an automatic failure for the test as it demonstrates that the driver does not have a solid understanding of the vehicle.
Yesroh now has another bit of ammo.... :mad:
PF, how do you manage to come across so many near-death situations? :surprise:
I see disabled vehicles abandoned in lanes quite often and it always puzzles me.... why would anyone leave a vehicle there?!!! The liability alone would prompt me to push it to a curb.
I was cringing the other day. This guy was backing out of his spot, stopped a good 8 feet from the cars behind him. Pulled forward towards me, stopping just inches from my bumper, backed up a little bit and went by just barely clearing my bumper.
In an incident like that, the person on the cellphone should be guilty of reckless driving! :mad:
Or...maybe not.
Honestly... I think I have a poltergeist! I TRY to mind my own business, but these things DO seem to seek me out. Could also be that I have 221,000 on the car and that's a lot of "exposure" :surprise:
My date and I were surprised by a policeman last night. I played it cool and we came out okay. I guess it's not good to make out in a public school parking lot.
After all there are red light cameras out there that need monitoring as they raise millions in funds for the companies that peddle them to cities as a fund raiser and safety enchancer. The companies are probably run by excops.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The same baloney that speeding is a victimless crime is wrong.
The vehicle very seldom "criminalizes" vehicle infractions. This includes stuff that you would think is actually criminal.
For example, parking lot dings could easily meet the grand theft $ criteria. Imagine opening a car door and leaving a ding and walking away coming back to felony hit and run and grand theft.
Time to let the dead horse lie there instead of beating on it.
We've been driving strictly manual transmission vehicles since 1979, but this summer we had the need for a larger vehicle for vacation and rented one. Automatic transmission, so my left foot was kinda lost
The biggest difference I noticed was how cruise control functions in an auto vs stick. In our cars, you set the cruise in 5th gear, and the car stays at that speed as the cruise adjusts the gas. If we come to a slight grade, more gas is applied. If the grade gets too steep, the cruise eventually kicks off.
With the auto, the cruise would downshift to a lower gear to maintain speed on a grade, and this always seemed to bring on a temporary increase in speed. Maybe that's not the best way to describe it. It seemed like the grade would start to slow the car down, then the downshift would give us a burst of acceleration. It was VERY annoying, and several times another vehicle was in the process of passing us as our speed dropped, and the cruise would downshift, making it appear that I was trying to not be passed.
So in the case of signalling and being passed, that is indeed one choice and from the person's point of view that whose lane you are trying to move into; a safer one. Dropping back to allow a lane change is another. The one I do not like is the one who will move up along side of you and go forever!!!!!
To make matters worse at the end of this stretch there is a light and this clown in the scooter drives between the stopped traffic and ties up all the traffic that got around him again. Geez where is a cop when you need one.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
>Geez where is a cop when you need
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
It's like trying to pass someone and cut in front of them while accelerating from a stoplight and getting upset that they don't stop accelerating so you can get in front of them.
When people accelerate when I pass, I just accelerate more (I can beat about 99% of vehicles), get a good distance ahead, and then resume my planned spead. Most jokers back off once they've been slaughtered by another car, as they know they'll be dusted again.
Once on I5 in the fintail, I had some inbred in a beat old Caravan accelerate as I went around him (why do some have to defend their manhood against ancient cars? they forget these old cars are usually driven by maniacs like myself...)...I soundly beat him, then got in front of him and drove a little on the shoulder, as the shoulder was wet and the road was dry. My rooster tail made him back off...he was over the horizon behind me in no time.
I once had some impotent in a Suburban play the same trick as I was driving in the fintail. He kept up a little more...but a fintail at 100 must be better than his whale, as he too gave up.
it's courteous to honor flash / pass when conditions are safe to do so. obviously, you wouldn't want to be an enabler for the pass if it was clearly dangerous up ahead (although - if someone is stupid to pull out - you can help make sure everyone involved gets another chance to say i love you to someone special, by pulling to the right and slowing), nor would you want to make the pass problematic just to teach someone a lesson. ...that may backfire and cause many people to die. dumb dumb dumb.
if you are in a chase with someone (in atlanta - i see people goated into doing this !@#$%^&* all the time), it's gone way way too far. you're now risking everyone's life on the road at that point. plainly stupid in my book. ive seen some chases and thought for sure beyond the turn or up over the hill, i was going to see flipped cars. thankfully - not yet.