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Solar Coaster posted:This. I commute to work at 6:20am and it's still fairly dark out. My commute (lucky me) is only 7.5mi long. Forget driving around with DRLs on, I see at least 2 or 3 cars a day driving around without any lights on. Most of these cars are silver or some kind of dark color so it makes it extra hard to see them in time on the road. It never ceases to amaze me that people think this is OK and continue to drive like that. One night I was driving home through the hills near Napa, and I came across a black foxbody mustang with no lights on at all. This is a rural area, so there are no street lights either, and it was probably around 10PM. The only way I knew he was there was because the person behind him would get close enough to him that he would fall into their headlights, then that person would back off. I don't get how a person can drive on a country road in the dark of night in a black car with no lights at all.
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Sep 6, 2013 19:24
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atomicthumbs posted:MARIN Ah, it all makes sense now.
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Sep 12, 2013 02:59
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That out by Stafford Lake? Looks kind of like out between the coast and Occidental, but that's Sonoma county.
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Sep 14, 2013 06:57
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Previa_fun posted:Next time you're out driving take a moment to notice how many people are driving around with their center brake lights out. How often do you check all your brake lights? How often does anyone who's not a "car person"? I know that not all mine work all the time, too. Sometimes the bulb holder thing falls out, and I have 3 instead of 4 tail lights. The problem is when two of the three are burned out, and you get just one side lighting up, and you're to interpret that as "STOP!"
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Oct 6, 2013 03:38
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11BulletCatcher posted:I have a grand total of 1 taillight. Out of 6. If some jackass hadn't stolen my trunk key I could get back there and fix the electrical mess. I'll have to wait till next month to get a new key made. Are the center ones not reverse lamps like mine are? (center of each cluster of three, I mean)
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Oct 6, 2013 05:38
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11BulletCatcher posted:They are. And they don't work either. Wiring is 50 years old after all. My reverse lights work, but not usually when it's actually in reverse. It had a powerglide originally, but the PO put in a TH350. The detents are on the transmission end, but the reverse switch is on the car end of the linkage, so when the car is actually in reverse and when the pointer thinks it's in reverse are different. Other than that, all the wiring works except the "BRAKE" indicator in the dash (for the parking brake) is intermittent, and the resistor pack is burned out for the blower motor. Mine's only 2 years newer than yours, too, and my truck is older and doesn't have any wiring problems except for where the PO brutalized it for the trailer plug. So don't blame the age!
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Oct 6, 2013 22:35
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razorscooter posted:Is it a normal thing for some people to ride a bike down the side of the freeway like the guy I saw on my way to class this morning? Only in areas where there are no surface streets, so you pretty much have to take the freeway in order to not go a bunch of miles out of your way to get where you're going.
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Oct 12, 2013 04:53
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Snowdens Secret posted:Driving five under up to a yellow and then brazenly running the red anyway is so common up here I wonder if driver's ed teaches it as correct. I was taught "don't speed to try to get through the light," which really just means only break one law at a time; but I think some people took it to mean that it's OK if you don't make it through, as long as you don't increase your speed at all. Or something. One other thing I've been wondering about : How much of a difference does it make that some speedos are farther off from reality than others? Perhaps the people going five under just have a more optimistic gauge. I happen to know approximately how far off mine is (about 10%), so I compensate, but perhaps others don't.
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Oct 12, 2013 06:06
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ExecuDork posted:I don't know how much of a difference it makes to population-level driving habits, but I assume pretty much nobody else knows how far off their speedo is. I had mine calibrated by the RCMP ("Do you know how fast you were going?" "Uh... no. Too fast, I guess. Why don't you tell me?" *realizes GPS that said 131 km/h is entirely accurate, in-car speedo indicating something over 140 km/h is not*), but I already strongly suspected a correction factor of 10%. I am assuming those "YOUR SPEED: __ MPH" radar signs they set up along the road periodically are somewhat accurate, as they tell me my speedo is about 10% high. So I'd expect joe sixpack to know about how far off his is based on these, even if he doesn't have a phone or a standalone GPS that can tell him.
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Oct 21, 2013 08:58
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KozmoNaut posted:I think the ones that read 10% over a outliers. I'd hope so, most manufacturers these days should be able to do better than this: 
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Oct 22, 2013 22:00
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In an attempt to re-rail the thread, here's someone else I found parked in the middle of a lane: I was approaching the parking lot directly in front of him, and had to use the oncoming lane (such that there are lanes in a parking lot) to get around him.
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Nov 22, 2013 04:04
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PainterofCrap posted:They will occasionally back off & let me pump my own when I fill the '66 Pontiac. Don't know about you, but I sure enjoy watching them try to locate the filler neck.
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Nov 23, 2013 22:07
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Dead Cow posted:I failed my test (California) the first time for "coming out of a complete stop in 2nd gear". Isn't that default programming on a bunch of Chrysler autos? Plus in my old pickup you never start in granny first anyway. They seriously fail you for that? 
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Dec 12, 2013 02:22
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It's not snowing here. It's not dark yet. It's not even wet out. But somehow...  
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Dec 17, 2013 01:02
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Kill-9 posted:I share a parking lot with inconsiderate jack-hole co-workers. I came out to my T-Bird Monday evening to find this in the passenger door. Ugh. If that was a less cool car my reaction would be "wow, man, that sucks bad." but that's The Thunderbird. poo poo. Also, I agree with the other poster who mentioned that it didn't look like a car did the damage. It's too irregular. All the other parking lot scrapes I've seen have been very clean, I don't know how you'd get that much wiggling from someone grazing it with a bumper or something.
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Jan 22, 2014 23:28
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Snowdens Secret posted:Also even in Euro studies they find that the safety benefits you expect implementing mandatory DRLs fade away over time as people become accustomed to them. Which is true of practically any safety aid meant to cover up lack of driver caring. I could also see the problem if DRLs become mandatory - people will get used to seeing a car with headlights as being a moving car, so any dark car your brain will tell you is parked. But if it's a car made before the DRL requirement, you could fail to notice it as rapidly as if everyone had their lights off during the day. Maybe. 
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Jan 23, 2014 05:41
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But is it more forgiving than a bumper to the knee? I can understand running in the road when nobody is around, but at rush hour?
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Jan 25, 2014 06:40
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xzzy posted:supposedly badass Jeep What? No, that's a Liberty.
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Feb 1, 2014 22:56
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Snowdens Secret posted:I'm not condoning this idea but people routinely repurpose accessory belt-driven A/C compressors as air compressors, so if you're willing to give up your A/C you've got a ready option. Finding a place to put the tank on a car is reasonably easy. I think that only works with those old York compressors that didn't mix lubricant into the refrigerant; if you used a conventional A/C compressor you'd have to find a good way to keep it lubricated.
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Feb 6, 2014 03:33
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PT6A posted:Why is the brake pedal on an auto different from on a manual? Why isn't there just nothing (or perhaps a dead pedal) where the clutch would go? It's not like you need the brake pedal to be twice as wide, and indeed it only motivates poor driving habits in 95% of cases. So you can spool your turbo against the torque converter easier. 
Raluek fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Feb 23, 2014 |
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Feb 23, 2014 03:31
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posted:They teach you to do it when you learn to drive in the UK in case you're a cretin and have left the car in gear. I trust the engine to hold the car just as much as I trust the parking brake, and I sure do like having more than one thing keeping it from rolling downhill. Why not leave it in gear? Is this some can of worms I've never heard of?
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Feb 24, 2014 04:40
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Motronic posted:You probably shouldn't. A properly working parking brake is much better than most engines at holding a vehicle. The kind of old-rear end poo poo that was built in 1959, in my case. Plus first gear is 6.40:1. It creeps sometimes in second, but in first? poo poo no. Still, I don't like only having one thing keeping the thing from rolling, so I use both. Just in case one methods fails. I usually leave the weight on the parking brake, but either one will hold it fine. I guess I'm a cretin. 
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Feb 24, 2014 06:12
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The Midniter posted:Ever been behind one of those drivers whose speed fluctuates +/-10 mph for no good reason, so you go to pass them thinking they're on their phone or loving around with something or whatever, but...nope! They're looking straight ahead, hands at 10 and 2, focused intently on the road in front of them. It's almost worse that way. At least that would explain their senseless changes in speed. Breaking in a new motor, maybe? I was instructed to do this for the first 500 miles by the machine shop. I'm sure I was that guy everyone hated for awhile!
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Mar 21, 2014 09:20
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Geoj posted:OTOH I don't think Ford has ever seriously marketed the Mustang as anything other than a The Mustang is and always has been a pony car, not a muscle car or a sports car.
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Apr 28, 2014 20:03
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Krakkles posted:It's an urban legend. That means it is not true. But scared people who react without thinking about the consequences of their actions might not know that. Thus, you flash your lights at someone who's doing something stupid, and they react poorly. I guess that is the point? I've never heard that legend until now.
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May 22, 2014 00:08
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Krakkles posted:You've gone from that to "if I flash my lights at someone else they'll think I'm going to gang initiate myself and shoot them" or something. I haven't gone from anything to anything. I didn't post the wikipedia article, I'm just pointing out that people who have heard of the legend may react poorly to light flashing because they're scared people who react without thinking. Captain Bravo posted:The mindset of an octogenarian: Basically that.
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May 22, 2014 00:22
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GENDERWEIRD GREEDO posted:Patience I was going to say "awareness." Awareness of your surroundings, awareness of the results of your actions, and awareness of your own limits. Additionally, it helps to have the skills necessary to execute defensive driving once you've spotted a problem, but that won't come into play if you aren't aware.
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May 23, 2014 22:43
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Solar Coaster posted:(I'm looking at you OR and CA) I don't know about Oregon, but in California we have a similar law about holding up traffic.
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Jun 21, 2014 22:41
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Pham Nuwen posted:And I think I've seen at least 2 people pull over like that since moving here 3 years ago. Yeah. My point was that it's not because they're transplants, it's because there are bad drivers everywhere.
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Jun 22, 2014 01:34
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My truck has those convex mirrors stuck on, I don't use them much but they don't really get in the way because they're on oversized towing mirrors. I don't really get the hate, though.
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Jul 4, 2014 06:54
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InitialDave posted:I had someone insistently flashing their rear fog on and off at me yesterday, I think they were trying to have a strop about my foglights being on. Whoa, a person who actually knows what rear fogs are? poo poo, that's special. The only times I see rear fogs on is when they're lasering into my skull on a dark, clear night.
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Sep 16, 2014 22:44
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CharlesM posted:Maybe they're owned by the same person and they just want to give lots of space to other people. That's Cage's Mustang.
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Sep 18, 2014 02:00
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jamal posted:So maybe don't get so upset by having to slow down for a guy on a bike and instead worry about the person checking Facebook while piloting a 5000lb SUV through traffic. I'm worried about the cyclists because if they choose phone-assisted suicide by chevy, I might get blamed for the collision. Even if not, nobody likes having to deal with the un-fun prospect of hosing someone's brains (because of course they're not wearing helmets) out of their grille. Ask any train-related personnel.
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Sep 20, 2014 06:38
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Solkanar512 posted:The reason they get in front of you isn't because they think they can beat the light, but because they think you're going to accelerate like a snail and go way under the speed limit. So either they pass you when they can or they take the chance of someone else deciding to have a long chat of the phone and blocking you from passing. Is it really that unreasonable to coast towards a red light? If I'm a block or so away from a red it seems silly to charge towards it like everyone else, especially if I can see that the turn lanes haven't gone yet. But people are so impatient to get to that red light! Hurry up and wait!
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Sep 24, 2014 09:15
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Yeah, pretty different. Small town, traffic isn't packed, if I see a light ahead a few hundred feet that is red I will just idle along in fourth gear 'til I get there or the light turns green again. Usually I get to stopped traffic before it turns, yet people still like to blast around me just so they can threshold brake when they get to the stopped traffic ahead.
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Sep 26, 2014 04:18
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I'll defend myself here and say that I won't do that at an intersection where I'm not familiar with the light timing. Plus, once the light up ahead goes green (or if nobody's waiting there to trip the sensors) I'll drive at a normal speed. I hope you don't take offense to this?
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Sep 27, 2014 03:53
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some texas redneck posted:If it's a public university, you may be dealing with county or state police. If it's a public university, wouldn't that make the roads on it public roads? So wouldn't the usual rules about having to post speed limit signs also apply?
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Oct 4, 2014 08:41
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Sagebrush posted:If it was a BMW he could at least have the bimmer/beemer excuse but that is just weak. I wonder if you can get a dollie that has only one wheel, that either the front or the rear of the car sits on. So you jack up the car, set the dollie under it, and let it back down; now it only has three wheels touching the ground and is a motorcycle.
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Oct 15, 2014 02:14
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Ludicro posted:Why is there this idiotic notion that slow automatically equals safe? Because fast is scarrrryyyyy 
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Oct 23, 2014 20:34
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Bucephalus posted:That Taurus looks a bit Dodgy. At least it's painted a subdued silver, and not some gaudy Neon color.
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Oct 27, 2014 21:37
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