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Driving, a classic or whatever.

Started by Cadman-iac, January 12, 2020, 01:15:10 PM

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Cadman-iac

#40
As an example of driving experience,  I refer you to these pictures of what happened when I was hauling a load of scrap to the scrap yard last week. I had two tires blow out, one was at 75 mph, and the other at 60 mph. Each time was on the interstate with heavy traffic. And I wasn't the only one that was having tire issues. 
But because of my experience, (and I'm not trying to brag here), I was able to keep the truck and trailer from wrecking. I was driving my 88 3/4 ton Suburban with a 3/4 ton truck bed trailer. I've only got the heavy duty brakes, no antilock, and because of the weight of the trailer,  brakes were not required on it by the DMV.
  I've had many tires blow out over the years,  so instinctively I knew exactly what to do. 
The problem with this technology isn't with whether or not it works, but with what happens when it doesn't,  and the people who have never been in a vehicle that you actually have to drive have absolutely no clue what to do when that happens.
I recall when the antilock brakes first came out, the reports were that the police departments didn't like them because they were having too many accidents. The cops were used to braking with a normal system, by feathering the pedal and feeling the reaction of the car. Feathering an antilock system will only cause a problem,  as it was designed for panic stops. A lot of people will just cram on the brakes and hope for the best,  and it's these people the system was designed for.
Personally I hate the system.  My other Suburban, a '90 1/2 ton, has the RWAL, or rear wheel antilock system. My wife's Buick also has it. The only good thing about the systems in both of mine are that they revert back to a standard brake system in the likelyhood of a failure in the electrical parts of the system. Kinda like a limp mode, like GM did with the early ECM's.

Now if Cadillac and the other manufacturers would make it possible to bypass or turn off some of these systems, so someone could drive the vehicle and actually experience what it's like if one of them does fail, that would be a step in the right direction.
I forget what movie it was I watched years ago,  but it was about a society that had such advanced technology that no one could recall when it didn't work,  so when it did fail, they had nobody that could repair it.
The way things are going, I can see that happening one day. Just how advanced do vehicles have to be?
Like someone said earlier,  you can't fix stupid! Instead of making these vehicles so complex,  and so expensive that the average person couldn't afford them, why not invest in some good old fashioned drivers training. Because it's obvious that even with all this fancy technology, it's still possible for an idiot to screw it up and injure or kill someone.
CLC# 32373
1956 Coupe Deville A/C car "Norma Jean"

cadillacmike68

Regards,
"Cadillac" Mike

Bobby B

Quote from: cadillacmike68 on February 23, 2020, 10:17:10 PM
It can also kill you.

Mike,
As a Society, it IS Killing us... Period.
                                 Bobby
1947 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Coupe
1968 Mustang Convertible
1973 Mustang Convertible
1969 Jaguar E-Type Roadster
1971 Datsun 240Z
1979 H-D FLH

cadillac ken

Reminds me of what my Uncle (a stock car, and sprint car driver) used to tell me:  Brakes don't stop cars, people do.

Jay Friedman

I've always felt that it sounded hollow when older people would say that "things were better" in regard to whatever the subject of the conversation was.  And being now older (almost 80) I try to refrain from doing so myself.  However, I do think it is true of driving skills. 

I remember most of my fellow teenagers I knew in the '50s where I grew up were proud of their driving skills.  We tended to use the turn signals, to dim the headlights when an oncoming car approached at night, to not turn left when on oncoming car in the left lane was too near, etc., and criticized a friend who failed to do so.  IMHO There seems to be less respect for these elementary rules of the road today.  I can only speculate as to the reason: perhaps less driver's education in schools; maybe less stringent driving license tests and less enforcement by the police; the absence of a similar "car culture" among young people.  I don't really know.

Comments?
1949 Cadillac 6107 Club Coupe
1932 Ford V8 Phaeton (restored, not a rod).  Sold
Decatur, Georgia
CLC # 3210, since 1984
"If it won't work, get a bigger hammer."

Lexi

Jay's comments reflect what has happened. Today we live in what my father called the "Me" society. Everybody has rights but no responsibilities. Back in the day it was more of a privilege than a right to obtain a drivers licence. So from a regulatory & enforcement perspective, things were more stringent years ago. I suspect there are also far more cars on the road, hence more drivers. Statistically speaking we are therefore bound to run across more problems driving. But there has indeed been a change in car culture. About a month or so ago my daily driver was written off by an idiot who decided to make an illegal left turn. Air bags saved the day, but not the car. Back at the police station this dummy insisted he had the right of way as another driver had (foolishly) stopped to allow him to make his illegal turn. That was his defence. Oddly enough he was shocked when told he was at fault. Wow. And what of the good Samaritan who accommodated this bad driver? They were so concerned about the carnage they created, that after this horrific accident-they just drove away! Both cars written off with the possibility of serious injuries or even death, but they just drove off. Not my idea of the way car culture should be. Clay/Lexi

Big Apple Caddy

Quote from: lexi on February 24, 2020, 11:00:00 AM
Jay's comments reflect what has happened. Today we live in what my father called the "Me" society. Everybody has rights but no responsibilities.

Older generations have been saying these things about modern societies (of the time) for ages.   No one wants to take responsibility, no one respects authority, everyone expects something for nothing, me, me, me, me, etc.  The "me generation" term dates back to at least the 1970s (referring to baby boomers) but has been a sentiment among older generations even longer than that.

One thing that is different today versus decades ago is 24 hour news, hundreds of channels, the internet, social media and cameras everywhere which more readily/easily exposures society's warts and can give misleading impressions certain things are worse, more prevalent or whatever when it's not necessarily so and the opposite may actually be true.

Lexi

That has not been my experience. 37 years in law enforcement tells me otherwise. There has definitely been a shift over the years. Seen it on the streets and in the minds of offenders and how the "looney left" prefers to deal with them. To take the discussion further would lead us astray of the Forum's rules of no political discussions. Clay