Amen. As I pointed out somewhere above, the FAA is attributing loss of commercial pilot skills to over reliance on autopilot. And these people are orders of magnitude better trained than the average driver.

I've actually had the failed PS/PB discussion with folks in the past. One person was adamant that hydroboost was bad because it failed while his wife was driving and "the steering and brakes locked up."

I pointed out that wasn't possible and that the car stopped and steered when the engine wasn't running.

While I don't want to turn this into a helmet/seatbelt law discussion, I will say that while I agree with you in principle about personal choice, that only works with personal responsibility. If my car insurance goes up because some other driver decides not to use a helmet or belts, why should I be paying for that person's stupidity?

Of course, I also believe in evolution...

 

You have a point about paying for insurance, but has the cost actually been reduced by the multiple safety devices forced upon cars?
Or mandatory seatbelt laws?
Will all the automotive autonomy reduce insurance cost?
I really don't know, nor know how one could tell if it does keep insurance cost low. Maybe if the self-driving vehicle has lower rates then a real car.

Oh, you also didn't want to go there. Sorry, I just enjoy intellectual conversation occasionally. I go days, sometimes weeks only talking with my wife. Not that she can't hold her own in conversation.

 

One of the few certainties in life is that insurance companies WILL screw you, every chance they get.

 

With all the airbag recalls, one must suspect the future safety of the safety device.

 

Here's a comment not on the autonomous cars, but lack of places to drive. Here in Oregon there's been a push for what they're calling a "lane diet". Cities that once had two lanes going each way through the middle of town now have one lane each way plus a large bike lane. Even the town with a bike path 1/4 mile away running parallel to the streets is in the process of making this change. Then the larger cities like Portland just don't have many parking spots downtown forcing people to use public transit or walk. A coworker recently spent a few weeks working out of the Portland office and quickly discovered it was easier to walk the 10 blocks from the Motel to the office than try to find parking. I think most people, even those who are not into old cars enjoy the freedom of being able to climb into their car and go wherever they want at a moments notice. But I think there is pressure for that to change. I just hope it doesn't happen in my lifetime. Public transit is OK, but its hard to carry three bags of groceries on a city bus!

 

but its hard to carry three bags of groceries on a city bus![/QUOTE]


Or three fenders!

 

I can not have any driver assistance beyond cruise control. Even cruise is to much for me at times. I will fall asleep at the wheel if you take much out of my control. It would have to be full self drive or I would crash.

 

X2 here, I also need to have control or I'd likely fall asleep as well. I doubt I would have the patience with driving single file, never going over the speed limit, allowing it to park itself. I don't know if ther would be enough time in the day for all that.
Plus I wouldn't want to see a olds 98 or even a 76 olds like mine coming quick in my rear view and couldn't get out of the way.
That would be scary!!!

 

Hmmm Where to start. I have owned 3 watches in my life time.Two broke all were Timex. I am 60 The third watch has no band. I put it in a drawer and haven't any use for it. I wore these watches for a total of ten years. My cell phone never had a camera or text message till 5 yrs ago. I never had a lap top till about four years ago. I only bought one new car that was in 1986.Best jap car i ever owned. It was a I mark had it four years. The newest car i own is a 2006 with over 200,000 miles. Yep i am into high tech and need a car to get me where i need to go because i will not buy a new car!LOL I doubt here in Kansas these Auto computer cars will work. Hell the roads are crap here. I am to old to get a warm fuzzy on these magazine bs. I don't even buy magazines let alone read them. I don't buy new papers anymore been over ten years closer to fifteen since i subscribed.All i want is my M TV and money for nothing and chicks for free.

 

 

Every thought about writing a book ? Seriously you have some serious knowledge that could be shared to this upcoming generation. You know the high schoolers now with no social skills or interests. The ones staring down at the phones texting the person sitting next to them. I'm afraid for my cars when I'm gone. Someone needs to peak interest and old school our kids. Maybe it's just me but every time I read a thread fact or opinion based if I'm scratching my head just keep reading and it usually makes sense after Joe chimes in. Thx for that. Some how these kids today have no or not much interest in the muscle era. If everyone one of us could get our own kids involved were still a dying breed. If we all had 3 kids on average only one of those kids would have a interest. At that pace might as well have driverless cars, just glad I won't be around to see it. I'm more worried about the hobby and my own personal collection when I'm gone. One big war and my Cutlass will be scraped to build the next driverless tank.

 

I'd like to mention something in passing. Actor Anton Yelchin died last week because (suspected) the Jeep he drove has a new fangled shifter that may or may not actually put the car in park when you think you've put it in park. This has been a known problem for a couple of years now ... and Fiat is no closer to solving the trouble ... despite several possible options. There's now a class action suite in the offing to try and force them to wake up and do something. BUT!!!! People are still buying the stupid thing!!!!

Last night I saw a commercial for one of these new SUV brain sucker vehicles. Mom is distracted by the kids in back, glances away ... then the car stops (in the middle of the road). On the dashboard is a big warning that the collision avoidance system is active ... Mom looks ahead and there's nothing in front of her. Then a man rushes in from the side of the frame to pick up the little girl that she can't see because of the height of her idiot vehicle. Another life saved by their new pedestrian protection system. What I see? Idiots! One idiot letting his child run into the street. One idiot driving distracted. Idiot children distracting the driver. Idiot child running into the street .... and none of them learn anything from the event. Stupid is allowed to prevail on all fronts. Stupid is what's fueling this whole movement. The only reason anyone would thing self driving cars are a sane option is because we've allowed stupidity to become OK.

 

THANK YOU!

Stupid parents letting their kid climb into a gorilla cage. Stupid parents letting their kid go in the water where it says "no swimming" (What? There are alligators in Florida? Who knew? ) Unfortunately, this isn't confined to the US (Google searches of "what is the EU?" AFTER voting to leave???).

I'm a big believer in evolution. Unfortunately, there are too many lawyers in the world.

 

LOL Boom !Spot on. This mouse trap will not become standard. If they sell them a few will buy them. Then it will be a flop.

 

I knew the fix was in when I had to rent a car to get to Woodward a few years back. My car had blown a brake line and there was no chance I'd have it ready ... but I wasn't going to miss the chance to kill some brain cells sitting on at the side of the road sucking exhaust fumes for the weekend. Used up some Airmiles at Budget. Reserved a small to mid-sized. Yeah ... I get there and they've no small cars left ... so they upgrade me to a Genesis. Um ... I'm driving to freaking Detroit. I wanted the small car so save on gas. Well, too bad for me. I take the stupid thing and head out. About an hour down the road, I have to pull off and reach for the user's manual just to figure out what all 6 of the buttons for the sun roof do. 6 buttons for a farking sun roof. I never did find out what the buttons on the back side of the steering wheel were for ... and I think the GPS had an emotional breakdown. I'm sitting on Woodward blvd, heading to the top of Woodward blvd .. and at every intersection it's telling me to turn off Woodward blvd and take the highway to get to Woodward blvd. I'm already on the damn street.

They've turned cars from methods of transport into toys, and adults into children. I remember travelling from Mtl to Maine and PEI in the back seat of a 66 Malibu. No DVD players ... no individual radio outputs ... hell, no AC. Somehow we survived and enjoyed the trip. Today's grown up children can't managed to get to the corner store to buy milk without checking the messages 19 times. When they started putting anything in the car that didn't involve driving, the problem can be understood to have started there. MP3 input on the radio? Distraction. BlueTooth? Distraction. Buttons on the steering wheel? Distraction.

If the gov't wants to make legislation to make driving safer .. forget collision avoidance systems ... put a nice little cellular jammer in every car. That's the single most effective thing I can think of to prevent accidents. Take the toys away and make people PAY ATTENTION to the fact that they're aiming several thousand pounds of steel, aluminium and plastic about. But then .. telling the average voter that they're stupid doesn't get you votes, does it? Letting them play with their toys does.

 

And, outlaw touchscreen vehicle controls. A touchscreen is quite possibly the most idiotic and unsafe interface ever put in a motor vehicle. No tactile feedback and you must take your eyes off the road to use it.

Years ago it was illegal to have a portable television in view of the driver for safety reasons.

Now cars come equipped with a screen that not only do you HAVE to look at to operate vehicle controls, but you must focus on touching certain parts of it. An astoundingly stupid idea.

 

Thank you, sir, for concisely pointing out the stupidity of touch screens in a car.

 

Hell, I'm over 70 I will never see this but beware my kids they are stuck with a government that is hell bent so save us from ourselves and getting worse everyday. Won't be long before you will need a degree in computer science to make toast.

 

x3...

 

Shifting gears, I saw the 1971 Purple Hemi Cuda in the magazine at a local cruise in last week.

4 speed Hemi with a Shaker, Billboards, and all the bells and whistles.

Car is at least $300k.

He also brought a fully restored 1970 Challenger R/T 440 Six Pack, 4 speed Shaker car. Red with a black top and interior. 100% restored as well.

 

I've got 2 comp sci degrees and a bunch of certifications .. woohoo I should be able to get a 4-slice toaster.

 

Ding ding we have multiple winners.

 

Simple solution thin the heard. Too many people = too many stupid people. If you don't think this gov is capable you will be part of the heard. Back pack bomb here, Little flu epidemic there, crash a few planes wipe out a few million and blame it on some middle eastern dude, call it terrorism. Oh wait that's already happening. My bad

 

Hmmm I recall a video called LOOSE CHANGE back in the day. Makes you wonder !!

 

Man you guys are so right about people not paying attention, cell phones, todays drivers. I personally think our wonderful government SHOULD get involved more in this. Make it manditory that all cellular providers flip a switch to turn off texting abilities at certain times morning and afternoon so its impossible to even type a message to send later. Messaging is OFF at peak driving hours everywhere. I think this would help alot although i agree from another post that their should be a jammer built in to all new cars for the same purpose.
People dont seem to know how to drive any more! Where i live i have seen 4 people all run the same red light, IN SINGLE FILE! The same light that i easily stopped for before the first one ran it. Does anyone know what STOP signs mean anymore? This city would make so much money in traffic tickets if they would have patrol just to watch for this. Is it just lazy people? Is it bad driving instructors? All the above? People dont even know how to enter a highway anymore. They just come in to 70-75 mph traffic at 45 mph not looking if they have clearance or not, they just keep coming, like its up to who is already on the highway to yield for them. Of course its courteous to move over if theres room to do so, but as we know, theres not always room to change lanes for them. They dont even seem to have a clue what their doing or what problems they might cause. There are alot of bad drivers, probably why we read about so much road rage.

 

LOL i see you are from Texas. Dallas has a passing lane in the ditch.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/.../?intcmp=hpbt3

 

Mouse trap failure.

 

Wow, didn't distinguish a white tractor-trailer from a brightly lit sky . And there was the Google car that ran into a city bus. Those are both very large objects.

 

And so it begins.

Didn't any of these autonomous car supporters watch Terminator?

 

Has anyone seen the report of a Tesla fatality while using the auto pilot?
Wayne

 

Didn't you read Post #67 above?

Latest unconfirmed reports are that an operating DVD player was found in the car immediately after the crash. The (yet unproven) implication is that the driver was watching the video and not the road at the time of the crash. If so, this is another example of evolution in action. The other fallout is that the NHTSA is now pushing for "black box" style data recorders in cars.

 

http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/parki...m_medium=email

A new take on it.

 

Oh yeah, I'm gonna hold my breath for that one...