#41902, "RE: crash test 59 chevy bel air vs. a 09 chevy malibu" In response to In response to 10
Originally posted by Keith2172 I don't agree with those suggesting that added safety features of new cars are inherently dangerous, that just doesn't make sense. It's not the cars dumbing down society, it's our society not taking pride in itself and doing better that is dumbing down society.
You're partially right, but I will stand by my statement that driving a car with a hint of fear makes you a supremely better driver. I really feel that it's a combination of 2 things that's causing the rise of idiots on the road, the hyper safety of the vehicles and the lackluster licensing requirements that are in place.
Take and compare our safety and licensing requirements to countries like Japan and Germany. First, those countries have fewer vehicle safety equipment regulations, fewer onroad laws, and considerably less traffic regulation enforcement. Second, their licensing requirements are much more expensive and difficult to pass. Germany's license test requires a YEAR of logged hours with a licensed instructor which will cost between $1000-2000 US just to be able to take the test, and the actual test costs another ~$1000. Somewhere around 50% of test takers don't even pass the 1st time! Japan is similar. America's license tests look like a retard wrote them compared to other countries testing
What does this result in? Even though German and Japanese market cars aren't as safe as American market cars, they have considerably less accidents per capita of drivers. IIRC Japan has something like 30% less accidents and Germany is closer to 60% less.
Another issue I have with all the safety crap is the weight that it adds to the cars. Weight results in reduced fuel economy and higher emissions (even though I believe that global warming is a load of crap) If cars weren't getting bigger and heavier it would be easier to reach all the lofty goals that everyone's demanding for fuel economy. To give an example I'll use a turbo Subaru. An 08 WRX gets the same gas mileage as an 04 (around 25mpg highway average) even though the engine design is updated and could get even better fuel mileage IF the car wasn't heavier than the 04. Take thatsame engine and drop it in an 01 which weighs several hundred pounds less and you can jump up to 28 mpg average easy. Now lets get crazy and throw that engine in an 1800lb Porsche 914, you'll get OVER 30mpg while cruising on the highway and still have 230 turbo charged ponies under your butt.
overweight cars suck
Erik P. Official 2GNT thread Hijacker Some say that he's driven over more Covenant than he's shot, and that his grenades aren't where you'd expect them to be... All we know is, He's not The Stig... But he is The Stig's Spartan cousin!
