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Author Topic: If Cars Were Invented Last Week  (Read 7918 times)

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Offline trapeze

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If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« on: December 19, 2011, 12:33:49 AM »
Saw this in the NYPost. It's in response to the proposed phone/driving ban. Classic Frank J. of IMAO...

Quote
Imagine if cars hadn’t been around for a century, but instead were just invented today. Is there any way they’d be approved for individual use? It’s an era of bans on incandescent bulbs; if you suggested putting millions of internal-combustion engines out there, you’d get looks like you were Hitler proposing the Final Solution.

Even aside from pollution, the government wouldn’t allow the risks to safety.

“So you’re proposing that people speed around in tons of metal? You must mean only really smart, well-trained people?”

“No. Everyone. Even stupid people.”

“Won’t millions be killed?”

“Oh, no. Not that many. Just a little more than 40,000 a year.”

“And injuries?”

“Oh . . . millions.”

There’s no way that would get approved today.


LINK
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Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2011, 01:06:19 AM »
Sad but true. The nannies would place us currently at the pinnacle of innovation, and in need of endless reforms to "correct" the "problems" caused by what has already occurred without their wise consent. They claim that they can do it all better the second time around, if they only funnel enough tax dollars to the right people for the right things. But that just doesn't seem to work out at all, does it.
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charlesoakwood

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2011, 01:20:02 AM »

In the '60s Ralph Nader wrote a book titled "Unsafe At Any Speed"
it wiped out the Chevy Corvair which was as safe as any other car
in it's class and was pretty cool at time.

They never get it right and like cockroaches they foul up the place.

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Offline Libertas

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2011, 07:23:18 AM »
They've been trying to get people out of cars for how many decades now?  The war is still on!  Between the regulatory costs for safety and environmental, high-cost union labor and marketing, the regulation and taxation of fuel etc, the costs of car ownership have rocketed.  At the same time the quality and longevity have decreased and repair costs have skyrocketed!  They are intending to force everyone into spec's and away from oil no matter the cost, and eventually even the spec's will be gone but for the privileged ruling elite any manner of transport regardless of waste or fuel will of course be available!

 ::mooning::

 ::rockets::
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Offline Castaway

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2011, 08:28:40 AM »
A ton of truth in that article, no way would our government let the car out of the box today.

Nader did more than kill the corvair.  That was a little car ahead of it's time.   When the gas crunch of the 70's came American car makers had no little cars so they looked to Japan and the rest is history.  Who knows how our auto industry would have ended up if little cars would have taken off instead of the big boats and muscle cars. 

The government OWNS our auto industry today, exactly what I was talking about int he other thread when I said there was no logical reason you couldn't buy basic transportation the average person could go out and get brand new. 

Instead you get a bunch of cheap stuff with a bunch of expensive nanny state electronics wrapped around you.  ::saywhat::

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Offline Glock32

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2011, 11:14:18 AM »
The movie Minority Report is frequently referenced because the central premise of the film is that the government has devised a way of predicting future events (crimes) and uses that as a basis to arrest people beforehand.

But there is another point of reference in that movie apart from the main plot. It shows cars as being completely automated and controlled by computer. There are no longer any drivers, only passengers. You get in it, tell it where you want to go, and it does the rest. The government can, of course, exercise full autonomy over all transports. It can track them, alter their destination, and even lock the occupants inside. Really, other than the fully automated driving none of that seems far fetched any more. And automated driving is at least a theoretical possibility too.

Technology is for sure a double-edged sword.
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Offline Libertas

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2011, 11:36:26 AM »
Yeah, the day the government forces me into a vehicle I have no control over is the day I...

Oh, who cares, I'll be dead or imprisoned by then!

 ::gaah::

 ::mooning::
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charlesoakwood

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2011, 07:05:55 PM »

Ford's PATS (Passive Anti-Theft System): RF chip in the ignition key and a transponder
on the steering column are linked to the ECM.  If the chip and the transponder do not
shake hands the ECM will not allow the engine to run.  THERE IS NO WORK AROUND.



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Online Pandora

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2011, 07:34:11 PM »
Quote from: Charles Oakwood on December 19, 2011, 07:05:55 PM

Ford's PATS (Passive Anti-Theft System): RF chip in the ignition key and a transponder
on the steering column are linked to the ECM.  If the chip and the transponder do not
shake hands the ECM will not allow the engine to run.  THERE IS NO WORK AROUND.


The work around is to yank the whole gawdamn sh*t out and replace it with chipless mechanics; engine, tranny, braking system; a reverse restoration project.  Except, Charles, you know what?  It's illegal to replace an engine with an older model engine.

My truck started stuttering on the way home today and I'm fit to be tied right now.
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charlesoakwood

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2011, 07:46:27 PM »

Probably that sparkplug coil combo.  I had two go out at the same time
the computer went nuts trying to "balance" it.  I thought it was going to
bust the crank.

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Offline John Florida

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2011, 08:07:08 PM »
Quote from: Pandora on December 19, 2011, 07:34:11 PM
Quote from: Charles Oakwood on December 19, 2011, 07:05:55 PM

Ford's PATS (Passive Anti-Theft System): RF chip in the ignition key and a transponder
on the steering column are linked to the ECM.  If the chip and the transponder do not
shake hands the ECM will not allow the engine to run.  THERE IS NO WORK AROUND.


The work around is to yank the whole gawdamn sh*t out and replace it with chipless mechanics; engine, tranny, braking system; a reverse restoration project.  Except, Charles, you know what?  It's illegal to replace an engine with an older model engine.

My truck started stuttering on the way home today and I'm fit to be tied right now.

 Do you have motor vihicle checks in N.C.?
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Online Pandora

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #11 on: December 19, 2011, 09:41:49 PM »
Quote from: John Florida on December 19, 2011, 08:07:08 PM
Quote from: Pandora on December 19, 2011, 07:34:11 PM
Quote from: Charles Oakwood on December 19, 2011, 07:05:55 PM

Ford's PATS (Passive Anti-Theft System): RF chip in the ignition key and a transponder
on the steering column are linked to the ECM.  If the chip and the transponder do not
shake hands the ECM will not allow the engine to run.  THERE IS NO WORK AROUND.


The work around is to yank the whole gawdamn sh*t out and replace it with chipless mechanics; engine, tranny, braking system; a reverse restoration project.  Except, Charles, you know what?  It's illegal to replace an engine with an older model engine.

My truck started stuttering on the way home today and I'm fit to be tied right now.

 Do you have motor vihicle checks in N.C.?

What's a motor vihicle check?  Inspection?
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Offline trapeze

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #12 on: December 19, 2011, 11:07:03 PM »
Quote from: Pandora on December 19, 2011, 09:41:49 PM
What's a motor vihicle check?  Inspection?

State revenue enhancement.
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Online Pandora

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #13 on: December 19, 2011, 11:23:03 PM »
English.  Please.  Okay!?

Checkpoints?
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Offline trapeze

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #14 on: December 20, 2011, 12:12:21 AM »
I'm from Texas originally. In Texas they have an annual vehicle inspection. I have no idea what they charge for it now but I'm sure it's a lot. It's like an extra fee that goes along with license and registration. More money for the state. In Texas it's a bit of a trade off (among others like the sales tax) for having no income tax.

It's a damn nuisance...you have to find a garage that does the inspections and then sit around while they do their damnedest to find things wrong with your car.

The garage gets to keep a small part of the fee but the serious money is in finding things wrong with your car so that they can charge you (usually right there on the spot) for correcting the problems. It used to be stupid stuff like replacing a turn signal bulb or adjusting a headlight angle (back when they could be adjusted). A while before I left the state they added emissions to the inspection. That really jacked the cost of corrections up.

It's a racket. Pure and simple.
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Online Pandora

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #15 on: December 20, 2011, 12:18:40 AM »
Right.  So it's inspections.  Same here, but along with vehicle property tax, license and reggie.  Oh, and don't forget the gas tax.  eta:  Oh, and State income tax.

Curiously, in NC, no vehicles that predate 1996 need emissions inspections.  Fancy that; the older, more probably polluting vehicles get a pass.

All of this stuff coming to my fore is poking the tiger at this point.  Rahr.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2011, 01:05:48 AM by Pandora »
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Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #16 on: December 20, 2011, 12:20:04 AM »
We had the damned vehicle emissions tests here in Minnesota for a decade or so. IIRC, it was Jesse The Body Ventura who beat that ones head into the turnbuckle until it was dead.
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Offline trapeze

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #17 on: December 20, 2011, 12:59:34 AM »
I don't know if Texas still has the vehicle emissions testing (I haven't lived there in almost two decades) but it was alive and kicking when I left and it started up in the early eighties IIRC.

I now live in a place with a state income tax but no vehicle inspections.

Tradeoffs.
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Offline Libertas

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #18 on: December 20, 2011, 07:26:06 AM »
Quote from: IronDioPriest on December 20, 2011, 12:20:04 AM
We had the damned vehicle emissions tests here in Minnesota for a decade or so. IIRC, it was Jesse The Body Ventura who beat that ones head into the turnbuckle until it was dead.

It was a joke.

I remember a buddy of mine had a rattrap old POS that on its best day would have zero chance of passing the fricken test, he'd pump Seafoam and other crap into it before going there and would come out with a passing grade.  Everybody was scamming that thing.  And funny how trucks and stuff (unions!) got a pass, eh?

In a way I'm suprised some idiot hasn't tried to reinstitute that idiocy again.
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Offline BigAlSouth

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Re: If Cars Were Invented Last Week
« Reply #19 on: December 20, 2011, 07:41:10 AM »
Yes, Virginia, NC has annual "safety" inspections . . .

My check engine light has been on for 6 months in the '96 Suburban. The computer used by all inspection stations in NC will not pass you if the light is on. My mechanic thought it was the spider assembly and would cost around $450.00. Anyway, last week I'm driving into town and the light is off. The light stayed off for the long commute into the big city. I swing into the nearest inspection place, a little oil change franchise. Well, they hook the computer up and it passes. Then, I see two technicians effin with my steering wheel and front tires. Sure enough, the manager comes in and says "Mr. South, I have to fail you because there is too much play in the Idler arm. Want me to work up a quote?" I coulda spit nails. Told him "no thanks, my buddy is a mechanic."

Long story short, I bought a $28 idler arm and had my buddy put it on. I drove back to the inspection station, showed him the old arm and new box, and magically, shazzammm! It passed.

Moral of the story: Do not ever have your vehicle inspected by a shop that does repairs. There are shops that do nothing but inspections.
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