I have the 10" display in my truck, it's nice. I can see info at a glance and easily access what I need to.
Less money. They are spending a lot *more* money to build that sophisticated vehicle. The one that has to pass all the silly crash tests and consequently weighs more, and then needs a complex engine and drivetrain to try and meet the MPG *and* emissions requirements.
Watching movies, surfing the net and doing social media while driving?
As a toy, I wouldn't mind an older truck with a modern drivetrain. I'm more of a 68-72 Chevy with a built LS guy, not so much on a LC. Driving to work everyday and hauling my family, I'll take the newer truck every time.
I have the 10" display in my truck, it's nice. I can see info at a glance and easily access what I need to.
You are using useless stats if you go by raw numbers. Everything needs to be put in a relevant perspective.
Since fatalities per mile are way lower than in 1899 I'd say it's much safer to drive. It happens to be much safer to live as well. Heck, your survival rate driving down the freeway is probably better than it was sitting in your living room in 1899.
My question is why the steady and dramatic decline in fatalities/mile? Crappy driving back in the day? Bad roads? Did wheels fall off more often? Or did people just not give a ********?
Why have death rates gone down? Safer cars I am assume, but I am not a vehicular death analyst...just a knucklehead googler.![]()
The rates were dropping steadily well before cars got safety features. And there isn't place in time where you can say MADD, seatbelts, airbags, ABS and crash testing made a difference. It's hard to tell, maybe the decline would have stopped at a higher level without these things. It's also possible that they've had no net benefit at all. Wouldn't surprise me. For instance, helmets actually don't reduce the fatality rate for bicycle riders. But a lot of people like to pretend otherwise.
Not a clue why there was a decline, do you know? How many overall accidents occurred last year? Including non-fatal. Be curious to compare the number of all accidents. Are people wrecking more or less? I am not finding much info on that.
Just guessing before the 70s that a combination of better roads and traffic signals, widespread driving (women take fewer risks), freeways (no cross traffic), better brakes and tires.
After that MADD, seatbelts, child seats, airbags, ABS, traction control, etc have probably resulted in a further significant reduction. But I bet it's a lot less than what is believed.
Regarding bicycle helmets. The real statistics show they don't reduce fatalities. That's where they look at data before and after mandatory helmet laws. I also looked at fatalities among pro road racers who generally did not wear helmets until I think 2002, when they became mandatory. The fatality rate went up, but that is a small sample size.
Some possible reasons for ineffectiveness are that helmets make your "head" bigger and harder to tuck (I always tuck when falling head first), they increase the severity of rotational brain injuries which are more dangerous than impact injuries, less incentive to avoid hitting your head if you feel it's protected, and more inclined to take risks.
If you can find stats showing fatalities before and after mandatory seatbelt laws that would be informative. I think most of the other stuff was phased in slowly though.
I always felt that Harley and quad riders should be forced not to wear helmets.Of course by your theory...I may have it all wrong.
Hey easy on the quad riders. I've watched enough streetbike videos on youtube to know they are the biggest jackwagons of them all.
68-72 Chevy oooh good years! yeah be ok for a hobby truck, and to think how much money goes into a resto-mod, could buy a couple few F150's.
I can buy a pretty solid one for 5 k and put 10-15 in it and have a pretty potent truck. I had a 58 Chevy that sat on a S10 frame and had a healthy 454/Th400 and it wasn't that expensive at all. The most expensive part was getting a 9" narrowed,custom spring perches, amd redrilling it to match the bolt pattern for the front wheels. The rest was relatively inexpensive. I bought most of The stuff used then rebuilt/modified it to work for me.
That isn't bad at all. Of course when I say resto-mod I think of this.
If you do all the work yourself and not go crazy like the one above...cost isn't too bad...our neighbor back in PA used to build customs. '50 Merc, '41 Ford, '36 Pontiac...late 60's C-10 as a parts hauler. Used to hang out in his garage and shoot the ******** and drink ol Mil'.
I had '72 Chevelle with I had to sell for getting my license suspend for drag racing when I was 16, got my license back, bought one of my dad's old work trucks '76 F250...fixed that up...then bought another Chevelle a '71...my dad wrapped that one around a tree. Originally moved out to AZ to learn how to build hot rods and muscle cars...but life took a turn and went another direction, and got out of the car scene, and started buying slooooow Toyota trucks.
I almost dragged home a '65 VW Bug over the summer...and then thought to myself, what I am going to that with that!? Fix it all up and then what...sit around and stare at it? Trying break myself being a car-nut...on one hand I am totally fed up with vehicles in general, mainly because of having to commute now....and on the other...ooh look at that over there, I need that!...no...no, I don't....
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My daughter is 9 months old...as soon as she's old enough to help I'm getting another project car/truck. "Daddy daughter project" sounds like a great excuse for a build!!