Month: March 2024

Q: You’ve written before about A-pillars being a visibility problem, but try being tall with the safety cam in newer cars completely obscuring your vision for its own purposes of viewing and distracting you as a driver! Aren’t there some standards that car companies have to meet about visibility?

A: Are we living in a world where we’ve prioritized what a car can see over what the driver of the car can see? Until we reach a point where cars no longer have steering wheels or gas and brake pedals, we still need to see where we’re going.

Continue reading “Visibility and Distraction in New Cars”

Q: In front of my building I saw a shiny Cadillac Escalade, that on closer inspection had fender-bender dings, attempting to parallel park in a too-small space. Oh, I forgot to mention that the rear bumper has a “student driver” sticker on it. That leads me to the question, what vehicles are appropriate for student drivers?

A: I just thought of a brilliant idea. Let’s link a driver’s age with the weight of the vehicle they’re allowed to drive. You’d take your age, add two zeros, and that’s how many pounds your car can weigh. New teen drivers would be limited to 60s era Mini Coopers and golf carts. In your 20s you could get a compact car. You couldn’t drive a full-size pickup until your late 40s.

Continue reading “The Right Car for a New Driver”

Q: I have a car with ten air bags. If I get in a crash I’m going to be floating in a balloon-filled cabin. With that many airbags, is the seat belt still necessary? I realize it’s the law, but from a safety perspective how much does it help anymore?

A: Not only are airbags an effective safety feature; they also function as a prompt for jokes. Like these: New cars come with up to a dozen airbags, and that doesn’t count your passengers. New cars have so many airbags that they’re beginning to rival a political convention. Airbags – inspired by a road trip with your in-laws. I didn’t promise they’d be good jokes.

Continue reading “Airbags – Pillow or Projectile?”

Q: Does a company that requires a right turn only out of its driveway or parking lot onto a public road need a permit to put up said sign? I feel like I’m being discriminated against because I live in the opposite direction of the majority of the employees.

A: Right about now all the people who have actually experienced discrimination because of their race, gender, age, or sexual orientation are playing the world’s smallest violins for you. Right-turn-only signs on private property are not a form of discrimination. The real purpose is less insidious and more practical.

Continue reading “Left Turns Aren’t So Great”