What are your reading habits? - Page 9

murg · 12-01-2015, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

The wiki article might clear this up and I don't have time to look at it right now, but wouldn't deaths per mile traveled be more instructive still?

Yes.

Cars and petrol are more expensive in the UK. People drive less. Many people hardly drive at all, due to living in cities, better public transports, etc.

Cinisajoy · 12-01-2015, 03:21 PM

We just got busses here about 3 or 4 years ago.

HarryT · 12-01-2015, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murg

Yes.

Cars and petrol are more expensive in the UK. People drive less. Many people hardly drive at all, due to living in cities, better public transports, etc.

As you can see yourself from the article I linked to, the death rate per vehicle km is almost double in the US compared to the UK. Look at the "deaths per billion vehicle-km" column of the table. The US has pretty much the highest death rates of any western nation. Did you actually look at the figures?

Phogg · 12-01-2015, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

For those reading this, cvkemp and I are 350 miles apart. Cvkemp is in the hill country and I am in the desert.

I am in Pottsboro Texas, just west of Sherman/Dennison.
That puts me 395 miles from you and 249 miles from Cvkemp.

theducks · 12-01-2015, 03:45 PM

I learned on a Manual (Column shift).
Most of my cars were Manual,
Ford station wagon (folks) 3 spd column
AH Sprite 4spd
Datsun 1600 4spd, later 5spd
Winnebago Automatic
Mazda RX3 4spd
Subaru BRAT 4sp 4wd
Toyota Tercel 6spd 4wd
Ford F350 Automatic +OD
Nissan Automatic +OD

but with the traffic grid-lock we have now... Automatic or my clutch leg would die

cvkemp · 12-01-2015, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

I learned on a Manual (Column shift).
Most of my cars were Manual,
Ford station wagon (folks) 3 spd column
AH Sprite 4spd
Datsun 1600 4spd, later 5spd
Winnebago Automatic
Mazda RX3 4spd
Subaru BRAT 4sp 4wd
Toyota Tercel 6spd 4wd
Ford F350 Automatic +OD
Nissan Automatic +OD

but with the traffic grid-lock we have now... Automatic or my clutch leg would die

Lets see my first was a 49 ford executive coup, standard on the column and electric overdrive. and my dad had a 57 ford truck with granny 4 speed. But I learned to drive on the farm tractors.

Apache · 12-01-2015, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Our car dealers ask do you want a standard or an automatic transmission?
Hence without your clarification on the post about your friend, I would have been wondering how your friend drove one handed.
Note pesky English to English again.
Editing to add: I think those knobs are illegal here in the US unless one has a permit for them.

I do not think so. I have friends who drive with disabilities and they have to have a knob. It is needed when make sharp turns.
Apache

Apache · 12-01-2015, 05:47 PM

I have always been amazed at how many people I know that can not drive a stick shift. As Harry says, it is a more enjoyable driving experience.
I read a study many years ago that tested automatic vs manual transmissions and gas millage. The study found that people got better gas mileage with small cars, but large vehicles were slightly more efficient using an automatic transmission.
Apache

Cinisajoy · 12-01-2015, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

I do not think so. I have friends who drive with disabilities and they have to have a knob. It is needed when make sharp turns.
Apache

Note I said with permit as in actually needing it. I think they are illegal for people that do not have a physical requirement for one.
In other words if one has two good hands, they are illegal.

Cinisajoy · 12-01-2015, 05:52 PM

My first car was a 1975 pinto station wagon. It was an automatic but the gear shift was between the front seats.
We tended to drive it like it was a standard. Hey for more power to take off, put it in first.

Apache · 12-01-2015, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Note I said with permit as in actually needing it. I think they are illegal for people that do not have a physical requirement for one.
In other words if one has two good hands, they are illegal.

Old age is catching up with me.

Apache

Purple Lady · 12-01-2015, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Note I said with permit as in actually needing it. I think they are illegal for people that do not have a physical requirement for one.
In other words if one has two good hands, they are illegal.

If you have two good hands but no good feet you can use them as well. You *need* to use them in that case.

Cinisajoy · 12-01-2015, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

If you have two good hands but no good feet you can use them as well. You *need* to use them in that case.

Hadn't thought of that one but makes sense because you would only have one hand for steering.
I do wish I had gotten a closer look at my cousin's van.
Note, the cousin has since passed on.

4691mls · 12-01-2015, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cvkemp

Harry I agree with you our driving test are a joke, and most that I see driving in the country have no business drive at all. By the way I have been driving now for 51 years and I have never been in an accident that I caused. And have only been in 3 accidents. All were caused by someone not watching what they were doing and rammed me in the backend while I was stopped at a light or stop sign.

My car keeps getting hit in parking lots while I am inside a building, can't see the parking lot, and have no control over the situation.

Where I live (as in many places in the US outside of major cities) the public transportation system isn't that great, so most people have cars.

I prefer a stickshift. I feel more in control.

The only reason I can imagine wanting an automatic (barring any health issues that would require it) would be if I lived in a city where traffic was frequently gridlocked and you constantly have to stop and start. Fortunately I don't often have to drive in that kind of traffic.

JwkOKC · 12-02-2015, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I too have a one-armed friend who drives, and although it's a standard (automatic) car, he has to have a knob attached to the steering wheel to hold to allow him to safely turn it one-handed. You can't make a sharp turn holding a normal steering-wheel one handed.

One of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0040K0DFS

(But his knob is bigger

)

When I was in high school, these many years ago, these spinners were known to one and all as "necking knobs" and no young student fortunate enough to have his own car failed to have one installed on the steering wheel, just to be prepared should a need arise.

I almost broke an arm one afternoon when I misjudged the distance to a curb while angle-parking; the tire's impact caused the steering wheel on my 1937 Pontiac to spin several revolutions, and the knob slammed into my forearm. No power steering in those days!

And there was a classic joke circulating: a boy and girl are driving slowly along a dark country road (in the USA), snuggled close to each other on the bench seat. He has his right arm around her and his left hand on the knob.

A motorcycle officer pulls alongside and snarls, "Get both your hands where they belong!"

"Can't do that," the boy replies. "Gotta keep at least one on the wheel."

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12-01-2015, 03:21 PM	#122
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	We just got busses here about 3 or 4 years ago.

12-01-2015, 03:45 PM	#125
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,057 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	I learned on a Manual (Column shift). Most of my cars were Manual, Ford station wagon (folks) 3 spd column AH Sprite 4spd Datsun 1600 4spd, later 5spd Winnebago Automatic Mazda RX3 4spd Subaru BRAT 4sp 4wd Toyota Tercel 6spd 4wd Ford F350 Automatic +OD Nissan Automatic +OD but with the traffic grid-lock we have now... Automatic or my clutch leg would die

12-01-2015, 05:47 PM	#128
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,277 Karma: 90000484 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I have always been amazed at how many people I know that can not drive a stick shift. As Harry says, it is a more enjoyable driving experience. I read a study many years ago that tested automatic vs manual transmissions and gas millage. The study found that people got better gas mileage with small cars, but large vehicles were slightly more efficient using an automatic transmission. Apache

12-01-2015, 05:52 PM	#130
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	My first car was a 1975 pinto station wagon. It was an automatic but the gear shift was between the front seats. We tended to drive it like it was a standard. Hey for more power to take off, put it in first.

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