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posts about #fordsafetytesting more → Ford Taurus Simulates Parking Lot Carnage
Riding The "Volvo Water Cannon"
Detroit, 8:33 AM
Thu Nov 26
20 posts in the last 24 hours
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The window on my '73 Coupe deVille came back at my head strongly enough, when I opened the door on a slightly-sloping street to not only leave a good-sized welt, it knocked me off-balance. I learned my lesson...watch that 500 lb., at least, monster, until it stops moving.
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First, putting more and more horsepower and torque in the hands of easily distracted, impatient, short-tempered drivers who aren't any more skilled than they were in the age of 90-horse family sedans is simply asking for trouble, and trouble we get, to the tune of tens of thousands of deaths every year.
Second, to attempt to mitigate the accidents caused by too many morons with too much power and too many distractions, cars are loaded down with so many safety features, curb weights are nearly doubled. People complain about cars being sluggish, so more power is added to help cart around the extra mass from the safety package.
It's a vicious cycle, totally contrary to the proper direction we should be going: building adequately powered, light, maneuverable, easy-to-build and cheap-to-buy, and efficient motorcars - and training people to drive them safely and properly.
If we continue on the current cycle - government agencies continuing to ratchet up regulations in an effort to achieve the impossible - to stop everyone from dying, ever - we'll end up driving 28-ton cars made of solid granite powered by 16-cylinder marine engines, and no amount of stiumulus will be able to keep up with the upkeep of roads and highways that will crumble ever faster under the added bulk.
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Personally, I want the whole interior, and possibly the exterior, to blow up like a puffer fish upon impact.
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I don't see why we just don't have racing harnesses instead of lap/shoulder/airbag/airbag/airbag/airbag.
05/13/09
Is that a 2010 Taurus or an '81 Fuego?
Also, and I know I've said it before, but that Taurus looks like a bloated sperm whale on a beach. Do not want.
05/13/09
Why didn't they just call Johnny Knoxsville?
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Think of it this way: would you turn down a Murilee bobblehead just because it isn't life size?
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We still call it panelin' in CT, but whenever I write that, nobody knows what I am talking about.
05/13/09
+ Watch video
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Several years ago I was in an accident with my little truck and three quartes of the front clip had to be replaced, if the air bag would have deployed they would have totaled it and it was drivable.
Air bags are a waste of resources and give false sense of security, which makes us more dangerous when we drive.
05/13/09
Shit, I'm more worried about that bag exploding hot gasses into my face and breaking my nose than I am about my bumper denting someone else's.
I don't feel secure at all behind an airbag-equipped wheel.
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*I can't quote the study, this is entirely from memory, I think it was published in Car & Driver 15 or 20 years ago.
05/13/09
Also, you're making a silly conclusion from your own anecdotal evidence. You say if the air bag had deployed, it would have been considered totalled. But the fact of the matter is, the air bag worked as designed, not deploying because it wasn't necessary too. That sounds like good engineering to me, not designing a car "in a more mediocre manner."
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Actually if you would have seen my truck it was surprising that it did not deploy. My insurance agent was also surprised. I suspect, but do not care, that there may be a defect. It is nearly 15 years old. I have been told that an airbag can really only be counted on to work for about ten years or so, after that the inert gas surrounding the cartridge will probably have leaked out and the cartridge begins to degrade.
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If a driver has one at-fault accident and/or two points on his or her license, his or her vehicle will be converted - at the owner's expense - to swing axle rear suspension, assuming doesn't already utilize that design. Another at-fault wreck and/or three or more points will require the installation of a 12" steel spike in the hub of the steering wheel and the removal of the driver's seatbelt pretensioner; these procedures will also be done on the owner's dime.
Failure to comply will result in the driver's license being suspended and he or she being sent to a precision driving school where the vehicles are Chevy Aveos and the instructors are ex-nuns.
05/13/09
It has a strong safety cage.
It is famous for withstanding severe collisions and allowing the occupants to, if not walk away, at least crawl out and recover fully.
Air bags? Zero.
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It's the Gen1-1.5 Tauri that get the shit beaten out of 'em. And some of the early Gen2.
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Now they suck.
05/13/09
Isn't it sad that from--let's say--the last 10 VW commercials I've seen, I can't remember the NEW car they were trying to advertise. All I remember is the VW Bus and the old-school Beetle.
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Well, I do remember the Routan ads with the kid with the frog, but I would never buy a Routan.
It is called a Routan, right?
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