The Wonderful World of YouTube

A Great place to go To!

YouTube is either a really wonderful world into which we can retreat and spend a great adventure, or it might be this huge maze into which we go to totally lose ourselves for hours on end. A friend sent me a Chris Harris video review about the new Jaguar F-Type Coupe R, 550 hp sports car. The video runs for fifteen minutes and is a delight to watch because the car is wonderful. However, the fifteen minutes I took to watch the video was only the beginning of a full afternoon of going from one video to another. It's an addicition once you get started, as I'm sure is not news to anyone.

A full choice of topics was displayed that got my attention, and held it for hours. So, of course I am going to list some of the videos so you too can get hooked. At least you have my warning that you will absolutely enjoy these videos, including some that will make you laugh uncontrollably. But hey, go for it!

-Best of Car Fail Compilations
-Top Funny Fails
-The luckiest people Compilations
-Women Drivers-How to destroy a car in seconds
-Insane woman driver-Police pursuit in the United States
-Police pursuit of stolen Tank in San Diego

If you go for these six videos you should allow an entire afternoon because you will be still watching, and possibly laughing or holding your breath well into the night.

Enjoy!

Copyright (c) 2014  Eugene Carmichael  

Drivers beware! Here comes another Ten Commandments.

Moses with the famous Ten Commendments

The Spanish Parliament has given a first reading to a raft of new laws of the road, and I hear you say, "Groan..Oh No!" That is because we motorists instinctively know that we're not going to like the new rules. We know this is just another way of reaching into our pockets while perhaps including some common sense measures to keep us out of the hospital.

I will not try and treat all of the new measures in one sitting as it will help us to understand each law if we try and go behind what is written to gain a better understanding. So, over the coming weeks we will select a few and place them in focus.

Perhaps my favourite new measure (not) is that the police will be able to fine a vehicle without having to bother to stop it and give the driver a ticket. I can see situations in which this may be desirable, such as a passing motorist on the mobile phone, or even speeding if taking chase will place others in danger There are also a large number of numbskull drivers who deliberately run red lights, some from a stopped position. However, what concerns me is that there is so much inefficiency within the bureaucracy that even if you take the time to go to Trafico and report your change of address they might still go on sending trafic tickets to your old address for years. That way, a ticket that goes unpaid turns into a kind of bond which attracts interest in the government's favour. When it finally comes to your attention you find that the tickets is worth more than your house. That could never be anybody's else's fault other than the owner of the car. Could it?

There will be a change that will affect pedal cyclists that will require only riders up to the age of sixteen to wear helmets. Originally the thinking was that all cyclists be required to wear them, however, adults, who should have more intelligence, objected that to have to wear a helmet would disturb their hairstyle, and that it just isn't necessary because they are never travelling that fast. This was a very vocal group that made more noise about it than was appropriate, so I suppose authorities threw their hands in the air and concluded that if the restriction is only applied to children who are not legally able to make the decision for themselves, than the adults will just have to learn for themselves that when you come off a pedal cycle and land on your head and go to hospital, the first thing they do there is cut your hair off to try and treat your injury.

The hope is that the rider's head will be hard enough to substitute for a helmet. Should children be found riding without a helmet, even those children who left home wearing one at their parent's insistence, their parents will be fined 200 euros. Bet that will be taken out of the inheritance.

Speaking of children, none will be allowed to ride in the front passenger seat if their height doesn't measure at least 1.35 metres, unless the back seat if full of children, or if the car doesn't have a back seat.

This seems to be a safety regulation to keep children from possibly losing their lives. It has never been a good idea to place young children or babies in the front passenger seat as in the case of a frontal collision it is doubtful whether a child could survive. So, why the exclusions? Well, the exclusions will save the driver from receiving a ticket and fine, but then he can proceed and go straight to the crash site. What is needed here is better planning. Generally  parents can avoid putting children at this level of risk through cooperation of car sharing. If you have a Porsche two seater you normally won't have kids, or you will use the Volvo, so forget the exclusions. Let's not take the chance with our children's lives and limbs. All we need to avoid doing that is common sense.

More of the New Commandments at a later date.

Copyright (c) 2014  Eugene Carmichael  

You don't want your make and model car on this list!

Honda Accord 1994-One of Honda's most popular models is twenty years old.

This car was one of Honda's most popular which retains its ownership satisfaction even after twenty years. People just don't want to give them up, and it continues to be a smart design. If it were a song it would be a Gold album, but all of those things are also its problems.

Insurance companies keep all sorts of statistics, and unfortunately the 1994 Honda Accord was the car most stolen during 2010 in The United States, and probably elsewhere as well.. Why? Because getting replacement parts from dealers is becoming difficult as this car has now outlived its projected lifespan. But, try telling that to proud and happy owners who want to keep it running, especially as the world economy is still in crisis. To make matters worse, this was a car that was manufactured before vehicle security became sophisticated, so it is easy to get into without damaging the car itself.

So, the black market responds by stealing this model in droves, stripping them down to the bone and the parts end up with legitimate secondhand parts dealers.

An internet article says that an A/C compressor sells for about $350 with no guarantee how long it might work. A part for the ABS braking system could set you back about $450, all to keep your car running until it too is stolen. However, the same article suggests that by simply locking the steering wheel with a club may encourage the thief to look for another car without the secondary lock.

The rest of the list of Most Stolen was as follows:
No. 2 The 1995 Honda Civic. (Again, Honda at the top for the wrong reasons.)
No. 3 The 1991 Toyota Camry
No. 4 The 1999 Chevy Full Size Pickup
No. 5 The 1997 Ford F-150 Series Pickup
No. 6 Dodge Ram 2000
No. 7 Dodge (again) 2000 Caravan
No. 8 Acura 1994 Integra
No. 9 The Big 2000 Ford Explorer
No. 10 The 1999 Ford Tauras

I had a Chrysler Voyager seven-seater that was stolen, and it broke my heart because I loved that car. I was telling a Spanish friend that I had my car stolen, and he replied, Why? Why what? Why did you have your car stolen? Were you trying to get the insurance money? You could go to jail for that!

Some things just don't translate well at all, do they?

Copyright (c) 2014   Eugene Carmichael  

Why don't we slow down?

Multi-vehicle pile ups. We should avoid this happening.

Every winter brings several reports of massive pile ups, sometimes of more than one hundred vehicles. I live in a warm-ish part of the country so the only weather inspired conditions that might lead to massive pile ups is torrential rain. However, I always have to wonder whether extreme weather conditons makes drivers lose our minds.

I have driven in some conditions that scared me to death, but I always slow down, but that in itself can be a cause of  perhaps the first crash in a series. My first exposure was in Toronto during a blizzard. I was so unnerved I pulled off the road at the first motel I came to and fortunately they had a room available where I stayed until the weather cleared.

The problem was that other drivers carried on as though it were a bright and clear day. That fact was that you really couldn't see where you were going, they were just hoping all would be well. I guess their thinking was that they had a long way to go to get to their destination, so they had to keep up their speed. Then, of course, inevitably, they crash into the pileup and fail to get to their destination for days, if at all.

People who live in areas where ice and snow and flooding are normal hazards should also know when to venture out onto the roads, and when not to, and if they have to do so, they will know that if the roads are icy you will slip and slide. It simply doesn't make sense to put your car and other people at risk. YouTube has several videos of cars that slip down some really steep hills. What were the drivers doing there in the first place?

I'm not going to spend too much time dwelling on this topic because the solution to avoiding being part of massive car pile ups is obvious. Time to use common sense and stay out of trouble.

Copyright (c) 2014  Eugene Carmichael