nomex on, here we go
i've been watching/reading this thread for some time, i have to say it's
reminiscent of stuff on a list to which i was subscribed in past (central
european air-cooled high perfomance cars with a new water cooled roadster
about to be introduced, otherwise unnamed), although the sexual references
from the other list are missing in the recent triumph mail-
first, let's face it, we were all nuts when we started driving (i got my
license on my 16th birthday, lost it 5 weeks later for speeding at night in
the rain, i was *clearly* nuts) and as i think about my 13 and 10 year old
daughters, i'd like to see an 18 year old minimum for driving- my daughters
don't like to hear it, i simply tell them they have no idea what kind of
responsibility it is to drive a car
second, i am convinced we let people drive far too late in their lives- we
have all seen people manipulating 4000 pounds of american iron when they
can't see anything, they hardly have (or may not have) the physical ability
to walk 10 feet, their reaction times are appalling, and we let them drive
as if it's in the bill of rights or something- i realize it's a political
third rail (causing electrocution when touched for those non-chicagoans who
haven't seen the recurring news story here when some intoxicated person
falls or walks on the public transit tracks), but this scares me more than
hand guns
third, physical ability is not the issue, there are far too many of us with
no judgement about speed- i live on a residential street, the speed limit
is 25, people often drive twice that and more- there are more young than
old drivers and the young and presumably physically able drivers are more
irreponsible- a bicyclist was hit on my street last year, the driver is
about my age and the car was a porsche- did you know that when one looks at
life years saved per dollar spent on cholesterol lowering, exercise
programs, etc., the two biggest winners are stop smoking programs and air
bags for white males under 35? we can't trust ourselves, any argument that
ignores our basic irresponsibility (especially men, but women are gaining
on us) on anything but limited access divided highways or rural roads with
visibility exceeding braking distance makes no sense- we don't all live in
nevada, if you want to race, go to the track, otherwise i want the police
to do radar on my street and i want speeders who put my kids at risk to
lose their licenses
i love to drive sports cars, but you need to pick time and place to push
it, i'm impressed that too many of us are irresponsible
joe
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