5 Apr
1999
5 Apr
'99
9:45 p.m.
Hey, I'm still a little hesitant about power brakes, I only recently
stopped driving a vehicle without synchromesh, and power steering is for
wusses...
It looks like we pretty much see eye to eye on this stuff. I almost feel
ashamed I'm trying to get my 1970 Rover P6B back on the road - it's full
of fripperies, although I DO like the Icelert. I wonder if it'd fit on a
PDP-11?
On Tue, 6 Apr 1999, Tony Duell wrote:
M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc.
215 Shady Lea Road,
North Kingstown, RI 02852
"Casta est qui nemo rogavit."
- Ovid
I'm not sure I buy the arguement. The main reason is this: The last 30
years of wonderful safety improvements have unfortunately left us with a
population of drivers who are incompetent. Some might say that they are
the transport analogue of Windows users.
And that is my problem as well.
IMHO if you are depending on some safety feature (ABS brakes, etc) to get
you out of trouble then you are driving dangerously. If/when I learn to
drive I will want to (and will insist that) I learn to drive properly,
even if the ABS system, power steering, etc all fail at the same time.
The problem is that drivers will often imagine
the brakes can do the
impossible and they drive faster, reduce their following distances, brake
Yep. I'd much rather drive slower and leave big gaps (for all then idiots
decide to cut into them from what I've observed). OK, so my journey takes
a few minutes longer (and often it is only a few minutes), but at least
I get there alive.
harder and crash. It is in this context that ABS
is less than total
success. This is also the behaviour drivers of many four wheel drive
vehicles. Safety equipment is no substitute for prudence and discretion.
The greatest safety comes from conducting yourself and your vehicle so
that things like ABS never have to come fully into play; when they do,
then they provide an extra measure of safety. A trained and capable
driver can do wonders with a marginal vehicle, but all the wonderous
safety equipment in the world can't make up for a fool at the wheel.
Exactly. Safety equipment is there to save you if you make a mistake and
nothing more. It is (or should not be) used to keep you out of trouble.
If you are depending on ABS brakes to prevent a skid in normal
conditions, then most likely you'll end up killing someone.
-tony