I don’t assume anyone isn’t as stupid as they sound. I have been proven wrong too many times.
I brake for accidents.
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In Boston, using your brakes means that you not only looked at the other driver, you yielded right of way. Nobody does that. You’ll just confuse everybody.
New Jersey was different; people there braked just because they felt like it, like New Yorkers using their car horns or something.
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I’m a child of the 50s. Our family car didn’t have brakes. Nor did the cars of any of my friends. We are all still alive. There were some accidents, but we recovered. And we were stronger for it.
Anyway, the people who think brakes are so safe shouldn’t worry; they will be safe if some of us drive without brakes. Right? So let us make our own decisions.
You know something? No child has died from an accident in a car without brakes in the US for 13 years. Now tell me: how many have died in accidents where the car had brakes?
Think about before you tell me - again - to put my brakes back on.
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I learned to drive on all automatic cards, and didn’t learn manual until I actually bought a manual car.
I would tend to agree that manual drivers are more mindful drivers.
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I live in Europe and I would strongly disagree. Manual drivers are constantly being slightly distracted by the gearchange and the clutch. It is a fact that professional chauffeurs almost always insist on automatic cars.
Chauffeurs aren’t concerned with fuel economy or performance or being able to pop start, they’re concerned with a smooth ride and passenger comfort. (Which is why the kinds of cars driven by chauffeurs aren’t usually offered with manual transmissions.) They’re not worried about the clutch and stick distracting them from the act of driving, but they need to be as responsive as possible to the needs of the passenger.
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If you manage to drive having the brakes removed without running over anyone or crashing against other vehicles, I’m perfectly OK with that, or you crash against other users who consent to crash against others, or you don’t even drive.
On the other hand, if you drive with brakes and yet, you crash or run over someone without consent, you should be held accountable, regardless of the efficacy of your brakes.
I presume you haven’t checked the homicide rates lately. Some countries have 15-20 times higher homicides rates than the US. Granted, in some countries you may get killed with a machete instead of a gun, but either way you will be dead.
Of course, more than half of those gun-related deaths in the US are suicides, and in spite of that, the US still manages to have lower suicide rates than pretty much any European country. You know, when someone is willing to kill themselves, they will find a way even if they don’t have a gun at home.
While being funny I don’t think your analogue works.
Removing the brakes from my car would endanger not only myself but quite a lot of other people, too.
But: choosing not to get vaccinated would (at least in theory) only endanger myself (pregnant women and measles aside… (damn it, there’s always exceptions to the rules)).
Sooooo.
Most vaccines are only there to protect myself - should I choose not to do that then that’s my frigging personal decision. Period. Right?
Now, vaccines that are there to protect other people (“The Measles Category”) are a different story, more like the brakes thing…
End of my totally unqualified (because horribly misinformed) post.
Can we not turn this into Yet Another Fucking Gun Debate, please?
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The point is that choosing not to get your child vaccinated actually diminishes herd immunity. It does harm other people.
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Chauffeur cars are automatic for a smooth ride. City taxis (such as the purpose-built London taxi) are often automatic because it’s preferable in stop-start city traffic.
On the other hand, taxis outside major cities tend to be manual, as do delivery vans and police cars. All of these are driven by professionals, and police pursuit drivers have more need than most to be mindful of their surroundings.
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The way it works in the UK is that you can take your test in an automatic car, but you will then get a restricted license that only lets you drive automatics. Most rental cars in Europe are manual, and people tend to assume that people with an automatic-only license have some sort of disability that stops them driving manual.
On the other hand, for the British driving test I was actually taught to slow down with the brakes rather than the gears. Slowing down with the gears is something my dad taught me for driving classic cars with brakes that aren’t great by modern standards.
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I’d just like to remind everyone of fxie riders. Thanks.
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It’s the future of braking -
Volvo City Safety is an autonomous emergency braking system designed to help a driver avoid a low-speed crash or to reduce its severity. At vehicle speeds between 3.6km/h and 50km/h, City Safety uses a lidar (Light Detection And Ranging) sensor positioned at the top of the windscreen to monitor an area 10m ahead of the car for vehicles which might present a threat of collision. If a collision is likely, City Safety first pre-charges the brakes and makes the Emergency Brake Assist system more sensitive so that, if the driver should notice the risk, the car is ready to respond more quickly to his braking action. However, if the driver still takes no action and a collision becomes imminent, City Safety independently applies the brakes very hard
Love it!
It’s clearly God’s will.
Rule No 1 for bikers: don’t brake. Ease off the pedal, go down a gear, ride to the road conditions, be aware of exit opportunities. Still won’t help if something unexpected happens, but them’s the risks in return for being a biker. Car drivers just don’t get it, sitting in their air-conditioned spaces with the stereo on and somebody chatting to them on the phone. And did I mention the comfy sofa? And, when was the last time you heard of a biker falling asleep while driving?
All of that aside, Cory’s piece is a gorgeously funny take on the anti-vaccine crew, and their inability to grasp the realities of life as part of a species which harbours virulent parasitic organisms.
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Yup. Simples!
I actually didn’t take into account the decision of not vaccinating your children.
That’s especially problematic, since it affects them rather directly…
