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The offset front impact is one of the more brutal crash tests. Iâd like to see a more honest test with an 5th gen Malibu (1997, I mean thatâs ONLY 18 years old) and this 7th gen one. A lot of cars were redesigned during the mid 2000âs just to improve on this test so Iâd bet the 97 model looks pretty bad compared to one that came 12 years later.
Itâs also the reason long two door coupes have disappeared, side windows have gotten smaller and higher up on the door, and pillars have gotten fatter along with the rest of the car. Say what you will about the VW Beetle, but at only ~1300lbs equipped with modern engine technology 50+ mpg wouldnât be that hard.
No, I didnât come here to complain about speed limits because there is nobody here who can do anything about them. But while I am here, I may just as well school you about how speed limits are set:
Speed limit posting is regulated by the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices that every state adopted into law. The main consideration for regulatory speed limit postings (the black and white signs) is an engineering traffic study in order to find the 85th percentile of prevailing traffic (speed that 85% of free flowing traffic doesnât exceed). Since new cars handle better, stop better, corner better, have more power, are quieter, have seat belts etc, etc, than the cars in the 50s, 85% of traffic is moving faster than it was in the 50s. Therefore if the majority of speed limits were set legally, they would be higher than they are.
The truth is speed limits are not based on safety, weather, road conditions,and human reaction time. They are set by politicians to collect money. If they were based on safety they wouldnât change at state lines, would they?
Now say âthank you,â and go sit down.
Yeah brand new account and you complained about speed limits on a thread about crash safety of old cars vs. new cars⌠So umm yeah yes yes you did. I am done.
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Way to make a first impression.
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Ahh, eternal September. So, whatâs your major?
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Thatâs what has happened in the last fifty years. The designers have learned how to do tricks with the thickness, bending, slotting etc. of the sheet metal to make the passenger compartment very rigid, while the end zones are flimsy in very specific ways. Itâs akin to the controlled demolition of old concrete buildings. They introduce a weakness in just the right place, so that the material will buckle there and fold in on itself just ever so.
It probably helps to have computers to model the bending. That must be some fun software!
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That looks like a '90s Dodge Ram 3500 that squished the H2. Regardless, the Hummer H2 is, and was, a truly terrible vehicle.
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Itâs fascinating how quickly you guys got personal while nobody addressed the issue I brought up.
The MUTCD is for signage placement, standardization of sign appearance, striping, signalization and temporary signage for construction purposes.
It is not, and has never been a document to be used to set speed limits.
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Welcome to the BBS!
First impressions are important and the judgement of the crowd is fast and harsh (and sometimes unjust).
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This crowd usually knows what time it is.
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Behave like an adult, and youâll be treated like an adult. Behave like a snarky kid, and, well, you know. It seems to me that given your behavior you have no cause for complaint.
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As I said, MUTCD stipulates that the placement of speed limit signs will be based on engineering studies, as in:
Section 2B.13
Speed Limit Sign (R2-1) Standard:
01
Speed zones (other than statutory speed limits) shall only be established on the basis of an engineering
study that has been performed in accordance with traffic engineering practices. The engineering study
shall include an analysis of the current speed distribution of free-flowing vehicles.
So let me recap: I said âThatâs how much modern cars improved yet speed limits are still stuck in the 50s.â Do you seem anything snarky, immature and personal in this sentence? Me neitherâŚ
then TobinL replied:
âUmm because speed limits are about weather, road conditions,and human reaction time way way way more than crashworthiness. Also that was probably a low speed like 35mph crash. At 50+mph head on even modern cars come out looking pretty bad.â Which is incorrect
âAnd you came here just to complain about speed limits?â which is childish, snarky and personal.
Perhaps your patronizing "Behave like an adult, and youâll be treated like an adultâ was aimed at him
I guess sheâs lucky we live in New Zealand and people canât sue for such things.
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I love free vaccinations also. Our area health board (which provides publicly funded healthcare in our region) provides free annual flu vaccinations to all employees, with drop in clinics for weeks on end, on site, during work time. Iâve met several nurses just in the older adult service alone who donât get these vaccinations. It surprises me how people with health training can be so misinformed.
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[quote=âStilgar, post:32, topic:72731, full:trueâ]Not to disregard modern safety advances, which are miraculous, but the Bel Air they picked had the X frame design. The X frame was considered weak even then. Especially in a offset frontal crash. They picked the worst possible classic car to do this
[/quote]
Well said. If theyâd used a 1967 Pontiac Catalina wagon with a 400ci block the modern car would probably have been split in half.
I happened to be listening to the radio today, which I donât normally, and heard from a doctor activist that not getting the flu shot is very common among health professionals in Ireland. As in quite a concern. I was pretty shocked as we donât even have a big anti-vax movement here.
Oh god do we? Certainly nobody opted out in school with either of my childrenâŚ
She argued it was that most have not had an actual flu ( I got one for the first time the other year and I really felt how it wiped out more people after the Great War than the war itself⌠Fucking awful experience) and those that would suffer would be older people contacting them. And given that the interactions with the health service are massively skewed at involving older peopleâŚ
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Straw man, followed by âYeah, well, he started it.â I think weâre done here; at least, I am.
This BBS has very many subjects; itâs all-but certain that weâll agree on some of them. Pick one to talk about. Hell, pick a dozen: the more the merrier.
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