head-on collision: old car vs new

[LizzieMaine]

Anything's possible. I could slip on the sidewalk walking to the mailbox this very evening and crack my head open and die on the street, with only cigarette butts, wharf rats, and wandering salt-heads to witness my sad end. I could contract flesh-eating bacteria from a dirty fork while eating breakfast next week at my favorite greasy spoon, and my arm could rot off, forcing me to spend the rest of my life with an itch in the middle of my back that I'll never be able to reach. I could turn on cable news out of boredom some night and die of enuui.

But you know what? I'm not going to live my life in constant, quivering terror of somehow dying. Because I *am* going to die, don't know where or when, but the result is inevitable. And I resolved a long time ago not to feel like I had to spend my whole life in denial of that fact. If I get hit by a car, or a grand piano pushed off a roof by a nearby MIT student, or a radioactive meteor from space, so be it. I'm just not going to worry about it, and I don't need somebody passing laws telling me that I have to worry about it just because they do.

The last time I fell off a bike was in 1974. I cut myself up pretty badly, and still have scars from it -- but I survived. My sister hit a pothole on her bike a couple years later, was flung over the handlebars, and landed on her face. She still has a rock shoved up under the skin on her cheek, but she survived. A guy I went to school with got nailed by a car and smashed his arm so bad the bone was sticking out -- he walked calmly to the nearest payphone, called his mother, and told her she'd better hurry because he wanted to get home in time to watch the game. And he survived. Maybe we were all made of cast iron, but we survived.

 

[Old Rogue]

Excellent points Scotty. I used to love going to South Carolina on my motorcycle for exactly the same reason. Then one day I was riding my bike when a dog bolted in front of me causing me to lay the bike down. I wound up sliding feet first on my back along the asphalt. I don't remember my head hitting the pavement, but when I removed my helmet the back of it was all bashed up. The only injuries I suffered were my pride and a bruise on my butt. Fortunately I was also wearing a heavy jacket and leather gloves, so no road rash.

On the seat belt front, I've been a volunteer firefighter for about 18 years and have seen many motor vehicle collisions (we don't call them accidents because that implies those involved had no control over what happened; almost never the case). There is the rare case where wearing a seat belt actually caused the injuries to be worse, but 99.9% of the time they prevented more serious injuries. I now wear my seat belts all the time not because it's the law but because they really do work.

Many years ago, I used to ride into Connecticut so I could legally ride sans helmet. As the years passed, I found that my desire to pull over after crossing the border to remove my lid diminished to nothing. Was it because I was getting older? Smarter? Definitely the second, as far as I'm concerned.

I never rode without a helmet in NY mainly because it was illegal. In later years, I didn't ride without a helmet in places I could because I thought it was better decision to wear one. I realized I didn't need a law to make me do the smarter thing.

It was around that time that I began to wear seat belts on a regular basis, as well. I no longer felt put upon by the law to 'do the right thing.' I guess I had grown up in that regard, and my pride had taken a back seat to common sense.

 

[cklos]

I agree.....as I said, I respect your right to not wear a helmet....all your examples are valid........and pigs could fly tomorrow too. I was pointing out the rules of the road have evolved over time. What is happening on the streets and highways now, has radically changed over time. Insurance companies have influenced lawmakers accordingly. I want my son to wear one on his bike, and the best way is to lead by example......... even though I never wore one as a kid racing around the streets of Astoria........ I flipped my bike and tore up my arms, and was hit by a pick-up while delivering meat (also on a bike with a basket on the front, I think it was a 1960's Schwinn) from the neighborhood butcher shop....(no helmet either time).......I would still recommend people to wear one. But, do as you will.....

Anything's possible. I could slip on the sidewalk walking to the mailbox this very evening and crack my head open and die on the street, with only cigarette butts, wharf rats, and wandering salt-heads to witness my sad end. I could contract flesh-eating bacteria from a dirty fork while eating breakfast next week at my favorite greasy spoon, and my arm could rot off, forcing me to spend the rest of my life with an itch in the middle of my back that I'll never be able to reach. I could turn on cable news out of boredom some night and die of enuui.

But you know what? I'm not going to live my life in constant, quivering terror of somehow dying. Because I *am* going to die, don't know where or when, but the result is inevitable. And I resolved a long time ago not to feel like I had to spend my whole life in denial of that fact. If I get hit by a car, or a grand piano pushed off a roof by a nearby MIT student, or a radioactive meteor from space, so be it. I'm just not going to worry about it, and I don't need somebody passing laws telling me that I have to worry about it just because they do.

The last time I fell off a bike was in 1974. I cut myself up pretty badly, and still have scars from it -- but I survived. Most of us did.

 

[scottyrocks]

But you know what? I'm not going to live my life in constant, quivering terror of somehow dying. Because I *am* going to die, don't know where or when, but the result is inevitable. And I resolved a long time ago not to feel like I had to spend my whole life in denial of that fact. If I get hit by a car, or a grand piano pushed off a roof by a nearby MIT student, or a radioactive meteor from space, so be it. I'm just not going to worry about it, and I don't need somebody passing laws telling me that I have to worry about it just because they do.

These situations are very different from wearing seat belts or helmets. You wear seat belts and helmets while engaging in activities that are inherently and potentially dangerous, to protect you from very predictable results when a 3000 lb vehicle makes sudden contact with an object it wasn't supposed to. The chances of a piano or a meteor falling on you while walking down the street are statistically nil. I don't worry about auto accidents. I certainly wouldn't worry about falling refrigerators and meteors, and therefore not wear an 'anti-refrigerator and meteor falling on my head' helmet.

 

[scottyrocks]

I began wearing a bicycle helmet when I started riding off-road. The chances of falling are significantly greater while trail riding than street riding. There are also lots of hard, sharp rocks and things along the trail. I still don't wear a helmet when bicycle riding on the street. Seems extraordinarily unnecessary to me.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Yup, that's the way it's supposed to be, if you ask me. I ran my foot over with a lawnmower and chopped up three toes. I just bandaged it up and went back to mowing (I was 9 and more afraid of being yelled at than of being hurt) my dad came out and questioned why I shut the mower off and when I told him why, he was more scared than I had ever seen lol I fell down, fell of my bike, fell off a barn roof, and done zillions of other stupid things kids do, it's part of life and most likely you'll be okay and if you're not, that's the risk you take in taking risks in life.

The last time I fell off a bike was in 1974. I cut myself up pretty badly, and still have scars from it -- but I survived. My sister hit a pothole on her bike a couple years later, was flung over the handlebars, and landed on her face. She still has a rock shoved up under the skin on her cheek, but she survived. A guy I went to school with got nailed by a car and smashed his arm so bad the bone was sticking out -- he walked calmly to the nearest payphone, called his mother, and told her she'd better hurry because he wanted to get home in time to watch the game. And he survived. Maybe we were all made of cast iron, but we survived.

Yeah, it's a crying shame. I heard Ford got more hate-mail than they ever have in their history. I honestly thought I'd be buying Panther cars the rest of my life lol

It's shame the Crown Vic, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car are done. They shut down the St. Thomas Ontario plant a few months ago.

That's what I always say, when God pulls your cord, its' your time. You see people that are health conscious and careful and do everything right and they get hit by a broccoli truck. Then you have the folks that smoke and drink every day and eat bacon at every meal and live to be 105. I hope to be one of the latter!

Bingo

The way I look at it... when it's your time to go, it's your time and since life is so short, you may as well enjoy life the way you want (as long as it's legal) and I want to drive a car that makes me happy. I'm very happy driving a classic car

 

[scottyrocks]

You see people that are health conscious and careful and do everything right and they get hit by a broccoli truck.

Haha! That's priceless!

 

[Stanley Doble]

"Then you have the folks that smoke and drink every day and eat bacon at every meal and live to be 105. I hope to be one of the latter!"

They aren't really 105. They just look 105.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My great-aunt Katherine smoked and drank until she was 99, they told her she had to quit or she would die. She quit and died right after.

"Then you have the folks that smoke and drink every day and eat bacon at every meal and live to be 105. I hope to be one of the latter!"

They aren't really 105. They just look 105.

 

[rue]

That's what I always say, when God pulls your cord, its' your time. You see people that are health conscious and careful and do everything right and they get hit by a broccoli truck. Then you have the folks that smoke and drink every day and eat bacon at every meal and live to be 105. I hope to be one of the latter!

I'm going with the latter too... God knows I don't want to be hit by a broccoli truck :eeek:

 

[cklos]

Excellent point......:eusa_clap

"Then you have the folks that smoke and drink every day and eat bacon at every meal and live to be 105. I hope to be one of the latter!"

They aren't really 105. They just look 105.

 

[jamespowers]

Anything's possible. I could slip on the sidewalk walking to the mailbox this very evening and crack my head open and die on the street, with only cigarette butts, wharf rats, and wandering salt-heads to witness my sad end. I could contract flesh-eating bacteria from a dirty fork while eating breakfast next week at my favorite greasy spoon, and my arm could rot off, forcing me to spend the rest of my life with an itch in the middle of my back that I'll never be able to reach. I could turn on cable news out of boredom some night and die of enuui.

But you know what? I'm not going to live my life in constant, quivering terror of somehow dying. Because I *am* going to die, don't know where or when, but the result is inevitable. And I resolved a long time ago not to feel like I had to spend my whole life in denial of that fact. If I get hit by a car, or a grand piano pushed off a roof by a nearby MIT student, or a radioactive meteor from space, so be it. I'm just not going to worry about it, and I don't need somebody passing laws telling me that I have to worry about it just because they do.

The last time I fell off a bike was in 1974. I cut myself up pretty badly, and still have scars from it -- but I survived. My sister hit a pothole on her bike a couple years later, was flung over the handlebars, and landed on her face. She still has a rock shoved up under the skin on her cheek, but she survived. A guy I went to school with got nailed by a car and smashed his arm so bad the bone was sticking out -- he walked calmly to the nearest payphone, called his mother, and told her she'd better hurry because he wanted to get home in time to watch the game. And he survived. Maybe we were all made of cast iron, but we survived.

Exactly! The point is that it is not the governments job to protect you from yourself. I own my body so I can do what I want with it---it is only the slave that cannot do what he wants to because he does not own himself. Sorry to tell the government---you don't own me---leave me alone!

 

[jamespowers]

My great-aunt Katherine smoked and drank until she was 99, they told her she had to quit or she would die. She quit and died right after.

Stopping smoking and drinking killed her.

 

[jamespowers]

Although I knew I wouldn't find anything, I looked for any film I could find of a 1957 GMC pickup, or the like, either being crashed or after a crash. Even so, I would have to believe that running said truck and Mini, for instance, into each other would not result in the Mini's occupants being worse off than the truck's. Do you think that hitting a 1957 pickup would be worse than hitting this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPt-u1LZj8U

A video showing the occupants of the truck in an identical crash would be enlightening. I doubt that the passenger compartment would have remained as intact as that of the Mini or a Fiat 500. If you have any footage of a truck like yours being run into a wall I'd like to see it.

Sure. It wouldn't hurt the Mini---just like the Q4 didn't hurt the Fiat.:rofl:

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I know, that's why I never will, it'll kill me

Stopping smoking and drinking killed her.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Interview with George Burns at 90

Mr Burns is it true you smoke 5 cigars every day?

That's true.

Is it true you drink 2 martinis every evening?

That's true.

Is it true you take a different young lady out every night?

That's true.

What does your doctor say about all this?

My doctor's dead.

 

[rue]

Interview with George Burns at 90

Mr Burns is it true you smoke 5 cigars every day?

That's true.

Is it true you drink 2 martinis every evening?

That's true.

Is it true you take a different young lady out every night?

That's true.

What does your doctor say about all this?

My doctor's dead.

:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

And he lived to be 100

 

[cklos]

The bottom line is, people want to be free and independent. I don't blame them, so do I. But when the "one in a million" event happens, and the lawsuits are filed... the tune changes. What used to be "When your number is up, it's your time to go" becomes "I can't believe this happend, somebody has to pay!" That's why certain laws are enacted, to protect people from their hubris......(and save billions in legal fees to boot). People used to drink radium in the early 1900's. Didn't work out so well.....but I'm sure someone will say their Great-Grandpappy lived to 110 ingesting it every day......and he had a beautiful, glowing complexion....lol

 

[scottyrocks]

Some laws are enacted to enable some people to survive long enough to realize they should be doing what the law requires them to do without the coercion of said law.

Due to some of my behaviors and attitudes when I was younger, if there were no seatbelt or helmet laws I wouldn't be sitting here now. I will not drive without a seatbelt, and certainly not ride without a helmet, laws or no.

Years ago, I went to an 'anti-helmet' (really 'pro-choice') rally in Albany. There were over a thousand bikes there which means close to 2000 people. Helmets were not required for the ride from the campground to the capitol. I was one of maybe a dozen who did wear a helmet.

I was asked a number of times why I was wearing a helmet at an 'anti-helmet' rally. My response was that it was not an 'anti-helmet' rally, it was a 'pro-choice' rally. If anyone wanted to choose to have a more likely chance of having a debilitating head injury, or death, by not wearing a helmet, then I was there to support that because I, too, don't like the government telling me what I can and cannot do with my own well-being. But my choice was to wear my helmet.

I would hold the same view if there was an anti-seat belt rally (which will never happen, by the way, just due to the difference in natures between car drivers and a certain type of motorcycle rider). I would not participate in such a rally, but my views would remain the same because I want the government off our backs, in general.

 

[jamespowers]

, but my views would remain the same because I want the government off our backs, in general.

Now we agree.