As the years go by, our technology gets increasingly sophisticated.  We now have the ability to do things MUCH better than we were able to do in years gone by.

So why is it that newer automobile designs are, generally, increasingly worse?  This doesn't make sense!  Who ARE these people coming up with this?  Lemme just start this off with a list of common devolutions in modern vehicles today.

Bumper Farings/Cozys :  The idea of a bumper is pretty simple and straight forward.  A tough bar mounted for and aft to protect the rig from low impact dings - keeping repair expenses down .  Also, the bumper is a surface to mount accoutrements like bike racks and hitches.  How does it make sense to put an expensive piece of moulded plastic over this thing to negate all these advantages?!!!  Grandmaw might knit us a useless cozy to place over our toasters when not in use; but we can just throw these away.  These "Bumper Cozys" are not designed to do this.  It is a useless, expensive burden that should not have to be tolerated.

Infinity of  Useless Alarms:  After after buying a 2006 Matrix, I found I was continually bombarded by alarms that would distract me to the point of being a danger on the road.  It would even scream at me if I had failed to seat belt in a bag of groceries, I was so unfourtunate as to put in the passenger seat.

No Rain Gutters:  We had long possessed the technology to correct the problem of rain coming into passenger compartments thru windows.  Rain gutters were on horse drawn carriages in the 15th century.  But now, it appears, the auto industry has bought into the idea of climate change.  Apparently it no longer rains in the 21st Century cause vehicles no longer have rain gutters!  Or is it that it has become fashionable to never roll ones windows down?  Hello?

No Tie downs:  Did people stop putting things in pick-up beds that can roll around or blow out?  Did people stop car topping boats, ladders, mattresses, plyboard?  We must have, because we no longer put any kind of tie downs on our rigs.  This is true even with trucks;....cars?....forget it.

This is just a short list.  I'll probably be back to add to this as time permits.  Anyone else have any additions? 

---

An ascendant man, living in a degenerate age, MUST, by definition, live in contradistinction to his times.

CAN'T BELIEVE I forgot to include one of my very favorite new automotive pet peeves - the DREADED DRL!

DRL......DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS:  On my older Chevy pick-up I was able to defeat the absurd DRL by pulling a fuse.  It would knock out my fog lights too, if I had them, but I didn't, so I could pull the fuse without further negative effects.  On this Matrix the deal isn't so easy and I have been living with this thing.  The only way I've found to run the engine with the lights off is to have the E brake engaged and start the rig.  The lights will remain off.  Drop the E brake and them lights come on....and you CAN'T shut them off.

Hows this for a concept?  "Hey headlights are so cool; if we hardwire the things to come on and go off with the motor, we can FORCE people to run their lights 100% of the time - completely againt their will!!!!  This is great!"

If I want my headlights on - I can turn them on.  I know the skills.  I've done it before.

If I want my lights off - I can turn them off.  I know the skills.  I've done it before.

It's MY rig and MY responsibility to run it safely.  Auto Industry:  leave me alone so I can do that!  If you think you are doing me a favor - you aren't.  Don't do me any favors like this.  If you MUST do me these kinds of "favors", make them so I can easily defeat them.

 

---

An ascendant man, living in a degenerate age, MUST, by definition, live in contradistinction to his times.

You're funny, B, and I agree with some of your complaints, like the loss of rain gutters. I think they were a casualty of the wind tunnell.

But the daytime running lights just make sense. There is no reason NOT to have them on when the car is running, as there is no significant cost to having them on and there is a HUGE body of evidence showing that they save lives by improving visibility. Yes, most people know how to turn the lights on, but many are too dumb to do it. (I see people driving in the dark every morning on the way to work -- as though they're trying to conserve their batteries. There's also a big group who think parking lights look "cool", so they drive around in the fog and dark with the parking lights lit... I can't WAIT for those people to get a new vehicle.)

By the way, hubby, a product of the 60s and a real old car buff, says his new 2007 Chevy truck is the best vehicle he has EVER owned. It's safer, more powerful, more comfortable, and more fuel-efficient than any of his old trucks.

"There is no reason NOT to have them on when the car is running, as there is no significant cost to having them on and there is a HUGE body of evidence showing that they save lives by improving visibility."

Oh Hope, Hope, Hope!!! Where do I begin?!!

It's easy to emass a "huge body of evidence" if you ignore the victims.  If I toss bricks from highway overpasses into traffic, one could easily amass evidence of how safe this is ......for ME.  The people catching the bricks?  well....we won't look at the evidence for that. 

The biggest victims of this insanity would be the motorcycle riders.  THEY are the ones who should be using daytime headlights.  I myself almost tagged a cycle rider lost in a sea of oncoming daytime running lights.  When the lead vehicle came past me and the other rigs were turning left; I began my left turn,only to discover that cyclist in my crosshairs.  He lived to tell the tale, but no thanks to them DRLs on the cars around him. If he would just have had HIS lights on with the car lights off, he would have stood out like a sore thumb.

Ever just drive by a road hazard and try to signal an oncoming car to the danger?..by flashing your headlights?  Say goodbye to that one too....thanks to the "safety" of DRLs.  When that guy wrecks do they chalk it up to DRL's?

 

 

---

An ascendant man, living in a degenerate age, MUST, by definition, live in contradistinction to his times.

Sorry, Badgerrrrrr, that just doesn't make sense.

Are motorcyclists just SOL at night if you're at the helm and trying to merge? After all, ALL the headlights on all the other vehicles are on then too.

The reason fatalities are reduced by daytime running lights is because visibility is improved, whether vehicles are alone or in groups. And that's the same reason the "DRLs" became mandatory on motorcycles -- a requirement that was greeted with the same sort of complaining. I was riding motorcycles at the time and I was one of the folks doing the complaining, but I quit when I realized "DRL" was a safety feature without cost.

I still had another motorist cause a collision by suddenly pulling out in front of me in the early 80s: he said he didn't see me, an incredibly irritating statement under the circumstances, as I was leading other traffic riding a VERY brightly painted, VERY large motorcycle with an oversized halogen headlight.

Now my bike has a headlight modulator which creates a pulsing effect to attract attention. It's been installed about three years and nobody has pulled in front of me since I installed it, but I think it's just a matter of time.

"...headlight modulator which creates a pulsing effect to attract attention"

When the auto industry reads this and "improves" auto safety by putting these on all the new cars, you think your light is still going to help you much?

When you are in a room, painted in International Orange, full of traffic cones- a bright orange safety vest is camoflauge.

"...Are motorcyclists just SOL at night ..."  They always have been.  The issue I am talking about doesn't address visibility for cyclists after dark and, yes, it IS and always has been a problem.  But this is another discussion of different possible solutions.  DRLs neither help or hurt this issue. (the lights are all on anyway - even on rigs without DRLs.)

---

An ascendant man, living in a degenerate age, MUST, by definition, live in contradistinction to his times.

Yesterday morning we experienced extremely heavy fog. It was the sort of fog that reduced visibility to only a few car lengths. Amazingly, there was a strong minority contingent of Libertarians out there exercising their right to keep their headlights OFF.

I started counting the idiots after nearly merging in front of one I didn't see until the last instant. They appeared to comprise 5% to 10% of the traffic at 0700.

I'm fine with allowing others the freedom to indulge their idiocy until it adversely effects MY rights or the safety of me and my family.

The "safety orange traffic cone" argument is specious. This isn't a close call.

Show me a link to research detailing the dangers of "DRL", or even a motorcycle safety specialist who believes DRL represent a threat.  I found a truck-load showing the associated safety advantages.