I go to a lot of car meets and car shows in the #sfba; that’s one of the main ways I relax and socialize on weekends.
Last week, a regular and very active member of the local car community died in a solo crash on a local highway when his car caught on fire; the cause of the fire and crash is still a mystery. He was a very popular character in the local car scene, and was friendly and generous to everyone.
Today I attended a pretty big memorial meet where we all did a “moment of noise” where everyone revved their engine and generally made noise (while remaining stationary) for a minute to pay tribute to his love of cars and driving.
I gotta say, his death and the outpouring of sympathy from the community really got to me. I can’t believe he’s gone.
The story was published in, and then removed from Road and Track. You should probably read it.
“If you wanted to turn someone into a socialist you could do it in about an hour by taking them for a spin around the paddock of a Formula 1 race. The kind of money I saw will haunt me forever.”
There’s something wrong with parking lot design these days. My car is the red one. I have about a foot left in front of me. The truck is pulled all the way in and still blocks several feet of the driving area. This vehicle also has a hitch that sticks out an additional 8-10 inches. #parking#parkinglots#HighCostOfFreeParking#carCulture#AutomobileCulture
#CarCulture
So what does everyone use for ice cleats? I have a pair you bande to pull over your shoes but I find them now too hard to pull over my boots. And I also don't find them. Ha ha.
I've just ordered these
Stabilicers Maxx
I hope they're okay, but I can, at least return them if not. And replace the cleats when they wear.
Went for a drive across town yesterday. Crazy.
Lots of really stupid maneuvers, selfishness, cluelessness, honking galore, etc. I’d love to see the daily accident stats these days. It used to be Ottawa averaged something like 30 per day in the warm months, 50 in the winter. Something tells me those numbers are going to go up.
Post-Covid Driving Syndrome is a thing.
Just to clarify for @human3500, that was all other drivers, not me 😉
Remember driving a manual transmission, without a working radio, and not even a smartphone to entertain you at a stoplight?
You just had to sit there, think your thoughts and feel your feelings, before timing the movement of clutch and accelerator with your feet to get into first gear.
Driving was a whole mind and body exercise.
Automating machinery to make it easier to manage can end up sublimating our own sense of self.
It's screamingly obvious that the person(s) in charge of designing modern bus shelters has absolutely no intention of using them themselves. Open to the elements with a narrow plank as a tokenistic nod towards proving seating. #CarBrain#carculture
Carculture | Wenn die Autogeilheit das Hirn frisst
Ich bin gerade Unterwegs um jemanden in Wiesloch zu besuchen. Am Bahnhof Wiesloch-Walldorf angekommen gehe ich zuerst in die Unterführung und Folge dem Hinweispfeil mit der Beschriftung 'Bus' der mich nach rechts führt. Dort treffe ich dann jenseits der Gleisanlage auf eine Haltestelle, aber das ist nicht die, die ich suche. Also zurück durch die Unterführung auf die andere Seite. Und da war ich ziemlich perplex, ein Warteraum, Toiletten, ein geschlossener Bahnhofskiosk und ein mittleres Parkdeck. Wo war die Haltestelle? Sowohl OSMAnd+, als auch Google Maps und auch die App des VRN meinten das ich direkt daneben stehen würde, aber da war nichts. Schließlich nach einigen Suchen fand ich sie. Auf dem Dach des Parkdecks, zwei Stockwerke höher! Und das alles nur das die Autofahrer möglichst nah am Bahnhof parken können und ja keinen Schritt zu viel gehen müssen! Na danke!
I remain baffled by the current trend in Helsinki, where certain people are complaining that new bike paths are ”ruining the city for pedestrians”. Car culture as the literal invisible elephant in the room.
In Helsinki 70% of the accidents where a pedestrian was hurt or killed in traffic involved a car or a van, versus 5 % involving cyclists (latest data from 2010–2019).
Yesterday night, on our bike ride from school, as my helmeted kid and I were stopped at a red light on the painted bike lane, the driver next to us lowered their window to ask me where my helmet was.
Initially taken aback by the sheer entitlement of the request, I curtly told them to mind their own business, after all they were driving 2 tons of metal so where was their helmet?
Visibly on the back foot, they tried to justify that they were a “concerned [citizen]” (wink @bekopharm ). I replied I was concerned cars like theirs could kill me, which gave them an opportunity to mention the hypothetical usefulness of a helmet (in a collision with a car, it’s near useless).
Then the light turned green and while we started to ride away, they pretended to ram me by swerving at low speed into the bike lane.
At this point I’m used to drivers simply annoyed at bicyclists, probably because they would like to cross at the red too, but this was a new one for me.