I have to agree that drivers are worse these days. In the past a lot of our customers got various types of accidents. These days pretty much half of them are being rear ended or crashing from the rear. Our fleet had to grow by 50 cars in the time I've worked to cover the increase in insurance replacements. Its probably excellent business to be a body repair shop these days.
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1986 MX-73 Cressida 5M-GE 290,000+ kms - SOLD (1986-2013)
2004 GD-67 Impreza EJ25 230,000+ kms - new daily
Our area has about twice as many huge body shops as it did 10 years ago... and they are all busy. In an area of approximately 3 million people that is growing, but not enough to warrant twice as many shops.
State Farm reports a 40% increase in claims over the same period (only company I deal with regularly).
Modern cars have had numerous airbags and side impact braces since the mid to late 90's. If it was simply a matter of air bags and modern improvements to safety features we would have seen a significant drop before 2005. I would think the more likely explanation for the drop in fatalities is due to the fact that fewer young people own and drive cars now than did in the past. Young drivers lack experience and are more likely to do something stupid behind the wheel of car which leads to fatalities. Fewer young drivers on the road means fewer fatalities.
I suppose you can either accept hard data or you can stick with "No drivers are worse because I drive a car and I say so." Which doesn't really hold any credibility for me but whatever works for you guys.
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Ignorance is the enemy of freedom, the destroyer of liberty
Our area has about twice as many huge body shops as it did 10 years ago... and they are all busy. In an area of approximately 3 million people that is growing, but not enough to warrant twice as many shops.
State Farm reports a 40% increase in claims over the same period (only company I deal with regularly).
Having a lot of Air Bags will do that. Drivers feel their invincible being enveloped in "pillows" on all four sides.
Modern cars have had numerous airbags and side impact braces since the mid to late 90's. If it was simply a matter of air bags and modern improvements to safety features we would have seen a significant drop before 2005. I would think the more likely explanation for the drop in fatalities is due to the fact that fewer young people own and drive cars now than did in the past. Young drivers lack experience and are more likely to do something stupid behind the wheel of car which leads to fatalities. Fewer young drivers on the road means fewer fatalities.
I suppose you can either accept hard data or you can stick with "No drivers are worse because I drive a car and I say so." Which doesn't really hold any credibility for me but whatever works for you guys.
Wow, you are one arrogant motherf***er.
And, a wrong one at that.
My wife's 2004 Impala had 2 airbags. They were not the modern "smart" airbags either.
Get a clue.
Oh, and please post some "hard data" to support your theory that there are fewer young drivers.
Our area has about twice as many huge body shops as it did 10 years ago... and they are all busy. In an area of approximately 3 million people that is growing, but not enough to warrant twice as many shops.
State Farm reports a 40% increase in claims over the same period (only company I deal with regularly).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenos
Modern cars have had numerous airbags and side impact braces since the mid to late 90's. If it was simply a matter of air bags and modern improvements to safety features we would have seen a significant drop before 2005. I would think the more likely explanation for the drop in fatalities is due to the fact that fewer young people own and drive cars now than did in the past. Young drivers lack experience and are more likely to do something stupid behind the wheel of car which leads to fatalities. Fewer young drivers on the road means fewer fatalities.
I suppose you can either accept hard data or you can stick with "No drivers are worse because I drive a car and I say so." Which doesn't really hold any credibility for me but whatever works for you guys.
Recent studies at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute show the share of 16- to 39-year-olds with driver's licenses declined markedly between 1983 and 2008. The greatest decreases were among drivers in their late teens and early 20s
The number of teen drivers has dramatically decreased over the past couple of decades. In 1983, 69% of all 17-year-olds had driver’s licenses. By 2008, only half of 17-year-olds had licenses. What’s behind the big drop?
The total number of car accidents in America in 1990 (fatal and non-fatal combined) was 11.5 million. In 2009 the number was 10.8 million. The highest year was 2000 with 13.4 million. On average however over the past decade the number has been 10 million and some change annually. Which means guess what fellas, drivers in America are not getting worse, they are just about as bad as they have always been. As I said.
So Xenos, are you trying to tell us that today's drivers are no more distracted than they were before the cell phone (and other electronic gadgets) era began?
Seriously?
The "hard data" you posted does NOT conclude that drivers are not worse than they were before. there are many variables that contribute. i.e. Anti-lock brakes and other safety features prevent many accidents which offsets accidents cause by inattentiveness.
I agree. I know there's a lot of purists that are all in a snit about the tail lamps. I think the new car looks really good and it's a marked improvement over the current body style.
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Ignorance is the enemy of freedom, the destroyer of liberty
So, overall traffic fatalities are down and the number of overall accidents has not changed in any significant amount over the past 23 years. We know this because there is actual data that shows it. But it doesn't matter, drivers today are worse because Vmax says so. lol Whatever.
Follow the logic here. Driver's today are supposedly worse because they are distracted by cell phones and other gadgets. This makes them worse drivers right? Only the number of overall accidents has not gone up at all. Wouldn't that actually make them better drivers? I mean if they are so distracted by their cell phone but there is no significant or measurable increase in car accidents, those distracted drivers must actually be pretty good at multi-tasking. lol Food for thought.
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Ignorance is the enemy of freedom, the destroyer of liberty
Yeah I'm not comparing this car to anything else, just looking at it fresh.
Agreed. I've never been a big proponent of the notion that a car model must look the same year after year after year out of some sense of tradition. It's just a car. If it looks good, it looks good. This car looks good.
If the purists are really so worried about keeping the car static then lets demand that Chevy go pack to putting the 150 hp Blue Flame inline 6 motor in the Corvette. While we're at it lets go back to that 1950's era suspension. Maybe an AM radio too. No that would obviously be completely unacceptable. But oh God, get rid of the round tail lamps and it's the end of the world. lol
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Ignorance is the enemy of freedom, the destroyer of liberty
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