http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/05/0610.html

Their all new VDIM vehicle dynamics system was already impressive when I tested it out previously. They've added one more function to the alphabet soup contained within VDIM: active steering.

Included in this announcement is a new dual-chamber airbag design. I wonder if we'll start to see this in lots of newer cars or if this is more of a small tweak than a revolutionary design? Combine that with variable inflation curtain airbags, side airbags, and knee airbags and I don't understand how you can hurt yourself that badly in a car these days unless the structure collapses on top of you or you are ejected from the car due to not wearing your seatbelt.

 

http://www.cincystreetscene.com/foru...ad.php?t=18324
this makes me question the safety of cars today
trust me, i drive this road atleast once a week, and it's a doozy

on the toyota note, seems like a small tweak, albeit good

 

Maybe next we could REALLY step up safety and actually teach people how to control a car? Oh wait. people might have to take responsibility for something. Cant have that...

Im all for safe cars. But I also wonder how much good it does when people still havent basic knowledge of how to control their extremely safe air-bag filled vehicle...

 

When I was in Germany my friend there told me you have to go to 'driving school' to earn you license and it costs something like 1200DM (which was at the time $600 US).

Balk at that if you will...but I saw MUCH safer driving from speeds of 70mph to 150 mph than I do anywhere over here.

 

Yeah, I don't care how much safety features you have at 55+mph it doesn't really matter. I run into idiots everyday. Road rage is one of my pet peaves.

One time I was merging on the interstate and I had to kind of cut a guy off because he wasn't wanting to let me merge in, except I was running out of road. So I cut over and he got pissed; flew around me got about half a vehicle ahead of me and swerved over /HARD/ towards my lane. Luckily I've had some experience w/ vehicles so I was able to keep my 01' Venture on all 4 wheels. Sad thing I had my 3 month old daughter in the back seat. Unfortunately, I didn't get the plate# because I honestly didn't want to tail him with the type of individual he obviously was (White trash redneck - beat up truck). But god do I wish a Police Officer was around at that time... grrrrr

 

Best safety feature = brain.

Second best safety feature = a car you don't fall asleep in.

 

Its your responsibility to yeild during a merge. No matter what the circumstance. I understand your point but you were just as liable as him.

 

True, but at no point did my action endanger the both of us. He just had to slow down, and it made him mad. If I remember right it was memorial day weekend (a year ago) so he was probably drunk.

 

We can make cars safer all day long, but what I think this country really needs to focus on is making sure the idiot behind the wheel knows how to drive.

We need to take the issuing of driver's licenseces out of the control of the states and make it the responsibility of the federal government. No matter where you live, you will be required to take the same strigent driver's training class and license test. They need to have classroom time of course, but I think 40 hours of in car training under all imaginable circumstances(including teaching people how to recover from a skid, driving in rain at night, snow, in heavy traffic, teaching people how to drive a stick, etc.)

I know this proposal is very expensive, but it would save thousands of lives a year, something you can't put a price on. Not to mention it would be much harder for criminals to get fake ID's if there was one federal goverment department that issued all ID's.

 

Yah.. it's pretty bad when people don't understand that merging traffic has to give way . More ammunition for making people take a new test every 10 years. Cuz a lot of folk do not seem to understand what the rules are.
Maybe this explains the number of people who I see yakking away on their phone when they're merging - paying zero attention to the flow of traffic on the road they're merging onto.

Regardless, I slow down to let people merge or move over if I can because you have to assume these people are morons or plain rude.

 

Well, I did forget to mention that he was behind me on the on-ramp. He merged over (before your supposed too) and then proceeded to speed up to not let me over for whatever reason. So make your own call on that one, but even if I COMPLETELY cut him off and he had to slam on his brakes that still does not excuse "purposely" putting somebodies life in danger because your "upset".

Just to clarify that he was /not/ just travelling down the road and I "cut him off."


I travel about 75% and so I see alot of idiots on the road. Stiffer penalties. Period.

 

I do the same things, but do so out of common courtesy.

 

I'm not following you here. How did he merge 'before he was supposed to', was he jumping the median for a chance to pass you or something?

Otherwise, if the on-ramp lane and the highway were going parallel with no divider, and if you weren't speeding up to match trafiic, i would have merged and passed you too. Few things irritiate me worse than people who don't understand that the point of an on-ramp is to get up to speed so you can merge as quickly as is safe. On ramps are not there so you can putz around and make everyone around you adjust their speed and lane preference.

 

OK, I guess I have to give a point by point explanation: LOL.

1) I am on On-Ramp already going 60mp (55mph) Loop (465 - Indy)

2) Truck comes bearing up on me probably doing 80+. Get's on my *** - like I can smell his breath close.

3) As I turn on my signal to merge (this is a short on-ramp with incoming cement embankment) I start to merge over.

4) Idiot cuts over across the gravel (between on-ramp and I465) accelerating as fast as that truck will allow.

5) I was halfway over when I saw him pull this stunt, and I continued to merge sort of cutting him off in a way but not really.

6) Idiot is now on my *** again because there is traffic in the left lane and he can't pass me. At this time i'm doing 65mph (10 over speed limit)

7) Left lane frees up and he gets on it and passes me and then when he has his bed about even with my engine compartment - he swerves over and tries to run me off the road. Then sticks his hand out the window flips me off and proceeds down the interstate.

At this time, I almost called the police; but I didn't get a plate number and I didn't dare follow him with a kid in the vehicle.

I don't see any fault in what I did other then doing my best to avoid a douche bag that probably shouldn't be driving in the first place.

 

OK, so he basically jumped a soft gravel divider for a chance to pass you, no big deal.

As you could tell, my second paragraph was aimed at one of my pet peeves on the highway, which it doesn't seem like you fell into. Without the explanation you sounded like one of those 40mph on the ramp, waiting till the last second to merge type of people that are always causing wrecks and traffic back-ups.