Bone heads hurt by cars?

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

I just love the modern solutions for safety. Don't treat the problem, treat 
the symptom.

Why is it considered desireable to make it safer to hit pedestrians? 
Whatever happened to the idea that it is safer not to hit them? Accidents 
happen, but surely there are limits to the practicality or even utility of 
making it safer to mow down a pedestrian.

We are in the grip of similar legislation concerning young drivers (16 to 
18). It seems the best way to train them is to make sure they can't drive 
as often. Get this: our young drivers will be subject to a 12:00 midnight 
curfew. Also, there will be zero tolerance for alcohol. Excuse me? The 
legal drinking age here is 18, why is it considered necessary to make 
another rule about illegal drinking? All my daughters are teetotallers 
(dunno where they got that from) and my youngest, sharp as a tack, pointed 
out that now the sober 16 year old will have to get a ride home with the 
drunk 18 year old if it's after midnight.

The world is becoming a silly place indeed. We have the proliferation of so 
called extreme sports at the same time as we apparently seek absurd levels 
of safety blankets from our Governments. Reminds me of the Sears catalogue 
which used to advertise snowblowers and chain saws just before the pages 
advertising exercise machines. Think about it a moment....

Cheers

(PS it's friggin' cold this morning, minus 30C overnight and the old 86 
SAAB turbo didn't want to start (out on the street miles from a plug in for 
the block heater). For those debating the virtues or not of synthetic oils 
let me tell you that with Castrol Syntec 5W 50 in the sump the old beast 
turned over no problem. Best thing about synthetic is the cold flow 
characteristics. Trouble is at minus 30 C gasoline gets reluctant to 
vaporize in the cold cylinder heads so it won't fire properly! Got the old 
booster cables out of the garage and she started right up with a boost from 
my other SAAB, after a short period with the foot to the floor to clear the 
flooding. For those sceptical about this with a FI engine, SAAB thought of 
that and wired a thermo switch into the full throttle enrichment switch 
circuit, when it gets cold enough flooring the gas pedal shuts off the 
injectors to allow you to purge the engine of wet fuel, then as you let the 
throttle close she fires right up, brilliant. Can't boost from the Alfa 
without a tool kit and an hour to persuade the battery cover to come off!)


Michael Smith
White 1991 164L
Original owner
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