One of the things I’m quite surprised about is that drivers nowdays must
have ‘perfect’ cars and don’t know what to do if it doesn’t work right.
1. It’s just a machine.
2. It’s made by imperfect humans
3. Possibility is that it might fail at some point.
When I learned how to drive, I was driving a 1962 Corvair 700 coupe with
Powerglide. Ralph Commie Nader had come out with his book but it hadn’t
affected our Corvair any. (Fast driving with Powerglide? Surely you jest.)
We did have one problem with the Corvair. The throttle had to run a long
rod back to the engine. Every once in a while, the spring on the rod
couldn’t quite pull it back when you let up on the throttle. Wouldn’t run
away, but it could cause you to overshoot a corner if you weren’t careful or
weren’t expecting it. I did that on my driver’s test, as a matter of fact.
In those days, smart parents made kids understand what to do in the case of
certain problems. Learning how to change a tire was mandatory, for
instance.
Are people living in such a ‘perfect’ world that they don’t learn at least
the basics of what to do if things go wrong? I know how to:
1. Slam the car from Drive to Neutral if the engine runs away.
2. Stand on the brake if I can’t get it to go to neutral
3. Turn the key off. The only thing I lose is power brake and power
steering.
4. Pull the hand brake. There’s no power assist on that, but it will take
longer.
If so, then America IS finished. We’re too stupid to survive. We’ve already
proved as a nation that we’ll sell our birthright for a fix of Hopium. As
Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does."
Maybe we ought to bring back radios that glow in the dark. . . .
Charles Grozny