Car ?'s

ToeMissile said:

You guys have a few *cough* years on me, but I definitely remember those seatbelts. Also, we had a ford conversion van, so on family trips all the kids would sleep in the laid down back seats with blankets all over.
I would have been no older than 7 and siblings down to 3, though I’m pretty sure they were still in car seats.

now stats:

Historical Car Crash Deaths and Rates - Injury Facts

Between 1913 and 2021, the number of motor-vehicle deaths in the United States increased 1,018%, from 4,200 deaths in 1913 to 46,980 in 2021.

injuryfacts.nsc.org

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Interesting that cars haven't really gotten much safer (deaths per 100M miles) in the past 20ish years (1.58 in 1999 to 1.2 in 2019) and that safety has actually backslid a bit in the past 10. Also, the .26 jump from 2019 to 2020 (1.46) is pretty huge in context of the annual changes in the rest of the chart. Covid incidents while driving maybe? or lockdowns creating driving patterns that are more risky than normal? Maybe in-town trips were reduced more than higher-speed highway miles?

Sanrith Descartes said:

"Safety equipment".

I remember riding in cars that didn't come out of the factory with seat belts.

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I’m going to get mad insults for this but fuck it, it’s entirely true. Father had a Ford Thunderbird, I was 5, front seat no seat belt and the passenger door had a propensity to fly open. He took a turn at a light and I went flying out, confused as fuck laying in the middle of the road this man comes up to me and says “you just going to lay there all fucking day or get back in the car?” The same fucking man who thinks my 4 year old daughter needs to be wrapped in bubble wrap because she’s clumsy as all 4 year olds are. SMFH.

mkopec said:

the drivers influence those stats too.

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good point, most of those 2010+ increases are probably due to texting

Control said:

Interesting that cars haven't really gotten much safer (deaths per 100M miles) in the past 20ish years (1.58 in 1999 to 1.2 in 2019) and that safety has actually backslid a bit in the past 10. Also, the .26 jump from 2019 to 2020 (1.46) is pretty huge in context of the annual changes in the rest of the chart. Covid incidents while driving maybe? or lockdowns creating driving patterns that are more risky than normal? Maybe in-town trips were reduced more than higher-speed highway miles?

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Cars are much safer than even 10 years ago. Drivers have gotten much worse. Places like Omaha where the police don't have time to do traffic enforcement has lots of wrecks and a lot of fatalities. The intersection down the street from where I lived had 4 fatal accidents in nearly as many days. Interstates near there were complete mayhem. I was behind a huge train of vehicles and all of them blew a red light without slowing down. I imagine this is the same everywhere enforcement is lacking.

Araysar said:

Got the diagnostic tool, ran it to pull the codes. 0 codes came up for anything.

Going to try this window programming reset fix but have low expectations.

I also rechecked all fuses, none of them look damaged, broken or burned

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Cad said:

Which cars were actually speed limited to 55? I've never heard of that.

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Dodge had a few for a short time. The same ones that automattically buckled the belt when you entered. You could get over 55 for a limited amount of time to pass. It didn't last long. Still remember the commericals and how "safe" they were. Friend of the family had one and everyone talked shit to him. I imagine it was not very popular to say the least. Then short time afterword the speed limit was raised.

Borzak said:

Dodge had a few for a short time. The same ones that automattically buckled the belt when you entered. You could get over 55 for a limited amount of time to pass. It didn't last long. Still remember the commericals and how "safe" they were. Friend of the family had one and everyone talked shit to him. I imagine it was not very popular to say the least. Then short time afterword the speed limit was raised.

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There are also some antique vehicles that are "limited" to around 55 mph due to gearing. Especially some pickup trucks from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

You said 80s though, so those don't count.

Cad said:

You got any specifics? I was alive during the 80's and drove many 80's vehicles, and have never seen one speed limited to 55, nor ever heard of that. I've seen some limited to 115, 135, or 155 based on tire ratings.

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He's confusing lack of power with being speed limited.

How about in the 80s where they put out that law where speedometers stopped at 85. When I would get my first car, 85' El Dorado, up to 85 and over, it just started flashing. Not sure it had a positive effect on speeding though. I always thought if I could get it blinking fast enough I would jump to warp speed haha.

Stock Grand National speedo haha:

ToeMissile said:

I drove an 85 Chevy Celebrity that was like that. Got it up to 103

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But how did you know, if the speedo stopped at 85? Eh?