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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 07/22/2013 09:54 AM, leam hall
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CACv9p5rauFn3nBbnh90udQVz5Pi=+PzCUF7vaqBi00wrR5nrWA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">Ah, so you're saying that cars are bad because there
are dumb drivers that can't replace an engine?</blockquote>
<br>
No, but I am one of those who believe that you should at least know
enough to know when you need to see someone who knows what they're
doing (e.g., a mechanic) and should at least know the short-list of
things that you should hard-stop right-now when experiencing. I am
also one of those who think that the requirements for receiving a
driver's license should be stricter. A person should know the
difference between a white and a yellow solid line, a solid vs. a
dotted line, a dotted line vs. a dashed line, what a double-yellow
line means, when to yield without a yield sign to explicitly tell
them to, and when a malfunctioning traffic light is a four-way stop
vs. a two-way-stop-with-two-way-caution. Among other things that I
would consider basic and fundamental, but nearly universally lacking
as evidenced by, well, every time I've driven in the last
who-knows-how-long in this metropolitan area.<br>
<br>
I've known people to continue to drive in any or all of the
following:<br>
<ol>
<li>The oil pressure has gone through the floor, and the car is
now notifying you of this.</li>
<li>The coolant temperature, engine temperature, or both have gone
through the roof, and the car is now notifying you of this.</li>
<li>You smell sweetness coming from the engine compartment,
combined with steam or hissing.</li>
<li>Something's just gone "boom" and now the ride is very rough.</li>
</ol>
<p>All save for #3 are dire, though #3 certainly might be dire and
thus requires investigation, and all drivers should know enough to
get the hell onto the shoulder before they're forced to block
traffic due to an otherwise-preventable breakdown. Of course
there are situations where that's not possible (one-lane road or
sudden, unexpected and unwarned about catastrophic failure), but
most of the time, the car will warn you before it throws a rod.<br>
</p>
<p>I'm not saying you need to know enough to work on the car. But
you should know enough about the operation of the car to be able
to operate it safely and avoid the humanly avoidable. I fail to
see the point of a driver's license if it doesn't serve as proof
that one is competent to operate a vehicle safely.<br>
</p>
<p>I would therefore argue that yes, the license requirements do
need to change. Not only do the vision tests require
randomization, but people should demonstrate their ability to
remember traffic law and demonstrate that they've learned the new
traffic laws since their last renewal. It floors me how many
times I've come across a situation where the mandatory driver's
education curricula where I came from had certain content on it
that people here seem to not know.</p>
<p> — Mike<br>
</p>
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<td> Michael B. Trausch<br>
<br>
President, <strong>Naunet Corporation</strong><br>
☎ (678) 287-0693 x130 or (888) 494-5810 x130<br>
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