How did we manage to survive?

[Aaronw]

Drivers from the days of yore brought us classics like these

 

 

 

 

[bbowser]

Don't bet on that. You would be surprised at what you can do re-flashing the ECM.

I know about that, but it just ain't the same .  Do we sit around bench racing about computer chips?

[Greg Wann]

I grew up setting in the front seat on the fold down armrest between Dad and Mom in a 4 door 58 Buick Century.  My three older brothers sat in the back seat.

[Richard Bartrop]

I'm skeptical of the "false sense of security" argument. As those films show, people did stupid things behind the wheel back then too, and even if you are more likely to walk away from a crash, there are still lots of reasons not to get in a crash in the first place.   If nothing else, you're more likely to still be around to face the consequences of your poor judgement.

[Longbox55]

I know about that, but it just ain't the same .  Do we sit around bench racing about computer chips?

The computer re-flash is only part of it. We still swap cams, intakes, bigger throttle bodies and injectors, headers. The you have all the forced induction options that are available now. Performance upgrading is still alive and well, we just have be smarter about it.

[unclescott58]

Man. I love those old safety driving films. Like those above. We think people are careless and stupid today. Well they are. But, as you can see by watching the above films, carelessness and stupidity have been around for a long time.

Oh, and by the way. Sometimes I'm sorry to say that I'm one of the careless and stupid myself. I seem to be getting better with age. But still, I can slip into that carelessness and stupidity sometimes all too easily.

The above films aren't just nostalgic fun. Sometimes they are good reminders. 

[sjordan2]

Just because I survived all those ill-advised practices doesn't mean that there weren't kids who didn't survive.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Last time I checked, it seemed pretty certain nobody's going to get out of here alive.

Live your life in a cast-iron crash-proof gluten-free politically-correct padded cell covered in SPF 30 sunscreen while wearing a body condom eating organic foods and never EVER do anything with any associated risk...you're still not going to get much more than three score years and ten.

May as well spend your time here with a little style and intensity...at least, that's my philosophy. 

Old cars may have been more "dangerous", but they were only dangerous if you were in a crash. But you know...running a 3500 pound projectile down an undivided highway with oncoming similar projectiles, carrying 20 or so gallons of extremely flammable fuel...in the same environment with 40.000 pound trucks...sounds pretty dangerous to me. Maybe that's part of the reason why there was a LOT (so it seems) more effort put forth trying to get people to pay attention to their driving back then. Even ol' Broderick Crawford used to close the Highway Patrol episodes with a little slogan about driving carefully. But no, today you can't tell folks it's dangerous to drive a car, so pay the frack attention. You gotta make them feel it's as safe as sitting on the frigging couch. Well fellas, it ain't.

We're supposedly now such a safety-conscious nation, but 2/3 of us are seriously overweight. That's a choice. It's a choice to live with increased risk of cardiac problems and diabetes. MOST of us happily stay too fat and I see easily 20 drivers every day who are obviously distracted.  All the safety features ever dreamed of won't protect us from stupid behavior, but so many seem to want to believe their health and safety is someone else's concern, and take NO personal responsibility for it themselves. They just want to buy a "safe" car, take a pill, and not have to bother with anything that takes more effort.

Pay attention when you drive, stay focused, learn how to control your vehicle in an emergency or a slide or on wet / slick pavement...odds are you won't NEED the damm airbags.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

Last time I checked, it seemed pretty certain nobody's going to get out of here alive.

Live your life in a cast-iron crash-proof gluten-free politically-correct padded cell covered in SPF 30 sunscreen while wearing a body condom eating organic foods and never EVER do anything with any associated risk...you're still not going to get much more than three score years and ten.

You forgot a helmet...

[Ace-Garageguy]

You forgot a helmet...

Yeah, I did. Pretty non-safety-conscious of me.

But anybody who doesn't wear one on a bike (powered) probably doesn't have much need for his brain anyway.

Seriously, I went on a railroad steam-train excursion some years back, there was a fellow traveler wearing wrap-around safety glasses. In a closed coach. Ant it wasn't a fashion statement.

[Harry P.]

When I was a kid, wearing a helmet while riding a bike was unheard of. And yet, all my friends and I, who rode our bikes pretty much every day in the summer while school was out, in Chicago traffic, all survived. Must have been a miracle or something...

[Lunajammer]

Several years ago when the bicycle helmet movement was just picking up steam, there was a sign on a bike path several blocks from two schools that read "Be Cool, Wear Your Helmet." I still laugh thinking about it. Nothing more UN-cool to kids than a sign telling you how to be cool. Might as well have been a sign saying "You Look Like A Dork In A Bike Helmet. *VALIDATED BY THE MOST OUT OF TOUCH GROWN UPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY*"

[Ace-Garageguy]

When I was a kid, wearing a helmet while riding a bike was unheard of. And yet, all my friends and I, who rode our bikes pretty much every day in the summer while school was out, in Chicago traffic, all survived. Must have been a miracle or something...

Yup. I had some pretty interesting spills on my bikes when I was a kid, still have most of my head intact, sorta (which is debatable). People riding on bike-paths all helmeted and suited up for the Tour de France kinda make me chuckle, but if you're doing serious rough country stuff with big rocks on the trails, or riding where there are cars (with distracted crashmobile drivers all blithely texting away), or riding a motorcycle anywhere, it's probably just a lot smarter to wear a helmet.  

[keyser]

Get off my lawn........

[unclescott58]

Get off my lawn........

No. no. It's, "Get off my lawn, you rotten kids!"

[Tom Geiger]

When I was a kid, wearing a helmet while riding a bike was unheard of. And yet, all my friends and I, who rode our bikes pretty much every day in the summer while school was out, in Chicago traffic, all survived. Must have been a miracle or something...

We were invincible!  But I did know a kid who went head first into a telephone pole on his bike and died.  

A dozen years ago I decided to take up bike riding.   Quite different as an adult when you are aware exactly how close those cars are coming at you and now you know how incompetent some of the drivers are!   

[slusher]

When I was a kid, wearing a helmet while riding a bike was unheard of. And yet, all my friends and I, who rode our bikes pretty much every day in the summer while school was out, in Chicago traffic, all survived. Must have been a miracle or something...

I rode every where and i rode to to the lake and Lincoln Park Zoo more then once. Back then was the 70's for me, was everyone in as much of a rush as they are now ? Then everyone was not texting or on the phone like they are now...

[ChrisBcritter]

We were invincible!  But I did know a kid who went head first into a telephone pole on his bike and died.  

One of my brother's classmates in junior high died in a freak accident with his go-kart - he was out alone in a field when his scarf got caught in the chain and strangled him. Even worse, he was hidden by brush and it took a couple days to find him.

[peteski]

Just because I survived all those ill-advised practices doesn't mean that there weren't kids who didn't survive.

Don't we call them "Darwin award winners"?

[Craig Irwin]

Some people are too afraid of dying to ever live.

 

[unclescott58]

Some people are too afraid of dying to ever live.

 

You've nailed on the head Craig.

[Danno]

Last time I checked, it seemed pretty certain nobody's going to get out of here alive.

Live your life in a cast-iron crash-proof gluten-free politically-correct padded cell covered in SPF 30 sunscreen while wearing a body condom eating organic foods and never EVER do anything with any associated risk...you're still not going to get much more than three score years and ten.

 

It's the 'healthy' stuff that kills you.     

 

 

 

[bismarck]

 Does anybody remember piling into a '60s or '70s station wagon for a road trip? 15 or 20 kids and mom and dad? No seat belts, or belts that were stuffed back under the seats. Maybe it was just being blissfully ignorant of what COULD have happened, but man, it was fun. Dad had a '68 Chevy Biscayne Wagon, and we had many a road trip like that when I was a kid. I guess we just didn't think like that back in the day. But as an adult that has to deal with the here and now, Yeah, I guess it was pretty stupid. Fun!! but stupid.

Edited April 5, 2016 by bismarck

[SfanGoch]

 

It's the 'healthy' stuff that kills you.     

 

 

 

Ever notice that people who are adherents to natural health food diets look like they're about to drop dead at any given moment? I made sausage and peppers with gnocchi for dinner, with extra grease.

[Harry P.]

I need to have dinner at your house sometime!