Running Bear's May 2023 Coffee Shop.

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so I still turn my head and look over my shoulder in addition to using the mirrors.
Amen. For both backing up I turn and I also trun and glance when changing lanes, in addition to the mirrors or instead of the mirrors. But it depends on the situational awareness. I don't always glance if I've been paying attention and know who was behind me etc and know what should be there. Hard to explain but when you drive long enough and regularly scan all your mirrors and pay attention you kind of know who should be there of not... (I still look in the mirror in those cases).
 
Of course if they didn't permit immature and irresponsible children to drive - that'd be a damn good start too,

Yes driving at 16 (or in some places at 15) is just dumb. Developmentally at 15-16 or so they are going through a deeper version of the 2-3 year old learning cycle -- their brains forget about consequences and they are re-learning that actions have consequences -- just at a deeper level than the stove is hot and can burn you. I was told this by a high school teacher at church who had learned it at a conference.

I delayed my son getting his license until he was 17 1/2 and I was 18 1/2 when I got mine. Lots of countries don't let you drive until you're 18. Even that is young developmentally but it is night and day from 15-16 age bracket. By 17 1/2 - 18 or so they've matured and are done re-learning consequences.
 
I still remember when a car came with a radio, heater and white wall tires. An analog AM-FM radio was an option on some makes and models.
Dad had a 1961 Plymouth Fury. It was an ugly duck but would outrun the headlights. I got my license in 1963 and Dad sold the car in 1964 as I managed to get 11 speeding tickets in about a years time. Things were a little different back in those days. My license was not suspended but for the next year I could not get any tickets or would loose my license for a year. My next car was a 1948, 2 door Mercury coupe with a 1952 flathead engine. I managed to go seven years without another ticket. The old Merc was no match for the Plymouth......a good thing for me.

Have a great day......John

My first car I bought had no radio. It was an 89 VW Golf GL (bought in 1988 November). It replaced the old Dodge K-Car I got from my dad. (I was almost 23 when I bought my first -- previously driving my parents' cars or my dad's hand me down).
 


I actually bought something model railroad related. Saw this mentioned on Facebook of all places (someone looking and someone else telling them which shops had it). It's N scale and requires some assembly. I do have a few US diesel locomotives (UP) so it will find a home. Unfortunately one of the couplers had fallen apart. I'll have to figure out how to put it back together.

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I am not sure what happens in Australia now but before I left - you didn't get a learners permit until you were 17 and 9 months, couldn't get a Probationary Licence until you turned 18 and weren't eligible for a Full licence until you held a Probationary for a minimum of 12 months without any violations against it. At least that is how it was in Victoria. Most other States were pretty much the same.
 
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That is for the female driver. Men seem to know inherently where N S E W are etc but I've yet to meet a woman driver who has a clue about the directions and where they lie in the real world. That sort of thing in the mirror has been around a long time.
My youngest daughter has an excellent sense of direction. My brilliant son, and he truly is brilliant. He is an engineer for Northrup Grumman. He could get lost in the backyard. My Mom and my oldest sister also had a great sense of direction. My other sister and my wife are like my son.

All it takes is to need one of those gadgets and gizmos at one time. Then you realize their value. They could save you thousands of dollars or even someone's life.
 
My wife gets lost in a Hotel trying to find our room ... she has a deplorable sense of direction but I think that is because she doesn't really pay attention to where she is going. I am just glad she doesn't drive.

All it takes is to need one of those gadgets and gizmos at one time. Then you realize their value. They could save you thousands of dollars or even someone's life.

If your talking about cars then perhaps you need to pay more attention to what you are doing in the car as a driver - then you may not be in a position to have to rely on some gizmo to save you thousands or some ones life due to your negligence and inattention.

When I say your Louis, I am NOT referring to you, but generally.
 
I am not sure what happens in Australia now but before I left - you didn't get a learners permit until you were 17 and 9 months, couldn't get a Probationary Licence3 until your 18 and weren't eligible for a Full li8cence until you held a Probationary for a minimum of 12 months without any violations against it. At least that is how it was in Victoria. Most other States were pretty much the same.
We should learn so much from other countries. Too much "this is merica, we know everything."

One thing for sure; anyone who thinks they know everything is bound to make an ass of themselves.
 
One thing for sure; anyone who thinks they know everything is bound to make an ass of themselves.
You got that right Sir - sooner or later it'll all fall apart.

Unfortunately, and I am only guessing at the moment, but we tend to pander to the "easy solutions" regardless of whether they are beneficial or not. All we do by doing that is create problems then we try to resolves those problems using band aides to cover them up and not really fix anything.

Eventually, those problems become the norm and people are too afraid to change things in case it "upsets or doesn't suit" someone.
 
We should learn so much from other countries. Too much "this is merica, we know everything."

What I described is what happened what 16 years ago ... who knows what the rules and regulations are for getting a licence now. I did hear that Australia was trying to introduce an Australian Licence and to standardize all road rules in all states and territories. Personally I think that would be a great idea - one licence for the entire country, one set of road rules for the entire country. All that needs to happen is for the States to agree with it and wouldn't that be something? Having a bunch of state level politicians agreeing on something :) :) :)
 


When I say your Louis, I am NOT referring to you, but generally.
No worries, no offense taken my friend. :)

I consider myself a good driver. I have logged well over a million miles without an accident. A rare, few times I have missed a car in my blind spot. Only to see it at the last second.

Since I was a teenager, I have had one accident. An eight nine-year-old man hit me in a parking lot. He backed out fast and without looking. He was in a hurry because it was his wedding day. I wish he had had a backup alarm!

I won't talk about my three accidents and multiple moving violations as a teenager. Not to mention the accidents I could have had if not for other defensive drivers. Thank God I never hurt anyone!

Despite all these gadgets and gizmos, the roads are no safer to me. From my experience drivers are more aggressive and less defensive than ever. No amount of technology can save them from themselves.

The old adage "speed kills" is still true. Combine speed, lack of skill and stupidity and we are all at risk on the roads.
 
What I described is what happened what 16 years ago ... who knows what the rules and regulations are for getting a licence now. I did hear that Australia was trying to introduce an Australian Licence and to standardize all road rules in all states and territories. Personally I think that would be a great idea - one licence for the entire country, one set of road rules for the entire country. All that needs to happen is for the States to agree with it and wouldn't that be something? Having a bunch of state level politicians agreeing on something :) :) :)
I think that would be brilliant! One card, ID, driver's license and more

The problem would be those who think "the gubmint is spying on me". I saw a sign a farmer put up "the federal government is the enemy", wtf? We elected these clowns or at least a minority of us did.
 
No worries, no offense taken my friend. :)

I consider myself a good driver. I have logged well over a million miles without an accident. A rare, few times I have missed a car in my blind spot. Only to see it at the last second.

Since I was a teenager, I have had one accident. An eight nine-year-old man hit me in a parking lot. He backed out fast and without looking. He was in a hurry because it was his wedding day. I wish he had had a backup alarm!

I won't talk about my three accidents and multiple moving violations as a teenager. Not to mention the accidents I could have had if not for other defensive drivers. Thank God I never hurt anyone!

Despite all these gadgets and gizmos, the roads are no safer to me. From my experience drivers are more aggressive and less defensive than ever. No amount of technology can save them from themselves.

The old adage "speed kills" is still true. Combine speed, lack of skill and stupidity and we are all at risk on the roads.
I have no idea how many miles I have driven in my lifetime too many I think :) In that time I have been involved in two accidents - one I don't know how many years ago when some idiot came through a stop sign and hit me, and the last was i 2012 when that idiot 17 year old slammed into the back of me at 45 mile an hour because her frickin phone was more important to her.

The irony of all these ridiculous gadgets is the person behind the wheel still has to listen to them and I am sorry BUT no one has yet (or ever will I don't think) install a Gizmo/Gadget/Tech thingy into a car that turns off, prevents, eradicates STUPIDITY! If someone did, I think there'd be a heck of a lot less drivers on the roads around the world.

Well mate, you can be the worlds greatest driver but it is almost impossible to account for every scenario. I have done three specialist driving courses (in Australia) for both cars and motor bikes and no matter how good, how superior my training has been it'll never be good enough to account for that one frickin idiot who is out there just looking for someone to hit and/or kill.

I am very Old School and it annoys my wife a great deal because when I drive - THAT is what I am doing. I don't have a radio on or a CD playing and I don't talk all that much either so long trips get a bit boring for her I think :) Point being - when I sit behind that thing called a steering wheel, I am there to do one thing and one thing only - drive and get myself and everyone else in the vehicle to where we are going safely. Nothing else is important and nothing else can't wait.
 
The bmw we had could park itself, never had any issues a spot in a line with traffic it was less flustered than me,parallel start and parked, could I do it yes but I could add pedestrian watch while it parked, the Tesla can park never used it do not ask why I did with one and not with the other, both have cameras, but I like the Tesla reversing camera it’s where the lines will take you are accurate and I get to look for myself and drive, sometimes I have to get out and clean the camera or do it the old fashioned way no issues, but backing up at home involves a through metal gates and then a turn onto patio slabs avoid the hoses pipes and the ducks and the cat so that reverse mirror is good yeah it beeps at tall grass but sonetimes it beeps at incoming animal so I am good with it, cat is kamikaze and cousin once ran over his cat! So I like the back up.
 
I think that would be brilliant! One card, ID, driver's license and more

The problem would be those who think "the gubmint is spying on me". I saw a sign a farmer put up "the federal government is the enemy", wtf? We elected these clowns or at least a minority of us did.

Well, you got the "Clowns" part right :)

Good morning, Everybody!

Thank God for trains!

View attachment 168298

And Baseball!

Well Trains at least :)
 
The bmw we had could park itself, never had any issues a spot in a line with traffic it was less flustered than me,parallel start and parked, could I do it yes but I could add pedestrian watch while it parked, the Tesla can park never used it do not ask why I did with one and not with the other, both have cameras, but I like the Tesla reversing camera it’s where the lines will take you are accurate and I get to look for myself and drive, sometimes I have to get out and clean the camera or do it the old fashioned way no issues, but backing up at home involves a through metal gates and then a turn onto patio slabs avoid the hoses pipes and the ducks and the cat so that reverse mirror is good yeah it beeps at tall grass but sonetimes it beeps at incoming animal so I am good with it, cat is kamikaze and cousin once ran over his cat! So I like the back up.
Running over pets isn't a good thing ... so I suppose a back up camera does have it's good point (singular) :)
 


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