READER MAIL
The Downhill Slide.
It all started going downhill when Buick offered self-cancelling turn signals in 1940. Technology turned the signals off after completing a turn and so started the long march to Level V autonomous vehicles: vehicle has 100% control of all functions in all conditions with no interaction by a human. And the majority of people are ok with this; they don’t really care to actually “drive” the car. Yes, it’s fun to visit a state or national park, but the tedium of making the car get there is considered an ordeal for many.
Chris Blanchard
Prescott, Wisconsin
Be careful what you wish for.
During the summer I ride my bicycle along the beach bike path. It seems the John Muir acolytes in California are waiting to turn the state into a bicycle/walking transportation mecca. I have noticed amongst several bicycle crashes on this path that people riding on it are far worse than they are in cars. There's no awareness of others; they don't look before making u-turns; they block the path, riding 4 wide; they just suddenly stop in the middle of the path when there was plenty of room to move over and more.
I can't wait until *millions* of Californians are reduced to human-powered 2-wheel transportation. The carnage will be everywhere and the politicos will be aghast at all the injuries and lawsuits. We'll have to have "Rider's Education" in school, instead of "Driver's Education".
And, what of the gasoline taxes (as Peter noted) being depleted? I can foresee the state mandating GPS wireless digital odometers on bikes so they can be charged per mile of use.
The group of people who will hate all this the most are the serious bike riders who are often crying about automobiles (yes, they sometimes have valid concerns) that when the masses start crowding out their routes and acting as if the ride is at the beach they'll be screaming even louder.
It's all a case of "be careful of what you wish for".
Philip Hackett
Los Angeles, California
Seeing eye... dogs.
The most automobile unfriendly place in America - NYC - is about to become more unfriendly in a lot of other ways. A new comrade about-to-be mayor is threatening just that.
But wait! There could be a silver lining. Might there be a sudden opportune bourgeoning market for barn find vintage Soviet era Yugos, Skodas and Trabants as retro fashion fetishes for the “congestion traffic pricing” and free bus rides cognoscenti?? They fit nicely in small, scarce, hyper-metered parking spaces. Or how about having to hire someone as your placeholder in the queue at the neighborhood government supermarket (no tax on the tip!) while you take a speedy suburban pleasure drive in your Tesla Ludicrous. This helps solve the entry level employment problem and relieves some guilt from “the grossly misinformed rest of us”. Besides, according to the budget there’ll be a lot fewer police to enforce speed limits.
“This is what everybody is thinking and this is what everyone wants!”
This is the classic bleat of false collective ideologies that have led companies, cities and whole nations to ruin not to mention mere EV programs. Market surveys and product clinics be damned. Sadly, we’ve been down this road before yet one company exhorts us to take our eyes off it “to accelerate the future.” Next piece of their standard vehicle safety tech might be a seeing eye dog.
I can hardly wait.
Dr. John
Phoenix, Arizona
Carbrains.
This "philosophy" is already in full effect in New York City. Streets are restriped to specifically remove parking and install bike lanes. What was six lanes, two parking, two trucks unloading double parked, and two travel, have become one travel and one trucks unloading.
Parking has been made close to impossible, by design, and to the delight of private garages. Two lane side streets have been restriped to one narrow lane and a bike lane, with an odd mid-street parking strip.
This is intentional destruction of the automotive environment, and they fully admit to it. Ever since Mayor Bloomberg went to China and saw massive bicycle use, NYC DOT has become anti-auto. Interestingly, all those Chinese are now driving EVs.
NYC gets a bonus for extensive camera use, and lowering the speed limit to 25 only after the cameras were in wide use. A shutter at 40 makes no money, but at 36 ? $$$$.
When you complain about this, the bike nuts dismiss you as a "Carbrain"...
Casey Raskob, Esq
Green Leafy Burbs, New York City
The Too Era.
We are in the TOO era of automobiles:
They are TOO expensive/
They are far TOO complicated (even for the dealers to service).
And last but not least...
They are TOO ugly. Styling has devolved to somewhere between insect-like, BLADE RUNNER-esque, and orthopedic shoe ugly. When was the last time you saw a good-looking current production car, past Genesis and the Lexus LC?
And TOO many trucks and SUVs. How did GM and Ford abandon car production (save for Mustangs and Vettes) and hand it to the offshore companies?
Sometimes, I don't understand anything anymore.
J Wilson
Nashville. Tennessee
Curves needed.
I agree with J Wilson about modern cars becoming ugly. It seems that right angles and straight lines, squares and rectangles have become the norm, especially in SUVs. Boo freakin' hiss... a beautiful car has some CURVES in the design, people.
Ted R.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Notgonnahappendotcom.
We have a unique issue here in SoCal that was set up by the Sacramento via the San Francisco wing of the Anti-car people. They made it so that local zoning laws be damned: If a plot of land is within a certain distance of a bus stop, then developers can ram through a giant, out-of-scale development as long as there are a few "low income" apartments sprinkled in there. We are talking 24 stories of luxury apartments with practically no parking. And tearing down older, affordable rental stock to do so. But according to Sacramento the new residents of these apartments will take the Metro (which isn't 24 hours on most routes) to Costco. Or perhaps they'll use their electric scooters to drop off the kids at school or the cat at the vet. At least Beverly Hills was wise enough to let these developers know that these new buildings will not be allowed to join already-allowed permit parking zones.
I've lived the better part of my life in the Los Angeles basin and use public transportation when I can, but I am here to tell you that nobody in their right mind is going to be able to navigate living in LA 100% comfortably without a car. Even if it's a twice a month ZipCar or twice weekly Ubers.
Tom Pease
AE's L.A.-based correspondent
Beverly Hills, California
Driving freedom.
My youngest son is quite proficient at driving his standard transmission equipped Mustang. He’s putting in his hours towards his license. He wasn’t the gear head his brother was. Couldn’t be bothered to get up early for a show. Or go on late night cruises for the hell of it. I bought him a stick shift car so he could learn to DRIVE. Be engaged with the vehicle . And not have a free hand to use a phone. Guess what happened? He loves being in control of the machine. Loves to rev it up. Likes keeping it clean. And prefers to drive it over his parent's giant cars. All it took was a few days behind the wheel and the confidence it instilled to turn loose the inner gear head. Freedom is the rumble of exhaust, the feel of a clutch under your left foot and shifting your own gears. It can unleash a side of you never met before.
JRR
Plymouth, Michigan