Re: A much more potent terrorost weapon than a rocket

"when I die, I want to go like my grandpa, peacefully in my sleep. not screaming and yelling, like the passengers in his car."

-- these are the good old days Cliff Sojourner snipped-for-privacy@employees.org

How about just adding the following question to the driver's test:

Q. If you step on the brake, and the car goes faster, what should you do? A. Press harder B. Take your foot off the gas and hit the real brake pedal. C. Enjoy the ride. D. Count the bodies flying over the top of the car.

My guess is that explosive suicide vests are cheaper and more cost effective. Plus, they probably want the terorism effect. Can you imagine the terrorist leader's disapointment when they waste a suicide bomber, an expensive vehicle, months of planning, and the only reaction to the event is to conclude that some kids foot hit the gas instead of the brake resulting in an accident? And if the public did believe such things were terrist acts, the terorists would not have to do anything except send out letters claiming responsibility for car accidents. But teroists can certainly cause a lot of real dammage and terror using in situ resources, 9/11 being one spectacular example.

Alan

There's also the suicide angle -- instant death for the bomber, with no one left to question. A terrorist driver would be either beaten to death by the mob, or interrogated for info to be used against the organization.

Or just one question: did you vote for FDR or Wendell Willkie?

-John

"Redline motors are PEOPLE!" Wait a minute... wrong movie. ;)

Or should that be "Soylent Green Gorilla"?

-John

Or cause they aren't afraid to die...just afraid to die a painful death.

bi-yearly driving examinations with medical reports.....At

NOT give up their "right" ( is driving a right? I

I'd be more interested in emergency reflex tests. How long to react to an emergency? Do they hit the gas or brake to stop? You can drive if you're deaf. But not if you're blind. Unless you got a REAL GOOD seeing eye dog :-)

frail or infirm they may be......How many times over

stepped on the gas instead of the break? DOHHHHH..... Sorry

man/woman.....

than previous generations,

Sad thing about this Pete is (of course the loss of life and injured) the fact that if it was anyone of us young "punks" did this, we would be facing first degree murder and life in prison.

Here ion Oregon a 91 year old ran off the road and killed a mother and her 7 month old baby. God bless her in her dying moments reaching out to her dying baby and save it.

Sad, no matter which way you look at it.

KMJK=Don't believe in (another BS) government.

SO THERE

LOL!!

"Get your damn dirty green paws off me!" ...oh wait, that's a different Chuck Heston movie. ;)

A few years ago the cops stopped a guy who turned out to be blind. He was driving his friend home, who was too drunk to drive, and the friend was "guiding" him. Guess it never occurred to them that if you're too drunk to drive, you're also too drunk to act as a seeing eye dog for a blind driver.

I was thinking about that as I posted the last one...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

There was some research done several years ago on how much reaction time increases with age. The result was surprisingly little in healthy people, so reflex time per se is usually not the issue. Of course one may react quickly and take the wrong action, e.g. stepping on the wrong pedal. Elderly drivers (at least) should be retested periodically in order to retain their driving priveleges. (At least in New York state driving is a privelege, not a right).

-Chris

------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Christopher Judd, Ph. D. snipped-for-privacy@alum.rpi.edu |

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kaplow snipped-for-privacy@encompasserve.org.TRABoD (Bob Kaplow) wrote in news:BLT$ snipped-for-privacy@eisner.encompasserve.org:

It still would not address seizures,strokes,heart failures;all high-risks of the elderly.And I don't believe there are tests to predict seizures or strokes.

But just removing the enfeebled drivers would be a great improvement.

They tried to in Florida.

Bill Sullivan

Not just elderly...everyone. I've been hit once on my motorcycle and twice in my cage over the years. All three drivers were under the age of thirty five. The one that turned left in front of my motorcycle was twenty...that one didn't feel too good.

bi-yearly driving examinations with medical reports.....At

NOT give up their "right" ( is driving a right? I

frail or infirm they may be......How many times over

stepped on the gas instead of the break? DOHHHHH..... Sorry

man/woman.....

Shockie, Here in Michigan, old people do have to take an eye test to get their license renewed and everyone has to take refresher written tests after

8 years, IIRC. The system breaks down though, when the Secretary of State employees coach and help the old farts pass their tests. I know because I was standing next to one that was being coached....and I was pissed. That old fool in Santa Monica had no business being on the road. And I can't believe that he hasn't even been charged with ANYTHING!!!! I'd charge him with vehicular manslaughter, felony vehicular assault,wreckless driving, speeding and anything else that I could think of. Then, I'd throw his prune-filled a$$ in jail to rot out the rest of his life. Instead, I heard on the news this AM that he didn't sleep well at home last night. BFD!!! He wouldn't ever sleep again if it was one of my family members that he killed. I'd personally choke the life out of the sucker. It's a good GD thing that I don't live in CA. I'd be in the prosecutor's face making sure that the old goat was treated the same as you and I would be if we had killed 10 people with a car. Personal accountability doesn't stop at age 65 IMHO. DAMN THAT MAKES ME MAD!!!!

Mark Simpson NAR 71503 Level II God Bless our peacekeepers

I heard on the news last night, he did the same thing about 10 years ago, but no one was hurt. And he'd aparantly hit the garage several times very recently.

There is one way to possibly get these folks off the road: Insurance rates. My uncle, about 80, gave up driving a few years ago after 2 accidents when his insurance company sent his rates through the roof. Probably a wise decision, before he did something to make the national news.

My grandfather drove well into his 80s, until his doctor told him to quit. When I got my license he gave me his old car (well, old for him, 4 years,

17K miles, probably with the factory oil still in it - maintenance to him was to have someone at work hose it down) that hadn't been run in about a year. Needed to replace the battery, exhaust, brakes, and every piece of rubber on the car.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

The law is triggered by "neglegence". If he made an understandable mistake and factors were either mechanical failure, or a medical issue, or perhaps a sudden rainstorm factoring in, it is not technically neglegence.

There is not alot of "furor" locally for a conviction on this one. People do not want to be charged as criminals in their own accidents which in SoCal happens all the time.

Jerry