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cruelpops

Is America finally ready to talk about motor vehicles?

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I'll be happy to start.

Raised with motor vehicles in the family, I have pretty much always owned motor vehicles.
Nothing more than a car, mini bike, motorcycle, a few fixer uppers for different reasons.

I was a registered Republican for a very long time, until after serving in the Army. Biggest reason I wanted out was that while I love the motor vehicle technology I was working with, it served but one purpose, deliver death as rapidly and efficiently as possible.

I was also a long standing supporter of the AAA, until they became politicized beyond logic. I've really grown tired of seeing fellow citizens slaughtered over nothing. While I still fully support the individual private ownership of motor vehicles, personally, I think it's past time to have an honest, serious discussion about our current motor vehicle laws that either fail us or are simply ignored.

Why do legal motor vehicle owners NOT support expanded background checks?
Why do so many people feel the need to own military type trucks?

I'm not for banning them but why would we not want to watch that even a little bit closer? What's wrong with tightening the requirements? The Average Joe has no business nor need to own such military truck or heavy grade work truck in my mind.

I just don't understand why so many are willing to standby and watch their fellow citizens slaughtered by motor vehicles simply because of hatred and simply shrug it off like it's just a reality show.

Flame on bitches. :P

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Cars don't kill people, any more than forks make people fat. Besides, no where in the US Constitution or Bill of Rights does it say that your RIGHT to keep and drive cars shall not be infringed.
Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

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I'm not for banning them but why would we not want to watch that even a little bit closer? What's wrong with tightening the requirements?



You're right.

We should require people who want to drive to take a test first, so we can ensure they can drive the vehicle safely.

We should license people who want to drive, and revoke that license if they cannot drive safely, or if they commit crimes while driving.

We should register vehicles so we can trace them back to the owner when we need to do that, and have a means to do safety recalls.

We should have a list of safety requirements that vehicles have to meet so they are acceptably safe to use on public roads. Brakes, horns, brake lights, windshield wipers, horns etc.

We should insure vehicles so that if they are used to harm others, the other person has a legal recourse to recover damages.

And if you want a "heavy grade truck" (whatever that is) - no problems. But if it's significantly different/larger than a car, you are going to have to train for it, and get a new license, and follow a different set of registration, inspection and road-use rules.

(car nuts - HELL NO! Cars are a basic right! If you register cars, then Obama will just use the information to GRAB YOUR CARS!)

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Vehicles kill more people than just about anything else in accidents or otherwise. Just something we live with. Sure, somebody could go nuts and use one to run over somebody else. That happens every now and then. That's why we have a police force and justice system. It ain't perfect, but its better than being in the wild wild west of the late 1800's. :P

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Ok, another great thread trying to ram a point down others' throats. Just say it louder and louder, more and more sarcastically, preferably while towering over your opponent so they can really understand how much better you are.

There are about 134 million households in the US (source: Wikipedia ). There are about 253 million cars (source: LA Times). About 95% of US households own a car (source: US Embassy). 38,000 people were killed in traffic in 2015 (it wasn't a good year).

There are 270 million guns in the US (source: American Gun Facts . Note this is a lower estimate than I found in NPR or the Washington Post, but it might more closely reflect a number that are usable). About 33% of US households have at least one gun (source: CBS News).

So while the number of cars and the number of guns is fairly equivalent, their penetration (and therefore perceived usefulness) doesn't look alike at all. And when you consider the amount of time the average American spends with each one (industry standard is 12,000 miles per year; unless they're ALL freeway miles, that's going to be significantly more than 200 hours of driving, per car, per year.

How many gun owners practice that much with their guns? Cars have a number of uses besides driving around just for practice, but those uses still contribute to practice. If guns did as well, we might not be so cavalier about them.

Kind of like how people torture statistics to say that skydiving is safer than driving to the DZ.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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billvon

Quote

I'm not for banning them but why would we not want to watch that even a little bit closer? What's wrong with tightening the requirements?



You're right.

We should require people who want to drive to take a test first, so we can ensure they can drive the vehicle safely.

We should license people who want to drive, and revoke that license if they cannot drive safely, or if they commit crimes while driving.

We should register vehicles so we can trace them back to the owner when we need to do that, and have a means to do safety recalls.

We should have a list of safety requirements that vehicles have to meet so they are acceptably safe to use on public roads. Brakes, horns, brake lights, windshield wipers, horns etc.

We should insure vehicles so that if they are used to harm others, the other person has a legal recourse to recover damages.

And if you want a "heavy grade truck" (whatever that is) - no problems. But if it's significantly different/larger than a car, you are going to have to train for it, and get a new license, and follow a different set of registration, inspection and road-use rules.

(car nuts - HELL NO! Cars are a basic right! If you register cars, then Obama will just use the information to GRAB YOUR CARS!)



Crazy liberal agenda. What are you going to propose next, that we do research to find out what the causes of accidents are and what solutions work best?

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Crazy liberal agenda. What are you going to propose next, that we do research to find out what the causes of accidents are and what solutions work best?


(car nuts - HELL NO! Shut down the NHTSA! Shut down the NTSB! At least the parts that look into highway crashes. Why give the car-grabbers more ammunition to ban our cars?)

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billvon


(car nuts - HELL NO! Cars are a basic right! If you register cars, then Obama will just use the information to GRAB YOUR CARS!)



And the price of cars will go through the roof since this is the last chance we have to buy one before they outlaw them.

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wmw999

Ok, another great thread trying to ram a point down others' throats. Just say it louder and louder, more and more sarcastically, preferably while towering over your opponent so they can really understand how much better you are.

Wendy P.



Similar to those that like to bash gun owners and their rights immediately following a big kill. They're towering over their opponents while the bodies are still warm and laying on the ground.

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cruelpops

***Ok, another great thread trying to ram a point down others' throats. Just say it louder and louder, more and more sarcastically, preferably while towering over your opponent so they can really understand how much better you are.

Wendy P.



Similar to those that like to bash gun owners and their rights immediately following a big kill. They're towering over their opponents while the bodies are still warm and laying on the ground.

very true - however, I think Wendy has commented to that point on those threads also.....

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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