CFLs and UHF interference

[Mortimer]

I used to work with a guy whose father worked in a car hire company at Heathrow airport. He witnessed an American trying to drive a manual car away from the car park where it had been parked end-to-end between several other cars. The driver kept stalling because he didn't apply enough revs before letting the clutch up, so he overcompensated and got the engine up to about

4000 rpm before letting the clutch up smartly. The car shot into the car in front, catapulting that car forward into the car in front of it. In his panic to extricate himself from this situtation, he then processed to do the same in reverse to the cars behind him. The total bill was three cars written off (American's car plus the one in front and the one behind) and two cars needing major surgery (the ones two in front and two behind).

[:Jerry:]

Because at the time there was not requirement for the light to be amber.

[:Jerry:]

Because it won't engage whilst moving, and if it did it would lock the wheels up - thus putting the vehicle into a skid...

As I said, if the driver finds the operation of such a parking brake 'awkward' they should not be driving the vehicle.

Some vehicles use the same lever to apply the parking brake.

[Mortimer]

"Some"? Every car that I've seen which has an umbrella-type handbrake (eg

1960s Ford Cortina and Corsair, and Renault 4, 6 and 16) or a spade-handle handrake (Citroen GS and CX) has used the same lever to apply and release the handbrake. With an umbrella lever, you twist the handle through 90 degrees to release it and then push it away from you; to apply the brake, you turn it through 90 degrees and pull it up before turning it back to lock the ratchet. With a spade handle, there is a little release knob on the inside of the handle, designed to be operated by the thumb but operated by the little fingers on a right-hand drive car. Again you push it into the dashboard to release the brake and pull it towards you to apply the brake.

I'm not sure why those cars didn't have handbrakes in the conventional place between the seats and behind the gear lever - or to the right of the driver's seat, as on the Hillman Hunter!

[Dave]

Yes, that's them :-)

Dave

[Dave]

So, if you get a dodgy battery, you will never get the engine started to self sustain the running of the systems then? How do you get it in for repair?

All of them in the North West do it :-(

And I thought that the we were going green :-( Just how much carbon dioxide are we going to put in the atmosphere by doing that :-(

If we were in the Nordic states, then I could understand it, but for the likes of Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and the uk, what is the point when the sun is shining? On this subject, why have indicator lights gone from coloured glass to white glass with a coloured bulb? The sun comes out and you (for that read me) can't see the bulb flashing :-(

Rant over.

Dave

[:Jerry:]

Yes, some, not all as some cars use the umbrella-type handbrake lever to release the foot applied parking brake that has been previously mentioned.

Probably because they had bench type front seats, that was the usual reason.

[Dave]

I wasn't talking about dipped headlights, but those that drive round on full beam. According to an earlier post, this might be a regional effect.

Agreed. But what about those few seconds that leave me blind by using their main beams?

Rear fog lights should be like rear window defrost heaters, every time you switch off the engine, the lights go back to stand by. I was driving down the M6 some years ago, when a car with its rear fog lights passed me. the drivers behind kept flashing him. Eventually he stopped and walked round to the back of his car with a very puzzled look on his face. I saw all this, as the traffic had to slow down below a walking pace, but I often wonder if he sorted the problem out.

I am going to assume that you are getting on in years here. It seems like the driving schools teach this to drivers going to about 40 years ago.

Dave

[Dave]

I take it that you are a rich man, otherwise pay attention to the next post.

Dave

[Dave]

And how old are you now?

Dave

[Mortimer]

I'm in my mid 40s. I learned in the early 80s, taught by an ex police Class

1 driving instructor. Same thing was reiterated when I took my IAM test ten year later. So are modern-day pupils taught to keep their foot on the footbrake at traffic lights and not to use the handbrake? How standards have slipped ;-)

[Dave]

Only in that country, as they have much more dawn and dusk than we do. Even Scotland does not have that long of twilight hours at our latitude.

Dave

[charles]

Because of the vogue for bench seats in the front?

[Dave]

That is like saying that you should not look at the sun, or its reflections by directly looking at them, when they come into your view. When they do come into your peripheral view, as a driver you have to determine the threat they pose to you. Next time the sun comes out and it is in front of you, try to remember how much you screw your eyes up. And don't even think of mentioning sun glasses. Even when the sun is behind you, you can get very bright reflections from anything that is in front of you.

Dave

[Dave]

I usually stop at least 2 cars distance from the idiots. Double the distance square root the light.

Dave

[Dave]

It's easier to position my head lights into his left wing mirror and switch to full beam :-)

Dave

[hwh]

People driving cars with automatic gearboxes keep their foots on the brake pedal to keep the car from creeping forward.

gr, hwh

[Dave]

Along those lines...

How many drivers understand, when joining a motorway from a slip road, that the broken white line at the edge of the slip road, adjacent to the motorway is actually a give way and be prepared to stop line?

Dave

[:Jerry:]

What's that got to do with the price of fish, considering that my 'day job' is (amongst other things) the restoration and repair of both old and new motor vehicles.

[:Jerry:]

Whhhoooosssshhhh......... :~(