OT: Why are 3 door cars allowed on the road?

My husband has balls. He used to have a job where he strapped himself into the open door of a helicopter with a camera.

He wears his seatbelt in the car.

It's not about balls, except to those who are insecure about their own.

Cindy Hamilton

I certainly would care if my husband killed himself. I'm sorry nobody cares about you.

Cindy Hamilton

Then your vehicle is designed differently to mine. And very stupidly, since you now have belts flapping about for no good reason, especially for the middle seats.

Anyway, in the UK, "A belt fitted with no corresponding seat will not be inspected."

Wow, America is worse than the UK for health and softy.

I like driving after a few pints. It actually increases concentration, and also awareness of police presence.

"it was totaled" and "I drove the car back home....with no major parts falling off" do not agree.

Ah, there is the irony of the US insurance industry. They do quick assessment of the estimated repair cost versus the replacement cost and declare it a total wreck. With the fragile front pieces and structural elements designed to crush it doesn't take much.

otoh, when I hit the deer I never reported it. The hood had some interesting sculpting but still opened and closed. Some of the plastic bits needed a few nylon ties to hold them in alignment. About 40,000 miles later it was still going strong.

I probably wouldn't have replaced it but when I brought it to the dealer's for an exploding air bag recall I saw a 2018 leftover sitting on the lot. I like the model and 2018 was its last year. I concluded the salesman was tired of looking at it and would deal. With their accounting practices I was shown to have gotten a very good trade in despite the deer damage and 80,000 + miles.

It was the first day of our lockdown. In fact I called to confirm they were open and they replied they were an 'essential' business. Several other salesmen were sitting around swatting flies and were jealous of their coworker who made what might have been the last sale in a very long time.

Not all of America. The state in which I live has no safety inspections at all.

Cindy Hamilton

And no vehicle inspections in Nebraska, at least for regular vehicles.

Neither does this state but you don't see too many junkers on the road. The possibility of breaking down 50 milles from nowhere in an area with no cell coverage encourages a minimal level of dependability.

That would be me, I park in those, without a child, as they're closer to the shop. A woman yelled at me once, so I called her a benefit scrounging baby maker and pointed out her sprogs could easily manage to walk from the other side of the car park, even if she couldn't.

Insurance companies in the UK are pretty relaxed, I don't think I've ever been truthful when buying a policy.

Safety lock? I remember one cousin who had installed an aftermarket latch of sorts on the rear doors to confine his brood. I'm not exactly sure when central locks happened on most cars. My Lincoln had power locks, but it also had power windows and seats which weren't common in '62.

Nothing to do with central locking - cars have long had an option (by turning a cam on the end of the rear doors (hidden when the door is closed) using a screwdriver or the end of a key, that disables the internal door handles. The door can still be opened from outside or by the occupant by opening the window and using the outside handle. It is designed to stop young children, too young to know better, releasing the door by pulling the inner handle while moving or without checking for passing traffic/pedestrians.

That may well be. I haven't had a vehicle with rear doors since the early '70s.

Also used by cops when they are transporting "baddies" in the back seat (so I've been told).

Removing the inside handles is easier and effective.

Yes, and cops should not get in the backseat with some hottie they picked up either. Happened to a local cop when I lived in CT. He spent the night in the back seat at the town landfill until someone showed up.

Why couldn't he climb over to the front? (Or is "CT" somewhere they have a cage in the back?)