more jammage

Sigh.

I've already vented some frutstration of the shittiness of some drivers' ability to merge into another lane. It adds extra time to one's journey. Not to mention driving in 1st/2nd gear sucks in my car. I can't shift into 1 if its still rolling significantly, and if that's the case, sometimes there's not enough torque in 2. Not to mention I shift back to neutral when I stop.

Apart from that, it's not too bad. Listen to morning radio. Hehehe. Nathan n Nat's Nearly Amazing Race.


But what sucks is when some bloody idiot does not pay attention and causes a fucking accident. On the bridge. Yeah... get a 3 lane highway, merge it into a 2 lane bridge.... and merge that into 1 lane. Jam ahoy! Some idiot lady crashed into the rear of some guy's shiny Mazda 3. I reckon she was on the phone. Why else? Hmm... maybe fiddling with her iPod (with iTrip, no less).

That's one reason why I support the continual support for manual as standard transmission. Idiots can not do something else when driving. When you drive, you drive. You do not eat a burger, talk on the phone, send a sms, cut your toenails, read a book, drink coffee, fiddle with your mp3 player hooked up to a fm modulator, scratch your ass... etc... uh... pick one, or all of them. Why? Because these distractions will cause inconvinience to everyone else when you crash. Weigh up the costs here. You don't get to do one thing, everyone else gets to goto where they want to go, on time, and without any scratches. You lose.

I tried eating a sandwich whilst driving. I guess if i used my right hand to hold the sandwich, I might have been able to pull it off, steering with the left and also shifting gears. But seriously, it's not worth it. Drinking... well, that's easier since you can put it back in the cup holder. Or if you have a very long straw.

Playing with your iPod. You are a bloody idiot. I imagine most of you with iPods in your car would have it lying around in a place where you can pick it up, rather than forking out $40 on a special fancy holster. Then again, you are iPod owners. Anyway, with an iPod you have the urge to not only change tracks, but playlists. And not only change playlists... fucking CREATE and EDIT one. Yeah... spin your fingers around in a circle, look down to see whereabouts you are on the list, press around to go elsewhere... *CRASH*

I don't have anything against you people who hook up your iPods via iTrip (or other mp3 player with a fm modulator) to your car stereo system, except if you go modify you head unit... and dont get a mp3 head unit, because you have an iPod. You. Are. A. Fucking. Idiot. *looks at Alicia* I don't care if you read this or not... Even worse if you upgrade your speakers, and continue to iTrip it.

Why? Because the quality of the fm modulated sound is SHIT compared to having the mp3 read directly from the cd.

Also coz the head unit is easier to use.


Long story short, iPods in cars... are dangerous. Talking on the phone when driving... dangerous. SMSing while driving... dangerous^2.






Mazda Kabura concept
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/newmodels/automotive/22581/

Awesome car. Low height, light weight, RWD, and "cheap". One problem

"Look carefully at the passenger’s side, and you’ll see it features an extra door directly behind the main one. Von Holzhausen calls it a “bonus door’; in fact, it’s more of a hatch that slides in and backwards at the touch of a button. However, it grants access to an interior that is totally asymmetrical, and can seat three adults in unexpected comfort, as well as a small child.

“Our aim was for a car that could seat three, but was no larger than absolutely necessary,” says von Holzhausen.

What he has created is exactly that: a car with a wheelbase only 4 inches longer than the two-seater Miata’s, but that is roomy enough for three. Impossible, you’d think: how can you fit a full-grown adult into a space no longer than a candy bar?

Here’s how. First, you move the glovebox from its normal position in front of the passenger to the centre console and design a fascia that allows the front passenger seat to slide into the space you’ve liberated – 6in. further forward than the driver’s seat goes, to be exact. Then, you place the fuel tank directly behind the driver’s seat, so that the passenger side rear seat can be mounted as far back as possible, right in front of the rear wheels. Your passengers then have the entirety of the car’s 100in. wheelbase in which to stretch out. It’s a solution designed for those who buy two-plus-two coupes because they need more than two seats, but who would willingly swap two half-usable rear seats for one proper one, plus a child seat."

Uh... have the passenger seat a few inches forward of the driver's? Doesn't that hinder the driver's side view visibility?