no more driving dogs?

[Kaufarmer]

Me thinks we are regulating ourselves to death.

...Su Ba

[punaticbychoice]

lack@ 8:32-
You old salt you!

[dmbwest]

Oink / Jerry,

Is the width / amount they extend beyond the fenders ... Cannot be more than +1" if I remember right.

Now lets talk about those bicycle whacking mirrors that extend beyond 8'6" while we're at it.

aloha,
pog

[David M]

How come women applying makeup never comes up? OK, probably not BI related

David

Ninole Resident

[TomK]

I think pog has it about right although I don't know the specifics of the law myself. Those vehicles with the excessively large wheels can be lethal to anyone driving behind them. If they drive over any debris in the road the tires launch it at frightening speeds at those driving behind and you're unlikely to respond quickly enough to get out of the way - or if you do, you'll just cause an accident.

I've seen this a couple of time myself. Once in the UK a truck shot something (a rock or whatever, I don't know, didn't have time to figure it out) right into my windshield. My passenger and I ducked and for a second or two my car was out of control. Fortunately I managed to recover things but had to pull over to sort myself out.

The other time was on the highway between Keaau and Hilo. This time a big-wheeled truck passed me on the left going about 80 and fired a large rock behind it. If anyone had been right behind it, as Big Island drivers tend to do, they'd probably be dead now and the truck driver wouldn't have known anything about it.

I know having big wheels is popular here, but it's dangerous for everyone else.

Tom



http://apacificview.blogspot.com/

[TrevorKane]

TomK,

My problem is that one vehicle does not fit all needs, but it's more economical to just have one...

Some tree hugging grandma got in my face about our (rather ordinary RAM 1500 Quad Cab, stock everything) pickup truck with "why do you drive such a big car?" My off the cuff answer was "because we carry big things" and it doesn't get much more complicated than that. At that moment, we had just finished hauling 1500lbs of rock (yes, a bit over the rated capacity), and earlier that week a couple of 1200+lb loads of top soil. Other weekends, we need the cubic footage to carry stuff like brush cutters and camping gear.

Sure, we could have another car to drive around town and save gas on those days, but you've got to do a LOT of driving around town to overcome the environmental expense of building a whole extra car (not to mention the cost of ownership, maintenance, insurance, etc.) And, really, if you're concerned about saving the planet, maybe you should just drive less.

So, about the folks with the big tires, I'm sure some (most) of them just feel cool being hiked up in the air "over" everyone else. I'm almost certain that the fly yellow pickup with 6' tall tires that almost ran over me and my son in front of his elementary school (he couldn't see us below his hood line) is just in the game for show, and that should be discouraged (oppressive licensing and taxes, anyone?), but for the folks who do drive off-road, especially in the squishy stuff, the tires do help keep you from getting stuck, and it's not really practical to leave your mud-bogger parked at the end of the unpaved road and switch to a street car to get home, or in to town as the case may be. (Although, I know at least one person who does just that...)

Personally, we got the +1 width option tires from the factory and a limited slip differential - any road that needs bigger tires or 4wd, I'm not too interested in driving on.

[Bullwinkle]

Has anyone ever had their headlights checked at the annual check? I lift my trucks ...and re set the headlights (aiming them lower) to prevent blinding the oncoming drivers - law in most states

My pet peeve is constantly being blinded at night by lifted trucks who have not adjusted the headlights

Car #2 sits so low - its hard to drive at night because of the issue - I just cant see when blinded by oncoming lifted vehicles - especially those with HID lighting upgrades

[TrevorKane]

Bullwinkle,

I do own a smaller car too - these help with the lighting situation:

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Lighting-and-...spx?t_c=14&t_s=67&t_pt=6065&t_pl=101482

just don't use the high beams carelessly [:0]

[dmbwest]

Nice one David : )

Thanks guys for adjusting your lights too !

Trevor, is your truck a diesel ? You could tell her how efficient they are ( or can be ) for their size.
Some hype on the web, but I know guys who can get some pretty amazing mileage ... 22 - 25+ .. Even fully loaded with a grease burning Cummins.

aloha,
pog

[aline]

They can pass all the laws they want but you cant legislate common sense